Bowling Bytes--6/16/10

~ Bob Handley Retains Senior Masters Qualifying Lead by One Pin Over Roger Kossert -- "Bob Handley of Winter Park, Fla., remained in the leader Tuesday after two rounds of qualifying in the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters. Handley has a 10-game total of 2,291, an average 229.1, at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Bowling Center. A day after shooting 1,171 in the opening round, Handley shot 1,120 to maintain his strong start. He leads Roger Kossert of Lithia, Fla., by one pin...Kossert, meanwhile, also put together another strong block after bowling well on the opening day. He moved up from third to second with 2,290. Kossert opened the tournament with 1,139 and shot 1,151 on Tuesday. He started the day with games of 256 and 259...All participants will return a final five-game block Wednesday. The top 63 players after 15 games will join defending champion Dale Traber of Cedarburg, Wis., and advance to the double-elimination match-play bracket on Thursday and Friday. The championship match is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. PDT on Friday..."

~ Denmark in top qualifying position in Trios after block 1 Women's European Championships -- "Kamilla Kjeldsen, Mai Ginge Jensen and Rikke Holm Rasmussen, Denmark, rolled games of 728, 648 and 723 to take a comfortable 134-pin lead in the Trios event of the 3rd Women's European Championships 2010 in Latvia after the first 3-game block on short oil with 2099 pinfall total and an average of 232.22..."

~ Live Pro Bowling -- "Have you ever attended a PBA Tour event in person? Recently, Steve's Bowling Blog featured a piece on a bowling clinic Steve attended, and he mentions he was very impressed by PJ Haggerty and Bill O'Neill, who were helping with the clinic. Obviously, pro bowlers are better than just about anyone in a house league somewhere, but Steve pointed out how the difference was amazing...Have you ever attended a PBA event? Maybe even bowled with a PBA Tour bowler, or in an event? How was the experience?..."

~ The 11th Frame: 2011 USBC Open Championships to start March 11 -- "The 2011 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships will start on March 4.USBC has not made an official announcement but USBC spokesman Matt Cannizzaro confirmed the date in response to a question on the tournament message boards here...The tournament has started somewhere in the middle of February in recent years, but USBC has had difficulty filling those early dates for a variety of reasons, including weather and bowlers not wanting to be "guinea pigs" for the lane conditions.With entries at their lowest level ever for the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., and likely down again next year when the tournament returns to Reno, eliminating those February weeks should not hurt the entry total..."

~ The 11th Frame: Kulick says goodbye to USBC Open Championships again -- "Kelly Kulick played to a packed house at the National Bowling Stadium as she again said goodbye to the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, USBC reported. She ended with a 1,986 all-events total in her competition over the weekend. She will be ineligible for the Open Championships starting next season after she earned a PBA Tour exemption with her victory in the PBA Tournament of Champions in January...Kulick's minor events were webcast by USBC and are available for viewing here..."

~ The 11th Frame: Remembering state legend Vicki Vukovich -- "I first saw Vicki Vukovich when I was just a teenager starting to bowl in top state bowling tourneys in the late 1970s. Already in her 60s, Vukovich was one of the legendary figures my bowling elders pointed out to me...The thing was that even though she was already in her 60s when I was starting, she was still a formidable bowler...In 1979, she rolled a 792 series that was the third-highest in the country by a woman that season...Yet arguably her biggest feat was yet to come. That came in 1983, when at 69 -- 69!!! -- she made the match play finals of a Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour tournament at Olympic Lanes in Milwaukee. Not a senior event -- a regular LPBT event that featured the best women in the sport..."

~ Vukovich rolled strikes to spare, even at 69 -- "As if all her other bowling honors weren't enough, Vicki Vukovich became the oldest bowler - male or female - to compete in the finals of a professional tournament. She did that when she was 69...Victoria Vukovich died of congestive heart failure May 26. She was 96. A Milwaukee south sider, she last lived in Boca Raton, Fla., where she moved to be near her son's family..."

~ "Walter Ray Williams Jr.--The King or the Prince?" -- "Back in 2006, Walter Ray Williams Jr. finally hunted down the ghost of Earl Anthony's PBA record 41 titles by beating Pete Weber 289-236, in the Dydo Japan Cup to win career title #42. Then play-by-play announcer Dave Ryan aptly started calling Williams "The King", an honor certainly deserving of his historic bowling credentials...Walter Ray's monarchical nickname suits him and the sport of bowling well. Or does it? Taking nothing away from Williams' accomplishments at all, he certainly continues to astound and amaze (some would replace those words with bore and meddle) fans with his relentless pursuit of winning titles, making cash, acquiring milestones, etc...you begin to wonder if Walter Ray is more symbolic of another nickname, "Il Principe", or "The Prince". Namely, Italian public servant Niccolo Machiavelli's version of "The Prince"..."

~ Questions about ball reaction, revolutions and approach -- "Q: I put a great deal of spin on the ball and it just skids right down the lane. I’ve been trying to slow the spin but it kills my ring finger so much that I have pain the next week. Suggestions?...Q: I am a pretty straight-up-the boards track area bowler and have had some pretty good success. I’ve been told that I’m fairly accurate, which is important for tougher lane conditions. I’m able to stay behind the ball or come around it based on the lane condition that I’m facing. I am very happy with my style, but am wondering how to make the necessary adjustments to put more revs on the ball when it seems advantageous to do so...Q: I take a five-step approach, and need to know how I can finish in a solid position at the foul line. I also want to know how to have a ball drilled for a short hook...Q: Bill O’Neill, Doug Kent and Mike Wolfe came to Paris for a clinic, and now I want to learn more. I am 48, average around 195, and would like to know where I could go in the United States for a week of instruction..."

~ If Bowling is to Score Another Revival, We Have to Stop Disenfranchising the Women (Bowlitically Incorrect: Jim Dressel--Bowlers Journal International, June 2010, p. 10) -- "...The remarkable rise in the ranks of women bowlers was paved by several significant breakthroughs...The numbers that followed these landmarks were startling...To say that women sparked that renaissance all by themselves may be overstating their contribution, but they were certainly a factor in making bowling America's Great National Pastime...Bowling, generally, is going through some tough times, and this has put a drag on both the men's and women's numbers. But if we ever hope to score a rebound, perhaps the best hope is that the women once again will lead the way..."