Walter Ray and Ryan Ciminelli are Looking Good

I'm watching the first games of the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship and am seeing a lot of slow balls and weak 10's to start the day. That's no surprise. But what does surprise me is that some guys are tearing up the lanes anyway.

Of course, it's not like they're bowling on oil flooded lanes with those cheap plastic balls of theirs. But, still, I expected the scores to be lower than they are so far. And I especially expected low rev, small hook guys like Walter Ray to be down near the bottom of the standings.

Instead, Walter, who's crossing with the stellar group of Steve Jaros, Ryan Shafer, and Mike Fagan, sits in fourth place after four games. Although it's very early in the proceedings, I should know by now not to count Walter out of any tournament unless and until the math says he's out. As legendary bowling announcer Fred Wolf used to say, "If you can do it with a pencil, you can do it with a bowling ball." And this adage seems especially true of the truly great Walter Ray Williams, even at 50 years of age. It will be interesting to see how he manages when those plastic balls carry down a lot of oil.

But the guy who's REALLY tearing them up is probably the least surprising of all. It's Ryan Ciminelli (see video below) sitting at the top of the heap, and I wouldn't be surprised if he stays pretty close to the top spot throughout the tournament so long as he's able to play outside and juice the ball to the pocket. This guy has serious power wedded to a pretty solid game overall. I think he's going to be a Tour monster with a few more years of seasoning. And even though he's a damn leftie, I hope my prediction comes true. I love to watch him bowl.

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.

Bowling Video of the Day--3/18/10

I love to watch old bowling videos, and here's one that's about as old as you can find on YouTube. Better still, it features the great Don Carter in a bygone era of early black and white television, pin-boys, and 100 game marathons. Here's the YouTube description of it:

"Seven years before the PBA, there was the All-Star, the biggest tournament in bowling. A 100-game iron man marathon, where the temporary lanes were constructed on a platform requiring the bowlers to take two steps up to get to the approach. By the time TV joins this 100th game, the outcome of the tournament is decided. Don Carter has wrapped up the title, based on 100-game pinfall as Junie McMahon, his opponent, fades in the closing games. Legendary bowling broadcaster Fred Wolf on the call, several years before he becomes host of Championship Bowling."

Quote of the Day

"If you can do it with a pencil, you can do it with a bowling ball."
--Fred Wolf, legendary bowling announcer