2014 USBC Senior Masters Stepladder Finals

Video--Preview of 2011 PBA World Championship

PBA Announces Its 2010-2011 Award Winners

Congratulations to Mika Koivuniemi for winning the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year award, to Scott Norton for winning Harry Golden Rookie of the Year honors, and to Jack "The Ripper" Jurek for taking the Steve Nagy Sportsmanship award.

Koivuniemi won the PBA Tournament of Champions, was the only player to make it into the televised finals of all four "majors," earned the third highest amount in prize money for a season in PBA history at $330,040, and led the PBA Tour in average at 222.50. Norton, who won the Pepsi Chameleon Championship his first time on national TV, was the only rookie to win any national title this year. And Jurek, who also won the Steve Nagy award in 2006, was, according to the PBA press release, "an overwhelming choice" to win the award again this year.

I can't say that I disagree with any of these choices. The only question I have is about the Rookie of the Year voting. Scott Norton received 445 votes, while "no other player received more than 15." My question is, Wasn't Dan MacLelland also a rookie this season, and didn't he qualify for four telecasts and outpoint Norton by a wide margin in the major statistical categories? If so, why did he lose to Norton by such an overwhelming margin? It seems to me that either he wasn't officially a Tour rookie, or a grave injustice was served in his receiving so few votes relative to Norton.

You can read the PBA press release on the award selections here.

Videos of Episode 3 of 2011 Dick Weber PBA Playoffs

As promised, below are videos of the three matches televised yesterday of the Regional Championships Round of the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs. Match one features Randy Weiss vs Steve Jaros. In match two, Dick "Ritchie" Allen takes on Jack "The Ripper" Jurek. And the final match has Chris Barnes going head-to-head with twin-grip fireballer Jason Belmonte. Following those three videos is the PBA Xtra Frame post-game show in which "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark interviews the three winners.

Bowling's Bottlegate Between Jason Belmonte and Brad Angelo Continues

Summary of Matches

Congratulations to Jack Jurek, Jason Belmonte, and Chris Barnes for their victories in their regional championships of the 2011 Dick Weber Playoffs that were televised yesterday. Jurek bowled 221 to Wes Malott's 206 and Bill O'Neill's 178 to win the Midwest region. Belmonte shot 211 to Brad Angelo's 201, and Dino Castillo's 160 to win the Southwest region. And Chris Barnes rolled 217 to Lonnie Waliczek's 201 and Lenny Boresch Jr's 177 to take the West/Northwest region. All three bowlers will now advance to the next round where Steve Jaros will take on Randy Weiss, Dick Allen will bowl Jack Jurek, and Chris Barnes will bowl against Jason Belmonte in semifinal matches to be televised next Sunday.

Yesterday's scores were lower and the bowlers seemed to struggle more than in the previously televised regional matches because, as Chris Barnes explained, the front part of the right lane especially was burnt and hooking a lot while the backends of both lanes were tight. Barnes addressed the challenge by using a weaker ball to get as cleanly as possible through the front part of the lane while still getting enough hook and hitting hard enough on the back end to carry, albeit barely, strikes. Other bowlers had trouble keeping their balls from hooking early and either missing the pocket left or rolling out into the pocket to leave flat 10's.

You can watch all three matches below.

Bottlegate Crinkles and Pops On

There's been much ado in this blog, the PBA website, and other blogs and media sources about what is now being called the "Bottlegate" incident between Jason Belmonte and Brad Angelo where Angelo complained to Jason about Jason's distracting him with a noisy water bottle. You can find my previous take on all of this here and here as well as watch the incident here. However, it seems that there's more to say that may be worth saying about it all.

Angelo Podcast Interview

Above180 featured a recent podcast interview with Brad Angelo that you can listen to here. Of course, he was asked about the "Bottlegate" incident, and here is some of what he had to say:

Well, over this last week I’ve gotten a few phone calls about that, and a lot of people kind of saw what I felt, and so I went on yesterday to see the clip, and I don’t know...I don’t really know what to say about it. I don’t want to throw Jason under the bus or anything like that, but it was a little peculiar that he had picked up the water bottle when I stepped back up on the approach, and then he was very quiet, and then right during the silence of me walking to the foul line that he had, I guess, squeezed it loud enough for me to hear it again. I mean even when I’m explaining it, it sounds a little goofy and it sounds a little petty, but when you’re bowling on TV and every person in the crowd is silent and sometimes you can barely even hear Rob Stone or Randy Peterson that are way down at the other end of the lane...so it’s pretty quiet, and then to have that happen at that point in the match, it was just frustrating at that time when it happened, and I guess that’s all I really have to say about it.”

Belmonte Interview

On PBA Xtra Frame's post-telecast show, "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark asked Belmonte about the incident and this is how Belmo described it:

“We had a chat at the end of it. There was a slight pop in a watter bottle that I was holding that caught him in one of the frames, and it was completely accidental. And we had a chat, and had a hug at the end of it, and everything’s fine. I think it got blown up out of proportion, and the way that I am, I just felt miserable at the time because you only get ten shots on TV, and to have one of those shots catch you or put you off...I know the feeling, and so I just felt really bad. But he was a gentleman and just basically said it was no problem, no hard feelings, and he ultimately said he had a chance to win the match, so no hard feelings...”

You can watch the entire interview by clicking on here.

One Person's Unflattering Take on Angelo

Kerry, a regular and thoughtful reader of this blog, saw something while watching yesterday's entire match between Belmo and Angelo that I hadn't noticed. This is how he describes it:

Yesterday, I watched and, for the most part, enjoyed all 3 matches in the telecast. Today, I've been reviewing this match on youtube.

My initial impression of Angelo was fortified by his behavior in the total context of the match. Being blunt, Angelo was determined to be a jerk from the start, and he certainly fulfilled that objective.

Angelo had a teenage "fan club" dressed in green shirts, carrying signs designed to show that Angelo was spoiling for a fight. One sign said, That's BAD Brad Angelo, another Pimpin' Brad Angelo, and other signs with That Ain't Brooklyn, to remind folks of his conflict with Barnes. At least twice, I observed Angelo look in the direction of the fan club and give a thumbs up. Clearly he was enjoying the juvenile adulation.

Angelo made a bad shot in the 5th, going through the nose, but only leaving 2. On the way back, he gave a dirty look to Belmonte. Belmonte's water bottle was on the table and he was standing behind the ball return, so Angelo was off base there. If he heard anything, it was LONG before he started his approach.

Angelo picked up his spare and then showed his true colors. Belmonte was on the left lane, the other side of the ball return. While Jason was preparing for his split conversion, Angelo started messing with the balls on the ball return, banging them together and directly in Belmonte's peripheral vision and very close to him. You can barely hear the sound of the balls in the video clip, so Belmonte certainly could hear them. Why did Angelo do that? Then, Angelo goes back to his seat and immediately starts squeezing his water bottle on the table. Clearly, he's seeing what kind of noises the bottle makes.

Now, here's Angelo, who's just made a terrible first shot in the 5th, but his focus on the water bottle instead on his game. That's way out there, IMO. I can't imagine any pro making a bad shot and then not trying to figure out how to fix it. At this point, it's clear that Angelo is fixated on Belmonte and the water bottles. Then, they go to commercial break.

Why didn't Angelo talk to Belmonte during the perfect opportunity afforded by the commercial break? I think he intended to throw the fit on camera hoping to rattle Belmonte and throw him off of his game. At that point, Dino was pretty much out of contention, so Angelo could win the match if Belmonte flubbed another frame or 2.

Jason Thomas wasn't very observant. If he wanted to show gamesmanship, he picked the wrong player. Belmonte wasn't the bad guy here. Watching the entire match gives you the proper perspective and information. Belmonte tried several times to talk to Angelo, but Angelo rebuffed him. Belmonte is a true gentleman and sportsman and was visibly upset over the incident. Fortunately, it didn't affect his game.

The really funny thing was that if Angelo had concentrated on being a "GOOD" bowler instead of a "BAD" man, he could have won the match.

At this point, I don't ever want to watch Angelo again. I don't enjoy that kind of behavior at all.

Now I have to say that I watched the match again today, and I can't say that I saw all of what Kerry did. But what about you? Do you think Belmonte tried to distract Angelo, or that Angelo overreacted or even tried to distract Belmonte in retaliation? Finally, do you think people, myself included, have made too big a deal out of this whole "Bottlegate" thing and that it's time to talk about more substantive matters?

PBA publicist Jason Thomas wrote a column today about how much he now admires Brad Angelo. I'll have a few words to say about this tomorrow, and that should pretty much lay all of this to rest so far as I'm concerned.

Rob Stone "Rips" Jack Jurek

Love him or hate him, ESPN's bowling announcer Rob Stone sure makes an impression.

I started out not liking him at all because he seemed to know nothing about bowling and tried to fill the void with silly wisecracks. But he's grown on me over time as he's learned more about the game and developed a nice rapport with analyst Randy Pedersen.

I still long for the good old days of Chris Schenkel (although, to be honest, he didn't seem to know any more than Rob Stone about bowling, even after decades of covering the sport) or, better still, Denny Schriner, the bowling announcer par excellence. But I no longer want Rob Stone thrown off the telecast the way I did at first.

I'm amused by the love it or hate it reaction that bowlers seem to have to his coining the irreverent term "hambone" for four strikes in a row and to how it's caught on. It has even inspired About.com's bowling writer to post a series of recommended names in his blog for other strike strings.

Bowling "purists" seem to hate the expression, and the less serious seem to love and embrace it. I guess I'm one of the relatively rare individuals closer to the purist end of the spectrum who, while I won't use the term myself, don't mind other people using it. It's too silly for me, but it doesn't bother me a bit if others want to be silly.

Yet, I think the most amusing thing Rob Stone has come up with is the moniker he pinned on Jack Jurek. When Jurek appeared a few weeks ago on the telecast, Stone began calling him Jack "The Ripper" Jurek, and I don't think I've laughed as hard in years as I did when I heard that.

Now I don't know Jack Jurek personally, and I haven't even seen him bowl that many times on TV, but the overwhelming impression I've nevertheless formed of him and his game is that they're about as far away from "ripping" anyone or anything as anyone or anything could be. During Jurek's appearance in the final match of the USBC Masters in 2006, Randy Pederse said, "You look up 'nice guy' in a dictionary, there's a picture of Jack." And that's how he comes across to me.
What's more, unlike power players such as Robert Smith, Sean Rash, Jason Belmonte, and Tommy Jones. Jurek is a much more diminutive stroker of the old school variety. He's a very capable bowler, but his ball seems to nudge the pins over more than it rips them off the deck.

So, Jack "The Ripper" Jurek sounds about as playfully ridiculous as would Mike "The Ripper" Aulby or, for that matter, Wally "The Beast" Cox. Come to think of it, Aulby and Jurek kind of resemble one another in appearance and in the softness, albeit an effective one, of their games. Neither looks like he would or could so much as rip a fly apart much less rip apart pin racks. If you're going to call someone "The Ripper," how about Rudy "The Ripper" Kasimakis for the burly cranker with the intimidating demeanor and pin crushing power?

But Kasimakis' first name isn't Jack, and calling HIM "The Ripper" wouldn't have the delightful irony that leaves me in stitches every time I hear it that Jack "The Ripper" Jurek does. Does Rob Stone appreciate the incongruity of his creation? I don't know. I don't suppose it matters to those of us who do. Does Jack Jurek like his new nickname? I don't know the answer to that either. But I don't suppose there's anything he can do about it even if he doesn't like it. It's going to stick with him for the rest of his life, so he might as well join the rest of us and laugh out loud about it.