Chris Barnes Demonstrates How to Use a Ball Spinner

Chris Barnes didn't make it to the televised finals of the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship Sunday. But in addition to finishing in 30th place and taking home a little cash for his efforts, he also demonstrated to "Jackie Bowling" how the pros use a ball spinner to doctor their bowling balls by altering their surfaces to achieve desired results.

Below is a video of that demonstration.

Couch Defeats Bohn in 2011 Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship

"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

2. Parker Bohn, Jackson, N.J., 589 (3 games), $10,000

3. Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., (1 game), $6,000

4. Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 197 (1 game), $5,000

Playoff Results

Match One: Bohn def. Smallwood 201-197

Match Two: Bohn def. Ciminelli 213-207

Championship Match: Couch def. Bohn 219-175

2010 GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship Finals

Yesterday, I posted video of the 2009 GEICO Plastic Ball Championship finals. I'd like to follow that up today with video of most of last year's thrilling TV finals of the 2010 GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. By the way, you can click here to read my commentary on last year's tournament, which I think may have been one of the most entertaining in the entire history of the PBA.

Tomorrow at 1 PM EST, ESPN will air the 2011 Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, and, like last year, Mark Roth himself will be sitting in the front row behind the bowlers to take in the tournament held in his honor.

Since no left-handers made the televised finals of the first two plastic ball tournaments, perhaps it's only fitting that three out of the top four finalists for tomorrow and eight out of the top sixteen are lefties, with slow-hooking Tom Smallwood being the only righty to make it to the show.

However, to my way of thinking, it would be more "fitting" still if the lanes for every PBA national tournament favored neither lefties nor righties, although I'm not sure how that could be achieved.

2009 GEICO Plastic Ball Championship Finals

As the PBA Tour bowls the PBA Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship at the Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, N.Y. this week, let's take a look back at the televised finals of the first tournament to restrict bowlers to balls with polyester coverstocks since the advent of urethane, reactive resin, and other modern coverstocks. Let us go back two years to the 2009 GEICO Plastic Ball Championship at the Brunswick Zone Wheat Ridge just outside Denver, CO. Interestingly, none of the TV finalists that day even made the top 16 of match play in this year's tournament.

Give Great Bowlers More Respect

During last week’s U.S. Open, two excellent bowler profile articles appeared in the New York Times that had more in common than I would like to think.

The first was about Walter Ray Williams Jr. It began with the words: “The man many consider the best bowler in history arrived at the United States Open virtually unnoticed.” Later, it described how he “parked his motor home in the lot, walked into the site of the United States Open--his favorite event and one he has won twice--and received roughly the same reception as everyone else in the building.” I also remember someone commenting on PBA Xtra Frame recently that there were very few people watching Walter Ray bowl qualifying.

How is it that this man, of whom Norm Duke is quoted as saying, “He’s the very best, I think, ever,” receives so little recognition outside or even inside his sport from sports and bowling fans?

The article attributes much of this to Walter Ray’s self-described “loner” personality. No doubt there’s some truth to this, along with the fact that Walter has never been a flashy player or personality like, say, Pete Weber. But does one of the greatest bowlers if not the greatest bowler of all time need to be a raging extrovert or a master of flamboyance to receive his due from no less than the bowling fans who flock to major tournaments such as the U.S. Open?

Can you think of any other sports where active all-time champions can walk amongst their biggest fans “virtually unnoticed”? I’m not a golf fan, but Jack Nicklaus never struck me as a particularly outgoing or flamboyant guy, and neither does Tiger Woods, yet neither had any trouble being noticed if not mobbed by adoring crowds. So, why not Walter Ray Williams Jr.?

Some might say it’s because bowling fans are too intelligent or classy for hero-worship. Oh, they respect what Walter Ray has accomplished, but they’re too cool to let it show. Too “cool” to even stand behind him and watch professional bowling’s all-time champion and seven time Player of the Year bowl in a big tournament?

The second New York Times article was about Kelly Kulick. It detailed her unbelievable season last year and how little recognition, beyond an initial flash of limited media attention, and financial reward she received from it all. “No endorsement offers. No big payday...No calls to appear with Oprah, Ellen, or Rachel Ray, which she really wanted. No lasting mainstream recognition. No new car,” says the article. And I’m guessing that she doesn’t receive much more notice from bowling fans at tournaments than does Walter Ray despite her miraculous accomplishments last year.

Why does bowling draw so little appreciation from even its own fans that even its biggest stars go “virtually unnoticed”? And how can bowling thrive at the professional or any level as long as this continues to be the case?

I’m glad America’s premiere newspaper featured articles about these two great bowlers last week. But if bowling fans themselves don’t start giving players like Walter Ray and Kelly Kulick more attention and respect, professional bowling's future doesn't look very bright.

Why Would Anyone Not Like Norm Duke?

Yesterday, I posted about how some have criticized Mika Koivuniemi for "choking" and being too theatrical and unsportsmanlike at the end of the U.S. Open last Sunday. And some in my bowling league have said they can't "stand" him. By contrast, bowling fans everywhere seem to adore and almost revere Norm Duke, and one hears nary a bad word about him.

Yet, someone said to me the other night that he's heard that Norm's fellow touring pros don't like him very much. I was surprised to hear this, and I asked, if this happens to be true (and I greatly doubt that it is), what they don't like about him. He said he didn't know but speculated that it might be Norm's intensity and seriousness as a competitor as well as the fact that he beats their butts on the lanes more often than not.

I think Duke is unquestionably one of the most skilled and overall greatest bowlers who ever lived, and I love his intensity on the lanes and earnest demeanor and graciousness behind the microphone. It seems to me that he is the epitome of what a PBA bowler should aspire to be.

What do you think? Have you heard anyone say anything bad about Duke or have any idea why they might? The only bad thing I can say concerning him is that I would sure hate to have to bowl him in the final match of a major, because I know he would come at me with almost superhuman skill and iron willed determination to win by any means necessary. I would respect that, but I sure wouldn't like it. But not liking THAT is different than not liking HIM.

Unless you know something about him I don't, Norm Duke is one of the PBA bowlers I'd most like to meet and, if I actually liked beer, "have a beer with" or even befriend.

Norm Duke interviewed Monday on Inside Bowling

Mika's Detractors After the 2011 U.S. Open

I’ve had the misfortune of reading some online comments about what a “choke,” “drama queen,” and “jerk” Mika Koivuniemi was Sunday when he missed that 10 pin and afterward. Here is one fairly representative comment on the PBA Facebook page:

I loved Mika the "Drama Queen" missing the 10 pin, he should get an Oscar for that, the falling on the approach was one thing, sitting with his hands in his head when he should have gotten to his feet and congratulated Duke was inexcusable. Suck it up boy, you made a bad shot. If Duke does not stone an 8 pin you are a dead duck anyway.

This is how I replied:

I'm guessing that Mika's loudest detractors not only won't ever have to "handle something like that," but that, if they did, they'd be so nervous they'd miss the 10 pin by throwing the ball in the opposite gutter several feet down the lane, and then they'd bawl like a baby afterward. ;-) What's the old saying, "Those who can, do, and those who can't, teach."? Well how about, Those who slam sports competitors can neither do nor teach.? ;-)

Mika bowled almost superhumanly well all day to find himself in that pressure-packed situation, and then he made a very human mistake at the end, just as Norm made one earlier in the game. Both bowled like champions, and both deserve praise rather than blame. Yes, Mika was upset, but only at himself, and he later said nice things about Norm. And life goes on.

Actually, I don’t accept the saying, “Those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach.” I understand that there are some excellent teachers among the ranks of the finest men and women bowlers in the world, including Norm Duke and Kelly Kulick. I’d gladly take lessons from them any day, and I was fortunate enough a few months ago to receive some coaching from Bill O’Neill. Now, if only I’d follow his advice.

I personally didn’t take offense at Mika’s reaction at the end. He had just lost $40,000 and the most coveted title in bowling by a mere few inches. Well, actually, he would have still needed an eight count on the next ball to clinch it, and that’s no gimme on a flat oil pattern. Remember Walter Ray, of all people, needing an eight count to make it to the U.S. Open TV finals last year and getting six? But the point is, I don’t think anyone can reasonably blame Mika for being as upset as he was, and I don’t think he acted egregiously in his upset. Furthermore, he did compliment Norm in his post-game comments.

What do you think? Do you think Mika’s conduct was inexcusably unsportsmanlike? Furthermore, do you think his missing that 10 pin will haunt him and, when and if he faces a similar situation in the future, cause him to miss again?