2014 USBC Senior Masters Stepladder Finals

Video--Walter Ray Shoots Another 300

Should Jason Belmonte Have Won the ESPY for 2011 Bowler of the Year?

"Of all the award shows, the ESPYs have got to be the dumbest award show there is. First of all, award shows in general are sort of silly and ridiculous and we know they're just for creating publicity, but at least it makes some sort of sense within that framework to have an awards show for movies, or television, because there is no way with those to know which is the best. But when we're talking about sports -they actually play the game. We don't have to give an award to the best team. We know who the best team is - they've already won! That's the great thing about sports, there's a built-in objective mechanism by which we can ascertain who the winners are. But no, you have to win a second time in a tuxedo, and a spokesmodel has to hand you a trophy; that's what's important."

--Bill Maher

"I love John Walsh, and I have a fond feeling for ESPN. But I find the ESPY Awards objectionable. We already have awards. The World Series is an award. An MVP is an award. We don't need more awards. They make up this crap so they can fill time with it - the worst."

--Bill Wolff, former ESPN producer

I apologize for not posting for awhile, but now I'm back and have a lot of news and views to cover. Let me begin with this year's ESPY's. As you may or may not know, the ESPY awards are sports network ESPN's "Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly" awards that go to athletes in a wide variety of sports. The candidates in each sport or category are chosen by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee and then voted on through online fan balloting. The winners are honored on an ESPN television program.

You may be surprised that even though bowling seems to garner little respect in the sports world or among the public at large, there IS an ESPY award for "Best Bowler." I didn't agree with last year's choice of Walter Ray Williams Jr. over Kelly Kulick, but Walter Ray did have a good enough year that his selection wasn't the travesty this year's was.

This year, Jason Belmonte was selected "Bowler of the Year" and received his award on last night's ESPY broadcast. Now Jason has been known to read this blog on occasion, and I want to make it perfectly clear to him and to everyone else that I'm not slamming Belmo when I say that he didn't deserve to win the award. As I think I've made very clear on this blog, I stand in awe of Belmo's talent and skill and think he's one of the best bowlers on the planet and destined to get better and better still. However, I don't see any way in proverbial hell that he was this season's "best bowler."

If we look at the PBA Tour stats, at least three bowlers on tour had better seasons that Belmo did. Of course, there was PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi. But there were also Chris Barnes, who led the Tour in overall points, and Bill O'Neill, who surpassed Belmo in every statistical category. So, why did Belmo get the award?

I have to think it's because people voted without looking at the stats or caring what they revealed. I have to conclude that, at least so far as bowling is concerned, the ESPY award for "Best Bowler" was the result of a popularity contest or, perhaps, a coordinated voting campaign and not the result of an informed and reasoned pick of the highest performing bowler of the year.

I'm guessing that Jason knows this as well as anyone and is not as happy about his award as he'd like to be. I'm sure he'd like to know, in his heart of hearts, that he deserved it. But the one good thing about it is that it seems to show that the Bottlegate episodes have not significantly lessened his popularity with the bowling public. Nor should they.

Do you believe that Belmo deserved to win this year's ESPY award, and, if not, who do you think DID deserve it?

Ron Mohr Seems Unbeatable in PBA Senior Competition

"The dream continues I guess—it’s absurd. What can you say but that I’ve been extremely fortunate this year. It’s all been so unexpected coming into this season after not having bowled competitively for seven months."

--Ron Mohr

It seems as though the only thing that will definitely stop Ron Mohr (watch a video clip of his shooting 300 in last week's Senior U.S. Open here) from winning the next PBA Senior Tour tournament is a wedding. That's right, Mohr won't be competing in the USBC Senior Masters in Columbus, Ohio in August because he'll be attending his stepson Justin's wedding instead. If not for that, you'd have to make him the solid favorite, judging by his amazing accomplishments this season.

Of the six PBA Senior Tour tournaments that have been held so far this season, Ron has placed second, third, fourth, and won three titles, including last week's PBA Senior U.S. Open in Las Vegas, and this week's PBA Senior Northern California Classic in Brentwood, CA.

He achieved the latter yesterday by defeating PBA Hall-of-Famer Mark Williams 3 games to 2 in the Round of 16, two-time regular tour titlist Kent Wagner 2 games to 1 in the Round of 8, PBA and USBC Hall-of-Famer and last year's PBA Senior Player of the Year Wayne Webb 223-195 in the Semifinal Round, and 7-time regular tour titlist Hugh Miller 223-215 in the title match.

Miller, who has been called one of the most underrated PBA bowlers ever, scorched the lanes the day before by averaging a near record 264 for the second round 8-game block on games of 238, 237, 300, 268, 279, 248, 300, and 247 and led second place Walter Ray Williams Jr. by nearly 200 pins in qualifying while Ron Mohr was sixth in qualifying. But Mohr continued to show his indomitable spirit and skills in match play all the way to yet another title and a huge, if not overwhelming, lead in the Senior Player of the Year race.

I really wonder what this guy might be able to do on the regular tour.

You can read Jerry Schneider's official PBA.com recap of Mohr's victory here.

Walter Ray Takes on Wayne Webb at PBA Northern California Senior Classic

If you have PBA Xtra Frame and a way to watch it this evening, check out the featured match coming up between Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Wayne Webb in the Round of 8 at the PBA Senior Northern California Classic. The match begins around 5 PM Pacific. I won't be able to see all of it before I have to leave for my sport bowling league tonight, but I look forward to catching all of this very promising match in the Xtra Frame archives later.

Wayne Webb looks very sharp coming off knee surgery and his outstanding showing last week in the PBA Senior U.S. Open, and he seems to be picking up from where he left off in this week's tournament in Brentwood, CA.

Catch him and Walter Ray if you can and let the PBA know that you value their Xtra Frame webcasting service and senior bowling.

Walter Ray Leads First Round of PBA Senior Northern California Classic

"I can’t complain because I’ve been bowling great overall. My mindset is always to move on to the next tournament and try to win that one."

--Walter Ray Williams Jr, speaking of his opening performance in the PBA Senior Northern California Classic after losing the title match last week to Ron Mohr in the Senior U.S. Open.

As the TV sitcom character Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise...surprise...surprise," Walter Ray Williams Jr. is leading after the first 8-game round of the PBA Senior Northern California Classic in Brentwood, CA. His very first game was a 300, and he followed it with games of 205, 249, 258, 225, 215, 259, and 277 for a 248 average.

Not far behind him is Sacramento's Noel Vazquez in second, Harry "The Legend" Sullins in eighth, Hugh Miller in ninth, the venerable 71-year-old Dave Soutar in thirteenth, Mark Williams in fifteenth, and last week's Senior U.S. Open winner and leader in the Senior Player of the Year race Ron Mohr in sixteenth place. You just know he's going to be in the thick of it at the end.

The players will bowl another 8-game round today, and the field of 100 will then be winnowed down to 32 for match play on Wednesday, with the Round of 8 followed by the championship match beginning around 5 PM Pacific. PBA Xtra Frame will be covering the action today and tomorrow, so be sure to tune in.

Click here for the full story and standings.

Ron Mohr Triumphs at 2011 PBA Senior U.S. Open

"Walter’s the best out here and everyone kind of expects him to be the guy. It’s nice to become the top senior player in the world by winning the toughest tournament we bowl but right now I’m just going to enjoy the moment."

--Ron Mohr

Ron Mohr didn't get off to the best of starts in this year's PBA Senior U.S. Open in Las Vegas. He was in 67th place after the first round of qualifying, and only 56 players in the field of over 200 would make the first cut. "I was concerned at that point but not overly worried. At that point there was a lot of bowling left...so I just made the adjustments and took it a day at a time, which you have to do in a marathon tournament like this," said Mohr.

He made those adjustments, made the cut, and sat in 7th place entering match play at the end of 27 games of qualifying. 24 games of round-robin match play later, he had edged out Bo Goergen to secure the fourth and final spot in Friday's stepladder finals.

His first opponent was the reigning Senior Player of the Year Wayne Webb. Webb bowled tremendously well this week after coming back from knee surgery a few months ago and limited practice since then to nail down the third seed, and when he started the first stepladder match with his first six strikes, it looked as though he might give Ron Mohr more than he could handle. But Mohr began with a five-bagger of his own before leaving a 4-10 split that looked, given Wayne's hot start, like it might spell his doom. He then masterfully converted the split, Wayne left a light pocket 7 pin on his next ball, and before you knew it, Mohr had emerged victorious with a 265 game to Webb's 258.

In Mohr's next match with Harry Sullins, the scores weren't as high, but the competition was no less thrilling, ending with Mohr's narrow 220 to 211 victory over Sullins in a back-and-forth affair.

This left only one person standing in Mohr's way to his first senior major title. But that person happened to be Walter Ray Williams Jr., who dominated the later rounds of qualifying and much of match play before struggling a little in the final round. Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Ron Mohr. The two best players on the senior tour this season by far. One could not have asked for a better match up in the final game of arguably the biggest and most challenging senior tournament of the entire season.

But, as things turned out, it wasn't much of a match. Walter Ray never really got lined up, and Mohr cruised to an impressive 246-189 victory. "She was my guardian angel and she was with me today," Mohr said afterward, referring to his wife, Linda, who passed away in January after complications following surgery months earlier. Mohr, who was the 2009 Senior Player of the Year, had taken off much of the 2010 season to care for his ailing wife and, after she died, had been despondent and reluctant to return to the senior tour. Yet, he decided to give it a try and see how he did in the first few tournaments. His second, third, and fourth place finishes in addition to two titles this season have certainly vindicated his decision and placed him solidly in the lead for Senior Player of the Year as the senior tour heads into the second half of its season.

"Both the support back home and out here on tour has been unbelievable, and that has been very important to my success this year," said Mohr.

The senior tour now moves to Brentwood, CA for the Senior Northern California Classic at Harvest Park Bowl, June 19-22.

You can read Jerry Schneider's entire wrap up of the Senior U.S. Open for pba.com here and catch all the round-robin match play rounds and the stepladder finals on PBA Xtra Frame.

Walter Ray Widening His PBA Senior U.S. Open Lead Going Into Final Day of Competition

"I’m still throwing the ball well. I had to migrate left a little tonight as the lane condition broke down, but it wasn’t much – which was fine with me. There are no guarantees heading into tomorrow, but I like what’s going on. I’d be very happy to have to bowl only one game in the stepladder finals for the title."

--Walter Ray Williams Jr.

After 35 games of match play and qualifying, Walter Ray Williams Jr. entered today's final day of competition in the PBA Senior U.S. Open with a 203 pin lead over second place Wayne Webb, last year's Senior Player of the Year.

PBA Xtra Frame is covering all of today's action, albeit with some unfortunate technical glitches thus far this morning. The bowlers will bowl two eight-game round-robin match play rounds this morning and afternoon, and the top four will advance to the stepladder finals beginning at approximately 3:30 pm Pacific.

Extended Bottlegate 2 Clip Promised

And bear in mind that Xtra Frame is supposed to be featuring an extended clip of "Bottlegate 2" this afternoon between the final round of match play and the stepladder finals. Xtra Frame announcer Jeff Mark and commentator Jason Thomas have said that this could well be the "most intense confrontation in the history of the PBA."

If you don't subscribe to Xtra Frame, I'll be blogging about what I saw in the clip as soon as I can after viewing it.

Click here to read the story on Thursday's action and see the standings going into today's concluding action.

Why Tommy Jones or Norm Duke and Not Walter Ray Williams Jr.?

I complained sometime back about Walter Ray Williams Jr. being dropped by Track bowling equipment after only one mediocre season following his record-setting seventh Player of the Year season. Track later informed me that Williams wasn't so much flat out dropped as he and Track were unable to come to terms on a new contract.

In other words, Walter required more than Track was willing to offer. I expressed doubt that he asked for more than he received the previous season, but I opined that he still deserved to receive as much as he did before on the strength of his amazingly long and successful career.

Someone recently posted a very thoughtful comment about this that I'd like to repost here, because I think it may go far in explaining why Walter Ray is not as popular with ball manufacturers as other, far less successful players have been:

I've always wondered about this, I mean WRW Jr. has had a bunch of ball sponsors over the years. I personally feel that he's G.O.A.T., but I suspect it's his winning style that may have cost him a bit in this area. Bear with me...

If a bowler is winning, and dominant, it doesn't much matter *how* they get it done, they're going to get offers from sponsors. In business though, it's not so much what you've done, but "what you've done lately".

Now, I've seen WRW hook the lane, but his general approach is "straighter is greater" and he tends to play down and in without a lot of hook. Watching him bowl, it looks like he could win with any manufacturer's ball, and he probably could.

I think the ball companies are more likely to want to sponsor bowlers with more ball motion. People at home see Sean Rash, Wes Malott, Jason Belmonte, Pete Weber, Tommy Jones, Jason Couch, Chris Barnes, Bill O'Neal, Michael Fagan and a bunch of the other guys roll various equipment and think "if I get that same ball I can make it roll like he does!" Meanwhile, Walter Ray's rev rate is probably a lot closer to a typical house bowler (about identical to mine, I think!)

I don't know, I could be way off-base but I think this is one reason WRW Jr goes from sponsor to sponsor. One below-par (for HIM!) season and he's just not the marketing draw some of the other guys are, despite the fact that his style, while not as flashy as a high-rev player, helped him become the greatest-of-all-time (or among the top three, at the very least!)

Me, I'm hoping he wins multiple titles next year, all with different brands of bowling balls, whichever is working the best that week... that would be great.

As I said, I think there may be a lot of truth to this comment. Ball manufacturers know that what appeals to a broad segment of their market is not tremendous accuracy and consistency but overwhelming POWER. They want to see balls rev like a buzzsaw, hook like crazy, and explode the pins like an atom bomb.

Walter Ray's relatively straight, low rev ball doesn't do any of that. Yes, it generates one of the highest carry percentages on tour, and he's almost superhumanly accurate and consistent with it, but that's not good enough. The ball needs to roll and strike in a flashy way. Then power-obsessed bowlers looking to buy their next ball can see a Jason Belmonte or Tommy Jones blast the pins with a manufacturer's equipment and consciously or subconsciously say to themselves: "If I get one of those balls, maybe it'll work like that for me too."

However, as I indicted in my reply to the reply above, I doubt that this is the full explanation of why Walter Ray has difficulty staying with a ball company. After all, Norm Duke, as indisputably great as he is, doesn't throw any more ball than Walter Ray and he's won far fewer titles, but, if I'm not mistaken, he's been with Storm for many years. Why is that?

I surmise that there's something about Norm's personality compared to Walter's that has a lot to do with it. Walter seems like a fairly shy, reclusive, and cerebral guy, and that just doesn't attract fans the way a more outgoing and outwardly passionate Norm Duke does.

I guess it doesn't do any good to complain about human nature and what people find and don't find attractive insofar as bowling releases and personalities are concerned. But I still think it's too darn bad that the most successful bowler by far in the history of the PBA Tour can't keep a ball sponsor or receive the respect from fans and the industry that he clearly deserves.

Walter Ray Williams Jr's Xtra Frame Interview With Matt Freiberg

After Walter Ray Williams Jr. crushed his competition to win the PBA Senior Mark Roth Allentown Open last Tuesday, he was interviewed briefly by PBA Xtra Frame's Matt Freiberg. Here is the larger part of what Walter had to say about his performances recently and his hopes for the future:

“I’ve been bowling really well the last month or so. I worked on some things early last month with Rod Ross. I’m doing some things I’ve never, ever done before. I’m actually in balance throwing the ball. It’s starting to really come around, and I’m really happy with the way I’ve been throwing the ball. I still throw a few bad shots, as you saw, but, for the most part, I’m throwing a lot more good quality shots, which is what I need to do, especially to compete with the kids on the Tour. And I’m looking forward to bowling a lot more events, maybe sneak out Player of the Year against Ron, and give the kids some fits when I get out on the national tour.”

Walter Ray Williams Jr. is Feeling Confident Again

"After one of the worst stretches in my bowling career, I did finally get another PBA title at the PBA Senior Mark Roth Allentown Open. I have worked on my game and since the middle of April have felt pretty good about my game. I have had the high average in all 4 of the Senior events this season with a 2nd, 3rd, and 9th to go with my win. Hopefully there is still much more good bowling for me!"

--Walter Ray Williams Jr.

Update on Track and Walter Ray Williams Jr.

Yesterday, I posted an entry to my blog that criticized Track for not renewing Walter Ray Williams Jr's contract with the company. I had just learned about it here, and I was angry that the most accomplished player in PBA history was, in my opinion, being treated so shabbily. I also posted some rather scathing comments to Track's Facebook wall.

I expected Track to delete my comments as soon as they discovered them. But, to their considerable credit, not only did they leave my comments up, but they even replied to them this morning. This is what they graciously wrote:

It is true that Walter is no longer on the Track staff. We will miss him as a part of our team. With out going into details, he was offered a Track contract but he declined and decided to move on. We respect his decision and wish him the best of luck. And congrats on a great win.

I still don't know all the details. I don't know what kind of deal Track offered Walter to re-sign with them. I can't imagine that Walter asked for more than he received last season, given his struggles last season, but I also can't blame him if he asked for the same amount that he received previously, given his remarkable lifetime accomplishments.

Like I said, I don't know all the details. But what I do know is that I should have waited until I at least gave Track a chance to respond to my inquiries before I criticized them on this blog. Had I waited until I received the reply I did this morning, it would have tempered what I had to say about them.

I still think that Walter Ray Williams is the Rodney Dangerfield of bowling. He don't get no respect. Or, at least, he's not accorded the respect he deserves for all that he's accomplished on the lanes and for, so far as I know, his exemplary conduct off the lanes.

I hope he continues to bowl well on the senior tour and comes out like gangbusters next fall and has another great season on the regular tour. And I hope that some ball company signs him after offering him what he truly deserves.

Click here to read an interesting story on Track's website that announced the signing of Walter Ray prior to last season. One thing that stood out in the story was that Walter's previous ball company, 900 Global, "did not offer to renew my contract at the end of the season." Now this, mind you, was after Walter Ray had just won Player of the Year for a record-setting seventh time on the regular PBA Tour. But, not knowing more about this, I won't make the same mistake I did yesterday and jump to conclusions about what happened here.

Why Did Track Not Re-Sign Walter Ray, and What Does This Say About Them, the Bowling Industry, and Bowling Fans?

I just read an article--Fairytale will continue for Walter Ray, no matter what--online that has me fuming. Now maybe I'm jumping the gun on writing this. Maybe I should take a few deep breaths, recite my mantram, and give my raging emotions a chance to settle and myself more time to check my facts before I fly off half-cocked.

Nah. "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore." Well, I will restrain myself from saying all that I want to say, but I won't hold back from saying anything at all about this travesty.

The article I read said Walter Ray Williams Jr.--yes, the guy who has won more national PBA titles, earned more PBA prize money, garnered more PBA Tour Player of the Year awards, bowled more times on television, and on and on and on than any other bowler alive or dead, and who recently bowled great for Team USA in the PABCON Championships, just won a national PBA Senior title after placing high in the other senior tournaments this season, and whose game seems to be coming back into its own after stumbling for a mere few months in the wake of hernia surgery and a major grip change to his bowling equipment--was dropped from the staff of Track bowling equipment when his contract came up for renewal, and no other company has picked him up.

I've been saying here for a long time that Walter Ray Williams Jr. has NEVER gotten the respect he fully deserves. Not from the fans and not from the bowling industry. He is arguably the greatest bowler in the history of the PBA. He is arguably the greatest bowler who ever lived. At age 50, he won PBA Player of the Year and led every major PBA statistical category in the 2009-2010 season. Then he went out and won his first PBA Senior tournament. And then, because he struggled during the few brief months of an abbreviated PBA season in 2010-2011, he was discarded like a bag of garbage?

Maybe I don't know all the facts. Maybe there's more to Track not re-signing him than I realize. But if it's simply a matter of them dropping this superstar of the bowling firmament because of one sub-par bowling season, then shame on them, shame on the other companies for not a one of them grabbing him up, and shame on the bowling industry in general for not giving this incredible athlete his due.

I posted about this on Track's Facebook wall. As of now, my comments are still up there, and a couple of people have replied to my outrage. One guy wrote: "Yes he is a legend but it is a business and in an economy where exposure means sales sometimes there has to be cuts made."

He's right. Bowling IS a business where "exposure" DOES "mean sales." But I believe that if bowling is the kind of business that caters to fans so fickle that the great Walter Ray Williams' endorsement of a line of bowling balls means nothing to them because he had one off season, and bowling is the kind of business where its powers-that-be are ready to "cut" their greatest star from endorsing their products after one comparatively bad season, despite the reasons for that sub-par performance and signs that he would rebound from it, then I have ample reason to be all the more dubious of bowling's integrity and its future.

Walter Ray Williams Jr. Cruises to Title in PBA Senior Mark Roth Allentown Open

"I think the hard work I've put in the past couple of months has really paid off. I'm feeling very comfortable being able to make the adjustments I need to make and just bowling very well in general. I'm very encouraged and confident going forward from here."

--Walter Ray Williams Jr.

As I wrote yesterday, Ron Mohr appeared to be well on his way to another senior title and to strengthening his domination of the PBA Senior Tour. But Walter Ray Williams Jr. had other ideas. After finishing second behind Mohr in qualifying, Walter Ray sliced through his match play opponents Mark Williams, John Chapman, and Harry Sullins yesterday like a proverbial knife through warm butter until he met Mohr in the final, one game match of the PBA Senior Mark Roth Allentown Open and demolished him 268-168, prompting PBA Xtra Frame's "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark to say, "He has bowled tremendous today...Watch out in November, because somebody's going to have their hands full with this guy!"

Mohr bowled very well too, finding ways to come from behind and defeat his prior opponents on challenging lane conditions that favored a straighter line to the pocket than he typically plays. But when he struggled to strike in the title match and Walter started off with a flawless eight-bagger before going a little high in the ninth, the final match was never in doubt.

Walter Ray has his game and confidence back, Ron Mohr is still bowling great, and last year's Senior Player of the Year, Wayne Webb, is slated to make his comeback following knee surgery. The rest of the senior season looks like it's shaping up to be a great one. And you can catch it on PBA Xtra Frame.

Click here for yesterday's match play results, and here for the PBA press release on Walter Ray's victory.

Ron Mohr Leads Qualifying of Mark Roth Senior Allentown Open

Ron Mohr is at it again. I blogged recently about how well he was doing on the PBA Senior Tour before taking time off in the middle of last season to care for his wife Linda who eventually died of cancer early this year, and how he rebounded from the devastating loss to take fourth, second, and first place respectively in the first three senior tournaments of this season.

Well, Mohr led all qualifiers going in to today's match play and championship rounds in the Mark Roth Senior Allentown Open in Allentown, PA and, as seemingly always these days, is a serious threat to win another title. Of course, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Harry Sullins, and Tom Baker who qualified second, third, and fifth respectively, along with a host of other outstanding players still left in the field, may have something to say about that. But the way Mohr is bowling now, he's going to be hard to beat.

If you get PBA Xtra Frame or think it might be high time to sign up, there's no better time than the present. Two rounds of match play have already been completed this morning, but you can watch those in the archives and catch the concluding match play and championship rounds live. "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark is calling the action and in the booth with him commentating are Johnny Petraglia Jr. and none other than the great Mark Roth.

You can click here for the qualifying results and here for the Round of 32 and Round of 24 match play results, and below is a short video of Mohr throwing one ball.

PABCON Men's Championships Doubles Team Results

"After the performance this morning, we knew it was either us or nobody for a medal. It was just time for us to rise to the occasion so the team didn't get shut out."

--Patrick Allen

After sweeping all the gold medals in the last two PABCON Championships and 25 out of 30 since 1997, it wasn't looking good for Men's Team USA this year. Mike Fagan was the only member to medal in the singles event that opened the competition on Monday, taking a bronze, and after the first squad of doubles teams bowled yesterday, no doubles team from the USA was in contention to medal. The only USA team remaining to bowl in the afternoon squad was the team of Patrick Allen and Walter Ray Williams Jr. And this didn't look particularly promising given the fact that Walter Ray had finished in 20th place in singles.

However, Williams Jr. began the six game set with a sizzling 298 and 278, and he and Patrick Allen continued on to obliterate the PABCON Championships doubles record and win the gold medal by almost 200 pins over the Canadian team of Dan "The Man" MacLelland and Michael Schmidt that took the silver medal. Williams shot 1456 and Allen shot 1461 for a combined total of 2917 and a combined average of 243 on a condition that saw many teams struggling. For example, the team of Chris Barnes and Bill O'Neill finished in 11th place and averaged 214 for their six game set.

By the way, Patrick Allen leads all bowlers halfway through All Events, Walter Ray Williams Jr. is fifth, Mike Fagan sixth, Chris Barnes tenth, Bill O'Neill eleventh, and Wes Malott is eighteenth. Canada's Dan MacLelland is in second, just eight pins behind Allen.

Today features trios action. Team USA's two trios teams consist of Barnes, Fagan, and O'Neill on one team and Malott, Williams, and Allen on the other.

You can check all the results so far here.

Men's Team USA Now Competing in PABCON Men's Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico

While the regular PBA Tour may be on hiatus, some of its biggest stars are busy this week bowling for Men's Team USA in the PABCON Men's Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Team USA is one of sixteen national teams competing in the five-player Team, Trios, Doubles, Singles, All-Events, and Masters events at the Pan American Bowling Confederation's Men's Championships. It probably comes as no surprise that Men's Team USA has won 25 out of a possible 30 gold medals since 1997, and should do well again this year with Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes, Bill O'Neill, Patrick Allen, Michael Fagan, and Wes Malott making up the team.

Everybody practiceed last night on all the oil patterns, and the action officially begins today. Stay tuned to this blog for the results as they unfold.

Below is a video of Men's Team USA practicing on the PABCON lanes.

Watch PBA Xtra Frame and Get More Senior and Other PBA Action

Even though Walter Ray Williams Jr. was unable to successfully defend his PBA Senior Miller High Life Classic crown this year, losing to the Steve Licklitter in the Round of 16 and paving the way for Ron Mohr to win the championship, I would have liked to see him try on the PBA's live and archived webcast service Xtra Frame. Unfortunately, they didn't cover the tournament.

They had covered the previous two senior tournaments, but they didn't cover this one. Why not? Because their viewership for the previous two tournaments was too low to justify it. As someone in the know confided to me, "Only 20 subscribers watched the live content of the Senior Don Carter Open, and only about 250 watched any of it on demand. I can't sell that to a sponsor, and our Xtra Frame production budget only stretches only so far."

I'm surprised and sad to learn this. I would think that the hardcore bowling fans who subscribe to Xtra Frame would be very interested in watching the senior action, especially with guys as good as Walter Ray, Ron Mohr, Tom Baker, Harry Sullins, Hugh Miller, George Pappas, and Mark Williams competing.

So why didn't they watch? Sure, I can understand how a lot of people might not have been able to watch the morning and afternoon sessions live. But why didn't more people watch them later on demand?

Professional bowling has a serious problem. Part of it is a lack of interest even on the part of its biggest fans. This certainly doesn't bode well for the PBA's future.

Nevertheless, Xtra Frame is scheduled to cover four PBA events during the rest of May and June. Three of them are senior events, including the Senior U.S. Open, and one is a regional event. I hope all you Xtra Frame subscribers will be tuning in and that those of you who don't yet subscribe will sign up and start enjoying the action.

The season doesn't end when the regular tour goes on hiatus. There's a lot that still goes on, and the more interest you show in seeing it, the more of it will be made available to us all.

And remember that it isn't only the bowling action itself that makes Xtra Frame so valuable. It's also the comprehensive and incisive commentary that accompanies it. It's a treasure trove of detailed information about bowling balls, lane conditions, styles, techniques, and strategies delivered by bowling leaders and legends and top coaches. It's the true bowling enthusiast's dream service, and it delivers tremendous bang for the buck.

Sign up and start watching today.

Walter Ray Williams Jr. Off to a Blistering Start in First Round of PBA Senior Miller High Life Classic

I wrote the other day about how Walter Ray Williams Jr. has bowled well on the PBA Senior Tour but hasn't been as dominant as many might have expected due to the quality of his competition. Well, maybe he read my post and decided to prove me wrong, because he tore up the first qualifying round of the PBA Senior Miller High Life Classic at the George Pappas Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C. yesterday by averaging a blistering 253 for eight games. He is the defending champion, having won the tournament last year in his first outing on the Senior Tour after winning Player of the Year on the regular Tour.

Walter Ray had this to say about his opening round:

"I was a little concerned at the start of the round because I wasn’t getting the ball reaction I wanted but somehow I was still getting the ball to the pocket. Eventually I got everything synched up where my timing, equipment and ball reaction all came together. I’m feeling good and after some work I like where my game is now. I’m getting back to where I was, so everything’s heading in the right direction."

It sounds to me as though Walter Ray's opponents may be in for a rough season.

You can read the entire PBA press release here.

Bowling Quote of the Day--Walter Ray Anticipates Better Things to Come

"I have basically felt that most of my struggles this year were related to me. I think I started doing some things that weren't quite right so I have been working on improving my timing and push away to create a better swing. With the changes I have had to make to my game hopefully I can improve upon what I'm working on and have a successful Senior Tour season."

--Walter Ray Williams Jr.