Bowling Video--Backup Ball 300 Game, More or Less

I've mentioned several times that I bowl at Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights, CA because of its wonderful leagues, practice rates, personnel, and junior program. I've also mentioned that I participate in a league there where we bowl 6 games a week--3 of doubles and 3 of singles competition--for an affordable sum of $15 against a great bunch of guys and one gal.

One of the guys is a real character. His name is Charles. Watching him bowl is always entertaining because you never know what he's going to do. Will he throw his strike or spare ball with a regular or reverse hook? Will he throw it slow or fast enough to almost shatter the pins and wreck the lane and perhaps injure himself from his frightfully fierce exertion? You just never know.

You also never know how well he's going to bowl on a given night. He can shoot the lights out one game or series and struggle like crazy the next. Or is he REALLY struggling? It's interesting how when he's bowling a position round or sweepers or tournament where there's some money on the line, he seems to shoot the lights out a good deal more often than he struggles. Funny how some people are that way.

Speaking of this guy's reverse hook, I'd like to put him in the backup ball championship I proposed awhile back. He just might give Maximum Bob, Belmo, and Osku a run for their proverbial money. To prove it, below is a two part video of him bowling a 300 game in practice. The video was taken many years ago. I assure you he throws his backup ball even better now.

Bowling Video of the Day--A PBA Backup Ball Championship?

The recent Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship was one of the most interesting and exciting PBA tournaments I can remember and has refueled serious discussions about whether and how the PBA should regulate the equipment used in its tournaments. It also provoked a tongue-in-cheek discussion in the PBA Forum concerning the holding of a backup ball tournament.

After all, if the PBA wants to showcase the elite skills of its pros, why not set aside a tournament that highlights their ability to control their releases by requiring them to throw only backup balls? The discussion then turned to picking who would win such a tournament. One person picked Jason Belmonte. "Nobody would beat Belmo in a backup ball tourney.....at least no human I've ever seen," he opined. But someone else suggested that Robert Smith could give him a run for his money, and another person chimed in with Osku Palermaa.

I think it would be tremendous fun to see these three go at it with backup balls. Not in a regular tournament, mind you, but in some kind of special challenge event shown on ESPN or, at least, on Xtra Frame.

Can you suggest any other credible competitors for a backup ball challenge, and who do you think would win? Check out the videos below of Osku Palermaa and Robert Smith. I couldn't find one of Belmo throwing a backup strike ball, but I understand that he throws it virtually as well that way as he does the other way. It must be an awesome sight!