2011 World Series of Bowling Highlights

Bowling Video--2013 PBA Japan Cup

Mike Machuga Criticizes Jason Belmonte After USBC Masters

Jason Belmonte is my favorite bowler without question. I'm tremendously impressed with his physical game and with his mental strength to make the right moves and perform almost flawlessly in pressure packed matches. What's more, as his remarkable USBC Masters victory Sunday attests, he appears to be getting better and better, and I have little doubt that within another year or two he will have risen to the indisputable top of the sport in the eyes of virtually all knowledgeable bowlers and bowling fans.

And not only does he have an amazing physical game, but, from my vantage point as a viewer and reader of bowling media, Belmo has always seemed like one of the most personable people and gracious sportsmen on tour. Yes, I remember the "Bottlegate" brouhahas involving Brad Angelo and Sean Rash, but I could never believe that Belmo was deliberately trying to throw off his opponents by crinkling his water bottles. I chalked up these incidents to nervous habit under the immense pressure of televised competition.

But now there's a new scandal of sorts involving Belmo. Mike Machuga writes about it today in his bowling blog. It concerns a nailbiting match Machuga had with Belmo last week in the Masters in which Machuga had to double in the tenth if he were to hand Belmo his first defeat of the double elimination tournament.

Machuga writes that Belmo kept talking loudly to himself while he, Machuga, was going through his pre-shot routine and finally he chastised Belmo for it, Belmo stormed (no pun intended) away in anger, and, after winning the match following Machuga's failure to strike on his second ball, Belmo approached him to talk about what had happened, yet, instead of apologizing for his distracting actions, he merely berated himself for perpetrating them. I took the gist of Machuga's complaint to be that Belmo keeps doing these kinds of things in competition and then comes across as curiously self-centered in how he responds to criticism over it.

As I say, Jason Belmonte is my favorite bowler, and I never tire of singing his praises on this blog and to my friends and fellow bowlers. So many people seem to be looking for reasons not to give this great bowler his due--for example, he's not American, or the two-handed, thumbless game is not "real bowling"--that my heart sinks when I hear people calling him a "cheater" and a "jerk," and I still don't believe for a single moment that he's either.

But I hope he finds a better way to stand up to the pressure of competition than to do things that so blatantly distract his fellow bowlers at their most vulnerable moments. Until he does that, it looks like he'll be under a cloud, and it's a cloud to which he doesn't seem impervious. I believe that he feels quite bothered by these criticisms and disparagements--bothered all the way to the bank to cash his championship checks.

Bowling Video--2013 PBA WSOB World Championship

Bowling Video: 2012 PBA World Championship Preview

Bowling Video--2011-2012 PBA Bayer Viper Open

Bowling Video--2011-2012 PBA World Championship Finals

Bowling Video--Who Will Win 2011-2012 PBA Player of the Year?

Sean Rash Makes a Boy's Wish Come True

"One thing athletes do great is give back. I enjoy opportunities like this. When I was young and asked pros for help, they were always willing." ~ Sean Rash

A lot of people don't like Sean Rash. Some even seem to almost hate him. I guess they have their reasons, especially if they've only seen him on TV or read about some of his antics online.

I had the good fortune of spending all day with him at a local bowling clinic I attended last summer, and I happen to respect him for his awesome bowling talent and skill and to like him for his earnest forthrightness, even if I take mild exception to some of the things he's said and done since he became an irrepressible force on the PBA Tour.

And I suspect that if more people were to view the video below of Sean's making a young cancer patient's wish come true, they would see, respect, and even like him as much as I do. At least I hope they would and do.

Bowling Quote of the Day--Del Ballard Doesn't Mind Bowling Controversy

"I don't mind a little controversy one bit. Throw it in the gutter and see how much controversy you get."

--Del Ballard, when asked about the Sean Rash-Jason Belmonte "Bottlegate" controversy

Preview of My Upcoming Story on Bowling Clinic Coached by Sean Rash

I had the privilege of attending an all-day bowling clinic at Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights, CA last Saturday. Coaching the clinic were Sean Rash, P.J. Haggerty, Dr. Dean Hinitz, Ric Hamlin, Nick Smith, and Debbie Haggerty.

Dr. Hinitz had much to say about optimal bowling psychology, and Sean Rash shed a lot of light on bowling at the elite professional level and on his own triumphs and struggles on the lanes.

Please stay tuned for a story that I plan to post to this blog about the highlights of the clinic. And you can read my posts on a previous clinic that I attended last year here and here.

GEICO PBA Team Shootout June 25-26

Today and tomorrow, ESPN will show the first installments of the GEICO Team Shootout. You can catch it today from 12-2 PM Eastern, and tomorrow from 4-6PM Eastern.

Of course, the infamous "Bottlegate 2" incident between Sean Rash and Jason Belmonte has been the talk of the bowling world here of late, but, from what I understand, the bowling action itself is exciting in its own right and well worth watching for its own sake. So, I hope you'll tune in and enjoy it.

Below is a short PBA promotional video of the event.

Jason Belmonte Interviewed About Bottlegate on Above 180 Podcast

If you're interested, as I imagine that many readers of this blog are, Above 180 recently did a podcast featuring an interview with Jason Belmonte. And, as you can well imagine, "Bottlegate" was a big topic of discussion. I've taken the liberty of doing a rough transcription of key parts of the interview, but I strongly suggest that you listen to the entire interview to get the full flavor and all of the content contained therein. You can click here for the interview and read my partial transcription below.

Jason was asked if there was anything more he’d like to say about the Bottlegate incidents with Brad Angelo and, more recently, Sean Rash, and Jason said:

“Going on in my career, I’m definitely not going to stop drinking water, but I’m definitely going to have to be a lot more aware of my surroundings. I was fortunate enough with Sean that when it did happen, it wasn’t in his actual approach like it was with Brad. When it happened, when I picked the bottle up off the ground and it popped in my hand there, I already knew that he was going to turn around.

What I didn’t know, I didn’t expect to see the next part of the story unfold, but I think it’s quite clear that I just can’t do that again. I can’t give anyone any reason to ever think that this was intentional. A few of my friends have said after Brad, what possessed you to even put a bottle in your hand? And I said, “Look, I drink water, and that’s what we’re given. I don’t have another bottle with me, and, at the time, I definitely wasn’t thinking it would ever happen again.” So, I guess that’s where the fault lies with me. Anything that is possible can happen, so I think from here on in, you definitely won’t be seeing me drink out of a crackly plastic bottle again. I think actually in the shows thereafter, I drink out of a glass, which, at the time, was more of a tongue in cheek, but I think it’s probably the smartest thing to do is have something in my hand that isn’t going to create any noise...”

When asked if he agreed with the PBA’s promotion of the event, kind of like Wrestlemania, but then handing out a fine to Rash, Jason said:

“I think there are two sides of the coin to that particular argument. Obviously I would hope for both Sean and I that it wasn’t publicized and it wasn’t marketed because obviously it’s probably something that, well you’d have to ask Sean, but if it was me who did what Sean did, I would definitely not want millions of people around the world to see that. And, from my point of view, I definitely don’t want people to ever assume or ever have a shadow of doubt [about] my character that I was doing something like this on purpose. So, from that point of view, I would obviously say no, I would not like this to have been promoted in the way that it has been.

But then the other side of the coin is that you have to look at it from a news point of view. I don’t think I’ve ever seen what he did happen on the PBA Tour. People want to know that stuff and...even I, between our football and cricket back home, it doesn’t matter what happens to those plays, if it’s a negative review, it gets spoken about through the media outlets. The bad thing for bowling is we’re actually our own journalists, we’re actually marketing and writing about the sport within the industry, unlike these other sports where it’s a completely outside the square entirely. Talking about it, they can say whatever they want, but, with us, we don’t have all the newspapers and TV crews and all these people coming in to write about us, so...the PBA has to do something about it. So, like I said, I wish it never did, but I understand the reasons why it was publicized...It’s very hard to say to the PBA you shouldn’t be writing about this, because it happened, and no one else is going to write about it. So, it’s a really gray area in what should have been done.

Like I said in my letter, the thing that I might have been upset about was the way in which the first incident was written and advertised, and I expressed my views pretty clearly about that as the fact that I don’t care that they want to write about it. It was some of the quotes, headlines were making the assumption that I was a villain on tour, that I was doing these things on purpose, or it was a possibility that I was doing this on purpose. And that was very hurtful, because I pour my heart into this sport, and just to see things written in a way that you know are completely false is very disheartening. So that was my gripe with it all. Not the fact that they were talking about it.

The same thing with the Angelo incident. It happened. It happened on TV. People want to know about it. We live in a world where people don’t just forget about those things. They want to know more about those kind of blow ups It’s the same in any other sport. If there are two football players on the field who are having a go at each other, I’d love to know a little bit more about it, what caused it, why they did it, but as long as the article is written honestly and in a way that didn’t imply that he was doing something on purpose, unless, of course, he was, that’s probably where I would draw my conclusion from."

Jason was asked if he’d spoken to Sean since the incident and whether there’s anything he’d like to say to him.

“He did come over to me directly after the incident. He was wishing the rest of the Storm staff good luck for the rest of the matches. He called me ‘mate’ and wanted to wish me luck. I was a bit fired up after that, and I definitely said some things I definitely shouldn’t have said because I was embarrassed because I just realized what a friend, what I thought a friend had done to me on national television. So I told him in maybe not so polite a way to go away.

That’s probably the one thing I would change is at least give him the chance to say his thing, and I didn’t give him that chance. Then again, I look back and I was so upset I really couldn’t even look at him. I was just very, very disappointed and heartbroken, because this is a guy who, you know, we’ve traveled around the world together, we eat at the same table when we’re away, we golf together, all these things, and it just kind of welled up inside, and when he did that to me it was like I don’t want to see this guy.

But, you know , like I said, looking back, I should have given him the chance to at least wish me luck for the next match and perhaps there we could have spoken about it a little bit and perhaps this wouldn’t have been so bad on a personal level. But since then, no, we haven’t had a chance to talk.

Obviously, we’ve both going to be in Texas for Bowl Expo, and we’re on the same staff for some companies, so I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a time when we’re going to be in the same room, so we’ll see how it goes, and, look, I’m a pretty forgiving kind of guy and it’s not like we’re going to be best mates again, but I’ll definitely like to hear his side of the story and why it was fueled so much as the way it was. You know, everyone’s got a reason for doing something, and he’s not crazy, you know. He obviously had a reason, so I’d like to know that, resolve that reason, and what happens to our friendship thereafter will probably be something that we resolve next time we talk."

It was suggested that Rash is a very competitive and emotional guy who probably just had to let things out “in the heat of the battle” instead of keeping them “bottled up inside.” What’s more, he may have felt a need to defend his friend Brad Angelo, kind of like a big brother sticking up for his little brother. Jason replied:

“Well, that’s true, but at the same time, I wasn’t doing this on national or international television with children present. Whatever anyone ever did to me on a TV show would never warrant that outburst. I would never use the language. And if some of it was premeditated, that was the other part that really kind of upset me was listening to the footage and seeing the extended version, the strike before, he tells me to “Step up to that shot” and he uses a word that you wouldn’t call a friend.

I understand the whole concept that when you’re on the lanes, no one’s your friend, but there’s a respect there for each other. And I think the best example of that is probably Pete Weber. There isn’t a guy I know who is more passionate and emotionally charged on TV than that guy, and yet I’ve never heard him, in all the years that I’ve been watching him, call another player a name. It’s always been a very emotional outburst, and whether it was directed to another player, he never actually used a curse word to call a player.

So a bit of me was thinking maybe this was slightly premeditated to, like you said, get me back for Brad. A little childish, if that was the case, and we’ll obviously have to ask Sean if that was the reason. But we had ample opportunity to discuss what happened with Brad if he was taking it on a personal level with himself or his company. We bowled all weekend. I think actually we spent a week and a half in the Middle East together prior to that showdown in Chicago. There was plenty of time then if he wanted to come up and say to me that he thought what I did against Brad was wrong or to discuss that, but there was no chat. We were friends, we went to dinner, we golfed together in Kuwait, and then, that’s probably where I’m a little bit confused.

I’m sure, if he ever does come up and talk to me about this, we can definitely find out the reason behind it, because I’m just so shocked about the reaction. I mean if it’s the fact that he just doesn’t like the bottle crinkling, then talk to me about it and say, ‘Look, you’re crinkling this bottle, everyone hates it, stop crinkling the damn bottle, get another thing, whatever.’ He could say it in so many different ways. I couldn’t believe what he had done.”

Jason was then asked if he believed that this was the result of some “built up animosity from Sean” and of the fact that he and Sean are on competing ball company staffs, and Jason replied:

“If he comes up to me that’ll be the first question I ask him. Was this a premeditated event? Was it on your mind from the beginning about somehow defending Brad’s honor in any way. That’s going to be one of the first questions that we’ll talk about.

I’m sure one of his first questions will be if I did it on purpose, and I’ll look him right in the eye and tell him I’ve been drinking water all of my entire career and this is the first time anyone’s ever said anything to me about a bottle crinkling, and, on top of that, it’s completely accidental and unintentional. That’s the part that I think I really want to stress to him and anyone else for that matter who has any doubts about what has happened.

It’s disheartening to think that someone would leave their country, their family to go and bowl against the best bowlers in the world, who has the talent to compete on their own, and then feel like I would have to purposely put people off with a simple crackle of the bottle. Like I wrote in my letter, if I’m going to put them off with a bottle, I’ll throw the bottle at their head. That’s how I’ll put them off with a bottle. That’s what just absolutely spellbounds me.

And then on top of all this, after the Angelo incident, if this was an intentional crinkle to put someone off, I would have to be the dumbest person in the world to do it again with about fifteen ESPN cameras and PBA cameras watching our every move. On top of that, it would be even dumber to do it in an event which I’m not going to earn a title from, and even dumber to do it in an event in which Brunswick and Sean were no threat to myself or Storm. There is absolutely no motive in my doing that to Sean that day.

And, like I said, the reason why I didn’t apologize to Sean was because the timing of it wasn’t horrible, it was accidental, but it wasn’t during his approach. That’s why I was apologetic to Brad, because it was in his third step, it put him off, and I felt absolutely horrible and distraught about it. But I’m not going to apologize to Sean because I feel like I haven’t done anything wrong.

What I have to do in the future is take that bottle out of my hand, giving no one the reason for anyone to imply that I’m trying to do something intentionally. So, that’s something that I’m going to have to do, and that’s where I hope it stays. I hope after everything that’s happened, and if any other guys on tour or around the world doubt me, come up to me, talk to me, look me right in the eye, and I’ll tell all.”

Bowling Video of the Day--Funny Sean Rash Commercial for ESPN

Bowling Quote of the Day--PBA Should Disclose Amount of Rash' Fine

"Why won't the PBA disclose the amount of his fine? It seems to me that the main reason to fine somebody is to act as a deterrent to others engaging in the same behavior. How can that deterrent be effective if the amount of the fine is unknown?"

--Comment in PBA Forum regarding the PBA's "undisclosed" fine amount of Sean Rash

Sean Rash Apologizes, Sort Of

In the wake of the PBA's announcement yesterday that Sean Rash was being fined "an undisclosed amount for conduct unbecoming a professional" over the "Bottlegate 2" incident with Jason Belmonte that has yet to be aired on TV but has made the Internet rounds, Rash today released this arguably grudging apology for his actions:

To the PBA, my fellow bowlers, and fans:

I would like to apologize for my poor choice of words used during the taping of the 2011 GEICO PBA Team Shootout which will air on ESPN over the next couple of weekends. I would like everyone to know that this is not the type of image I want to portray as a professional bowler.

As for what happened, it is important to note that I stepped off the approach twice during the match against Jason Belmonte because I could easily hear the water bottle crunching. For the first water bottle crunching, I did not acknowledge the distraction, but after the second incident, I felt that it was more than coincidental and had to call him out on his unusual gamesmanship. The fact is that Jason has been warned before about his untimely bottle crunching, and I did not appreciate that he had not learned from his past actions and was continuing this tactic against me.

While I do apologize for my choice of language, I do not apologize for my actions on calling out Belmonte. In the heat of the moment, the words came out well before I could even think about what I was going to say. I can assure you that I will most certainly call out Belmonte or any other player who tries to use these unprofessional tactics against me in the future, but I will be sure to use a better choice of words.

While I have a great deal of respect for Belmonte as a fellow competitor, the fact is that he is still my competition on the PBA Tour, and bowling is a sport with intense competition. When I step onto the lanes, friendships are set aside. This is our chosen profession and our livelihood, and at times, things get heated.

As for how things are between Jason and I, let’s just say that we will settle it on the lanes.

Sincerely,

Sean Rash

Are you satisfied with Rash's apology? Do you think he even needed to make one?

PBA Fines Sean Rash For Bottlegate 2

Many were wondering what would happen to Sean Rash for his profanity laced tirade (see video below) against Jason Belmonte at the GEICO Team Shootout recently. Even though the incident won't be shown on TV until the first weekend of July, video clips of it have made the Internet rounds, and there has been much discussion of it on this and other bowling blogs as well as bowling forums.

Belmonte even weighed in Monday with a very strong public statement denying that he deliberately sought to distract Rash with his water bottle and expressing profound disappointment with Rash and others for impugning his character over this. Yesterday, I posted my "blow by blow" breakdown of the incident and said what I thought about it.

Today, the PBA announced that they're fining Rash "an undisclosed amount for conduct unbecoming a professional." Your guess is as good as mine as to how much the fine will cost Mr. Rash. I suppose I could ask him at the all-day bowling clinic I plan to attend this Saturday at Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights, CA, but I think I'll pass on posing that particular question to him. Perhaps you'd like to mosey on over and ask him yourself.

I will say, as I did yesterday, that I don't think Rash should be punished too severely for his outburst, but he and the other players should be strongly discouraged from future very public behavior of this kind. As for Belmo, a lot of people think he should be fined too. But for what? I still think the "Bottlegate" incidents with Brad Angelo and Rash were accidental and that, in any case, there's no proof that they were intentional. However, I think Belmo needs to be officially warned, if he hasn't been already, to keep his hands off his water bottle at crucial times during his matches with opponents, and if he fails to do this, then the PBA would be justified in imposing sanctions.

What do you think? Do you think Rash should have been fined or otherwise disciplined? If so, how much, or how? What about Belmonte?

Breaking Down Bowling's Bottlegate 2

Point/Counterpoint

Belmo did it on purpose. He didn't do it on purpose. Belmo's a cheater and a liar. Belmo's a good guy who made mistakes and just needs to be more careful from now on. Sean Rash is a jerk. Sean Rash is a tough competitor who doesn't take crap from anybody and gave Belmo what he deserved. The PBA should punish Belmo and/or Rash. The PBA shouldn't punish Belmo and/or Rash. The PBA is milking these Bottlegate incidents for all they're worth. The PBA is simply sharing the news of what happened. The PBA should use these incidents to stir up interest and attract viewers to the telecasts. The PBA should say nothing about these incidents and should edit them out of the telecasts. Impressionable children and society at large will be scarred for life by seeing these incidents. Children already see much, much worse, and neither they nor society will be harmed in the least by it.

If you read the various bowling forums about Bottlegate 1 and, especially, 2, these are the diverse opinions you'll encounter about these incidents. I never cease to be fascinated by how human beings can see and judge the same events in such wildly contrasting ways.

I think I've already made my opinions regarding Bottlegate 2 pretty clear, but I wrote yesterday that I planned to post my updated "take" on the matter today with the help of the extended video the PBA released yesterday (see below), so here goes.

What I see when I look at the video

Extended Clip: Rash/Belmonte Bottle Incident - Funny bloopers R us

At the beginning of the video, there is some kind of "roll off" competition between Rash and Belmonte. Rash is on the approach while Belmonte takes three sips from his water bottle. Then, as Belmo puts the cap back on the bottle and begins to set it down on the floor, Rash puts his ball back on the rack but doesn't say anything. It's not clear if Rash is reacting to a bottle noise or not. I can't hear any bottle noise, but this isn't to say there isn't one. Rash has a well-publicized tendency to balk on his shots, so maybe he didn't hear anything that made him put his ball down and regroup, and maybe he did. Then he grabs his ball, throws a strike, and says not very loudly but loudly enough to be heard, "Step up to that, Bitch," as he walks back and Belmonte gets up for his shot. Belmo throws a strike and sits back down. Rash gets back up, picks up and wipes off his ball and steps up on the approach while Belmo reaches for his water bottle and can't find it at first, finally does find it, picks it up and just holds it from the bottom with one hand and from the near the top with the other, Rash turns around, Belmo apologetically says, That was...," and Rash puts his ball back on the rack while saying, "Really. Lot's of fu*king class right there," resets himself, and Belmo waits until Rash releases the ball before he picks his bottle back up and it seems to make a crinkling sound when Rash's ball is more than halfway down the lane. Rash says, "Go through it!" as his ball looks like it might go high but strikes, and then he turns around and yells, "Take that, you bottle bitch! Come on! [Bleeped inaudible] Come on! Let's go! Let's have some fun!" while he walks back and high fives his Brunswick teammates and then sits down and says, "I'm tired of it. Everyone, you do it to."

What I think about it all

I won't bore you with a long winded exposition on what I think. I'll simply say that I believe Belmo when he says he didn't purposely distract Rash, and even if he were lying, I don't think anyone could prove it, and, therefore, no one should flatly accuse him of what they can't prove, especially given the way he's conducted himself in all other respects. I think Rash was out-of-line to act the way he did but that this doesn't make him one of Keith Olbermann's "worst persons in the world." I think the PBA should fine Rash or at least strongly warn him that profanity won't be tolerated in televised events. I don't think the PBA was wrong to report on the event and even use it as promotion of its upcoming telecasts. I don't think the PBA needs to edit out the incident although it probably should and probably will be required by FCC regulations to edit out a choice word or two. I don't think airing the incident will significantly impact children who watch it or society at large. I think Bemo needs to consciously adjust his pre-shot routine so that he doesn't touch water bottles while his opponents are on the approach and in the process of making a shot in the finals of a PBA event, or he needs to use a water container that doesn't make noise. No, better just to not touch ANY water container while opponents are bowling.

You've seen the most revealing video, you've read my take on it. What do you think? Or do you think you need to see it all on TV first?

PBA GEICO Team Shootout Information

ESPN's telecasts of the PBA GEICO Team Shootout, complete with "Bottlegate 2," get underway this Saturday and Sunday, the 25th and 26th, and conclude next Saturday and Sunday. Unlike past summer team competition, this event is held in an upscale Chicago bowling center instead of outdoors at an amusement park, and it features several different kinds of singles, doubles, and team competition.

Word is, the competition is unusually intense and high quality for an off-season event, and, of course, Sean Rash calls Jason Belmonte a "bottle bitch" for making a crinkly noise with his water bottle. So, it sounds like it has something for everyone, and maybe, unfortunately, something that is NOT for everyone.

Interestingly enough, I'll probably be getting a bowling lesson from Sean Rash at a bowling clinic on Saturday while the first episode is being shown, so I'll have to watch the program on my DVR later.

Jerry Schneider has the lowdown on the competition and this weekend's telecasts here.

Belmonte Releases Impassioned Public Statement on Bottlegate

"I will say this loud and very clear and I say it to those who have bowled against me in the past, those I will play in the future and to the fans watching. I am a respectful, honourable and honest bowler and person. If you beat me, you did it because you were better than me on the day and the same goes if I beat you. Simple as that."

--Jason Belmonte

When Jason Belmonte's water bottle first became the center of controversy back in March in his televised match with Brad Angelo, I didn't know what to think. Here I'd been writing posts of glowing praise not only of Belmo's awesome bowling talent and skill but also of his sterling sportsmanship as a competitor and gracious affability as a human being, and then along came this unfortunate incident that, to the superficial eye, cast doubt on Belmo's character being all it was cracked up to be. After all, it would be pretty underhanded of him to deliberately crinkle his water bottle to distract Angelo, and it would downright mendacious of him to lie repeatedly about it afterward.

But when I examined and reexamined the video of the incident, listened to and read what both Belmo and Angelo had to say on the matter, and weighed all of that against my observations of Belmo's actions and character ever since he came to my attention several years before, I came to the tentative conclusion that Belmo was speaking the truth when he insisted that he hadn't purposely crinkled his bottle to distract Angelo, and I felt sad that a good many people in the bowling forums I frequented were accusing Belmo of cheating and denigrating his character.

I also took strong exception to Jason Thomas' article that appeared to me to effusively praise Angelo for standing up to Belmo the way he did on the telecast and to indirectly chastise Belmo and to cast aspersions on his character for defending himself and criticizing the PBA's handling of the incident.

Then along came the more recent incident with Sean Rash, and I was left wondering if I'd been too quick to jump on Belmo's bandwagon. After all, you'd think that after the incident with Angelo and all the controversy it stirred up and the upset it caused Belmo, the last thing in the world he would even think of doing is going near a water bottle when his opponent was up on the approach.

I subsequently posted an entry to my blog about this, and Belmo read it that same day and sent me a private message denying that he had deliberately sought to distract Rash and explaining exactly what happened. I then watched the only video available at the time over and over and came to the conclusion that Belmo's denial and explanation seemed credible after all. Later, another video came out that showed a little more of what happened, and it too appeared to me to support Belmo's comments to me.

Well, today Belmo released a lengthy public statement (click here to read it) on both "Bottlegate" incidents. In it, he denies, as he did to me, that he deliberately tried to distract either Angelo or Rash, insists that he has tremendous respect for the sport of bowling and for the PBA and that he would do nothing to tarnish either one, states that a person's character and integrity is of vital importance to him and that he resents the aspersions that have been cast on his by people too quick to jump to the worst possible conclusions about these bottle incidents, and explains exactly what happened with Sean Rash and how he feels about it and Rash's reaction.

Here are some of the highlights of Belmo's statement:

"Over the last few months my credibility as a bowler, as a person and as a friend has been cast over a shadow of doubt. I have been labeled a cheat, a child, and much worse things by fans, and other pros. Even worse, pros that I considered friends.

For what? Because I drink water out of a bottle? Don’t all athletes during pressure filled situations?

I said sorry to Angelo during and after our match at the Dick Weber Playoffs last season. I felt like the timing in which the bottle popped was extremely unfortunate. It caught him and even though I didn’t agree with how he reacted, I did the right thing and told him it was accidental, that I felt horrible about it and in no way did I intend to put him off. This incident was then blown out of the water by certain staff at the PBA, blasted all over Facebook and PBA.com, with poorly chosen headlines and edited YouTube clips to not only cause doubt over my intentions while bowling against Angelo but also to cause doubt over who I am as a person. To say after that incident I was upset was an understatement. I hate that it happened and I thought I made that clear by how apologetic I was on the day and in interviews there after that show.

Fast forward to June for the PBA Summer Series, one of the last matches of the summer series ended up with Sean Rash and I being the last bowlers left standing. Like I had for every single other frame of every other match I start my pre-shot routine by taking a drink from the water bottle given to me by the TV crew on the set.

On one of the closing shots of our match, while Rash was preparing, I had searched for my bottle that had fallen under my seat. I picked my bottle up off the floor. I held it by the bottle cap waiting for him to complete the shot. It popped in my hand, well before I was ever thinking about opening it. Not in his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th step, but before he had even taken a single step on the approach. I didn’t hold the bottle on the sides, pressing it in, trying to pop it during his approach. I simply was waiting. He pulled back, set himself again and bowled a great shot. When it struck, the verbal abuse started and his language with children present and the fact that it was on TV was appalling. He claimed in his rant, between the cursing, that what I do with the bottle I do to everyone else on tour and that he took it upon himself to express that for everyone...

I have spent my entire career labeled a cheat because of the technique I have developed. I have spent years proving that I only beat you on the lanes because I was better than you on the day, not because I am breaking rules or trying to put people off...

I am completely insulted and disappointed by Rash and his actions. I am embarrassed and feel so stupid that I once not only called him a friend but when Rash was away from his family and friends in foreign lands across the world it was I who was there for him...

This blatant verbal abuse and disrespect is not what the PBA deserves from one of it’s current and for sure future stars, nor do I deserve it as a player or as a human being."

In addition to Belmonte's passionate statement, a new video clip of the Rash incident was released today that shows more of the entire incident and from a different camera angle than before. I hope you'll read Belmonte's statement in full, check out the video below, and tell me what you think. I plan to post my take on these most recent revelations tomorrow.

Extended Clip: Rash/Belmonte Bottle Incident - Click here for more blooper videos