Bowling Bytes--6/30/10

It's an all-PBA day of links as I return from a brief blogging hiatus.

~ Six Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Stars to represent United States in WTBA World Championships -- "Six Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour stars will compose the 2010 version of bowling's Dream Team, carrying the United States’ hopes for a third consecutive team gold medal in the 2010 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Men's Championships. Selected to compete for Team USA are Chris Barnes, Wes Malott, Bill O'Neill, Tommy Jones, Rhino Page and Patrick Allen. The World Men's Championships will take place Aug. 12-21 at Dream Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany...In 2008, Team USA won four gold: team, doubles (Page and Allen), singles and Masters, won by Walter Ray Williams Jr. Williams withdrew his name for consideration for the 2010 World Championships..."

~ PBA Spare Shots: Mitchell Spoils a Chris Vs. Lynda Barnes Title Match in Wichita Regional Event -- "Lynda Barnes needed one more win to set up the first husband vs. wife title match in PBA history Sunday, June 20, at Thunderbird Lanes in Wichita, Kan., but top qualifier Kevin Mitchell (left) of Tulsa, Okla., spoiled the fun when he eliminated Mrs. Barnes in the semifinal round, 224-180...Lynda Barnes made it interesting when she swept Wichita’s Sean Rash in their best-of-five-game Round of 16 match, 229-207, 202-193 and 235-227 in their first “re-match” since Lynda Barnes defeated Rash in the title match of USBC’s nationally-televised 2008 Clash of Champions in Kansas City, Mo., 258-237. Lynda Barnes then defeated 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour competitor George Lambert IV in their best-of-three, Round of 8 match, 217-178 and 220-124, to advance to the semifinal round..."

~ Another Bohn in Contention? -- "Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., finished third in the PBA East Region’s Howell (N.J.) Lanes Open – won by Brian LeClair – on Sunday, June 20, but it was another player named “Andrew Bohn” who attracted special attention. The answer is, yes, the Bohns are related. Andrew, a 19-year-old right-hander, is the son of Parker’s uncle, Eddie Bohn of Freehold, N.J. Andrew, bowling as a guest, finished 38th and cashed for $400..."

~ PBA's Social Networking Reach Continues Fast Growth Pace -- "The Professional Bowlers Association is riding the wave of online digital media in expanding the way sports information is disseminated to an information-hungry society. In addition to its documented growth of pba.com visitors and Xtra Frame subscribers, the PBA is rapidly expanding its social networking exposure...Speaking of YouTube, PBA video highlights have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times led this year by Osku Palermaa's incredible two-handed over-the-bar-stool trick shot (over 147,000 views) during the 2009 World Series of Bowling and Brian Voss' amazing 7-10 conversion in the position round of the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles (over 94,000 views).

~ Williams to Take a Horseshoe Break Before Senior Tour Wrap-Up -- "Walter Ray Williams Jr. is taking a mid-summer break from bowling to pursue his other passion, horseshoe pitching. The six-time World Horseshoe Pitching Champion and member of the National Horseshoe Pitching Hall of Fame will compete in a tournament in Danville, Ill., July 10-11, before heading to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where – uncharacteristically – he questions whether or not he can win..."

~ Brunswick Takes Early Lead in GEICO PBA Team Shootout -- "With help from the unique “endless 10th frame” and the only woman in the competition, Brunswick took the lead in the Manufacturers’ Cup standings after the first two rounds of competition in the GEICO PBA Team Shootout hosted by Six Flags. The first four of 12 Baker scoring system round-robin team matches aired Sunday on ESPN. In Baker team bowling, each member of a five-player team bowls two frames to complete a full game. In the GEICO Team Shootout, the “endless 10th frame” allows a team to extend its 10th frame as long as it can continue to throw strikes. The entire series, consisting of six head-to-head matches between each team plus a three-match stepladder final, was conducted outdoors on specially-constructed lanes on the grounds of one of the Atlantic Coast region’s most popular theme parks...After the opening series of telecasts, Brunswick held a 2-0 edge in the Manufacturers’ Cup. Storm and 900 Global had 1-1 records while Ebonite was 0-2. The won-lost records at the conclusion of the round-robin matches will determine the seeding positions for the championship round. Ties will be broken by actual pinfall totals, not including “endless 10th frame” bonus pins.GEICO Team Shootout telecasts will continue on ESPN on Saturday, July 3, at 2 p.m.; Sunday, July 4, at 1 p.m., and Sunday, July 11, at 1:30 p.m. All times are Eastern..."

~ The 11th Frame: Is it wrong to love the GEICO Team Shootout? -- "I know people who refuse to watch the GEICO PBA Team Shootout because they deem it not worthy of the attention of true bowling fans. It's outdoors, it's got a gimmicky format, the players aren't serious enough, blah, blah, blah. It's a nauseating cliché, but, hey, it is what it is. And I enjoy it..."

~ Kulick, O'Neil, Williams Nominated for "Best Bowler" ESPY; Fan Voting is Now Underway -- "PBA Tournament of Champions winner Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J.; U.S. Open champion Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa., and 2009-10 PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., have been nominated for ESPN’s “Best Bowler ESPY” for 2010...Kulick, who also won the 2009 PBA Women’s World Championship and 2010 USBC Queens and U.S. Women’s Open, has been nominated for the first time. O’Neill, who also won the PBA Chameleon Championship and finished second to Williams in the PBA points race, also is a first-time nominee. Williams, who raised his all-time PBA Tour title total to a record 47 with two more victories last season – including the 2010 USBC Masters – is a six-time “Best Bowler” ESPY winner..."

~ MIKE J. LANESIDE: Summer Means No Rest for Xtra Frame -- "The new, improved presentation of PBA.com’s Xtra Frame was introduced at the 2009 PBA World Series of Bowling – more cameras, better camera angles, camera operators, bonus qualifying coverage, live social interaction via PBA’s Facebook fan page during match play and much more. Fans of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour responded during the 2009-10 season by increasing subscriptions to Xtra Frame by a whopping 120%. Following the end of the PBA Tour season, fans asked: is my subscription to Xtra Frame worth having in the Spring and Summer months before the national Tour starts up again?As Marv Albert would say, the answer is a resounding, YES!...June 30 & July 1 – 2010 International Bowl Expo from Las Vegas, Nev....July 27-30 - 2010 Teen Masters from Reno, Nev....“The Bowling Doctor” Jeff Mark returns to the road starting on Aug. 1 covering PBA Senior Tour and PBA Regional Tour events. Each event will be presented live where local Internet connections allow. In the event live coverage is not available, the content will be archived as soon as possible for on demand viewing...Xtra Frame, the Official Streaming Video Service of the PBA is available 24/7 for just $7.99 a month or $64.99 for a one-year subscription. Subscribe now at http://xtraframe.pba.com/..."

~ The 11th Frame: Kenosha's Yanel wins first PBA title on day grandmother dies -- "No one ever forgets their first time. That old saying applies to PBA titles as much as anything else. But you can be sure that Ryan Yanel of Kenosha will never forget his first PBA title, as it came against a PBA Tour champion in a one ball roll-off, and -- in a bittersweet twist -- on the day his grandmother died.As if all that wasn't enough, Yanel swept Kenosha legend Lennie Boresch Jr. in the Round of 8 with a 300 in the final game. It all may sound like the screenplay for a Hollywood movie, but it happened in real life Sunday..."

PBA News of a Glorious Future or Last Ditch Effort?

If the news from yesterday's meeting of exempt players on the PBA Tour is any indication, widespread predictions and my own worries about the PBA's eminent demise may have been premature. Because the news is good. Better than good, actually.

For starters, next year's TOC will feature a staggering, at least for professional bowling, $1 million prize fund and a $250,000 first prize check. Wow! And the tournament will be open, as I've always thought it should be, to ALL previous national title winners and not just to a select few. By golly, it's even open to all past Regional, Senior, and Women's Series titlists. Now THAT'S a true Tournament of Champions. I can't wait to watch it on PBA Xtra Frame!

Other highlights include:

An even bigger and better World Series of Bowling than we saw last year, including a United States vs. the World special competition at the WSOB.

ESPN live broadcasts in HD, with some events, including the U.S. Open and PBA World Championship, being carried live by the ESPN family of channels over a groundbreaking three consecutive days.

A new, season ending six-week series of PBA Playoffs in an elimination format and with its own separate prize fund and a big impact on the PBA Player of the Year race.

A new "Xtra Frame Tour" in which PBA Tour players will compete in at least five separate locations in tournaments using a modified format and covered exclusively by PBA Xtra Frame.

Yes, this and more is the unbelievable news coming from yesterday's meeting in Norwich, Conn, site of this week's national tournament. Click here to read the whole fantastic story.

Of course, the cynically inclined might detect a scent of desperation pervading next year's plans and argue that, even if all of the elements of this wildly ambitious scenario come to fruition, they will be the prodigious but dying gasps of a doomed organization before it fails once and for all and dies for good.

Well, I can be as cynical as anyone, but I'm going to suspend my cynicism for now and let myself revel in the marvelous excitement and hope I feel over this unexpected and amazing news regarding next year's PBA Tour.

Tournament Tidbits

I've made it very clear on this blog that I love PBA Xtra Frame. In fact, I've made it so clear that if more than a handful of people actually read this blog, I'd deserve to get paid for all the glowing things I've said about Xtra Frame. It's not perfect, mind you. I get annoyed and frustrated when the video and audio keep freezing up on me and I have to close the window and reopen it again and again. But that's a relatively small price to pay for how entertained I am and for what I learn from its coverage that you can't get anywhere else of PBA events.

Take today for instance. I just finished watching the first 8 game block of match play in the Don and Paul Carter Mixed Doubles Open, and I loved every minute of it. Not only was the bowling exciting, but I listened with rapt attention to announcer Mike Jakubowsky and bowling analyst Jeff Mark converse with guests Mark Sabotini, director of PBA lane maintenance; Cassidy Shaub, two-handed lefty exempt player; and PBA Hall-of-Famer and currrent Ebonite representative Del Ballard. Here are some of the highlights of what I heard this morning:

Belmonte-Feldman dominance- Jeff Mark predicted before match play began that the doubles team of Jason Belmonte and Michelle Feldman would annihilate the rest of the field in match play with their tremendous power games, and it looks like he couldn't have been more right. They're almost 300 pins ahead of the second place team after the first block, and i'm guessing that they're going to keep widening their lead in the second block. They are just destroying the pins and the other teams and opening up their margin of error with their overpowering balls. So, it looks like they'll be seeded first on Sunday's telecast, and I'll be delighted to see them up there. I love to watch them both.

Lane maintenance routine- I never gave much thought to what the lane maintenance people do on the PBA tour, but it was interesting to hear the top guy describe a typical tournament day. When he first arrives at a new bowling center, he unloads the oiling machines from the truck, takes them inside, and plugs them in to warm them up. They have to be at at least 70 degrees to work properly. He then programs them according to predetermined specifications, with a USBC representative there to independently confirm and certify that he's doing it properly, then he runs the lanes with the machine, watches the bowlers warm up and then bowl in competition, and then. after a block is completed, he uses some kind of measuring "tapes," in a manner I don't yet understand, to determine if the lanes were oiled properly.

Sabotini says that the PBA is currently using two kinds of oil. It uses lower viscosity Brunswick Connect lane oil on lower friction surfaces and the much thicker Brunswick Authority 22 lane oil or conditioner on higher friction surfaces. This week, the surface friction is low, so they're using the Connect oil distributed in a modified Scorpion pattern. Sabotini says that the lighter oils don't carry down nearly as much as the heavier ones.

Rookie year challenges- Cassidy Shaub says that he came on tour thinking he already knew a lot about bowling, but he got a rude awakening early on in facing the rapidly changing and extremely challenging conditions that PBA players face on tour. He says it's just "mind boggling" how much they know and, indeed, have to know about lane conditions, equipment, and making the adjustments necessary to be competitive. It's really tough on a young rookie like him to undergo such a steep learning curve and to endure the grind of travel and managing tight finances, but he's doing everything he can to improve, including receiving coaching to help him gain better control of his extremely high revving ball. Yet, when asked if he thinks his two-handed style overtaxes his body and is likely to take its toll over time, he replies that he doesn't think it's any more taxing than a powerful one-handed style.

Two...two...two tournaments in one- Jeff Mark says that a tournament like this week's is really two different tournaments in terms of the conditions the bowlers face and the strategies they must employ between qualifying as individuals bowling only with players of their own gender and bowling match play as a mixed gender team against other mixed gender teams. This presents a special challenge to the women who are now bowling on lanes that get broken down a lot faster by the high revving male players than they are in women's only tournaments. But the men are also faced with different conditions, created by the women bowlers, than they're accustomed to.

Walter Ray loves the women- Del Ballard says that Walter Ray Williams is a huge fan of women's bowling, and Jeff Mark reports that when he was a ball rep and worked with Walter Ray a few years ago, Walter would excitedly approach the pro women for autographs and they were stunned and delighted that this bowling superstar of superstars wanted THEIR autograph. Mark says that no matter how well or poorly he and his doubles partner Staphanie Nation (and they're dead last after the first block) fare in this tournament, no one is having more fun during the mixed doubles format than Walter Ray.

Ballard, who has won a big mixed doubles tournament or two, likes mixed doubles too although he isn't "overly fond" of the Baker format. He's also hopeful for women's bowling. He says he's always maintained that if the women want to get paid as much as the men, they need to be able to beat the men and that Kelly Kulick proved during her amazing performance at the TOC than it can be done. He also agrees with Jeff Mark that Shannon Pluhowsky has such a wonderful style and effortlessly powerful delivery that she could probably compete with the male lefties on the men's tour. Mark says she is one of the few bowlers of either gender that he would actually pay to watch bowl. That's how much he thinks of her game. Ballard says that the most physically talented female bowler he's ever seen is Tammy Boomershine. She made it to match play this week and is paired with heavy rolling British star Stuart Williams.

Two-handed ladies- Ballard recounts a recent experience of practicing on a Sunday morning and seeing two ladies in their fifties come in and start throwing the ball two-handed. When he went over to talk with them, they told him that they'd seen Jason Belmonte do it on TV and wanted to try it for themselves. He said they had a great time and that he did too watching them, talking with them, and giving them a few pointers. He said bowling, even competitive bowling, should be about having fun, which is one reason why he takes no issue with the USBC allowing people to drink beverages, including alcoholic ones, down on the lanes this year at the Nationals in Reno.

Quietest shoulder on tour- I'm not sure exactly what he means by this, but Ballard says, "Nobody on tour keeps their [bowling arm] shoulder quieter than Rhino Page," Ballard says he loves this about Page's style and wishes he could teach it to everyone.

IT may not be all that- I've wondered about Vise's new interchangeable thumb system called IT and have even considered getting it for my own equipment, but, despite the ringing endorsements of some of the PBA's finest, I've been wary of the possibility of it breaking or causing me other problems. Well, this morning, Jeff Mark and Del Ballard gave me further pause. They say that the deep pilot hole that must be drilled into the ball in order to use the IT system may inadvertently alter the shape and density of the ball's core, and that this, in turn, could significantly change the ball's "core dynamics" and roll from what it was designed to be.

Bowling is such a complicated sport at its higher levels. But Xtra Frame helps me understand it better.

The Real King of Bowling

I am really excited! I just watched a live bowling match for the ages. It was at the USBC Masters in Reno. Chris Barnes was bowling Wes Malott in the winners bracket in a three game total pin match. Barnes had trouble carrying strikes the first two games and Malott jumped out to a 54 pin lead going into the final game. It really looked like Chris, as great as he is, was out of it against last year's PBA Bowler of the Year and "King of Bowling" Wes Malott. The commentators were speculating that if Barnes shot a 270 game and Wes faltered a little, Barnes could still pull it out, but I don't think they seriously believed that this would happen.

Well, Barnes moved his line left and proceeded to pack every ball solidly in the pocket for about as perfect a 300 game as you'll ever see and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in one of the most impressive clutch performances I've ever seen. As Xtra Frame's redoubtable "bowling doctor" Jeff Mark said, there has been nobody in Chris Barnes' league for the past three or so years, and he just showed as emphatically as one could ever hope to why he's the best bowler in the world.

And Xtra Frame just proved, as emphatically as possible, why it's a true bowling fan's dream. For just $65 a year, you can see what I just saw (although the service is free all this week) and much, much more over the course of a season, and, as Jeff Mark said today, you can learn enough by watching the bowling and listening to the expert commentary of guys like Mark and guests like Ritchie Allen, John Jowdy, Mark Baker, Sean Rash, Parker Bohn, Wes Malott, and Chris Barnes, more than enough to recoup your expense several times over if you bowl good leagues or tournaments.

I can't wait for this evening's matches that will decide who makes it to the televised finals Sunday. By the way, look out for Walter Ray. The 50-year-old wonder of wonders is steamrolling his way through match play right now, having flattened his latest opponent, Mike Scroggins, into a pancake and tossed him out of the winners bracket with a 778 series after destroying Tom Smallwood and eliminating him from competition with a 734 series in the match before that.

Mission Accomplished

It looks like Ebonite has a winner on its hands with its new Mission bowling ball. Kelly Kulick threw the Mission all week in Las Vegas to become the first woman to win the PBA Tournament of Champions and, for that matter, any PBA Tour title. But it might have been different if Mika Koivuniemi had pulled his Mission out of the bag a few frames earlier in his match with Kulick. He didn't start using it until the seventh frame and went off the sheet with strikes from then on for a 223 game to Kulick's 227. A week later, Mike Fagan used the Mission to win his first singles PBA Tour title. That's two weeks in a row that the Mission has taken someone to a title. Who will be next?

Of course, I think legendary bowling coach and writer John Jowdy made a good point a few weeks ago on Xtra Frame when he opined that most bowlers are better off spending their money on good coaching than on a new bowling ball. But at the upper levels of bowling competition, or if you really need to upgrade your arsenal, it looks like the Mission may be a good choice right now. It was released to the general public on February 2.

Winning ball layouts
Xtra Frame's post game shows revealed that Kulick used a Mission with pin down and no extra hole to win the TOC title, and Fagan used a Mission with the pin 4" above the middle finger, CG "right down the middle," no extra hole, and mass bias right under the thumb to win his title.

What's the Best Way to Practice?

I recently mentioned an exchange that "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark had with PBA exempt bowler Ritchie Allen on Xtra Frame last week regarding the best way to practice on easy conditions to prepare for difficult ones. That is, many of us aren't readily able to bowl in PBA Experience or Sport leagues, but we still want to improve our games so that we can be competitive on tougher league or tournament conditions when the need arises.

As you may recall, Mark and Allen had conflicting philosophies of how to do this. Allen argued that when you bowl in competition on any condition, your aim is to strike as often as you can by finding the best line to the pocket, playing that line, and executing as well as possible on every shot. Therefore, when you're practicing, you should do the same thing that you would in competition no matter how easy the shot is. Find the line that gives you the best pocket and strike percentage and play it so well that you can string "forty strikes" in a row. If you can do that on an easy "house" condition, you can apply that same method to bowling on much more difficult PBA or sport conditions. After all, even on a tough condition, you're still looking to find and play the line that maximizes your strike percentage.

On the other hand, Jeff Mark argued that if you play the easy line--or, as he calls it, "on the china"--on a regular house shot, the margin of error and inconsistency that this allows you to still hit the pocket and carry strikes with will prevent you from developing the accuracy, speed control, consistent release, and ability to repeat shots that you'll need to do well on demanding lane conditions. So, Mark's philosophy is "Practice where it's hard, play where it's easy."

I admit that I think both make valid points, and it's long seemed to me that the best way to practice is to do what both Ritchie Allen and Jeff Mark advise. That is, spend some of your time practicing easy and the rest of it practicing hard. For if I were always to do what Mark advises and move my line way left of the optimal line, I would encounter so much oil that I'd have to slow my ball way down to hit the pocket and carry with any consistency whatsoever, and that might make it difficult for me to throw harder playing a more effective line on that or some other condition in league or tournament play.

On the other hand, if I always play the easiest or most forgiving line that allows me to throw as hard as I want, not only will I not develop the "softer" game that I may need on some conditions, but I may also fail to develop the overall precision and consistency I need on tougher conditions. Yet, just as one can develop bad habits from practicing on very easy or forgiving conditions, I think one can also acquire bad habits, such as throwing the ball too fast or slow or "aiming" the ball too much, from bowling only on conditions or by playing only lines that are extremely demanding. It seems to me that there needs to be some balance.

Interestingly, it also seems to me from my personal experience over the past forty-five years or so that "easier" houses tend to produce better junior and adult bowlers than harder ones do. Has this been your experience too? If so, why do you think this is? I speculate that easier houses tend to encourage people to bowl more than harder ones do, and when they bowl more, they get more enthusiastic and serious about the game, and then they get better.

What do you think? And how do you practice on easier house conditions for competition on more demanding ones?

Why You Should Subscribe to PBA Xtra Frame

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a huge fan of PBA.com's subscription service Xtra Frame. If you've been reading my blogposts, you know that I mention it just about every chance I get. The reason I do is simple. Xtra Frame gives the bowling fan tremendous value in bowling entertainment and information. For just $7.99 a month or $64.99 a year, you can watch the finest bowlers in the world bowl live in qualifying and match play.

You may think that the televised finals on ESPN tell the story of a week's tournament, but Sunday's program is only the final chapter of an epic novel of bowling challenge, struggle, defeat and triumph, and intrigue. Just as reading the last chapter of a novel alone isn't nearly as rewarding as reading the entire book, watching the televised finals of a PBA tournament is much more exciting and rewarding if you've been following on Xtra Frame the bowlers, matches, lead changes, and expert commentary on all of the above that led up to Sunday's program.

And when I say "expert commentary," I'm talking about people with awe-inspiring insider knowledge of the bowlers, bowling industry, the PBA tour, lane conditions, ball layouts and surfaces, bowling techniques and strategies, and on and on. In the past two weeks alone, subscribers to Xtra Frame have been treated to the prodigious knowledge and insights of the likes of PBA Deputy Commissioner Tom Clark, Paul F. from Ebonite International, John Jowdy, Rhino Page, Barry Asher, Stuart Williams, Ritchie Allen, and Mark Baker as they sat in with Xtra Frame announcer Mike Jakubowsky and genius analyst Jeff Mark during the match play rounds and not only commented on what they saw happening on the lanes but also answered questions from Xtra Frame viewers posting on Facebook's PBA page. That's right, you can ask questions about every aspect of bowling and get immediate answers from the Xtra Frame commentators during match play. I've already had three of my questions answered.

And in case you miss any of this live or you want to see some or all of it again, you can call it up from the archives on demand for no additional cost as well as do the same with the archived PBA telecasts, interviews, and Xtra Frame productions such as their "39X60" program. Not only that, but the more subscribers they get, the better equipment they can use and the better coverage they can provide of the action.

For instance, during last week's One a Day Dick Weber Open, they miked and followed bowling writer and former professional bowler Jason Thomas around as he competed in the qualifying rounds. and they're planning to do the same with some big name exempt bowlers in order to provide Xtra Frame subscribers an unprecedented bird's eye view of tournament play. I'm really looking forward to this.

But for those of you who aren't convinced by my glowing recommendation, you are cordially invited to check out Xtra Frame yourself for free during their coverage of next week's venerable USBC Masters tournament in Reno. You can follow all the live action subscribers can, although you won't be able to access the archives. If you're a real bowling fan, you're going to love Xtra Frame and want to subscribe.

In my next post, I'll recap some of the highlights of last week's Xtra Frame coverage.

Kelly Kulick's Historic Victory

Kelly had a great week, defeating several of the top-ranked men bowlers in the world, and hopefully she can truly enjoy the moment and appreciate how it is not only a big deal in bowling, but a major moment in her life and potentially the lives of others.
--Billie Jean King

This may be the greatest performance I've ever seen given the circumstances.
--Randy Pedersen

You talk about a dream come true...you can't explain it...I'm speechless.
--Kelly Kulick

I’ve been bowling and watching professional bowling for closer to fifty years than forty. I’ve seen just about every great moment in televised PBA history from Billy Hardwick's inaugural TOC title to the first 300 game to Don Johnson’s heartbreaking solid 10-pin in the twelfth frame to Mark Roth’s 7-10 split conversion to Liz Johnson’s second place finish to Jason Belmonte's two-handed triumph last year to, well, you name it. But I can truthfully say, even 24 hours after it occurred and with the heat of my excitement now cooled somewhat by the sobering reality of the sports world’s relative indifference to bowling and to what transpired yesterday, that Kelly Kulick’s steely stellar performance in bowling's equivalent of the PGA Masters, after an almost equally impressive showing two nights before, rises to the top of the list. It was magnificent, it was thrilling, it was moving (I think I saw tears of joy in the legendary Carmen Salvino’s eyes after he congratulated Kelly after the final match, and, for the record, there were in mine too), and it WAS historic for the great sport of bowling. As PBA Xtra Frame's "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark excitedly exclaimed after the match, "Our sport will not be the same after today...There's going to be a media wave after today like you've never seen before!"

What was so impressive about Kelly Kulick's 227-223 defeat of "Major" Mike Koivuniemi in the semi-final match and 265-195 crushing of the unofficial world's greatest bowler, Chris Barnes, to win the hugely prestigious title is that she really earned her championship. She bowled all week against a formidable field of some of the greatest male professional bowlers, past and present, of all time and dominated it most of the time. And, as pba.com writer Jason Thomas explains in his column today, it wasn't necessarily a matter of the lanes unusually favoring her softer woman's game over those of the more powerful male players: "This week’s lane conditions favored no one and allowed bowlers to play just about any place on the lane that they felt comfortable," Thomas writes. He proceeds to put Kulick's performance in striking perspective with the following: "It was like Annika Sorenstam beating the men in The Masters at a fully stretched out Augusta National."

Kulick's effort yesterday was a monumental performance under unimaginable pressure. What's more, Kulick showed tremendous class and poise in her interviews after she won the title. Aside from being a great bowler, Kelly Kulick is one intelligent, earnestly articulate, gracious, and seriously focused young lady who is a remarkable credit to bowling and to professional sports in general with her exemplary character and demeanor.

I really hope that the predictions of people like Jeff Mark come true and that Kulick's victory brings to bowling the attention and appreciation it deserves. Jason Thomas reports in his column that "as of Monday morning she was the #1 most searched item on Google and Yahoo!’s home pages." I hope this lasts long enough to help rekindle an interest in women's and men's professional bowling that securely removes them from the brink of extinction. And, in any case, the proverbial sky is now the limit for bowling's new superstar, Kelly Kulick.

Odds and Ends

* Kulick's ball rep reported in an interview with Jeff Mark on PBA Xtra Frame after the tournament that Kulick used an Ebonite Mission with the pin down to win the title and, as I understood him, that she used the same ball with various layouts and, perhaps, surface adjustments throughout the week.

* When Xtra Frame's Jeff Mark asked Kulick about her match with Barnes, she said, "The lanes broke down to the advantage of me. My hand just was able to clear the ball through the front part of the lane really well, and the ball just pounded the pocket." And when Mark commented that she "had such a good look all week" and asked if she "did anything different than before," she replied, "Somebody told me instead of trying to change my hand, change balls. So I really just tried to keep the same hand position all week long and go from ball to ball to give me the better reaction."

* In her interview with Xtra Frame announcer Mike Jakubowski, Kulick commented that she was so nervous she couldn't feel her legs most of the day but that winning that first match with Mika built her confidence and enabled her to "groove into the lane" and throw all those strikes by focusing not on beating Chris but on executing and knocking down the pins.

* Randy Pedersen commented during the televised action that Kulick had the crowd behind her all week and that this surely helped her. When ESPN announcer Rob Stone asked him to quantify how much this helps a bowler, Peterson replied that it was probably worth about 12 pins a game. And Kulick herself acknowledged during her interview with Jakubowski the importance of the crowd's support when she said, "By far the secret to my success this week was the crowd. I mean they were behind me from the get go from match play on, and here today it was the energy from you guys out there that really carried me over."

Bowling History in the Making

They didn't believe she could do it. Just as she failed to bowl particularly well in match play the year she became the first and only woman to earn exempt status on the men's tour, many figured that she'd falter this time around in match play of the spotlighted TOC against superstars like Chris Barnes, Pete Weber, and Wes Malott. And there was some reason to believe that she would. After all, she'd finished weaker than she started in the previous two match play rounds. Speculation was that as the lanes transitioned and opened up, the pressure built, and the big guns started firing away, she might well fall precipitously from grace as she moved left on the approach and struggled to hold pocket and carry those pesky 10-pins with her woman's game in the final round of match play.

But Kelly Kulick fooled them and put on a performance for the ages. It started out inauspiciously. She began the round with games of 174 and 172. All appeared to be lost But then she made a ball change and instantly caught fire, with the crowd behind her fanning the flames, with games of 223, 279, 277, 222, 236, and a beautiful 267 in the last game against Rhino Page. It was a joy watching her on Xtra Frame as she reeled off strike after strike on a tough condition, hearing the crowd cheering her on, and seeing the hugs and congratulations she received from the male pros after the round was over and she was seeded second in the TV finals. If she can bowl like she did last night, I truly believe that she could win the TOC and that this would be one of the biggest stories ever in professional bowling. I can't wait to watch tomorrow's finals live on ESPN at 10 AM PST!

The first match will feature Rhino Page bowling against "Major" Mika Koivuniemi. Page could have won last year's TOC against Patrick Allen with a nine count or tied for sudden death with an eight count and spare in the eleventh, but he inexplicably threw the ball wide and got an ugly four count to lose the match. The final score was 267 to 263. Now Page has a chance to redeem himself.

The winner of the first match will take on Kelly Kulick, and the winner of that match will face who else but the great Chris Barnes for the coveted title. Like I said, I can't wait to see this.

On a sad note, my man Tony Reyes went into the final position round game last night in second place and with a great opportunity to make the show after bowling so well for most of the week. But he came up short against Chris Barnes, losing 236 to 159, and fell to sixth place behind Pete Weber. It must have been awfully disappointing for him to get so close. But, he can return to San Bruno knowing that he gave it his all, that he hung in there awfully well with the best of the best, and with $4,600 of prize money weighing down his pockets. Not a bad week at all, Tony.

But win or lose tomorrow, it should turn out to be one of the greatest weeks in Kelly Kulick's life.

Below are the heart-stopping final frames of last year's TOC.

The Cream Rises and a Bowling Legend Speaks

After 40 games and the second of three 8-game rounds of match play, the cream is rising to the top of the field. Chris Barnes has vaulted into the lead by going 7-1 in the round and averaging a sizzling 249 for the last seven games on difficult lane conditions. Behind him is a veritable dream field of Pete Weber, Tony Reyes, and Wes Malott followed by Kelly Kulick who still has a chance to make it to the top four of Sunday's televised finalists. Walter Ray is way down in 13th, but he still has an outside chance to come on strong to make it into Sunday's telecast and win the one major tournament he's never won during his fabled career.

But what I enjoyed most about watching the second round of match play live on Xtra Frame today was listening to "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark talk with the legendary bowling coach and writer John Jowdy. Jowdy, who will turn 90 in a few months, has coached a Who's Who of bowling legends, been one of the sport's finest writers, and has met just about everyone and seen just about everything in the sport over his very long and storied career.

He and Jeff Mark talked about many things this afternoon, but one of the highlights was his list, in order, of the top five bowlers of all time. First was Earl Anthony, followed by Walter Ray Williams, Don Carter, Dick Weber, Mark Roth, and Don Johnson. He was especially impressed by Walter Ray's longevity as a very competitive bowler on tour and opined that the PBA will never see anyone like him again.

When asked how someone aspiring to become a professional bowler should prepare for the challenge, he strongly advised them to bowl leagues and tournaments on tough sport conditions and to seek the best coaching available. "If you're going to spend $200 on a new bowling ball, spend it on a good coach and keep your old ball," he suggested. Good coaching that builds good habits will get you a lot further than the fanciest new ball.

But even though he thinks the USBC coaching certification program is good in theory, he has reservations about how well it actually works and thinks that some coaches, like Mark Baker, who have never been USBC certified are the best of the best. He believes, and Jeff Mark agrees, that the best coaches combine theoretical knowledge with actual experience at the highest levels of competitive bowling. In short, the best coaches are or were players who can also share invaluable knowledge with you about subtleties like "touch" and "feel" in the heat of competition. Mark also suggested that although many of these top flight coaches are difficult for the regular bowler to access on a one-to-one basis, one can benefit from bowling clinics in which these great coaches regularly participate.

Jowdy also praised the free armswings of guys like Brian Voss and Norn Duke and suggested that those who want to bowl competitively for a long time and not suffer all kinds of problems with broken down bodies should emulate these styles. He and Jeff Mark agreed that what the smoother stylists may sacrifice in power and the short term success that power may bring are likely to more than make up for it with competitive longevity and bowling fitness, unlike guys such as Mark Roth who, even before his devastating stroke, had to undergo surgery on both knees and other medical interventions for the wear and tear he put on his body with his very aggressive style. Yes, he, unlike most power stylists, enjoyed tremendous success on tour, but was it really worth it? asked Mark rhetorically.

Jowdy also talked about the heydays of the TOC at the Riviera Lanes in Akron Ohio and other great eras and moments of bowling history. It was a very entertaining afternoon of bowling and conversation with a bowling legend.

After First Round of Match Play at TOC

Tony Reyes is leading the pack after the first 8 game block of match play, and Kelly Kulick is doing a beautiful job of hanging in there with the guys. She's in fifth place and a mere 55 pins off the lead. But can she keep bowling like this? She's qualified for match play in men's national tournaments before but couldn't sustain the pace in match play. Yet she was throwing the ball very well last night, went 4-3-1 in her matches, and seems very confident. It would be sensational if she made the televised finals of this hallowed tournament or even won it. I think the PBA's powers-that-be are praying for this to happen so they can reap the rewards of the ensuing publicity.

Speaking of publicity, Tom Smallwood continues to receive his share after his victory a few weeks ago. Almost everyone knows the story of how this laid off GM worker qualified for match play in a tournament at the WSOB, proceeded to bowl his way into the televised finals, turned down a job offer at GM just before he bowled in the finals, and went on to win the championship. His story has been featured in all kinds of media ever since, and, as reported last night on Xtra Frame, there's a writer from Sports Illustrated following him around this week to do a story on him for the king of American sports magazines. And if Kelly Kulick makes it to the televised finals, it looks like he's going to have more work to do.

First Round Match Play in Dublin

I've spent a couple of hours this morning watching live match play at the Earl Anthony Memorial Open in Dublin, California on Xtra Frame on the PBA website. As I type this, the video coverage has concluded until 2 PM PST, but game seven of a best-of-seven game match between Eugene McCune and PJ Haggerty is still unfolding, and I'm following the frame by frame scoring of it on the PBA website.

I know PJ's mom, Debbie. In fact, we just won the doubles championship of a small fall league a few weeks ago, and this is actually the second time we've done this since I moved to Sacramento and started bowling league where I do now. Debbie has been voted by Bowlers Journal as one of the top 100 bowling coaches in the USA, and she was also voted by the USBC as the top junior bowling coach in the country last year. She runs a marvelous junior program at Fireside Lanes, and she's a good person.

Her son PJ was two time collegiate bowler of the year at Fresno State and is now an exempt player and Columbia 300 staff member on the PBA tour. He hasn't been on the national tour long and hasn't made it to the TV finals yet, but maybe this week will be his week as I see that he's just defeated Eugene McCune in the round of 28 and will next face Steve Weber in a best-of-seven match in the round of 16 to be bowled later today.

One of the things I enjoyed about this morning's Xtra Frame coverage was a guy named Rob Allen who sat in with Xtra Frame commentators Mike Jakubowski and Jeff Mark and displayed his unbelievably encyclopedic knowledge of PBA tournament results over the past forty-five years. He could list every Tournament of Champions winner from the beginning in 1965, and he seemed to know who won just about every PBA tournament, where it was held, whom he beat, and what score he shot to win since that time. People watching Xtra Frame could write in and challenge Allen with trivia questions, and he was up to the challenge an overwhelming majority of the time. It was a nice trip down bowling memory lane and an amazing display of a prodigious memory.