Bowling Video of the Day--Anne Marie Duggan vs. Leanne Barrette in 1991 Women's U.S. Open

USBC Queens and PBA Senior Columbus Open Yesterday Live on the Internet

Bowling may not be all that popular on television, but it seems to be attracting a growing audience on the Internet, thanks in no small part to PBA Xtra Frame and Bowl.com's live streaming of bowling events. These two services offered an embarrassment of bowling riches all day yesterday.

The day began on something of a sour note with local, Sacramento area favorite Leanne Barrette Hulsenberg losing two consecutive bracket matches to exit from the USBC Queens tournament after bowling spectacularly well the day before. But it was still great seeing her back in the thick of competition against the best of the best and doing as well as she did with what I suspect was a minimal amount of practice and preparation for the big event.

Still, there was some great bowling to be seen from the likes of Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Tennelle Milligan, Anne Marie Duggan, and a host of other ladies in the stellar field before the pin dust settled and the five finalists for tonight's televised stepladder finals (ESPN2, 8 PM EDT) were determined. Tonight's finalists will be 1. Tennelle Milligan, 2. Anne Marie Dugan, 3. Missy Bellinder, 4. Kelly Kulick, and 5. Michelle Feldman.

I wasn't familiar with Tennelle Milligan before watching her closely yesterday. But now I'm very impressed with her game. She has one of the best women's styles, she had a great ball reaction yesterday, even shooting 300 at one point, and I think she's going to be very tough to beat tonight. If you missed yesterday's action, you can catch it in the USTREAM archives.

But the USBC Queens was not the only bowling well worth watching yesterday. There was also Xtra Frame's live coverage of match play and final rounds of the PBA Senior Columbus Open. It was great hearing Mark Roth doing commentary with Charlie Tapp and Jeff Mark in the Xtra Frame booth and seeing Hall of Famers Dave Soutar and Wayne Webb bowl each other in one of the semifinal matches. Soutar is 70 years old, has been bowling regularly in PBA events for 50 years, and is still good enough to almost make it to the title match of a PBA senior event.

I remember when he came to San Mateo, California in the early 1970's to put on a bowling exhibition at 19th Avenue Bowl. I lived just a few blocks away and Soutar was my favorite bowler at the time. So I went to watch him and even got to bowl on the pair next to him with some friends of mine, which was a big thrill. It was an even bigger thrill watching my grandfather throw a straight ball off the corner to beat him with a 289 game in an exhibition match and to see Soutar follow up his defeat with a 300 the next game. However, as well as he bowled yesterday, he didn't shoot 300 and lost to Webb 212-258 in a semifinal match.

I was very happy to see Wayne Webb finish with seven in a row in an exciting final match against Mark Williams to win 264-253 and take his third senior title. Wayne is bowling really well right now on the senior tour, and he looks a whole lot happier than he did in A League of Ordinary Gentlemen. He successfully defended his Senior U.S. Open title this year and came in second to Steve Ferraro in a senior tour event last week. It's almost a pity he won't be able to bowl that much now that he's just bought a bowling center in Columbus, Ohio and will have to devote most of his time to it. But I wish him the very best with his bowling and his bowling center. And if you missed his semifinal and final matches yesterday, you can catch them here and here on PBA Xtra Frame.

Bowling Bytes--4/27/10

~ Hulsenberg rolls 803 to stay undefeated at USBC Queens -- "USBC Hall of Famer Leanne Hulsenberg of Roseville, Calif., put herself in good position to make a run at her second Queens title as she tied for the second-highest series in match-play history on her way to an undefeated record at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center on Monday. After qualifying fourth, the 1999 Queens champion defeated Stacey Fehr of Cincinnati, Ohio, 661-573, before beating defending champion Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 803-698. Hulsenberg's 803 ties her with Shannon O'Keefe of Arlington, Texas, who rolled 803 at the 2009 Queens in Reno, Nev. Johnson holds the record for the highest match-play set with 806, also shot in the 2009 event..."

~ Videos from the 2010 USBC Queens

~ Dorin-Ballard leads USBC Queens field into match play -- "The field for match play is set at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Queens as USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, continued her torrid pace by breaking the 15-game qualifying record on her way to leading the field. The 2001 Queens champion posted an 1,118 score in her final five-game block to finish at 3,636 overall, surpassing Kelly Kulick's 3,472 set in the 2009 event. Dorin-Ballard now owns the highest five, 10 and 15-game totals in tournament history..."

~ Wheelchair bowlers compete at USBC Open Championships -- "One of the best attributes regarding the sport of bowling is that it can be played by people of all ages, skill levels and abilities, and John Budd of Batesville, Ind., and Kevin Schaefer of Fountain Valley, Calif., found out that the USBC Open Championships encourages those same sentiments. Budd and Schaefer are wheelchair bowlers and members of the American Wheelchair Bowling Association. Joined by four other AWBA members, they made the trip the National Bowling Stadium to compete at the 2010 Open Championships last week. Schaefer made his third appearance at the tournament, while Budd made his first..."

~ On the lanes with Fero Williams -- "In the coming months, we'll talk with some of best-known bowlers at the USBC Open Championships and get their thoughts on their time at the tournament and what it takes to succeed on the championship lanes. This week, we heard from former Team USA member Fero Williams, who owns USBC records for 300 games and 800 series in a single season (2006-07) with 22 and 27, respectively. His record-setting year included six leagues and five tournaments at seven bowling centers in five states. The talented right-hander has rolled more than 100 perfect games and nearly as many 800s in his career. He was a member of Team USA in 2006 and 2007 after a runner-up finish at the 2006 USBC Team USA Trials. He claimed six medals at the 2006 Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas..."

~ Ron Mohr Sets Record Pace to Lead PBA Senior Columbus Open Second Round -- "Reigning PBA Senior Player of the Year Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska, set three PBA Senior Tour records Monday on his way to the second-round lead in the PBA Senior Columbus Open at HP Lanes. Mohr had a record 16-game overall pinfall of 4,243 after Monday’s second qualifying round for a 265.1 average, breaking his own mark of 4,036 set in 2008. His second eight-game qualifying round pinfall of 2,160 (270 average) broke the previous record of 2,119 set by Hall of Famer Wayne Webb of Columbus in Sunday’s first round. Webb dropped to fourth after Monday’s second round..."

~ Mohamed Kamel, Zandra Aziela win qualifying in 12th Sinai International Open -- "Mohamed Kamel of Kuwait and Zandra Aziela, Malaysia, lead 36 men and 16 women into the finals of the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament at International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt. Kamel lead the field of 121 men with his three highest 4-game series of 1010, 1005 and 901 and a 2916 pinfall total (243.00 average). Kamel was the only player who had two series over 1000...Zandra Aziela combined her highest 4-game series of 1013, 951 and 865 to lead the 38-player women's field for 2829 pinfall total. She was the sole woman, who cracked the 1000-bar in qualifying..."

~ Janine Primrose remains undefeated in USBC Senior Queens title defense -- "Janine Primrose (pictured left) of Gardnerville, Nev., developed a knack for finding herself behind in matches during her run to the 2009 USBC Senior Queens title, and she has continued to fight her way back to victories at the 2010 event at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. Finding herself down going into the final game of her first and second round matches on Monday, she rallied with games of 245 and 247 to defeat USBC Hall of Famer Nancy Fehr of Cincinnati, 613-567, and Melody Felton of Colfax, Iowa, 653-635, respectively..."

~ Tommy Jones: The Interview, Pt 1 -- "Anyone who watched either of the two telecasts on which Tommy Jones appeared last season - the USBC Masters and the 2009 Earl Anthony Medford Classic - might have wondered what happened to the Tommy Jones whom the PBA named the 30th greatest player in history just as he also prepared to turn only 30 years old, the Tommy Jones who won his first ten titles more quickly than anyone in the history of the Professional Bowlers Association..."

~ If You're Looking for 'Magic' to Revive Your Game, It Might Just Be a Stone's Throw Away (Par Bowling: Tom Kouros--Bowlers Journal International, April 2010, pg.52) -- "...Trust me, no matter how talented you are, you can't compete using old, antiquated equipment in today's environment..."