"The balls we used in the 70's would be like golfers today using hickory shafts."
--Marshall Holman
Do you Facebook? If not, you might want to consider signing up. Even if you don't have the time or inclination to do much posting, you might want to befriend or "like" other people, groups, or organizations.
For instance, I "like" the PBA. As a result, I get updates from the PBA on my Facebook "wall" about players, tournament results, and other news concerning the PBA in particular and bowling in general.
This morning, I followed a link on the PBA's Facebook page to an article written by Tom Clark (I don't know if it's the same Tom Clark who is currently PBA VP and COO) for USATODAY in 2002 about the proliferation of 300 games since bowling's inception. The article begins by mentioning 84-year-old Joe Nagy Sr's 300 ring that he received from the American Bowling Congress in 1952 for being one of only 192 ABC members that year to bowl a sanctioned 300. Yet, in 2001, a staggering 42,163 sanctioned perfect games were bowled. This is despite the fact that in 1952, there were 1.6 million ABC members nationwide and only 100,000 more members than that in 2001. And in 1980, when there were 4.8 million ABC members or three times more members than in 2001, there were almost eight times fewer 300 games rolled.
The USATODAY article explores the issue of why people are bowling so many more 300's and other high scores today than they used to and what, if anything, can and should be done about it. Pros such as hall of famer Marshall Holman blame it on the newer hi tech bowling balls that flood the market due to a lack of reasonable restrictions placed on bowling ball manufacturers. Hall of famer Johnny Petraglia believes that this could be offset to a significant degree by making the bowling pins heavier. "Heavier pins," he says, "would bring back the need for a combination of power and accuracy."
"For it to be the Mark Roth and to be my first tournament win in three, four years is such a relief. It's special. ... It's a big monkey off my back."
--Jason Couch
It wasn't as entertaining as last year's plastic ball tournament in which Jason Belmonte left that impossible solid 7 pin on the first ball of a sudden-death rolloff and Brian Ziesig stepped up and delivered a clutch strike to win the championship. But it was still pretty entertaining watching hall-of-famer Parker Bohn defeat Tom Smallwood and fireballing hometown boy Ryan Ciminelli before falling to future hall-of-famer Jason Couch yesterday in the final game of the 2011 Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship at the Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, N.Y.
And it all began in wonderful style with Mark Roth himself shown throwing a ball and getting a seven count just before the competition began. Mark overcame a serious stroke on June 4, 2009 to make his remarkable appearance yesterday, and I hope he continues to improve.
In last year's version of the tournament, Roth appeared in the public arena for the first time since his stroke and could barely walk. This time, with the aid of all the rehabilitation he's undergone plus the help of an electrical stimulator called "WalkAide," he was able to get around much better and to even throw a couple of balls in front of the crowd as well as beat his physical therapist a few days before with a 157 game while throwing a 15 pound ball. This is tremendous progress since almost dying less than two years ago and not being expected to ever be able to walk again.
As for yesterday's matches, Tom Smallwood, who's had another great season, especially with his second place $100,000 finish in the Tournament of Champions, never did get lined up but still kept his match with Bohn close to the very end. In the next match, Ciminelli outbowled Bohn but had trouble carrying corner pins and lost to Bohn in another squeaker. In the final match, neither bowler performed at his best, but Bohn struggled mightily with getting the right feel in his thumbhole and consequently threw some bad balls that put him out of the match with Couch fairly early on. This was Couch's first title since 2007. As you may recall, Couch is the only bowler to ever win the coveted Tournament of Champions title three consecutive times.
Also noteworthy was hall-of-famer Johnny Petraglia's eighth place finish in the tournament. This borders on astonishing for a 64-year-old man competing with the young lions!
Perhaps almost equally astonishing is the fact that Chris Barnes finished only 30th in a tournament where one would expect his superior talent, skill, and bowling knowledge to propel him to greater heights. After all, this tournament was designed to, as the PBA website describes it, "put a premium on knowledge of changing lane conditions, subtle adjustments in hand positions and delivery techniques, and other skills rather than relying on advanced bowling ball technology." Whom would one expect to be better in these areas than Chris Barnes? Well, maybe we should expect it from old timers like Johnny Petraglia and even Parker Bohn who grew up having to rely more on these very skills in order to succeed.
Below are the final standings, playoff results, and videos of the televised finals.
Final Standings
1. Jason Couch, Clermont, Fl., 219 (1 game), $20,000
A long time ago, a company called SyberVision sold videotapes featuring top performers in various sports like tennis, golf, and martial arts demonstrating techniques in those sports at normal speed and in slow motion over and over with hypnotic musical accompaniment. The idea behind this was that if you watched these videos, your brain would learn the demonstrated techniques without you even having to practice them physically. Or at least, you would learn them more quickly once you actually went to the court, course, or dojo to practice them.
One of these SyberVision tapes purported to teach you how to bowl strikes by watching Marshall Holman and Johnny Petraglia do it in the manner described above. The video below features the Johnny Petraglia portion of the bowling demonstration. Watch it and see if it makes you a better bowler.
What exciting times lie in store for Xtra Frame viewers this evening when the top 16 take to the lanes to do match play battle.
Jason Belmonte continued to distance himself from mere mortals by shooting 268-202-258-246-239-277-299 for his last seven games (and an incredible 815 for his last three games) to regain the lead (+1125). He came within a hair of shooting his third 300 of the tournament, and, remember, this is with plastic. His ball is hitting those pins like no one else's.
Behind him, in descending order, are Brian Ziesig (+1091), Walter Ray Williams Jr. (+1011), Bill O'Neill (+992), Michael Machuga (+951), Wayne Garber (+943), Jack Jurek +883), Mike Fagan (+868), Johnny Petraglia Jr. (+864), Parker Bohn III (+838), Jason Couch (+818), Ronnie Russell (+816), Alex Cavagnaro (+806), Rhino Page (+797), Robert Smith (+783), and last but not least, Chris Barnes (+774). Chris shot 268 in the position round to make the cut.
Johnny Petraglia Sr, who bowled and beat his son in the first match of the day, was in the top ten for awhile and hovered around the cut most of the morning until dropping down to 22nd at the end. But what a great week for the 63-year-old Hall of Famer.
Walter Ray Williams Jr., who led at times this morning and shot 299 one game, suffered a severely chipped ball toward the end of the Round of 32 and was left with only one ball with which to struggle through the remainder of the round. However, although each player is allowed only two balls for the entire tournament, having one of your balls break is an exception, and Walter will therefore be able to drill up another ball for tonight.
Another fact of interest is that Johnny Petraglia Jr. made the cut throwing his strike ball without his thumb.
This match between good friends Mark Roth and Johnny Petraglia is from the 2001 Las Vegas Sr. Open. Petraglia is donating half of his earnings this week at the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship to Roth's medical care.
At 11 PM EDT today, the Round of 32 of the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship will commence with match play, and PBA Xtra Frame will be there to bring it to you from start to finish along with expert commentary that will be about a lot more this time around than what equipment the players are using.
And its first featured match will be between Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia and his son Johnny Petraglia Jr. It's the first time they've made it into match play together. Father and son. Both lefties. Bowling each other in the first game of match play. I'm looking forward to it.
After the first 7 game block of the Round of 64 of the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, the inimitable Wayne Garber (see video below) leads with a whopping 252 average. He shot a sizzling 801 series for the last 3 games. And to think that I seriously considered bowling in a local scratch tournament in the near future in which he, Wayne Webb, and a host of other guys of that caliber are likely to compete. I think I'll pass.
Anyway, here are the top five after the first block:
1. Wayne Garber (+363)
2. Walter Ray Williams (+301)
3. Mike Fagan (+281)
4. Brian Waliczek (+263)
5. Ryan Ciminelli (+244)
By the way, Jason Belmonte's in 9th, Brian Voss is in 10th, Bill O'Neill's in 11th, and the great Johnny Petraglia's in 13th while his son sits in 28th. Unfortunately, Chris Barnes continues to struggle at -46, but I want to believe that he can catch fire this evening and make the cut.
The second block will commence today at 5 PM EDT. After that, the field will be cut in half to 32 and bowl tomorrow. You can watch it all live on PBA Xrtra Frame.
I enjoyed watching some of the qualifying rounds of the TOC (Tournament of Champions) yesterday on PBA Xtra Frame. It was great seeing old timers such as Dave Soutar, Carmen Salvino, Ernie Schlegel, Johnny Petraglia, and Don McCune bowling with the youngsters. Surprisingly, Hall of Famer Wayne Webb is in eighth place after two rounds (16 games) of qualifying.
I'm pulling for Wayne, not only because he's always been one of my favorite bowlers and is a fellow Sacramentan, but he was also my ball driller until he left his Sacramento pro shop to bowl full time on the senior tour. Two years ago he watched me bowl, suggested a ball for me, drilled it the way he thought was best for my ball roll, and I took it right out of the box and shot 812 with it in league a few nights later. That ball fits me better than any I've ever had and works very well for me. Thank you Wayne, and hang in there this week.
Another surprise is that Kelly Kulick is in sixth place after two rounds. I'd like to see her make it to the televised finals and challenge the men for the championship. But she may have to get past the likes of Rhino Page, Pete Weber, and Tommy Jones--first, second, and third place respectively after the second round--to win it all. And Walter Ray is, as usual, still in the hunt in 14th place. Yesterday I saw him move from an outside line in the first round to more of an inside line than you almost ever see him play and still hit the pocket consistently and carry pretty well. That may not be his A game, but he usually finds a way to get it done no matter what. I'd like to see him win it all this year and add to his resume what has so far been an elusive championship.
I don't know what's been happening with Norm Duke lately. We've heard nothing from him since his Cheetah Championship win at the WSOB in Detroit, and he had to pull out of the competition yesterday after the 12th game. That must have been very difficult for him seeing as how focused he is on winning majors. But I hope to see him back at his best soon.
Later today, the bowlers will complete the final 8 game round of qualifying and then the top 24 will advance to match play this evening. Match play should be a lot of fun to watch tonight on Xtra Frame with all the expert commentary that will go along with it.
