Bowling Video--Robert Smith vs. Taiwanese Helicopter

Bowling Quote of the Day--Robert Smith Praises Scott Norton

"Maybe growing up in California has given me a much better grasp of these issues, but this is not Big news to us. I can honestly say we on Tour have known for a long time about Scott. I have known Scott from So California since he was in Juniors, and never has him being gay affected how we have interacted and how we have become good friends. He broke most of my records in SoCal Jr's, which is how I first got to know Scott. Since then knowing him and Virginia has been great. glad he can show how good a player he is."

--Robert Smith

Bowling Quote of the Day--Robert Smith Announces Semi-Retirement

"Ok, first off i want to say thank you to all of those who have supported me along the way with my bowling career.

I am moving to Hong Kong with the reality being that I, as a player, just can't do what i want to do with a ball anymore. At least at the level I know I have been before. A lot of it is injuries, some of it is the state of tour, but mostly because it is time to move on. I told myself I didnt want to bowl after 40, and 36 is a little short of that, but i am ok with it. I will still be bowling tournaments, ToC, US open, and some tournys around Asia, but full time, no more.

I know some want me to stay with a chance for HoF, but honestly, with where my game is, and how I feel, A title may not be out of the question, but WHEN is. the last 4 years have been my worst out of 13, and that is not the pattern i want to have trying to butt heads with the best out there. I can play still, but not the grueling pace of games that is required now."

Please know that I am still involved with bowling fully, just not throwing the rock anymore. Again thank you to all for the support over the years. It has meant a lot to know that me having fun, allowed others to have fun watching me also. I am blessed."

--Robert Smith

Bowling Bytes--6/2/10

~ Mohr Clings to Lead as PBA Senior Northern California Classic Field Heads Into Match Play Finals -- "Reigning PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska, still in search of his first title of the 2010 season, held onto a two-pin lead at the end of qualifying Tuesday in the PBA Senior Northern California Classic at Harvest Park Bowl.Mohr finished the 16 games of qualifying with a 3,624 total, two pins ahead of four-time PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year Tom Baker of King, N.C., as the top 32 players headed into Wednesday’s single-elimination match play finals..."

~ Wayne Webb Goes for Third Straight PBA Senior U.S. Open Title June 6-11 in Las Vegas -- "PBA Hall of Famer and two-time defending champion Wayne Webb will attempt to become the first three-time winner of the PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Suncoast when the 2010 edition is conducted June 6-11 at the Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas. Webb will be among approximately 250 bowlers ages 50 and over who will compete in the first major of the 2010 PBA Senior Tour season...In 2009 Webb successfully defended his Senior U.S. Open title by defeating Brian Voss, 214-188, in the championship match. In 2008 he defeated top qualifier Johnny Petraglia, 204-172, for his first PBA Senior Tour title...The 52-year-old Webb, who recently moved to Columbus, Ohio, from Sacramento, Calif., to open Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, won the Senior Columbus Open in April for his third Senior Tour win and despite having to deal with the demands of being a new proprietor, is confident heading into this year’s Senior U.S. Open..."

~ Rob Stone: more than just hambones and yahtzees -- "He inspires critics to yearn for days when bowlers kept score by abacus, the lanes were lit by gas lamp, and any display of passion more boisterous than a golf clap warranted permanent expulsion from the bowling center. He has turned a ham hock into the most bitterly polarizing symbol the sport has ever known. He is . . . well, maybe not quite the most interesting man in the world, but if you listen to his hissing chorus of detractors, you just might think so. All he needs now is a bottle of Dos Equis and a gruff Latin accent. He is Rob Stone, Lord of the Hambone, jester in the royal court of future hall of famer Randy Pedersen, and the face glued to dart boards in the homes of bowling purists from coast to coast..."

~ Robert Andersson wins men's division at 3rd European Bowling Tour Masters -- "Robert Andersson (pictured left), Sweden, and Kamilla Kjeldsen (right), Denmark are the men's and women's champions of the 3rd European Bowling Tour Masters 2010, the season-ending event of the 2009 European Bowling Tour. The winners each received 4.000 Euro..."

~ Surasak Manuwong averages over 265 to lead 43rd Singapore International Open qualifying -- "Surasak Manuwong (pictured left), Thailand, posted a huge 1061 4-game series at Orchid Bowl at Orchid Country Club in Singapore to lead the men's Open Masters qualifying in the 43rd Singapore International Open. Manuwong's 265.25 average propelled him atop the Overseas Pool, 91 pins ahead of second-placed Aaron Kong, Malaysia, with 970. Howard Saw, overtook Justin Lim (right), both Singapore, by six pins to take the lead in the Local Pool with 956 or an average of 239,00...On the women's side, local bowler Kristel Oh chalked up a 963 series to jump to the top of the Local Pool and to overtake previous leader Cherie Tan by 26 pins. Zandra Aziela (pictured left), Malaysia, held on to the lead in the Overseas Pool with 931 and an average of 232.75 for four games. Li Hsiao Ping, Chinese Taipei, is 21 pins behind in second place with Ivana Hie, Indonesia, in third with 883...A total of 42 men (39 qualifiers plus the top 3 from the desperado squad) and 30 women including defending champions Shaker Al-Hassan, UAE, and Sharon Koh, Malaysia, will advance to the Masters Finals..."

~ The 11th Frame: Robert Smith latest star to retire from PBA Tour -- "Robert Smith is the latest star to announce his retirement from what's left of the PBA Tour...There is good and bad in the new Tour, and there has been passionate debate on all the changes on the pba.com message boards. What isn't debatable is that it's very different. What also isn't debatable is that bowlers should be thankful that any PBA still exists -- too many just don't get the economic climate for sports seeking sponsors and other commercial ties. Virtually every other sport is suffering -- the main differences are in where the sports started from...But the PBA's struggles aren't the only reason Smith is retiring, according to the following statement he posted on the PBA message board..."

~ Quitting While You're Ahead -- "Is it possible to get too good at bowling? For some, I think the answer is yes. There are a few freaks of nature who seem to dominate the game from age 2 throughout their entire lives. But for most people, becoming a good bowler takes practice. So, the question again: is it possible to get too good?..."

~ Arlington's Bob Learn Jr. finds new niche as bowling center marketing coordinator -- "Like too many Americans, Bob Learn Jr. faced a dilemma when his job at the United States Bowling Congress was eliminated in February. "At first, I said 'OK, we just moved here,' " said Learn, an Erie, Pa., native. " 'We just sold our home. What do we do.' Four days later, I was fortunate to be working here." A former Professional Bowlers Association touring player who was well-connected in the industry, Learn almost immediately received offers from around the country. But after getting away from Erie's brutal winters, he and wife decided they preferred to stay in North Texas. So when Bill Blackerby, general manager at Fort Worth's Cityview Lanes, contacting him, he was more than happy to take the job. Today, he's marketing coordinator for both Cityview and USA Bowl in Dallas..."

~ Dick Weber for King Louie (1953)

~ Questions on armswing, urethane bowling balls and approach -- "Q: Two coaches advised me to incorporate a free armswing, and I’ve been working on it. My problem is that my ball speed is still slow because the shoulder muscles get really tight going into and at the top of my swing. I have a five-step approach and push the ball into the swing slightly after my second step. Once it reaches the top, I can’t relax my muscles. What should I do?...Q: I am a senior bowler well into my 60s and am very frustrated. I had been using an old urethane bowling ball for decades and decided to upgrade to a new weapon. So I had a 16-lb. ball drilled and, frankly, I can’t handle it. It moves rather dramatically on the back end no matter where I move my target or my feet. Then I obtained another ball, a 14-pounder, and had it drilled for minimum action. Same result: too much back-end. I can flatten the release and try to kill the hook, but that doesn’t always work. Is there any ball that could give good pin action but not be as reactive on house patterns?...Q: I have had both knees replaced, and ever since I’ve had problems bowling. Do you think a one-step approach might help, or should I stay with four steps and practice more? I’ve gone from a 180 average down to 135 — very embarrassing. Any ideas?..."

Bowling Video of the Day--A PBA Backup Ball Championship?

The recent Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship was one of the most interesting and exciting PBA tournaments I can remember and has refueled serious discussions about whether and how the PBA should regulate the equipment used in its tournaments. It also provoked a tongue-in-cheek discussion in the PBA Forum concerning the holding of a backup ball tournament.

After all, if the PBA wants to showcase the elite skills of its pros, why not set aside a tournament that highlights their ability to control their releases by requiring them to throw only backup balls? The discussion then turned to picking who would win such a tournament. One person picked Jason Belmonte. "Nobody would beat Belmo in a backup ball tourney.....at least no human I've ever seen," he opined. But someone else suggested that Robert Smith could give him a run for his money, and another person chimed in with Osku Palermaa.

I think it would be tremendous fun to see these three go at it with backup balls. Not in a regular tournament, mind you, but in some kind of special challenge event shown on ESPN or, at least, on Xtra Frame.

Can you suggest any other credible competitors for a backup ball challenge, and who do you think would win? Check out the videos below of Osku Palermaa and Robert Smith. I couldn't find one of Belmo throwing a backup strike ball, but I understand that he throws it virtually as well that way as he does the other way. It must be an awesome sight!

Robert Smith's Release in Slow Motion

My video posting spree continues today with this slow motion video I just discovered of the great Robert Smith's release. If you want to learn how to get more revs on the ball, you could do worse, I believe, than to study the video below.

Robert Smith Bowed But Not Broken

"I feel healthy for the first time in awhile, but my game has changed. I’m not the gorilla I thought I was once upon a time. Mentally, I still am, but physically, no. I can’t do what I used to do. I’m learning to deal with it.”
--Robert Smith, after his early lead in the 2010 U.S. Open

Being an older guy with no "hand," unless I throw the ball without my thumb, I love to see old timers stroke their way to victory on the PBA regular and senior tours. As Xtra Frame's "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark has repeatedly said, most of us who bowl can identify far better with professional male and female bowlers who throw the ball a lot like we do than we can with the young power players. We love to see the strokers beat the crankers because it makes us feel as though we too can throw our unspectacular balls with accuracy and finesse and still have a chance in our little leagues and local tournaments to beat the big, bad crankers who send the hapless pins careening and flying across the deck with all those revs and all that prodigious speed.

Yet, if you're like me, there's a part of you that thrills to the sight and sound of freakish power on the lanes. Even though you can't come close to matching it yourself, your heart beats a little faster and you feel a sense of respectful deference and awe toward those who can not only put more revs and speed on a bowling ball than seems humanly possible but can also control it well enough to win PBA titles, It's a transcendent testament to human capability, and, in a sense, we identify, simply by virtue of being human ourselves, with these amazing power players.

There's no one I can think of who has been more amazing at combining power with successful control than Robert Smith. Although "Maximum Bob," as he's admiringly called, has won only seven national titles (including a coveted U.S. Open in 2000), he's appeared on TV many more times and has thrilled fans and fellow players alike for years by, as Randy Pedersen once said on a PBA telecast, "doing things with a bowling ball that nobody else can."

He's been clocked throwing a bowling ball 35 miles per hour and has been seen generating over 600 rpms on a shot. I've read articles that compare his freakish power with a baseball pitcher throwing 140 miles per hour. In fact, when he came out on tour, he threw the ball with so much power that he quickly had to tone it down in order to compete. Yet, even a toned down Robert Smith was still "Maximum Bob," and guys like me loved it.

But all those years of throwing more ball than just about anyone else on the planet seems to have taken its toll, and Smith has suffered debilitating injuries recently that make his still thrilling physical game a little less thrilling than it used to be. And in watching that decline, guys like me feel a twinge of sadness as we're reminded of the inevitability of our own physical decline and, yes, mortality. We older guys used to be able to do things as kids and young men that we can't do anymore, and watching Robert Smith throw a little less ball and hearing him talk about it brings it all home and makes us pine for "back in the day."

But if trite expressions become trite because they're so true that they're used to the point of triteness, there is probably no truer trite expression than "Time marches on," and with it, the Maximum Bobs give way to the Sean Rashes and Michelle Feldmans and the rising tide of two-fisted Belmos, Palermas, and Shuabs, and they, in turn and in due time, will surrender their royal power to new kings of crank. And guys like me will still shake our heads in wonder and feel joyful exhilaration over what these young freaks can do with a bowling ball.

But, if Robert Smith's early performance in this year's U.S. Open is any indication, he may not yet be ready to drift unceremoniously into bowling's "good night. " He may put a tad fewer revs on the ball and it may blast the pins a tenth of a second or two later and with a smidgen less force than before, but he can still hang with the best and brightest stars on tour on the tour's most demanding conditions because something more miraculous and potent than raw power can take up the slack--a strong and determined mind.

Robert Smith may just show us that the human mind can prevail to an impressive degree over aging matter and teach us to never give up doing what we love to do.