Bowling Quote for the Day--Nothing Slows Down Belmo

"Belmonte's move might surprise some who would theorize that the mega-revving two-hander would be unable to play on the fresh flat pattern that is put down for each match play block. But Belmonte, who was the qualifying leader at last year's U.S. Open but missed the TV finals, has solidified his game so much in the past year that nothing seems to slow him down." ~ Jeff Richgels

Kamron Doyle Profiled in the New York Times

"When I first saw him, the bowling ball was bigger than he was. Now, he's at a whole new level." ~ Tommy Jones

Bowling gets little to no coverage by the news and sports media these days. I'm not sure why this is. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with most people having no idea just how demanding a sport both physically and mentally elite-level bowling happens to be, and lingering stereotypes of beer swilling, pot-bellied Archie Bunker types having a fun night out with the boys.

This is why it's such a blessed event for bowling and its fans when the sport draws the serious attention of the media, and when the medium happens to be the hallowed New York Times, it's an especially big deal. Well, the sensational 14-year-old bowling prodigy Kamron Doyle has just been profiled in the New York Times, and I'm hoping the exposure will attract interest in the sport, especially among the young people who are bowling's future.

I'll be blogging more about Kamron in the days to come, but for now be sure to check out the New York Times profile here. Kamron Doyle is the real deal.

Danny Wiseman Bows Out of Roll Off in U.S. Open

A strange thing happened on the way to the cashier's round of the 69th PBA U.S. Open Thursday evening. 12-time Tour titlist Danny Wiseman tied with John Furey, setting the stage for a sudden death roll-off to determine who made the cut to the top 98. But Wiseman unexpectedly decided to concede the final spot in the cashier's round to Furey without a roll-off and later posted the following explanation of his decision to his Facebook Fan page:

"so here ya all go...after bowling decent all week making everything but not striking much I had a horrible last game needing to stay clean (think I was -34). I hit the pocket, playing left of 5th arrow, every shot except for the 3-6-7-10 I made in the 8th frame. the 8-10's were in the first frame and ninth (on a re rack no less) because the rack was really tight. I left a few weak tens, two four pins, and a blower 7 also. So I talked to John Furey and told him no need for me to continue this aggravation when I have no chance to win (which is the point of this). 1000 bucks isn't going to break me and at this stage of my career I don't need to go try figure this out as I have yet to ever with this pattern. My tilt and roll and rev rate are not conducive, and yes I have tried many things to no avail over the years. I figured John could use the experience more than I as he is a future star. So I am not going to Detroit and Indy is in question. The T of C I am going to. I am working on some bowling related things to get into for the next stage of my life and career. Bowling full time is not one of them. Stay tuned and go like my fan page even after i "surrendered" LOL!...By the way, have been riddled with injuries and my left ankle was bothering me again and not sure I'd make it the 8 games anyway..."

PBA Xtra Frame commentator Jason Thomas said it was one of the strangest things he'd ever seen happen in a PBA tournament and that he never expected to see it again. But Wiseman received a very positive response from his fans.

What do you think of Wiseman's decision? Do you think he should have taken on Furey in a roll-off for the final spot in the cashier's round, or did he do a good thing in not contesting newcomer Furey's chance to compete further?

Stories Abound at 69th PBA U.S. Open

"At the U.S. Open, it's all about hitting your target and making spares, and I did pretty good at that." ~ Missy Parkin

The PBA U.S. Open may not pay out the most money to its top finishers of all the big bowling tournaments in the world, but it is arguably the most prestigious tournament of them all, and it is conducted on what are surely among the most demanding lane conditions of all elite bowling tournaments, the flat 42-foot U.S. Open pattern.

In this year's U.S. Open, 394 of the finest professional and amateur bowlers from several continents gathered at the fabled 82-lane Brunswick Zone Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J. on Tuesday to loft and grind their way through three 6-game blocks over three consecutive days of qualifying before the field was winnowed down to the cashier's round of 98 for another 8 games of qualifying Friday morning prior to being cut to the top 24. Those top 24 will now bowl one 8-game block of round-robin match play on Friday evening and two blocks Saturday to determine the four stepladder finalists for Sunday's live ESPN telecast at 3 pm ET.

If you've been watching PBA Xtra Frame this week, you've seen some remarkable bowling, enjoyed expert coverage by Mike J. Laneside, Jason Thomas, and Jackie Bowling, heard some great guest commentary from the likes of PBA legend Mark Roth, Johnny Petraglia Jr., PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, and 14-year-old bowling phenom Kamron Doyle, and you've no doubt gained a huge appreciation for just how incredibly difficult it is to cash in the U.S. Open and how tremendously well someone has to bowl to make it to the top 24 on those lane conditions.

You would have also seen the aforementioned Kamron Doyle become the youngest bowler ever to make the cashier's round of the U.S. Open, finishing in 61st place, ahead of a panoply of big name bowlers including Walter Ray Williams Jr., Tommy Jones, Kelly Kulick, Amletto Monacelli, Tom Baker, and Dick Allen in the cashier's round and a plethora of other outstanding bowlers who didn't cash.

You would have seen 64-year-old bowling legend Johnny Petraglia remarkably make the cut and finish in a very respectable 78th place.

You would have seen USBC Queens winner Missy Parkin bowl phenomenally well against her male counterparts to average 210.84 and finish 9th in the cashier's round, setting her up for match play and a possible TV appearance on Sunday. No woman has ever made it into match play in the PBA U.S.Open before. She also finished higher in the recent USBC Masters than any woman ever has before when she ended up in 11th place.

You would have seen multiple PBA titlists Jason Belmonte and Osku Palerma two-hand their way into the top 24, while lesser known but no less exciting two-hander Brian Valenta lofted the ball 30 feet down the lane while standing on the approach of the adjacent lane to crush the pins repeatedly and impress even the hard-to-impress Mark Roth who was a guest commentator at the time.

You would have seen Sean Rash shoot a desperation 289 to leap from well down the field into the top 24 with two games to go and then flail his way out of the cut.

You would have seen 50-year-old Pete Weber bid for an unprecedented 5th U.S. Open title by finishing 10th in the cashier's round.

You would have seen P.J. Sonday using mostly one strike ball all week to finish the cashier's round in 5th place, while defending champion Norm Duke, Masters Champion Mike Fagan, and a bevy of other great bowlers including Chris Barnes, Bill O'Neill, Dan McLelland, Rhino Page, and Jason Couch did what great bowlers do and make it to the top 24 for match play of the U.S. Open.

And last but not least, you would have seen Ryan Shafer show why he has to be far and away the best player never to win a major title. He ran away and hid from the rest of the field by averaging a blistering 224 on impossible lane conditions and leading second place Mike Fagan by 170 pins.

If you don't get PBA Xtra Frame, it's not too late to sign up and catch the 24 games of match play and expert commentary today and tomorrow. In any case, be sure to tune into ESPN on Sunday to watch the televised finals of the greatest bowling tournament of them all. And you can get the official scores and major backstories at the PBA website.

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.

Chris Barnes Has No Competition in the Cheetah Challenge

Chris Barnes showed up today at Fountain Valley Bowl at 5:30 PM EST with $5000 cash in his pocket, but nobody dared to take him on. That's right, PBA Xtra Frame was all set to live stream a contest in which Barnes and one or possibly more challengers each tossed $5000 into the pot and the highest scorer for three games would walk away with all the money. Yet, not even last year's Cheetah monster and champion Eugene McCune rose to the challenge.

If you recall, McCune not only won last year's Cheetah championship but obliterated the nine-game block scoring record by averaging an unbelievable 274 along the way in match play. I've posted a short video of part of that mind-boggling performance below.

Maybe all the players, fresh off a practice round, were resting physically and psyching up mentally for tomorrow's opening of the PBA Cheetah Open and didn't want to be distracted by a preliminary match with Barnes. Yet, I'm still surprised that no one went after him. Yes, $5000 is a lot of money for most of us, and underpaid bowlers are decidedly no exception. But surely there are well-to-do sponsors out there who would have been willing to take a gamble. After all, Chris Barnes, as great as he is, has not exactly shown himself to be unbeatable here of late on any lane condition. Yes, he had an excellent year last season despite the fact that he didn't win any championships, but HE DIDN'T WIN ANY CHAMPIONSHIPS and was completely out of the running in quite a number of tournaments.

Well, even though Chris didn't get to bowl against anybody, he did throw some impressive practice balls and talk with Xtra Frame announcer Mike J. Laneside and Fountain Valley Bowl resident bowling coach extraordinaire Mark Baker about his game, his equipment, and how to handle the Cheetah pattern, and it was quite illuminating. Chris Barnes has encyclopedic knowledge of bowling and bowling equipment and is very articulate in discussing it.

Any serious bowler who wants to get better and can afford $7.95 a month or $65 a year for Xtra Frame is crazy not to subscribe and start soaking up like a thirsty sponge the incredible information offered. And if you do subscribe and miss events like what I just described, you can always catch them in the archives and go over them as many times as you wish to learn everything you can and want to learn from them.

Not only that, but this season the PBA Tour will run several national tournaments that will be carried only on Xtra Frame. In the past, it has used Xtra Frame to cover qualifying and match play rounds, leaving the finals to ESPN or, in one instance, ABC to televise. But this year, only Xtra Frame will be carrying some of the finals as well. And the Cheetah Championship beginning tomorrow at Fountain Valley Bowl will be one of those tournaments that will be carried only by Xtra Frame from start to finish. Qualifying rounds begin tomorrow at noon EST, and the scoring promises to be high on the highest scoring of all the PBA "animal" patterns.

By the way, one of the things Mark Baker revealed on today's webcast was that he's just sent a book to his publisher entitled "The Game Changer." It is his first instructional book, and he says he's proud of it. Since he is widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, bowling coaches in the world, I'm guessing that serious bowlers will want to grab a copy of his book as soon as it comes out. Baker surmises that it will be out around March 15.

Storm's Illustrious Staff's Advice on Increasing and Maintaining Rev Count

Do you want to increase the revolutions on your ball or, at least, be more consistent with the revs you do generate? If so, and it seems that almost everybody does, the staff at Storm have some suggestions that I gleaned from Storm's Facebook page. Here are some of the more notable ones:

 "Sounds to me like there are some timing issues, as well as some muscle in the swing that is causing the inconsistencies. It's tough to tell without physically seeing it, but the key is achieving effortless power." ~ Jeff Carter

"Go to the gym and work on your leg strength, flexibility, and your cardio. You should see a dramatic improvement after a few good workouts. I wanted to increase my rev rate this year so I intensified my routine at the gym and my rev rate went from 360 to 400." ~ Ryan Shafer

"I would try to use a few less revs. You should be able to be more consistent if you find a release that you can repeat." ~ Tom Hess

"Sounds like a timing issue. Make sure to get the slide foot to the foul line ahead of the ball." ~ Randy Pedersen

"It's not all about revs. Consistency is the key though, so you are right about that. Be sure to work on practicing your release. Make it as consistent as possible. One step drills and foul line drills can help with this." ~ Jason Belmonte

"It's tough to say without watching you bowl. I think it's key to make sure you have a consistent timing. Also practice hard on having the same hand position at the moment of release." ~ Andres Gomez

"Well, honestly I'm not sure. I'm not a big guy, so I won't tell you to work out more or pump iron. I'm considered a "tweener," and I would much rather be consistent in hitting my mark than the amount of revs I have on the ball." ~ Pete Weber

"Make sure to accelerate through the release area, not before." ~ Norm Duke