Bowling Bytes--4/28/10

~ Jason Thomas: Chris Barnes: Good or Great? -- "I recently posted a teaser story for the Motor City Open position round re-air on Xtra Frame, which mentions Chris Barnes in the same breath with Walter Ray Williams Jr. as "legends" of the sport. Several fans took exception to this, saying things like, "WRW is a legend, PDW is a legend. Barnes is a top current player but he is not a legend! I am tired of hearing this."Well, I simply could not disagree more. Here's why..."

~ Char Hammel wins USBC Senior Queens -- "Char Hammel of Las Vegas defeated defending champion Janine Primrose of Gardnerville, Nev., in back-to-back matches Wednesday morning to win the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Senior Queens title..."

~ Milligan is top seed for 2010 USBC Queens finals -- "Tennelle Milligan of Arlington, Texas, was the only competitor to run through match play undefeated at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Queens and finds herself one victory away from claiming her second USBC Queens title. The 2005 Queens champion defeated USBC Hall of Famer Anne Marie Duggan of Edmond, Okla., 793-598, to claim the top spot in the stepladder championship round, which will be televised live on ESPN2 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT..."

~ Webb Wins PBA Senior Columbus Open in Battle of Hall of Famers -- "In a championship match that featured two PBA Hall of Famers, Wayne Webb defeated Mark Williams 264-253 Tuesday to win the PBA Senior Columbus Open at HP Lanes. Striking in the first four frames, Webb held a commanding lead in the fourth frame but let Williams back in the match after throwing a 3-6-7-10 split in the fifth frame which he failed to convert. Williams of Beaumont, Texas, went on to throw eight consecutive strikes to finish the match but Webb was able to get back on track and finished with seven consecutive strikes to pull out the win..."

~ PBA Senior Tour Columbus Open: Webb in his comfort zone in Columbus -- "Wayne Webb is quickly becoming quite comfortable with his new residence in Columbus...Having lived in the Midwest (Indianapolis and the Akron area) Webb said he grew sick of California after seven years and returned to Ohio for one reason: bowling...Webb bought the old Rainbow Lanes on the South Side and has turned it into Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. He is keeping the alley open while remodeling it..."

~ Missouri bowler celebrates 50 years at USBC Open Championships -- "In 1955, Clancy Mueller of St. Charles, Mo., and his high school teammates piled into a car and headed to Fort Wayne, Ind., for the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships...Mueller started his 2010 tournament campaign with a 617 series in team and added 642 in doubles and 607 in singles for a 1,866 all-events total Tuesday. It was his best performance since shooting 1,836 at the 2003 tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., and just the second time in his career that he shot 600 or better in all three events..."

~ The Nuances of PBA Championships -- "Does it strike anyone else as odd that most PBA championships come down to a one-game match? The competitors spend all week qualifying, trying to earn a spot in the best-of-seven match play, feverishly switching lanes and often bowling 40-50 games per week, all in an attempt to get to the one-game finals on Sunday's ESPN telecast..."

~ Shaker Al-Hassan, Zatil Iman lead 16 men and 8 women into second round in Egypt -- "Shaker Al-Hassan and Zatil Iman, Malaysia, led the men's and women's division of the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament as the field was cut to 16 men and 8 women Tuesday at the International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt. Starting from scratch, Al- Hassan (pictured left) combined six-game series of 1457 and 1449 for 2906 12-game total, an average of 242.17, to lead the top 15 men plus the next local bowler into Wednesday's Round 2. Reigning European Bowling Tour Masters champion Paul Moor, England, was second with 2841 and was followed by Malaysians Mohd Nur Aiman and Adrian Ang in third and fourth place with 2821 and 2778, respectively..."

~ Gadgets and gizmos: Part 1: Cool coaching tools (Nuts & Bolts: Susie Minshew--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 5-10) -- "Wherever I travel people ask about my coaching tools, where you can get them, and how to use them. Get ready for some great fun..."

~ Where did the bowling season go?: These and other questions older bowlers should be asking themselves in the off season (Senior Spotlight: Jack Schmid--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 15-16) -- "In the April 2008 issue of BTM, I wrote about what we may want to consider when the bowling season was over. It is that time again, a couple of years later, and I would like to offer you some recommendations that may prove useful..."