PBA Bowlers Are Magicians

2011 World Series of Bowling Highlights

Is PBA Xtra Frame's Jason Thomas Psychic?

In case you don't have enough reasons already to subscribe to the PBA's webcasting service, Xtra Frame, here's another one. This week the PBA is in Indianapolis for the fabled Tournament of Champions, and Xtra Frame has been covering it from the opening frames of qualifying yesterday. This morning at 10 AM Eastern, Osku Palermaa, who was in either second or first place going in to today's final 8-game block of qualifying, stepped up in the first frame of his first game and left a pocket 7-10 split. Not an auspicious start, to say the least. But not to worry.

"I'm gonna to go out on a limb and say he's going to make this, Jeff," said "The Bowling Guy," Jason Thomas, to his co-announcer, About.com's Bowling Guide Jeff Goodger. "He's gonna give us something to scream about right out of the gate this morning." "Good," replied Goodger. "I trust the bowling guy's instincts."

Well, I was surprised at such a bold prediction. It didn't sound like a joke. It sounded serious. And it's no small thing to seriously predict the conversion of a split that most of us have never converted ourselves and rarely if ever seen anyone else convert. I've been bowling pretty regularly for almost 50 years, most of it at the scratch level, and have left hundreds of 7-10 splits over that time. I've never converted the 7-10 even once. And I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen it converted in front of me. I've seen it converted a few more times on TV and the Internet, but not THAT many more. 7-10 conversions are pretty rare no matter who's shooting at them. They don't call the 7-10 split "impossible" for nothing.

So, my first thought was, "I know it's Osku, but no way's he's going to make it." Then, immediately after that, I thought, "But Jason made that prediction so confidently that I'll bet Osku does make it. So, this coverage must not be live, and Jason has already seen Osku pick it up and then managed to make it sound like he made his prediction before Osku converted the split." But then I thought, "That's impossible. Jason may be smart, but he couldn't pull THAT off! Osku's going to miss that split, and Jason and Jeff are going to be proven wrong, and that's too bad."

Well, now that I've set the stage for you, check out the video below to see what happened, and then subscribe to PBA Xtra Frame and catch the next PBA miracle live, not to mention all the other great action you can get live, if at all, ONLY on Xtra Frame.

Bowling Video--Top Ten Moments of PBA Tournament of Champions History

Danny Wiseman Bows Out of Roll Off in U.S. Open

A strange thing happened on the way to the cashier's round of the 69th PBA U.S. Open Thursday evening. 12-time Tour titlist Danny Wiseman tied with John Furey, setting the stage for a sudden death roll-off to determine who made the cut to the top 98. But Wiseman unexpectedly decided to concede the final spot in the cashier's round to Furey without a roll-off and later posted the following explanation of his decision to his Facebook Fan page:

"so here ya all go...after bowling decent all week making everything but not striking much I had a horrible last game needing to stay clean (think I was -34). I hit the pocket, playing left of 5th arrow, every shot except for the 3-6-7-10 I made in the 8th frame. the 8-10's were in the first frame and ninth (on a re rack no less) because the rack was really tight. I left a few weak tens, two four pins, and a blower 7 also. So I talked to John Furey and told him no need for me to continue this aggravation when I have no chance to win (which is the point of this). 1000 bucks isn't going to break me and at this stage of my career I don't need to go try figure this out as I have yet to ever with this pattern. My tilt and roll and rev rate are not conducive, and yes I have tried many things to no avail over the years. I figured John could use the experience more than I as he is a future star. So I am not going to Detroit and Indy is in question. The T of C I am going to. I am working on some bowling related things to get into for the next stage of my life and career. Bowling full time is not one of them. Stay tuned and go like my fan page even after i "surrendered" LOL!...By the way, have been riddled with injuries and my left ankle was bothering me again and not sure I'd make it the 8 games anyway..."

PBA Xtra Frame commentator Jason Thomas said it was one of the strangest things he'd ever seen happen in a PBA tournament and that he never expected to see it again. But Wiseman received a very positive response from his fans.

What do you think of Wiseman's decision? Do you think he should have taken on Furey in a roll-off for the final spot in the cashier's round, or did he do a good thing in not contesting newcomer Furey's chance to compete further?

Bowling Doctor Jeff Mark's Mysterious Departure From PBA and Xtra Frame

Jeff Mark was known on the PBA's webcasting service Xtra Frame as the "Bowling Doctor." And if you watched any of Xtra Frame's coverage of PBA events, you know why. He was extremely knowledgeable about the technical aspects of bowling biomechanics, ball physics, lane construction and oil patterns, and how all these variables fit together in the increasingly challenging sport of bowling. Not only that, but he could articulate these concepts very clearly. Many times, I tuned in to Xtra Frame as much for his incisive commentary as to watch the action.

So, I was very surprised and extremely disappointed yesterday to learn that Jeff had parted ways with the PBA and would no longer be commentating on Xtra Frame. I was even more surprised to read one of the rumors circulating about why this happened. I don't believe the rumor and won't share it here, but I admit that I am curious about why Jeff left the PBA or was let go after years of seemingly dedicated and exceedingly capable service.

I inquired about it on Facebook's PBA page and on the PBA's Xtra Frame message board forum, but both inquiries were promptly deleted, and I received a private message from a PBA spokesperson explaining that this was a private matter and that no public discussion of it would be "tolerated" in PBA domains.

I guess I can understand and accept this. If I resigned or were let go from a public position, I might want the details kept quiet too instead of seeing official explanations or rumors galore splattered across the websites of my former employer.

Still, I don't think it's necessarily morbid curiosity that motivates fans of Jeff Mark, as I surely was, to want to know more about why he's no longer with the PBA or on Xtra Frame, and I don't think we're necessarily being unreasonable in our dissatisfaction with the seemingly tight-lipped and heavy-handed way in which the PBA has handled his sudden departure and public inquiries concerning it. I don't know precisely how these things should be handled, but I wish there were a better way to do it.

Nevertheless, the show must go on, and I've been assured by the aforementioned spokesperson that "The Bowling Guy" Jason Thomas will very capably take over Mark's commentary position, and, having heard Jason's work over many hours on Xtra Frame and having read his excellent columns on the PBA website, I don't doubt that he'll do an outstanding job in his own right.

Below is a video showing some of Jeff Mark's work on PBA Xtra Frame, even though it doesn't showcase his superb expert commentary skills.

Bowling Quote of the Day--Jason Thomas' Take on Bottlegate

"What I take from it personally is that what we have in this incident is genuine proof that the competition on the PBA Tour is as intense as what we see in any other major sport, and one of the goals of the PBA is to illustrate that point for fans outside the fold."

--Jason Thomas

Bowling Quote of the Day--Chicago Bowling Lounge and Kingda Ka

"Moving the action from a theme park with Bugs Bunny and Batman in attendance to a Chicago bowling lounge was tantamount to the difference between Kingda Ka and the Wiggles World (see below)...and it turned out to make all the difference in the world in transforming the event from a "silly season" exhibition into a real competition."

--Jason Thomas

Two-Handed Women and One-handed Thumbless Senior Bowlers

One of the great features of PBA Xtra Frame is that you can submit questions via the PBA Facebook page and get them answered almost immediately on the webcasts. Today, during Xtra Frame's coverage of the PBA Senior Northern California Classic, someone asked Jeff Mark and Jason Thomas if any seniors on tour bowl two-handed.

The answer was that no one, except for Walter Ray fiddling with it from time to time, does, probably because the two-handed delivery places too much strain on the lower back to lend itself to use by older bowlers. But, both Mark and Thomas opined that we might start seeing more elite female players using this style.

For, whereas a man using this style gets only a relatively small rev and speed advantage over the more powerful one-handed stylists on tour, an effective two-handed female bowler would have a tremendous power advantage over all but, perhaps, Michelle Feldman. So, if a woman were to start throwing the ball well two-handed, it could entice many other women to adopt the style, and this could have a huge impact on elite women's bowling.

I followed up this question by asking if any seniors on tour bowled with no thumb one-handed. Thomas answered that no one on the senior tour does now but that there's a guy in Southern California approaching seniorhood who might soon make a dent on the tour with his one-handed thumbless style and that Mike Miller, who cashed in the Tournament of Champions this year, would also be a senior soon and could be a thumbless force to be reckoned with.

If I don't beat him to it with my own thumbless style, that is. :-) Or maybe I should further develop my two-handed game.

Belmonte Releases Impassioned Public Statement on Bottlegate

"I will say this loud and very clear and I say it to those who have bowled against me in the past, those I will play in the future and to the fans watching. I am a respectful, honourable and honest bowler and person. If you beat me, you did it because you were better than me on the day and the same goes if I beat you. Simple as that."

--Jason Belmonte

When Jason Belmonte's water bottle first became the center of controversy back in March in his televised match with Brad Angelo, I didn't know what to think. Here I'd been writing posts of glowing praise not only of Belmo's awesome bowling talent and skill but also of his sterling sportsmanship as a competitor and gracious affability as a human being, and then along came this unfortunate incident that, to the superficial eye, cast doubt on Belmo's character being all it was cracked up to be. After all, it would be pretty underhanded of him to deliberately crinkle his water bottle to distract Angelo, and it would downright mendacious of him to lie repeatedly about it afterward.

But when I examined and reexamined the video of the incident, listened to and read what both Belmo and Angelo had to say on the matter, and weighed all of that against my observations of Belmo's actions and character ever since he came to my attention several years before, I came to the tentative conclusion that Belmo was speaking the truth when he insisted that he hadn't purposely crinkled his bottle to distract Angelo, and I felt sad that a good many people in the bowling forums I frequented were accusing Belmo of cheating and denigrating his character.

I also took strong exception to Jason Thomas' article that appeared to me to effusively praise Angelo for standing up to Belmo the way he did on the telecast and to indirectly chastise Belmo and to cast aspersions on his character for defending himself and criticizing the PBA's handling of the incident.

Then along came the more recent incident with Sean Rash, and I was left wondering if I'd been too quick to jump on Belmo's bandwagon. After all, you'd think that after the incident with Angelo and all the controversy it stirred up and the upset it caused Belmo, the last thing in the world he would even think of doing is going near a water bottle when his opponent was up on the approach.

I subsequently posted an entry to my blog about this, and Belmo read it that same day and sent me a private message denying that he had deliberately sought to distract Rash and explaining exactly what happened. I then watched the only video available at the time over and over and came to the conclusion that Belmo's denial and explanation seemed credible after all. Later, another video came out that showed a little more of what happened, and it too appeared to me to support Belmo's comments to me.

Well, today Belmo released a lengthy public statement (click here to read it) on both "Bottlegate" incidents. In it, he denies, as he did to me, that he deliberately tried to distract either Angelo or Rash, insists that he has tremendous respect for the sport of bowling and for the PBA and that he would do nothing to tarnish either one, states that a person's character and integrity is of vital importance to him and that he resents the aspersions that have been cast on his by people too quick to jump to the worst possible conclusions about these bottle incidents, and explains exactly what happened with Sean Rash and how he feels about it and Rash's reaction.

Here are some of the highlights of Belmo's statement:

"Over the last few months my credibility as a bowler, as a person and as a friend has been cast over a shadow of doubt. I have been labeled a cheat, a child, and much worse things by fans, and other pros. Even worse, pros that I considered friends.

For what? Because I drink water out of a bottle? Don’t all athletes during pressure filled situations?

I said sorry to Angelo during and after our match at the Dick Weber Playoffs last season. I felt like the timing in which the bottle popped was extremely unfortunate. It caught him and even though I didn’t agree with how he reacted, I did the right thing and told him it was accidental, that I felt horrible about it and in no way did I intend to put him off. This incident was then blown out of the water by certain staff at the PBA, blasted all over Facebook and PBA.com, with poorly chosen headlines and edited YouTube clips to not only cause doubt over my intentions while bowling against Angelo but also to cause doubt over who I am as a person. To say after that incident I was upset was an understatement. I hate that it happened and I thought I made that clear by how apologetic I was on the day and in interviews there after that show.

Fast forward to June for the PBA Summer Series, one of the last matches of the summer series ended up with Sean Rash and I being the last bowlers left standing. Like I had for every single other frame of every other match I start my pre-shot routine by taking a drink from the water bottle given to me by the TV crew on the set.

On one of the closing shots of our match, while Rash was preparing, I had searched for my bottle that had fallen under my seat. I picked my bottle up off the floor. I held it by the bottle cap waiting for him to complete the shot. It popped in my hand, well before I was ever thinking about opening it. Not in his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th step, but before he had even taken a single step on the approach. I didn’t hold the bottle on the sides, pressing it in, trying to pop it during his approach. I simply was waiting. He pulled back, set himself again and bowled a great shot. When it struck, the verbal abuse started and his language with children present and the fact that it was on TV was appalling. He claimed in his rant, between the cursing, that what I do with the bottle I do to everyone else on tour and that he took it upon himself to express that for everyone...

I have spent my entire career labeled a cheat because of the technique I have developed. I have spent years proving that I only beat you on the lanes because I was better than you on the day, not because I am breaking rules or trying to put people off...

I am completely insulted and disappointed by Rash and his actions. I am embarrassed and feel so stupid that I once not only called him a friend but when Rash was away from his family and friends in foreign lands across the world it was I who was there for him...

This blatant verbal abuse and disrespect is not what the PBA deserves from one of it’s current and for sure future stars, nor do I deserve it as a player or as a human being."

In addition to Belmonte's passionate statement, a new video clip of the Rash incident was released today that shows more of the entire incident and from a different camera angle than before. I hope you'll read Belmonte's statement in full, check out the video below, and tell me what you think. I plan to post my take on these most recent revelations tomorrow.

Extended Clip: Rash/Belmonte Bottle Incident - Click here for more blooper videos

Walter Ray Widening His PBA Senior U.S. Open Lead Going Into Final Day of Competition

"I’m still throwing the ball well. I had to migrate left a little tonight as the lane condition broke down, but it wasn’t much – which was fine with me. There are no guarantees heading into tomorrow, but I like what’s going on. I’d be very happy to have to bowl only one game in the stepladder finals for the title."

--Walter Ray Williams Jr.

After 35 games of match play and qualifying, Walter Ray Williams Jr. entered today's final day of competition in the PBA Senior U.S. Open with a 203 pin lead over second place Wayne Webb, last year's Senior Player of the Year.

PBA Xtra Frame is covering all of today's action, albeit with some unfortunate technical glitches thus far this morning. The bowlers will bowl two eight-game round-robin match play rounds this morning and afternoon, and the top four will advance to the stepladder finals beginning at approximately 3:30 pm Pacific.

Extended Bottlegate 2 Clip Promised

And bear in mind that Xtra Frame is supposed to be featuring an extended clip of "Bottlegate 2" this afternoon between the final round of match play and the stepladder finals. Xtra Frame announcer Jeff Mark and commentator Jason Thomas have said that this could well be the "most intense confrontation in the history of the PBA."

If you don't subscribe to Xtra Frame, I'll be blogging about what I saw in the clip as soon as I can after viewing it.

Click here to read the story on Thursday's action and see the standings going into today's concluding action.

PBA Xtra Frame's Announcement About Bottlegate 2

"I did get to see it today, I saw it, and you don't want to miss it."

--Jeff Mark

Today, I had meant to post a lot more about the increasingly infamous Bottlegate 2 incident where Sean Rash called Jason Belmonte a "bottle bitch" for crinkling his bottle while Rash was bowling. But I've been watching PBA Xtra Frame's live coverage of the PBA Senior U.S. Open, and I heard PBA publicist Jason Thomas and "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark explain that there's a lot more to the story than is revealed in the short clip of Rash's outburst that's been making the rounds.

Apparently, some pretty heated confrontations occurred before and after Sean's angry words that were caught by the cameras and will be shown the second weekend of ESPN's airing of the GEICO Team Shootout. The first week's airing is on Saturday, June 25. So, I'm reluctant to say much more about Bottlegate 2 until I've seen all of this.

PBA Xtra Frame Exclusive

Fortunately, as a subscriber to PBA Xtra Frame, I may not have to wait until early July to see it. For Jason Thomas and Jeff Mark announced this afternoon that they've obtained video from ESPN that shows more of the incident and that they've asked for and expect to receive permission to show it on Xtra Frame. If they do get that permission, they plan to show it tomorrow between the final match play position round and the beginning of the stepladder finals. This means it should air shortly before 3:17 PM PDT tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if it also ends up on YouTube shortly thereafter, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. In the meantime, I'll watch it tomorrow and blog soon after about what I saw.

Besides this, while watching Xtra Frame, I got a chance to ask Jeff Mark and Jason Thomas, via the PBA's Facebook, page the following question:

"Do you think Belmo is crinkling his bottle to purposely distract his opponents and is lying when he says he isn't, or do you think he's doing it out of unconscious, nervous habit?"

Jason Thomas replied on Xtra Frame by saying that given the frequency of Belmo's bottle crinkling and the problems it's been causing, there are essentially two "options": (1) Either Belmo IS deliberately distracting opponents and then lying about it when called to task for it, or he's pretty "clueless" or careless. In either case, Thomas said, Belmo needs to stop doing what he's been doing and should "come out and address it" publicly before he suffers irreparable damage to what's left of his good reputation.

Belmonte Writes to Me

Now it just so happens that after I posted my first blog entry about this issue on Tuesday, Jason Belmonte wrote to me privately to give me his side of the story, and I would love to share with you what he said. But I'm still trying to secure his permission to share it. In the meantime, I will only say that he denied purposely crinkling his bottle to distract Sean.

When I look at all the coverage I and other people are giving this relatively minor incident and issue, I feel a little sheepish continuing to write about it here. Yet, I won't lie and say that I'm not kind of jazzed over it and that I'm not having fun writing about it, and I've received many more hits on this blog over the past couple of days than I normally do. So, it seems as though a lot of you are interested too.

Please stay tuned for further developments.

Sean Rash Scolds Jason Belmonte in Bottlegate #2

"Take that you bottle bitch!...I'm tired of it. Everyone, you do it to."

--Sean Rash to Jason Belmonte after a Rash strike

Here we go again. A little over two months ago, I wrote a series of posts about the infamous "Bottlegate" incident in which Brad Angelo took Jason Belmonte to task for his noisy water bottle in a televised match. I defended Belmonte, mildly criticized Angelo, and rebuked PBA publicist Jason Thomas for disparaging Belmonte and praising Angelo.

Well, it's happened again. Somebody has called Belmo to task for making his water bottle talk at an inopportune time. This time it was during the taping of a GEICO PBA Team Shootout match in Chicago between Team Storm and Team Brunswick, and Sean Rash is the guy doing the scolding, albeit after a strike and in a very different manner from the way Angelo did it.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't beginning to have serious doubts about Belmonte at this point. When it happened with Angelo, I thought it could very well have been an accident with an unexpectedly crinkly water bottle. But you'd think Belmo would now go out of his way to be careful about things like that. Besides, it seems to me that the sound emanating from Belmo's bottle this time is not an innocent crinkle but a fully deliberate popping of the top off the bottle just before Rash releases the ball. Now, of course, Belmo could have done this from force of unconscious habit that wasn't intended to bother Rash, but one could argue that this is being awfully charitable to Belmo under the circumstances.

Take a look at the two videos below (the first is of the incident with Angelo and the second is the one involving Sean Rash) and tell me what you think. And here is the write up that Jason Thomas did about Bottlegate #2.

Video--What Do YOU Love About Bowling?

Here is a marvelous, short video in which some of the PBA's best (with the notable absence of Walter Ray Williams Jr.) explain why they love bowling. I think the bowling industry needs to do more of this kind of self-promotion. Kudos to PBA publicist Jason Thomas on this one. The background music, the bowlers' insightful comments, and the visuals are just a superb blend.

Bowling This Thursday on "Bones"

The last time I saw a network TV series make bowling a prominent part of one of its episodes, I didn't like it. In fact, I thought it was ridiculous. It was an episode of CSI where, as I recall, two pros were battling it out in a big televised match when someone's head came rolling out of the ball return and, as you can well imagine, brought the match to a sudden halt and the CSI crew in to investigate.

PBA publicist Jason Thomas acted as a double for one of the actors in the bowling scenes and wrote about his experience here. Let me put it this way, it sounds like he had a lot more fun making the episode than I had watching it.

Well, it looks like network TV is about to do bowling another favor or, depending on how you look at it, disfavor this Thursday night at 9 PM with the season-ending episode of the Bones forensic drama series on Fox. Here is the "episode summary" I saw on TV.COM:

In the 6th season finale, the team investigates the disturbing, unidentifiable remains of a bowler that were found jammed in one of the bowling alley's automatic pinsetters. After hitting a dead end in the case, Booth and Brennan decide to go undercover and join a competitive bowling team in search of answers.

I'll probably force myself to watch this just to see if it paints bowling in an even more unflattering light than CSI did and, of course, to gather more grist for my blogging mill. In the meantime, you can check out the video below from another episode of CSI. I just discovered it today while looking for videos for this entry. I gotta get me one of them dice balls.

Jason Thomas Praises Dan MacLelland

Jason Thomas has just posted an article on pba.com, Dan MacLelland is Breakthrough Star of 10-11 Season. Here is a choice quote:

"MacLelland possesses one of the strongest strike balls on Tour, a sick, vertical backswing with perfect balance, and his ability to compete on difficult conditions (he qualified 5th for the U.S. Open telecast, which is considered the toughest condition on the Tour) made him a threat any given week. He also can roll the big scores as well, once shooting a "low 6" (that would be a perfect 600 series) for a 2-game sweeper at the South Point in Las Vegas during a megabuck amateur event prior to his debut on Tour."

Preview of Dick Weber PBA Playoffs Seminfinals

Don't miss the conference finals episode of the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs tomorrow on ESPN at 1 PM Eastern. Please check out Jason Thomas' video preview below.

Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship Ball Auction in Progress

Would you like to own a piece of bowling history? As Jason Thomas reports today, OnTheBallBowling.com is auctioning off on eBay balls used by the following all-star participants in the 2011 Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship held in Cheektowaga, NY this last March 2-6: Walter Ray Williams Jr., Jason Belmonte, Bill O’Neill, Tommy Jones, Kelly Kulick, Mika Koivuniemi, Rhino Page, Tom Baker, and Danny Wiseman.

The bidding, beginning yesterday and continuing until Sunday, April 10 at 8 PM Eastern, starts at $100, and the after cost proceeds will be evenly divided among the following charities: The Bowling Foundation, The Bowlers to Veterans Link (BVL), Bowl for the Cure (Susan G. Komen / Breast Cancer), The International Museum and Hall of Fame, and the Youth Education Services Fund (YES).

You can read Thomas' article and get direct links to the eBay auctions here.

More on Jason Thomas' Praise of Brad Angelo

Jason Thomas posted an article to the PBA website the other day praising Brad Angelo as his new "favorite bowler." He said this was because Angelo is a good bowler who stands up to provocations from players like Chris Barnes and "Australian golden boy" Jason Belmonte and brings an "in your face" attitude to televised matches that gives PBA telecasts a needed dose of excitement. He also said he respects Angelo for not "bemoaning" his or the PBA's use of the infamous "Bottlegate" incident to stir up interest.

I posted an entry here Tuesday criticizing Thomas' article. I said I was "disappointed" with Thomas for defending his promotion of Bottlegate in the manner that he did, for praising Brad Angelo for his conduct, for insinuating that Belmo may have deliberately distracted him and then protested too much when called on it, and for implying that the PBA might do well to turn its telecasts into "PBA Sunday Smackdown" to liven things up and attract more viewers.

A Reader's Comment

I was pretty harsh in my criticism of Thomas and the PBA, but nowhere near as much so as one of my regular readers and commenters, Kerry, who posted the following scathing comment regarding Tuesday's article:

I read Thomas' piece on Monday. My initial thoughts on it aren't fit for publication. Angelo is now some kind of hero, to be held in higher esteem than the likes of Jack Jurek, Tommy Jones, Norm Duke, WRW and many, many others? wow........

I am completely and thoroughly disgusted with him and the PBA, for not only condoning but obviously approving of his and Angelo's behavior.

I had intended to obtain the Xtra Frame goodies, via a yearly subscription. I'll not do that now. I'll not support an organization that doesn't share and uphold the value system that I hold dear. My value system puts honor, honesty, integrity and fair play above all else.

Obviously, they think that pro bowlers have to change into some kind of reality show participant, where the folks can tune in and laugh at the dysfunctional players. Next we'll have "inside" looks at the pros double bunking in their hotels, fighting over the bathroom and TV remote and so on. We'll get to watch and listen to their phone conversations with their wives and/or girlfriends, completely revealing their dysfunctional relationships over the seasons. Of course, that won't be enough. They'll have to have several staged fights at every tournament, with lots of commercials showing teasers of the fights in upcoming matches.

No thanks. Not interested. Maybe other folks are and they'll succeed. If not, I'll wait until they go under and see what, if anything, takes their place.

I will say this about the water bottles. I have a new brand of bottled water at home, with bottles that make a lot of noise. Those bottles store energy and will make noise for some time after they've been set down. You take a drink, cap the bottle, set it down and it'll entertain you for a couple of minutes. That's something that I'm quite sure Angelo and company don't know or wouldn't share if they did know.

Lastly, I'd offer up this video clip for those that like to whine about noise ruining their shots. It's the 1999 PBA National match between Dave Arnold and Chris Barnes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weW8GF9BTlc

Their treatment of Belmonte has left a sour taste in my mouth and seriously dampened my enthusiasm for watching bowling.

My Response

For the record, I still think highly of Jason Thomas. I think he's a bright, knowledgeable, and creative guy who loves the PBA and works extremely hard on Xtra Frame and in other ways to promote professional bowling and its players, and I know these must be very challenging tasks given the appalling amount of apathy that seems to exist toward bowling and its top players even amongst serious bowlers. And I do hope Kerry will mellow in his displeasure and subscribe to PBA Xtra Frame to enjoy fabulous in depth coverage of the PBA like no other.

But I also hope that the powers-that-be in the PBA will not put publicity at any cost ahead of the integrity of the game and the respect it, the PBA, accords its players. Incidents like "Bottlegate" and, if I may be permitted to coin a new term, "Brooklyngate" are so noteworthy precisely because televised confrontations between the players are so blessedly rare. I hope it stays that way. Hockey players can pummel each other silly on the ice. The boys of summer can brawl on the pitcher's mound to the point of bruised exhaustion. But let PBA bowlers continue to conduct themselves on the lanes with exemplary professionalism and class and the PBA continue to encourage this.

Jason Thomas' Disappointing Article on Bottlegate

"We also saw a nice bit of controversy and confrontation between Brad Angelo and Jason Belmonte."

--Jason Thomas

Jason Thomas posted a column (you can read it here) yesterday on pba.com that I'd like to say a few words about today, now that I've had a chance to give it some thought.

Frankly, I'm very disappointed with Mr. Thomas for using "Bottlegate" to try to "generate fan interest and conversation" heading into last Sunday's show" and then gloating over the fact that "it worked" despite the unpleasant fallout that's ensued.

I'm disappointed that he would characterize what took place between Belmo and Angelo as "a nice bit of controversy and confrontation." Given the accusations and insults that have been heaped on both players ever since on Facebook and probably elsewhere, along with the hurt feelings and resentment Belmo has expressed over the whole incident, I don't see anything "nice" about it.

I'm disappointed that he would sully Belmo's well-deserved reputation as one of the most personable and, more importantly, sportsmanlike players on tour by referring to him as "Australian golden-boy Jason Belmonte" within a context that sounds like a cynical if not sneering appraisal of Belmo's integrity. For while "golden boy" can mean different things, the fact that Thomas uses the expression in an article in which he praises Angelo for rightfully confronting the "Australian golden-boy" sounds like he means the following definition from the Urban Dictionary: "The person who appears to have an untarnished record of any kind. Most people considered a "golden boy" actually do have many flaws and are not what they seem."

I'm disappointed with Mr. Thomas for writing, "The timing of the bottle noise definitely called into legitimate question the intent of the action, and Angelo was simply confronting the culprit in order to stand up for his rights as a competitor." Again, it sounds like Mr. Thomas is casting aspersions on Belmo's intentions, and he's praising Angelo for, in my opinion, handling the incident in a less than optimal manner.

I'm disappointed with Mr. Thomas for writing that after the incident went public, Angelo was criticized far more than Belmo was but that "Brad never felt the need to blame or belittle his fellow competitor after the fact...or bemoan or hassle others (myself and the PBA included) for drawing attention to the thing that led to so much negative criticism." Thomas seems to be alluding to Belmo's comments on Facebook where he expresses his displeasure with Thomas and the PBA for trying to capitalize on the incident, such as when Belmo wrote: "I'm a little sad to see the PBA try and blow this out of proportion considering the match itself is a great match and was very close all the way to the end. Clutching at straws I guess," and referred to the PBA elsewhere as throwing him "under the bus" for publicity's sake. I think Jason Thomas and the PBA have done precisely that, and, for the record, Belmo has had nothing but good words to say about Angelo ever since the incident, whereas Angelo, although generally complimentary to Belmo, continued, in this interview that Mr. Thomas cites as an example of Angelo's graciousness toward Belmo, to express skepticism about Belmo's intentions.

But what disappoints me perhaps most of all is that Mr. Thomas and, presumably, the PBA he represents, seems to think that turning PBA telecasts into bowling's version of Wrestlemania is a good way to promote the PBA. Thomas writes:

"So, if you are not currently a Brad Angelo fan, I would strongly encourage you to re-evaluate your position, if not for the sake of his fan club mailing list and highly successful bowling camps, then at least for the message it sends to his fellow players that what you want to see on TV is candid, in-your-face, bowling action, which when we get it, showcases our sport at it's very best and most dramatic."

I don't know about you, but I think PBA bowling is at its very best and most dramatic when the players let their bowling balls and not their mouths do the talking in outstandingly executed and nail-biting matches to the wire. They don't need to get in each other's faces, and, if and when they do, the PBA doesn't need to glorify it and then take snide shots at those who criticize them for doing so. If professional bowling in this country is so desperate for ratings that it's seeking to turn its telecasts into "PBA Sunday Smackdown," Jason Belmonte's right. The PBA *is* "clutching at straws,"and straws won't keep it from drowning.

You can read my previous entries on "Bottlegate" here, here, and here.