Leanne Barrette Hulsenberg's Giant Check

Last night, I bowled against a young man, Caleb Nakata, who works in Leanne and Gary Hulsenberg's pro shop and who picked up Leanne, Gary, and their son at the airport after they returned from the U.S. Women's Open in Texas. I asked him when they'd be putting up the giant replica of Leanne's $50,000 check in their pro shop alongside some of the other checks adorning the walls there, including her 1999 Queens title check. He said they were looking forward to its arrival in the mail.

After I finished bowling, I asked Leanne's husband, Gary, about the check. He said they planned to hang it in the pro shop after they get it but that it was so large, he wasn't sure where it would go. He said it was almost as large as one of the shop windows. That's pretty large alright. In fact, it's so large, I don't know where they're going to be able to hang it unless, perhaps, they remove some of her other checks.

I guess a U.S. Women's Open check supersedes just about any other bowling check even the most successful female bowlers of all time could ever hope to earn. I look forward to seeing it on The Strike Shop wall as soon as possible.

Celebrating Leanne Barrette Hulsenberg's Victory in 2011 U.S. Women's Open

A belated congratulations to Leanne Barrette Hulsenberg for winning what is arguably the biggest women's bowling tournament in history--the 2011 U.S. Women's Open. Of course, my congratulations wouldn't have been "belated" if the finals had been shown live on ESPN2 on Thursday night instead of delayed to Saturday afternoon and I hadn't decided to wait until after the broadcast to write about it so that I wouldn't risk spoiling the results for anyone.

I still don't understand why the finals weren't shown live. As I wrote the other day, after the sponsors of the event went to such lengths to make the tournament an attractive, lucrative, and memorable one, why would they throw water on the fire by televising the event after virtually everyone knew the results? Speaking for myself, I would have reveled in the tension of Leanne's remarkable comeback against Lynda Barnes in the semifinal match had I not already known who was going to win.

Well, Leanne won the match and the title, the 27th of her legendary career. And I can't wait to see the giant replica of that $50,000 check hanging on the wall of Gary and Leanne's pro shop one of these days when I go to practice or bowl league at Fireside Lanes. Perhaps it will even be there this evening when I bowl my sport league.

I can't tell you how happy I am for Leanne and Gary! I've seen Leanne for the past several years at Fireside Lanes, and it seemed to me that she's been pretty disillusioned about bowling for a long time. It must have been a terrible blow to her when the PWBA folded at a time when her game was still strong. She might have gone on to surpass Lisa Wagner's record of 32 national titles. After the PWBA's demise, she just didn't seem to have the spirit to compete at the level she did before, because there just didn't seem to her to be all that much reason to. She still performed quite well at this and last year's Queens and U.S. Women's Open tournaments, but I think she really poured her heart and soul into getting ready for this year's Open. She started bowling more and more tournaments and putting in long hours of serious practice, and it obviously paid off.

What is particularly impressive about her victory this year is that it came against younger players, many of whom had the tremendous advantage of being members of Team USA and other national teams and receiving the advanced coaching that they received in state-of-the-art training centers such as the ITRC. Leanne, so far as I know, had none of that. She did it the old-fashioned, old-school way.

As I wrote previously, I was skeptical when her husband, Gary, told me two weeks ago today that he liked Leanne's chances at the Open. I wonder if even he wasn't a little skeptical too. But after Leanne's performance last week, I don't think either of us will ever doubt that Leanne can still compete with and beat the best female bowlers on the planet.

You can watch video of the entire tournament below and read a recap of the stepladder finals results here.

Blogging Again on July 5

Due to other commitments this Fourth of July weekend, I won't be blogging again until Tuesday, July 5. At that time, I'll have recaps of the U.S. Women's Open, the GEICO PBA Team Shootout and other bowling news and views for you. I hope you'll join me then.

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday weekend, and, if you can, get in some games at your local bowling center.

Also, be sure to catch the final rounds and the "Bottlegate 2" incident of the GEICO PBA Team Shootout today (Saturday, July 2) from 4:30 to 6 PM Eastern and from 2:30 to 4 PM Eastern tomorrow (Sunday, July 3) on ESPN, and the stepladder finals of the U.S. Women's Open today (Saturday, July 2) from Cowboys Stadium on ESPN2 at 6 PM Eastern.

Why Weren't the 2011 U.S. Women's Open Finals Shown Live?

I know who won the U.S. Women's Open last night, and I'd love to be able to write about it here today. But I don't want to spoil it for any of you who wish to wait until you watch the show tomorrow to find out. If you read this blog, you probably know already or will know well before the show airs, but I still don't want to risk spoiling it for anyone.

Of course, if this were not a blog about bowling, and I wanted to write about what happened in the finals of the U.S. Women's Open in tennis or golf the morning after, I wouldn't need to wait. It would likely have been shown live on one of the major networks, and sports headlines around the country if not the world would have blared the results minutes afterward.

But, as we all know, that's not how it is with bowling. Bowling is the Rodney Dangerfield of sports. More people do it on some level or other than probably any other sport, but it "don't get no respect" by the media or, it seems, by the public at large.

That being said, I'm puzzled by something. Bowling may not get much respect, but we're still taking here about the U.S. Women's Open. Not only that, but we're talking about a U.S. Women's Open finals held in the grandest venue--Cowboys Stadium--in which ANY bowling tournament, men's or women's, has EVER been held. Not only that, but it attracted the largest field of any U.S. Women's Open ever, almost 300, from 17 countries, and offered the richest prize fund ever. And to top all that off, it offered a monumental $1 million to anyone who shot 300 in the championship match.

It seems to me that the sponsors of this great tournament--the BPAA and Ebonite International--pulled out all the stops to build interest in this wonderful tournament and its stepladder finals and to draw viewers to television coverage of the finals except for the one measure that might have been the most effective. They were unable or unwilling to do whatever it took to have the finals shown live instead of two days after they took place.

Now just how many people do you think are going to spend Saturday afternoon or evening (depending on your time zone) of a Fourth of July weekend watching a women's bowling tournament of which almost everyone who'd be likely to watch already knows the results? And how many people do you think are going to be drawn to watch by the prospect of seeing whether someone wins the $1 million if they already know whether or not someone won it two days go?

Yes, hardcore bowling fans and bloggers like me will watch no matter what. Besides, I have a horse, so to speak, in the race. Leanne Hulsenberg and her husband Gary bowl league and have a pro shop in my home house. Of course, I want this already legendary bowler to win the one women's major that has so far eluded her during her remarkable career. But there apparently aren't too many like me. As I wrote yesterday, even the preponderance of fairly serious bowlers and self-proclaimed bowling fans appear to be afflicted with a chronic case of the ho-hums. So how many of THEM are going to watch the finals on a holiday weekend or even record it to watch it later when they already know who won, what all the scores were, and whether or not the champion shot 300?

I don't want to be overly critical of the BPAA and Ebonite, mind you. After all, if they hadn't stepped in and rescued a tournament that the USBC abandoned after last year, there'd have been no U.S. Women's Open this year or perhaps ever again. I'm grateful to them. And if I'M grateful to them, just imagine how grateful the women are who cashed or who made the finals of the tournament!

And I'll be the first to admit that I don't know anything about securing live television time on ESPN2 or any other network any time of the day or night. Perhaps it was all but impossible to work out logistically or financially. Yet, it seems to me that there had to have been a way to show the grandest women's bowling tournament ever live, and that someone blew it somewhere, somehow in its not happening.

I don't know what the future holds for the U.S. Women's Open. But if it has a future, I hope I get to see the finals of the next one and of all the ones thereafter live on television and to blog here about them immediately thereafter.

On the off chance that you don't know who won the Open but want to know now instead of trying to hold out until you watch it tomorrow, or perhaps you won't or can't watch it tomorrow, you can click here for a recap of the finals. If you want to watch or record the finals tomorrow, they will be shown Saturday, July 2 on ESPN2 in HD at 6 PM Eastern.

2011 U.S. Women's Open Finalists Reflect on Upcoming Finals

"I am so excited. I kind of struggled last night and struggled a little bit today physically, and so I kept looking up at the scoreboard and thinking 'How am I still in the running when I'm throwing it this bad?' So, I'm really excited to be in the show, to go bowl in the Cowboy Stadium in front of all my home crowd and just have a great time."

--Lynda Barnes

"I actually get a chance in helping to break those down and hopefully get to break them down the way that I want them. 'Advantage' is a way that YOU look at it. I'm looking at bowling the first match as an advantage."

--Shannon O'Keefe

"We've bowled at some big stadiums but nothing like this. So, it's going to be an absolutely exciting, exciting day. I'd love to make it to the final match and see what goes from there. You know it's going to be a great show regardless."

--Liz Johnson

"Very seldom have I won being in the top position. I don't look at that as a plus or as a negative. But, considering as well as I've bowled this week, I'm just going to take that as a positive, see how the lanes play...I'll have the practice pair to warm up and I'll have a few minutes before the show starts for me. So, if I get lined up quick enough, I'll be alright."

--Kelly Kulick

"It's an even playing field. There's no advantage to anyone, I think, going in there."

--Shannon O'Keefe

"This venue is new to all of us, so we're all on equal playing ground. I'm just going to try to go out there, see what the lanes are doing...hopefully they're going to be similar to what they were like all week long. If I have the same look over there like I did now, I'm going to be tough to beat."

--Kelly Kulick

"It would be icing on the cake. I've always bowled well in the U.S. Open, so it would be a dream come true."

--Leanne Hulsenberg

Video--Games 9-15 of 2011 U.S. Women's Open Match Play

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Bowling Video of the Day--Doing it Bigger in Texas

"They say they do things bigger in Texas? Well, you can't do it much bigger than Cowboys Stadium."

--Matt Lawson, USBC Spokesperson

Bowling Quote of the Day--Leanne Hulsenberg's Gift to Her Husband

"It's really personally cool for me because my husband, we didn't meet each other until after I quit bowling when the tour ended, so he hasn't really seen me have any success in bowling. So, it's kind of going to be really cool for us tomorrow."

--Leanne Hulsenberg, on the eve of her bowling in the second seed of the stepladder finals of the 2011 U.S. Women's Open

Video Preview of Stepladder Finals of 2011 U.S. Women's Open

Tonight's the night. Not that you'll be able to see it tonight, for some unfathomable reason (more about that in an upcoming blogpost). But tonight's the night that Lynda Barnes, Shannon O'Keefe, Liz Johnson, Leanne Hulsenberg, and Kelly Kulick will meet on the grandest bowling stage in human history for the championship finals of the tournament jewel of women's bowling. And below is a USBC video preview of the participants and the glory and riches to be had.

Leanne Who?

"i must admit to a funny story .... my sweet hubby didn't recognize you as "hulsenberg" .... kept watchin' you bowl on live streaming, totally fascinated by how good you were & the fact that he'd never heard of you!!! when i said "leanne BARRETTE", he said "duh"....... you're good under any name ....."

--Comment on Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg's Facebook page after she bowled her way into the second seed of the stepladder finals of the 2011 U.S. Women's Open

Video Profiles of the 16 Match Play Finalists in 2011 U.S. Women's Open

Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg Seeded Second to Kelly Kulick for 2011 U.S. Women's Open Stepladder Finals

"It's great to be a part of the biggest tournament ever. I actually have a second, third, fourth, and a fifth in the Open, and I've led the Open and lost. This would be totally huge."

--Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg

Okay, I'll admit it. When Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg's husband, Gary, told me a week ago that Leanne was bowling "very, very well" and that he liked her chances at the 2011 U.S. Women's Open this year, I had my doubts. I didn't have any doubts about Leanne's bowling ability, mind you. Her 26 national titles, two PWBA Player of the Year awards, Queens title, multiple U.S. Open stepladder finals appearances, and over 100 televised bowling appearances amply proved her ability to perform masterfully at the highest level of women's bowling.

But what had me feeling a little doubtful was the fact that after the PWBA folded in 2003, Leanne's competitive fire seemed to wane somewhat. Oh, she bowled the Steve Cook Classic league at my home house, still bowled local tournaments, still performed admirably at the USBC Women's Opens, and placed seventeenth in last year's USBC Queens, fourteenth in last year's U.S. Women's Open, and thirteenth in this year's USBC Queens, but I still had the feeling that the absence of a professional tour, recent motherhood, the demands of work, and the fact that she'd be up against most of the finest female bowlers in the world, many of whom were young and hungry and superbly trained members of national teams, including Team USA, would make it difficult for Leanne to crack the top 16 into match play much less have a realistic shot at making the televised finals of the biggest tournament in the history of women's bowling.

Well, my doubts were dashed to pin dust by Leanne's remarkable showings in qualifying and match play over these past few days. She finished seventh in qualifying, rose to third after a blistering block last night in the first round of match play, and, following today's 8 games of match play, she finds herself seeded second for tomorrow night's stepladder finals. That's right, Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg needs to win only two matches tomorrow night to accomplish about the only great thing she has yet to accomplish in her storied bowling career--a U.S. Women's Open title.

The USBC's Lucas Wiseman reported during the live streaming of today's match play that when he talked to Leanne briefly this morning after it became certain that she'd make the stepladder finals, she confessed that she'd be feeling very "nervous" when it came time for her to bowl under the television lights on specially constructed lanes in the middle of Cowboy's Stadium in Texas tomorrow night. But I'm guessing that her less experienced and less accomplished opponents will be feeling just as nervous if not more so, and that she has a very good chance to win the title.

For even if she wins her first match and faces top seeded Kelly Kulick--who in one mind-bending five game stretch of match play today strung together games of 279, 278, 269, 279, and 248--in the final match, anything can happen in one game, and anyone can win. Leanne can certainly beat any female bowler on the planet, as she did this morning when she defeated Kulick in the position round to close out match play. She can do it again tomorrow night, if she gets the chance.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to watch the action until ESPN2 airs it Saturday at 6 PM Eastern. But I know I won't be able to resist finding out what happens as soon as possible after it happens.

You can watch the position round of today's match play below.

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Bowling Video of the Day--Amanda Vermilyea's Comeback

Video--Lynda Barnes Shoots 299 in U.S. Women's Open Qualifying

Actually, this is one of two 299's Lynda shot in her third round of qualifying yesterday. They helped propel her to near the top of the field.

U.S. Women's Open Top 16 Qualifiers Head Into Match Play Tonight

At 8 PM Eastern, the top 16 qualifiers of the U.S. Women's Open will take to the lanes for 8 games of round-robin match play tonight, followed by 8 more games tomorrow to decide who makes the historic finals to be held in Cowboy's Stadium Thursday evening and telecast by ESPN2 this Saturday, June 2 at 6 PM Eastern.

After four rounds of qualifying (32 games), Kelly Kulick leads second place Shannon Pluhowsky by 153 pins, followed by Liz Johnson, Shannon O'Keefe, Jodi Woessner and Lynda Barnes (tie), Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg, Stefanie Nation, Lisanne Breeschoten, Rachel Perez, Tennelle Milligan, Diandra Asbaty, Helen Johnsson, Kristal Wilson, Kim Terrell Kearney, and Mai Jinge Jensen.

This year's USBC Queens winner, Missy Parkin, finished 20th, and Carolyn Dorin Ballard finished 30th. It's interesting to speculate on how these outstanding bowlers might have fared on tougher, tighter lane conditions than the score-a-thon lanes they faced this year, but it looks like Leanne Hulsenberg's husband Gary was right when he told me last Wednesday night that Leanne was primed and ready for the tournament. I would love to see Leanne and Kelly in the televised final match, and, as of right now, that's a real possibility.

Click here for a summary of the fourth and final round of qualifying and the top 32, and check below for video of today's fourth and final round of qualifying. Also don't forget that Bowl.com and ustream will be live streaming tonight's and tomorrow's match play rounds. That is where some of our USBC membership dues go each year, and this hardcore bowling fan thinks it's well worth it.

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Bowling Video of the Day--Shannon Pluhowsky at the U.S. Women's Open

Kelly Kulick is Back in the Saddle Again

After Kelly Kulick's "annus mirabilis" or year of wonders in 2010 when she won the TOC, the Queens, the U.S. Women's Open, the Malaysian Open, and a PBA regional, expectations for her may have soared to impossible heights this season, only to see her unsuccessfully defend her TOC and Queens titles. However, she did dominate her Women's Team USA teammates on all four sport patterns at last month's Pan Am trials, just as she is dominating the qualifying rounds of the 2011 U.S. Women's Open.

In fact, she put on a spectacular performance yesterday by shooting games of 278, 247, 279, 258, 238, 268, 277, and 255 for a blistering 2100 series and 262.5 average for eight games.

Yes, I know the lanes aren't especially challenging for a U.S. Women's Open, but I don't care how "easy" they are, Kelly Kulick bowled great to do what she did, and she is the best female bowler on the planet. And she was already leading by an appreciable margin after 16 games, but her block yesterday rocketed her to a commanding lead over second place Shannon Pluhowski after the end of yesterday's third round and overall total of 24 games.

This morning, the top 32 qualifiers bowled 8 games to determine who made the cut to the top 16, and tonight those select bowlers will bowl 8 games of match play followed by 8 more games tomorrow to decide the top 5 for Thursday night's stepladder finals that will be televised on delay Saturday, July 2 at 6 PM Eastern on ESPN2.

Click here for a wrap up of yesterday's action, and look below for video of all three squads yesterday.

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Video-U.S. Women's Open Qualifying, Round 2

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