Bowling Bytes--4/23/10

~ Japan's Aizawa Leads Japan Cup Qualifying; 18 of 20 PBA Stars Advance to Match Play Eliminations -- "Hideaki Aizawa of Japan averaged 233 to earn the top qualifying position in the 25th anniversary DYDO Japan Cup Friday at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Bowling Center, topping Professional Bowlers Association star Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, by 60 pins as the top 48 players advanced to the match play elimination portion of the event..."

~ Bowling community reflects on Ladewig's passing -- "Reflections from around the bowling community on the passing of Hall of Fame bowler Marion Ladewig on April 16, 2010. For a look at the career of Marion Ladewig, click here..."

~ Remembering "Queen Marion": Ladewig's journey from rags to bowling royalty -- "Marion Ladewig looks out from behind the pins one winter afternoon as she fills in for an absent pinboy. It is a vantage point from which she sees how the best shots differ from the way she throws the ball herself; they are slower, they approach the pocket from more of an angle, and they always push all ten pins back into the pit where she waits to set them up once again. Ladewig does not know that she has just discovered the thing that will win her the first of three National Women’s High Average awards, the thing that will nudge her closer to the bowling royalty she’s destined for..."

~ New York team sets Women's Championships record -- "Bowlers Choice Pro Shop of Tonawanda, N.Y., had the highest team total in the 91-year history of the United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships on Wednesday night, coming out on top after a three-team shootout for the record. The team, which featured defending USBC Queens champion Liz Johnson, fired games of 1,160, 1,085 and 1,179 to finish with a 3,424 series, surpassing Together Once Again of North Richland Hills, Texas, record-setting score of 3,350 shot in 2006. Bohn Zone Chicks of Jackson, N.J., previously held the scratch team lead this year with 3,191, shot Tuesday night..."

~ Defending champion falls short at USBC Open Championships -- "Under the watchful eyes of many spectators at the National Bowling Stadium, Ron Vokes of Racine, Wis., attempted to become the first bowler in USBC Open Championships history to claim back-to-back Regular All-Events titles. Although Vokes fell short in his quest to repeat, he posted the second-highest all-events total of his 25-year tournament career. The 50-year-old right-hander shot 673 in singles, 673 in doubles and 614 in team for a 1,960 total Wednesday..."

~ Twins celebrate 25 years at USBC Open Championships -- "Vernon and Victor Hoffman of Wichita, Kan., have been inseparable all their lives. They dressed alike when they were children, shared the same interest in bowling and cars and competed together on their high school wrestling team. The 45-year-old twins also made many memorable trips to the USBC Open Championships to watch their father, Robert, compete, and they dreamed of joining him on the tournament lanes some day..."

~ Walter Ray Williams Jr. Scheduled to Make PBA Senior Tour Debut in Senior Miller High Life Classic May 2-5 -- "PBA Hall of Famer and reigning Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. is scheduled to make his PBA Senior Tour debut in the Senior Miller High Life Classic May 2-5 at George Pappas Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C. Williams, who is currently competing in the DYDO Japan Cup, will be among more than 130 of the world’s top Senior Tour players (age 50 and over) who will compete in the third stop of the 30th Senior Tour season..."

~ Jason Thomas: Women's Series Showdown TV Recap -- "Before I begin my belated recap of Sunday's PBA Women's Series Showdown (thanks to my DVR for not understanding that two PBA episodes listed back-to-back means to record BOTH), I just want to say (so I'm going to say...well, OK write) how much I hope the ladies are back again next season. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching them compete this year, and with Kelly Kulick's victory in this season's T of C, no one can any longer argue the obvious, incredible skill these ladies possess at the sport of bowling..."

~ Mike J. Laneside: The Signature Event -- "Each professional sport has a signature event that loyal fans as well as casual and some non-fans put on a “don’t miss” schedule once a year. What is professional bowling’s signature event? Horse racing has the Kentucky Derby, auto racing fans have the Indianapolis 500, tennis has the U.S. Open, golf has The Masters, pro football has its Super Bowl; there are many examples of signature professional sports events that attempt to capture the attention of those sports’ loyal fans, casual and non-fans for one big week of media coverage. What is professional bowling’s signature event? The new PBA Tournament of Champions featuring a million-dollar prize fund and a $250,000 first prize check will be..."

~ Interviewing the Bowlers...While They Bowl -- "Throughout the PBA Tour on ESPN, occasionally, out of nowhere, announcers Rob Stone and Randy Pederson ask questions of the bowlers. This makes sense, as they're the commentators and they want to get the bowlers' takes on what's going on. But the thing that strikes me as odd is the fact they ask these questions while the bowlers are on the approach and ready to roll. The bowlers have an earpiece in, allowing Stone and Pederson to talk to them without shouting across the lanes from their announce position, but it's always bothered me, more as a bowler than as a viewer..."

Bowling Quote of the Day--4/23/10

“If there was any reason for the success I had, it was the fact that the game never became easy for me, and I always had to keep working at it.”
--Marion Ladewig

Bowling Quote of the Day--4/22/10

"I made sure I bowled every day from 1940 through 1962."
--Marion Ladewig

Bowling Bytes --4/19/10

~ Marion Ladewig Dies -- "She was widely acknowledged as the greatest woman bowler of all-time. And now she is gone. Marion Ladewig, who “owned” the U.S. Women’s Open during the 1950s — winning it eight times between 1949 and 1960 —died on Friday in her life-long home of Grand Rapids, Mich. She was 95..."

~ Feldman Saves Best for Last in PBA Women's Series Showdown -- "Michelle Feldman of Auburn, N.Y., concluded a personally disappointing season with a resounding victory in the PBA Women’s Series Showdown presented by BOWL.COM at the International Training and Research Center. Feldman, who got into the PBA Tour special event by a sequence of fortunate breaks, was nearly perfect in the competition that aired on ESPN Sunday, defeating Shannon Pluhowsky of Kettering, Ohio, and Stefanie Nation of Grand Prairie, Texas, for a $25,000 first prize..."~

Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Players Prepare for DYDO Japan Cup 2010 April 22-25 in Tokyo -- "Newly-crowned PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. and defending champion Patrick Allen head a list of 20 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players who will compete in the DYDO Japan Cup 2010 April 22-25 in Tokyo. Qualifying will take place at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel and match play at Tokyo Port Bowl. It marks the 25th straight season that PBA Tour players have been invited to compete in the event which also includes 91 Japan Professional Bowlers Association players and 33 amateurs. In the 25 years that PBA players have been invited to the event it has been won 22 times by PBA pros and twice by JPBA players..."

~ Wichita State, Webber International win ITC titles -- "The Wichita State men's team won its third consecutive national title, while Webber International claimed the women's championship Saturday at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships..."

~ 101-year-old Emma Hendrickson competes at 2010 USBC Women's Championships -- " Emma Hendrickson, the 101-year-old bowling sensation from Morris Plains, N.J., hit the tournament lanes at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center and added on to her record as the oldest participant in USBC Women's Championships history Sunday..."

~ Frawley, Roumimper come from behind to win men's and women's title in Thailand Open -- "Fourth-seeded Andrew Frawley, Australia, and Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia (pictured), seeded third, captured the men's and women's Open Masters titles in the 36th MWA Thailand International Open Sunday at SF Strike Bowl in Bangkok, Thailand..."

~ 2010 EBT Rankings--Men's Division After Ljubljana -- "Players with country, ranking point total and number of top 50 finishes..."

~ Wall Street Journal: Belmonte puts new spin on bowling -- " A young Australian is almost single-handedly spurring a new age in bowling: He throws the ball with two hands. With an easygoing charm to match his spiky brown hair and rock-star sunglasses, 25-year-old Jason Belmonte, bowling in a tournament here this week, could well reach new audiences for a sport many younger Americans associate with "The Big Lebowski" and beer bellies..."

~ Youth and coaching development: comparing Malaysia & the United States -- "The United States has surpassed 300 million in population and the number of youth bowlers in USBC leagues stands at approximately 450,000. Bowling in the United States, from a youth development perspective, is loosely structured...relying on individual coaches and volunteers to develop individual bowlers...But, this is far less structured than some youth development programs in other parts of the world, especially in Asia. To illustrate, Malaysia, a country less than ten percent the size of the United States, has just under 1600 bowlers in its formal youth development program. Yet, in the 2006 World Youth Championships, Malaysia earned 8 medals (4 Gold and 4 Bronze). The United States earned 2 bronze medals, both from the same bowler..."

~ Pressure Shots -- "How do you throw a quality shot when the pressure is really on? You have to strike on the next ball to win a tourney or shoot a 300 game What you do under pressure has to be learned in practice. After all how often do these shots come up? First, you take a look at your individual game. I am willing to bet that you can find 2 things that are "KEY" to you making a great shot.. Two things, that if executed well, makes the shot as a whole a quality one. We will call these two things your "2 KEYS"..."

Bowling Video of the Day--3/19/10

Yesterday I posted a video of legendary Don Carter winning the 1952 BPAA All Star tournament in the men 's division. I'm following that up today with a video of the equally legendary Marion Ladewig winning her fourth consecutive All Star title in the women's division that same year.

Marion was the Bowling Writers Association of America's Female Bowler of the Year a record nine times between 1950 and 1963, and, in the video, you'll hear announcer Fred Wolf say that she was so dominant at that time that there was serious talk of her competing in the men's division next time around. Her 205 average for the tournament was the second highest among the women AND men that year. Here is the YouTube description of the video:

"The great Marion Ladewig at the height of her bowling career as she wins her 4th straight All Star title back when the All Star was the biggest tournament in bowling, for both men and women. Legendary bowling announcer Fred Wolf on the call, years before he would become known as the voice on Championship Bowling."

I love this stuff, and I kind of wish bowling was as simple today as it was back then in terms of equipment, oil patterns, and other ways. Rightly or wrongly, I have the impression that it was more about how well a person executed over many games than it was about having the right ball rep help you choose the right ball layout and surface and praying that your ball, axis tilt, and rev rate matched up better than everyone else's with the particular conditions in play that week. It just seems to me, rightly or wrongly, that bowling is less about the bowler's pure skill today than it was in 1952.

We can't go back to those times, but I sure enjoy watching them.