"When I first saw him, the bowling ball was bigger than he was. Now, he's at a whole new level." ~ Tommy Jones
Bowling gets little to no coverage by the news and sports media these days. I'm not sure why this is. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with most people having no idea just how demanding a sport both physically and mentally elite-level bowling happens to be, and lingering stereotypes of beer swilling, pot-bellied Archie Bunker types having a fun night out with the boys.
This is why it's such a blessed event for bowling and its fans when the sport draws the serious attention of the media, and when the medium happens to be the hallowed New York Times, it's an especially big deal. Well, the sensational 14-year-old bowling prodigy Kamron Doyle has just been profiled in the New York Times, and I'm hoping the exposure will attract interest in the sport, especially among the young people who are bowling's future.
I'll be blogging more about Kamron in the days to come, but for now be sure to check out the New York Times profile here. Kamron Doyle is the real deal.
"I don't believe in bad luck or bad karma. I believe you just do what you can do and if the pins fall, the pins fall."
--Jason Belmonte
"I think it's one of the toughest sports to deal with mentally."
--Chris Loschetter
"It is how I make my living, it is how I pay my bills, but the bottom line is bowling IS just a game."
--Michael Haugen
"It took me a long time on tour to realize that you couldn't change the outcome of something and to let it go."
--Tommy Jones
"I think this is really the only sport in the whole world that you can throw your very, very best shot and still get nine."
--Pete Weber
The quotes above are from a great new PBA short video that asks, How do you deal with the cruel nature of bowling? The prevailing theme in player responses is, yes, bowling can be a cruel sport where you think you've thrown a great ball and you get an awful tap or you suddenly just fall apart, but you put it behind you, focus on applying your proven skill on the next shot, let 'er rip, and accept what happens. All easy to say but often much more difficult to put into practice. Yet it can be argued that the players in the video are as good as they are at least partly because they're able to apply this advice better than most. May we all learn to apply it better to our own games.
"Why does that happen every time? Every time I bowl, it happens every time.”
--An understandably exasperated Ryan Shafer
I didn't get to watch the PBA telecast on Sunday. Actually, it was filmed long before that but broadcast Sunday. I don't know why they can't show these events live. I don't know about you, but it's much more exciting to me to see them live and not know who wins until it happens then and there than to know it was taped weeks or even months ago and who won. But if you do a bowling blog like this one or just spend any time online, it's all-but-impossible not to know who wins ahead of the showing, and that takes away from the whole experience.
However, given the format of this year's inaugural Dick Weber PBA playoffs, I guess they couldn't show all the matches on the same day. They had eighteen players, three in each of six different regions, competing against one another to crown the champion, and that takes more matches and more time than any network commanding a decent sized audience could hope to show in one day.
In any case, having aired my mild gripes about the Dick Weber broadcast format, I have to say that I did manage to watch a recording of Sunday's telecast yesterday, and I very much enjoyed the action. It took place at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, IN on the 39' Dick Weber oil pattern. Commentator Randy Pederson explained that the relatively short oil coupled with more than the usual PBA concentration of oil in the middle of the lane allowed the bowlers to "play to their strengths," "maximize creativity" and attack the pattern from "multiple angles." In other words, it made the lanes higher scoring than we see on tougher patterns.
But higher scoring made for a very entertaining 90 minutes. In the first match, the top three finishers arbitrarily assigned to the Eastern region--Scott Norton, Tom Smallwood, and Steve Jaros bowled one match to determine who advanced to the next round. Norton, the California native, part-time attorney, only lefty among the eighteen finalists, and son of female bowling legend Virginia Norton who seems firmly on track to win Rookie of the Year honors and who won a national title earlier this year in Dublin, CA couldn't buy a strike until the sixth frame, leaving four pocket 7's, while Smallwood opened with his first five before leaving a 10 pin and Jaros with his first seven before sticking a 10 pin. Jaros went on to finish first with a 258. Smallwood stepped up in the tenth needing a strike on the first ball to win outright and left a light pocket 7. He then needed to strike on the fill ball to tie and pulled the ball slightly leaving a four pin and losing by 1 pin to Jaros while Norton finished with a distant but respectable 224.
The next match featured South region contestants Tommy Jones, "underrated" Ryan Shafer, and Randy Weiss. Weiss first shot ever on TV was a solid strike while Jones kept getting tapped. All three were in the match until near the end when snakebit Shafer went into the tenth frame with a lead only to get shafted with a pocket 7-10, Jones doubled and left a four pin for 238, and Weiss needed to strike out to win by one and did, shooting a 239.
The final match of the telecast had Central region finalists Dick Allen (formerly Ritchie Allen until he decided that he should adopt a more adult sounding name after recently becoming a father), Player of the Year shoo-in Mika Koivuniemi, and Walter Ray Williams Jr. This was Walter Ray's first television appearance of the season and last chance to extend his record 17 straight year streak of PBA national titles. When asked why he'd struggled so much this year compared to his fabulous Player of the Year season last year, he surmised that his recent hernia surgery, shortened grip to lessen the pain in the knuckles of his arthritic bowling hand, and the fact that his old body was simply "falling apart" had something to do with it.
Nevertheless, he and Allen opened with five baggers before Walter left a stinging pocket 7-10 while Mika was never in it and Allen struck five more times before sticking a ringing 10 and sparing for a 289.
Next week, the finalists from the Midwest, Southwest, and West/Northwest regions will compete, and they include such luminaries as Bill O'Neill, Chris Barnes, Wes Malott, Jason Belmonte, Brad Angelo, and Jack "The Ripper" Jurek.
If I haven't spoiled it for you by recapping Sunday's highlights, or you'd like to see the telecast again, you can watch all of it in the videos below, and you can read PBA.com's official summary of the action here.
The 68th Lumber Liquidators PBA U.S. Open ended Sunday afternoon not with a bang but with a gutter ball as Mika Koivuniemi sprawled face-down on the approach in despair and Norm Duke sat behind in shocked disbelief as the new and unexpected holder of the most prestigious title in professional bowling.
It was unexpected because Mika Koivuniemi who, this season, became the first bowler in PBA history to appear in the televised finals of all four majors in a single season, had won the Tournament of Champions’ stratospheric $250,000 first prize a few weeks earlier, had made the brutal U.S Open lane conditions at the Brunswick-Zone Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J. look almost easy in mowing down Ryan Shafer and Tommy Jones with 236 and 241 games respectively in his two prior matches and had bowled equally well against Duke in the final match, and, as inarguably the hottest bowler on earth with a virtual lock on PBA Player of the Year honors, entered the tenth frame frame needing only 16 pins to win the title.
He stepped up confidently on the approach, executed an almost perfect delivery, and buried the ball in the pocket, leaving a solid 10 pin. He needed only a spare and eight count to clinch the victory. But Mika, one of the best spare shooters on tour, uncharacteristically threw the ball in the gutter only inches before it reached the ten pin, and the match was over. Norm Duke had won his second U.S. Open title, and Mika sat dejectedly behind a now jubilant Duke after loudly berating himself in Finnish while lifting himself off the approach.
“You’d like to say to yourself I just won the U.S. Open, and maybe I’ll grow into that, but right this minute, I feel like Mika lost the U.S. Open,” Duke said after his stunning victory. “I had conceded the match. I knew the last four strikes were important, because you never know what’ll happen. But missing the ten pin is like having your ace pitcher on the mound, and he throws four straight balls and you lose...That’s what happens under pressure. That’s why guys miss three foot putts. And it’s fatigue. I’m exhausted. If I had to make a ten pin to win, it would be suspect at best.” But, Duke added, “It’s not that I didn’t deserve to win. I was the top qualifier. I did throw four strikes in a row after leaving a solid 8 pin in the eight frame. I did what I needed to do.”
This was the 7th major and 34th national title of Duke’s fabled career, tying him with the legendary Mark Roth for fourth place on the all-time PBA Tour title list, and his win earned him an $80,000 first place check, a beautiful trophy adorned with a bald eagle on top, and a green jacket several sizes too large for the diminutive champion.
“Duke is one of the greatest players ever. I knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Koivuniemi graciously in defeat. “I took the biggest shot of my life in the 10th frame and left the ten pin, but unfortunately I didn’t make my spare. It was my nerves, I guess. I was thinking about the wrong things. This is the first time in my life I’ve lost a title like that.”
Nevertheless, Mika Koivuniemi’s $40,000 runner-up check lifted him over the $300,000 mark in earnings for the season and further strengthened his claim to Player of the Year honors as the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour heads this week to AMF Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, N.Y. for the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. Amateur Brian Ziesig won it last year in a thrilling sudden-death overtime victory over Jason Belmonte by striking after Belmonte left "an absolute atomic stone 7 pin" heard round the world.
Final Standings:
1. Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., one game, 225 pins, $80,000. 2. Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., three games, 693 pins, $40,000. 3. Tommy Jones, Simposnville, S.C., one game, 158 pins, $20,000. 4. Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., two games, 415 pins, $13,000. 5. Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., two games, 387 pins, $11,000. 6. Dan MaClelland, Saginaw, Mich., one game, 150 pins, $10,000.
Playoff Results:
Match One (Saturday night): O’Neill def.MacLelland, 204-150. Match Two (Saturday night): Shafer defeated O’Neill, 193-183. Match Three: Koivuniemi def. Shafer, 236-222. Semifinal Match: Koivuniemi def. Jones, 241-158. Championship: Duke def. Koivuniemi, 225-216.
~ Kulick takes 2010 USBC Queens title -- "Kelly Kulick proved she could beat the men earlier this year and Wednesday she came out on top against a field of the top women bowlers in the world, earning her second United States Bowling Congress Queens title. The Union, N.J., native climbed the five-player stepladder, winning four consecutive matches, and defeating top seed Tennelle Milligan of Arlington, Texas, 232-188, to win the Queens at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center..."
~ "Mt. St. Marshall": The man behind the volcano that was -- "The car fire that firefighters squelched outside the Hilton Inn Lounge in Akron, Ohio, just up the block from Riviera Lanes where the next day a 21-year-old Marshall Holman would win the first of his two Firestone Tournament of Champions titles, raised no one from their seats that night. “They had stayed in their seats while the fire department extinguished a pretty good car fire in the hotel driveway,” writer Doug Bradford observed of the bowling royalty mingling in the lounge. The figures crowding the lounge after a final round of match play that Friday night were characters that defined an irreplaceable era of professional bowling — Billy Hardwick in his “rainbow trousers,” Dick Weber with his “ice cream suit” and the peroxide-brightened hair that prompted Tour pals to dub him “The Blond Fonz,” Earl Anthony chatting with the Ebonite execs whose contract offer would soften his resistance to “PBA School” in a few years. If any of them thought back to that driveway fire after Holman sealed his historic win at the 1976 Firestone Tournament of Champions and considered it a sign of things to come, they would quickly find that they were on to something — something the PBA Tour had never seen before. The fire Holman brought to the lanes the following afternoon would do more than raise people out of their seats; it would raise hell..."
~ Minnesota team back on top at USBC Open Championships -- "After an uncharacteristically poor spare-shooting performance left them just shy of the Regular Team lead at the 2010 USBC Open Championships, the members of Linds Lakers 1 of Minneapolis easily could've lost their focus on the tournament lanes. Instead, the group turned to 124 years of Open Championships experience and averaged more than 226 during doubles and singles to take over the top spot in Team All-Events with a 10,187 total, the eighth-highest in tournament history. Red Carpet Lanes of Greenfield, Wis., previously held the lead with 10,131..."
~ Hall of Famer Nancy Chapman dies at age 80 -- "Nancy Chapman, a member of the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame, passed away Wednesday, April 28, at the age of 80. The Oneida, Wis., native was inducted into the Women's International Bowling Congress (now USBC) Hall of Fame for meritorious service in 2002..."
~ USBC Convention opens in Reno, Nev. -- "The 2010 United States Bowling Congress Convention and Annual Meeting takes place this week with a theme of "Moving Forward Together." This year's convention will feature workshops that will cover such topics as growing membership, coaching and future initiatives. At the USBC Annual Meeting, delegates will vote on 24 proposed amendments related to bylaws, league rules and tournament rules. Additionally, delegates will elect four members to the USBC Board of Directors..."
~ It's down to four women in 12th Sinai International Open -- "Zandra Aziela, Malaysia, Mennat Soltan, Egypt, Shalin Zulkifli, Malaysia, and Cassie Staudinger, Australia, will battle it out for the women's title in the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament Thursday at International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt..."
~ Michigan Bowlers: Take Your Last Puffs -- "Saturday, May 1, 2010 is the beginning of a smokeless Michigan. At least in public establishments. As a resident of and bowler in Michigan, this will be one of the best days of my life. Cigarette smoke has always bothered me, and I will not be sad to remove cigarettes from the classic bowling smell: cigarettes, oil, fried food, stale beer. Instead, I'll return home from the bowling alley with a new and improved bowling smell: the same as before, but without the most offensive of the aromas..."
~ Tommy Jones: The Interview, Pt. 2 -- "Yesterday Tommy Jones discussed last season's struggles and why he will return to the Professional Bowlers Association spotlight in 2009-'10. Today, Jones goes farther back to the days when he spent Saturdays dreaming of the glory that his idols Marshall Holman and Mark Roth owned when he was growing up, explains how he developed his high-rev style, why the mantra "straight is great" continues to hold true in the era of the "rev rate," and much more..."
~ A How-To For Adjusting Ball Speed: The Importance of Ball Speed Change and a Research-Based Method to Change It-- "Many bowlers arrive at the Kegel Training Center with a strong desire to increase their rev rate. These individuals perceive higher revolutions as a panacea or the ultimate solution for improving their game. Yet, in reality, the ability to manipulate axis of rotation and ball speed would result in being able to alter their ball motion significantly more..."
~ Analyzing the lane graphs of the Hoosier Classic: What the data reveals about how the lanes will play (Coaching the Youth Bowler: Dug Barker--Bowling This Month, May 2010, pgs. 21-25) -- "...One of the items every team discusses before competition begins is the lane graph and charts as they apply to the team. This is the subject of this article. I am going to provide an overview of lane graphs and charts from the perspective of a collegiate coach..."
"[Chris Barnes] is the greatest bowler I'll ever see. He may not have figured out how to win on TV yet but it's coming and when he does we're going to have our Tiger. He is by far the best on tour. He can do everything he wants to with a bowling ball. He is a good friend of mine and I have gotten to know him over the past few years and I have the utmost respect for him and his game. He gets caught up in it sometimes because he can do too much, but if he can just bowl and not think too much, we'll never beat him." --Tommy Jones
The music is from Thailand. Tommy Jones' release is sublime. This is a great little video. If only we could learn to throw the ball like Tommy Jones just from watching this video.
