Jason Belmonte Bowls 300 Wearing Google Glass

Google Glass and similar products may be one of the next big things off and on the bowling lanes. Recently, Jason Belmonte, arguably the world's greatest bowler at the present time and seemingly a shoo-in for PBA Player of the Year this season, became what is no doubt the first person to wear Google Glass while bowling a 300 game and recording the feat for posterity. Below is the remarkable Belmo's-eye view of every shot.

Needless to say, the possibilities for this kind of technology for bowling are tantalizing. I can envision glasses such as these eventually measuring and providing feedback on ball speed and rev rate, and displaying in one's field of vision lane oil distribution patterns and suggesting the best line to play with which ball and at what speed and with which release. Tied in to one or more cameras from behind and to the side, they could be an amazing virtual coach that analyzes every shot and tells you what to correct and how to do it. Many bowling coaches, except, perhaps, for those designing the analytic and coaching programs for this new technology, might need to look for other lines of full or part time work.

Check out the video below and tell us what you think.

2011 World Series of Bowling Highlights

Bowling Video--Effusive Praise for Pete Weber

Mike Machuga Criticizes Jason Belmonte After USBC Masters

Jason Belmonte is my favorite bowler without question. I'm tremendously impressed with his physical game and with his mental strength to make the right moves and perform almost flawlessly in pressure packed matches. What's more, as his remarkable USBC Masters victory Sunday attests, he appears to be getting better and better, and I have little doubt that within another year or two he will have risen to the indisputable top of the sport in the eyes of virtually all knowledgeable bowlers and bowling fans.

And not only does he have an amazing physical game, but, from my vantage point as a viewer and reader of bowling media, Belmo has always seemed like one of the most personable people and gracious sportsmen on tour. Yes, I remember the "Bottlegate" brouhahas involving Brad Angelo and Sean Rash, but I could never believe that Belmo was deliberately trying to throw off his opponents by crinkling his water bottles. I chalked up these incidents to nervous habit under the immense pressure of televised competition.

But now there's a new scandal of sorts involving Belmo. Mike Machuga writes about it today in his bowling blog. It concerns a nailbiting match Machuga had with Belmo last week in the Masters in which Machuga had to double in the tenth if he were to hand Belmo his first defeat of the double elimination tournament.

Machuga writes that Belmo kept talking loudly to himself while he, Machuga, was going through his pre-shot routine and finally he chastised Belmo for it, Belmo stormed (no pun intended) away in anger, and, after winning the match following Machuga's failure to strike on his second ball, Belmo approached him to talk about what had happened, yet, instead of apologizing for his distracting actions, he merely berated himself for perpetrating them. I took the gist of Machuga's complaint to be that Belmo keeps doing these kinds of things in competition and then comes across as curiously self-centered in how he responds to criticism over it.

As I say, Jason Belmonte is my favorite bowler, and I never tire of singing his praises on this blog and to my friends and fellow bowlers. So many people seem to be looking for reasons not to give this great bowler his due--for example, he's not American, or the two-handed, thumbless game is not "real bowling"--that my heart sinks when I hear people calling him a "cheater" and a "jerk," and I still don't believe for a single moment that he's either.

But I hope he finds a better way to stand up to the pressure of competition than to do things that so blatantly distract his fellow bowlers at their most vulnerable moments. Until he does that, it looks like he'll be under a cloud, and it's a cloud to which he doesn't seem impervious. I believe that he feels quite bothered by these criticisms and disparagements--bothered all the way to the bank to cash his championship checks.

Bowling Video--2013 PBA WSOB World Championship

Bowling Video: 2012 PBA World Championship Preview

Drug Testing PBA Champions?

Jason Belmonte asked on his Facebook page if we think elite bowlers should be drug tested. He thinks anyone who wins a PBA title should be tested in order to promote "good health to our kids" and "a clean sport to everyone." Most who have commented so far, including Malaysia's bowling champion Shalin Zulkifli, agree with Jason. But I roundly, albeit respectfully, disagree. This is what I wrote:

"Jason, if there were evidence that bowlers are using potentially dangerous performance enhancing drugs to improve their scoring, perhaps I'd support drug testing. However, I see no indication that bowlers are doing this, and it's difficult for me to even imagine what kinds of drugs would significantly enhance a bowler's performance, given the nature of the sport. Therefore, since I believe that drug testing constitutes an invasion of personal privacy justifiable only in cases where the need to ensure competitive fairness and to protect the health of the participants supersedes the right to privacy, and because I don't see evidence that some bowlers are using drugs that give them a demonstrably unfair advantage over others or imperil their health, I oppose drug testing for bowlers.

 However, if bowling were to become an Olympic sport on condition that its competitors, like all other Olympic competitors, submitted to drug testing, then I would, albeit reluctantly, support it. Otherwise, I think drug testing bowlers is a solution to a non-existent problem."

What do you think about drug testing bowlers at the elite level? Do you believe it would combat an existing problem?

Jason Belmonte Calls Wrestler Vin Gerard a Liar, Thief, and Bully

Bowling Video--Jason Belmonte Says It's Time for Bowlers to Stand Up for the Sport

Jason Belmonte Answers Pro Wrestler Vin Gerard's Bowling Challenge

"Vin Gerard, allow ME to introduce MYSELF. I'm Jason Belmonte, and I'm a pro bowler. And you're going to remember that name. It's gonna be like the bell ringing between your ears...the same bell as when your opponents pin you in the ring...you're gonna remember that name like a headache for the rest of your life."

I posted a video the other day of a pro wrestler challenging PBA bowlers to a bowling match. Well, Jason Belmonte has stepped up and answered the call. Do you think the match will ever take place, and what do you think will happen if and when it does? Finally, does the PBA and bowling in general gain from THIS kind of publicity, or is virtually any publicity better than none at all at this point?

Bowling Video--Who Will Win 2011-2012 PBA Player of the Year?

Brian Valenta: Bowling's Lord of the Loft

Jason Belmonte and Osku Palermaa are the undisputed stars of two-handed bowling, but there's another two-hander out there who shouldn't be overlooked, even if, unlike me, you're not a big fan of the two-handed style. His name is Brian Valenta, and even though, unlike Belmonte and Palermaa, he puts his thumb in his strike ball, it doesn't noticeably diminish the awesome power he unleashes on the pins.

Since being a member of Junior Team USA, leading Lindenwood University to the Intercollegiate Team Championship in 2005, winning the Intercollegiate Singles Championship in 2006, and joining the PBA in 2008, Brian has cashed high in several Tour events, and he finished a respectable 42nd place in the recently concluded U.S. Open.

One way he managed to perform so well on the hugely challenging lane conditions of the U.S. Open was to draw upon his remarkable ability to move extremely far left (we're talking NEXT-LANE far left) on the approach when he needed to and loft the ball 30 feet down the lane with freakish consistency and accuracy to crush the pocket.

It's an amazing sight to behold, and, fortunately, the short video below provides a glimpse of what I'm talking about. It comes from PBA Xtra Frame's coverage of later cashier's round play in the U.S. Open. It just so happens that Mark Roth was sitting in as guest commentator on Xtra Frame at the time, and even Roth, who isn't particularly fond of the two-handed style and has seen and done so much in bowling that he seems forbiddingly difficult to impress with any style, appeared to be almost dumbfounded by Valenta's prodigious demonstration. It should also be noted that Valenta replicated the results shown on the video several times in that game en route to a 255 score. It was stunning!

It's true that modern oil patterns, reactive resin bowling balls, and high rev releases are prompting more and more right-handed players to move far left and loft the ball over the gutter cap and that guys like Belmo, Osku, and Mike Fagan do it routinely and very well in the latter games of rounds. Yet, I must say that I've never seen anyone do it quite as impressively as Valenta. And to put an exclamation point on his loftmeister skills, the second video shows him executing a tamer but still mighty impressive version of Osku Palermaa's now legendary loft-over-the-barchair trick shot strike of a few years ago.

I know that some people don't like this modern freakshow development in the sport, and I have to admit that I too am not thrilled that lane conditions and bowling equipment are such that anyone would ever need to take such drastic measures to score well. But necessity is the mother of invention, and I can't help but marvel at the mind-boggling loftmeister skills of a Brian Valenta.

How do you feel about this? Are you similarly impressed and enthralled, or do you recoil in repugnance and horror at this wholesale desecration of the traditional bowling game?

Why Bowling on the U.S. Open Pattern Is So Difficult

Sunday's stepladder finals of the PBA U.S. Open was, in my opinion, one of the finest televised finals of any PBA tournament I've ever seen. You may wonder why, since the highest score of the day was "only" 225, and a lot of people score or even average well over that at their local bowling center.

Well, they don't do it on a legitimate U.S. Open pattern. I've bowled on an approximation of this pattern in a PBA Experience league, and I can tell you from painful personal experience that you have to bowl exceedingly well just to shoot 180. Miss your target by a board right or left, be a little fast or slow with your ball speed, or vary your release even a tiny bit, and you can end up with a three count or even a gutterball or a badly missed spare.

This is a far, far cry from bowling on a typical house pattern where you can miss your target by five or ten boards on either side or fluctuate wildly in your ball speed or release and still crush the pocket for devastating strikes or convert single pin spares practically blindfolded.

Sunday's matches were so good because Ryan Shafer, Jason Belmonte, and, especially, Mike Fagan and Pete Weber executed terrifically well under incredible pressure on supremely demanding lane conditions. And this excellent video by bowling champion, coach, and self-described "bowling geek" Jason Doust masterfully explains why the U.S. Open pattern is such a challenge.

After you watch it, I hope you'll sign up for a PBA Experience league and gain a newfound appreciation for 225 games on demanding lane conditions and for just how superbly those guys bowled last Sunday afternoon.

Pete Weber Wins 69th PBA U.S. Open

"Dad, I know you were watching. I know you're proud, and I'm sorry I broke your record." ~ Pete Weber

Until Sunday, February 26, 2012, nobody owned more U.S. Open titles than the late, great Don Carter and Dick Weber. Then Dick Weber's Hall of Fame son Pete stepped onstage to defeat Ryan Shafer 223-191, Jason Belmonte 225-213, and Mike Fagan 215-214 in one of the best-bowled and most intense televised stepladder finals in TV bowling history en route to an unprecedented fifth U.S. Open, ninth major, and 36th tour title that had no less than bowling luminary and writer Jeff Richgels opining that PDW may well be the best bowler of all time.

And as much as raw statistics might still award that glittering honor to Walter Ray Williams Jr. or Earl Anthony, there's no avoiding the fact that, as Richgels writes, "Pete has been at the top of bowling through more eras than either Earl or Walter Ray, starting at the end of plastic through urethane to reactive resin...You simply can't deny that Pete has stayed on top through more changes in the game than any bowler in history. And look at how much his game has changed from when he was a teenager who arguably had the most powerful game in bowling to almost a finesse player who is little more than a tweener in the current era of two-handed ultra power players. What hasn't changed is his almost unreal competitiveness and will to win that has enabled him to rise to big occasions as much as any player in history."

Richgels writes that he's still not sure who's the greatest bowler ever but that Pete Weber's phenomenal performance Sunday at the age of 49 has "changed the debate" for him. I guess I'd have to say that the same goes for me. Bad boy that PDW has been over the years and was again on Sunday, there's no denying his stupendous bowling accomplishments that rise to the level that one of his opponents Sunday, the immensely talented Jason Belmonte, characterized as "inhuman." I'd call them superhuman.

I'll have more to say about all of this and about this year's PBA U.S. Open and Sunday telecast over a series of upcoming blogposts, but I want to end this entry with videos of yesterday's wonderful matches for you to savor. It's been a long time since bowling has received the respect it deserves, and, regrettably, Sunday's finals probably won't change that a whole lot.

But it should.

For a concise summary of the entire 2012 PBA U.S. Open, be sure to check out this article on Jef's Bowling Blog, and for a more detailed summary of the televised finals, you can read Bill Vint's wrap up on the PBA website. Finally, you can watch the videos below to behold what words cannot fully convey of all three matches.

Bowling Quote for the Day--Nothing Slows Down Belmo

"Belmonte's move might surprise some who would theorize that the mega-revving two-hander would be unable to play on the fresh flat pattern that is put down for each match play block. But Belmonte, who was the qualifying leader at last year's U.S. Open but missed the TV finals, has solidified his game so much in the past year that nothing seems to slow him down." ~ Jeff Richgels

Storm's Illustrious Staff's Advice on Increasing and Maintaining Rev Count

Do you want to increase the revolutions on your ball or, at least, be more consistent with the revs you do generate? If so, and it seems that almost everybody does, the staff at Storm have some suggestions that I gleaned from Storm's Facebook page. Here are some of the more notable ones:

 "Sounds to me like there are some timing issues, as well as some muscle in the swing that is causing the inconsistencies. It's tough to tell without physically seeing it, but the key is achieving effortless power." ~ Jeff Carter

"Go to the gym and work on your leg strength, flexibility, and your cardio. You should see a dramatic improvement after a few good workouts. I wanted to increase my rev rate this year so I intensified my routine at the gym and my rev rate went from 360 to 400." ~ Ryan Shafer

"I would try to use a few less revs. You should be able to be more consistent if you find a release that you can repeat." ~ Tom Hess

"Sounds like a timing issue. Make sure to get the slide foot to the foul line ahead of the ball." ~ Randy Pedersen

"It's not all about revs. Consistency is the key though, so you are right about that. Be sure to work on practicing your release. Make it as consistent as possible. One step drills and foul line drills can help with this." ~ Jason Belmonte

"It's tough to say without watching you bowl. I think it's key to make sure you have a consistent timing. Also practice hard on having the same hand position at the moment of release." ~ Andres Gomez

"Well, honestly I'm not sure. I'm not a big guy, so I won't tell you to work out more or pump iron. I'm considered a "tweener," and I would much rather be consistent in hitting my mark than the amount of revs I have on the ball." ~ Pete Weber

"Make sure to accelerate through the release area, not before." ~ Norm Duke

Josh Blanchard's Fall Heard Round the World

"Trust me if they didn't show me and just showed Jason it would have been fine with me!!!" ~ Josh Blanchard, commenting on Facebook

My previous post featured a video of professional bowler Josh Blanchard hanging up in the thumbhole of his ball when he tried to release it and slipping on the oily heads past the foul line and falling in the channel on his butt on last Sunday's PBA telecast. I said nothing about Australian two-handed sensation Jason Belmonte bowling 300 in the next game and then defeating Brian Kretzer to advance to the PBA World Championship finals to be shown next Sunday.

And it seems that, despite the still relative rarity of 300 games on PBA telecasts (there have been only 21 in 50 or so years), Belmo's accomplishment garnered virtually no attention from the sports or news media. Instead, they were all about Blanchard's boo-boo, with ESPN even interviewing him by phone while playing endless slow motion repetitions of "the fall."

To Blanchard's credit, he handled the interview with good-natured grace, but I'm guessing that this isn't how he wanted to find himself featured on ESPN, as his quote above amply implies. Yet, should the media have ignored him or, at least, given equal coverage to Belmo's 300 and tournament victory?

This was probably the first time a bowler has ever fallen like that on TV compared to the 21 PBA perfectos that have been televised. Yet, if Belmo's 300 had been the first or only the second or third perfecto ever, I'm wondering if it wouldn't have still been eclipsed by Blanchard's fall so far as the media's concerned.

Some complained about the media's coverage. Others said they understood it, even agreed with it and that the PBA should be grateful for any mass media coverage it can get. What do you think?

Bowling Quote of the Day--Mika's The One

"Mika's dominance globally over the past year simply cements his status as not just one of the top 20 players to ever shoe up on the PBA Tour, but in my opinion he has been the greatest influence in bringing the rest of the bowling world to our country. Belmo may be a rock star and indeed could potentially become one of the greatest ambassadors our sport has seen, but he may not have had this opportunity if not for Mika's influence and success."

--Donnie Layman

Should Jason Belmonte Have Won the ESPY for 2011 Bowler of the Year?

"Of all the award shows, the ESPYs have got to be the dumbest award show there is. First of all, award shows in general are sort of silly and ridiculous and we know they're just for creating publicity, but at least it makes some sort of sense within that framework to have an awards show for movies, or television, because there is no way with those to know which is the best. But when we're talking about sports -they actually play the game. We don't have to give an award to the best team. We know who the best team is - they've already won! That's the great thing about sports, there's a built-in objective mechanism by which we can ascertain who the winners are. But no, you have to win a second time in a tuxedo, and a spokesmodel has to hand you a trophy; that's what's important."

--Bill Maher

"I love John Walsh, and I have a fond feeling for ESPN. But I find the ESPY Awards objectionable. We already have awards. The World Series is an award. An MVP is an award. We don't need more awards. They make up this crap so they can fill time with it - the worst."

--Bill Wolff, former ESPN producer

I apologize for not posting for awhile, but now I'm back and have a lot of news and views to cover. Let me begin with this year's ESPY's. As you may or may not know, the ESPY awards are sports network ESPN's "Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly" awards that go to athletes in a wide variety of sports. The candidates in each sport or category are chosen by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee and then voted on through online fan balloting. The winners are honored on an ESPN television program.

You may be surprised that even though bowling seems to garner little respect in the sports world or among the public at large, there IS an ESPY award for "Best Bowler." I didn't agree with last year's choice of Walter Ray Williams Jr. over Kelly Kulick, but Walter Ray did have a good enough year that his selection wasn't the travesty this year's was.

This year, Jason Belmonte was selected "Bowler of the Year" and received his award on last night's ESPY broadcast. Now Jason has been known to read this blog on occasion, and I want to make it perfectly clear to him and to everyone else that I'm not slamming Belmo when I say that he didn't deserve to win the award. As I think I've made very clear on this blog, I stand in awe of Belmo's talent and skill and think he's one of the best bowlers on the planet and destined to get better and better still. However, I don't see any way in proverbial hell that he was this season's "best bowler."

If we look at the PBA Tour stats, at least three bowlers on tour had better seasons that Belmo did. Of course, there was PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi. But there were also Chris Barnes, who led the Tour in overall points, and Bill O'Neill, who surpassed Belmo in every statistical category. So, why did Belmo get the award?

I have to think it's because people voted without looking at the stats or caring what they revealed. I have to conclude that, at least so far as bowling is concerned, the ESPY award for "Best Bowler" was the result of a popularity contest or, perhaps, a coordinated voting campaign and not the result of an informed and reasoned pick of the highest performing bowler of the year.

I'm guessing that Jason knows this as well as anyone and is not as happy about his award as he'd like to be. I'm sure he'd like to know, in his heart of hearts, that he deserved it. But the one good thing about it is that it seems to show that the Bottlegate episodes have not significantly lessened his popularity with the bowling public. Nor should they.

Do you believe that Belmo deserved to win this year's ESPY award, and, if not, who do you think DID deserve it?

Bowling Quote of the Day--Del Ballard Doesn't Mind Bowling Controversy

"I don't mind a little controversy one bit. Throw it in the gutter and see how much controversy you get."

--Del Ballard, when asked about the Sean Rash-Jason Belmonte "Bottlegate" controversy