11th Frame 10.26.18
By Bill Ryan U.S. OPEN TO BRING 2018 GO BOWLING! PBA TOUR SEASON TO DRAMATIC CLOSE The 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season will come to a dramatic end over the next few days with a number of plot lines in play as the U.S. Open gets underway at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan., including its impact on the PBA Player and Rookie of the Year races, the possibility of a new addition to the PBA’s “Triple Crown” roster, maybe a record-tying major, and a battle for berths in the end-of-season PBA Clash. For starters, how players finish in the U.S. Open could be a significant factor in deciding the 2018 PBA Player and Rookie of the Year races. Heading into the final PBA Tour event of the year, EJ Tackett is the only three-title winner in 2018. Jason Belmonte, Anthony Simonsen, Andrew Anderson and Jakob Butturff are all solidly in contention with two PBA Tour titles each. On a personal level, the U.S. Open also may have special meaning to Belmonte and Tackett. Both players are in need of a U.S. Open title to complete the PBA Triple Crown. A win by Belmonte also would be his 10th major, tying the legendary Earl Anthony and Pete Weber for the all-time record for most PBA major titles. The U.S. Open will pay $30,000, $15,000, $12,000, $10,000 and $8,000 to the top five finishers. Fans can track the competition through exclusive live coverage of the qualifying and match play rounds by Xtra Frame on FloBowling Friday through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Fans also can follow the U.S. Open via the Live Scoring feature on pba.com. The five-man stepladder finals will air live on CBS Sports Network on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. Eastern. Surviving the Game Results of the second week of Al-Mar’s Surviving the game found the first three bowlers eliminated were Roger Pierstorff from the American League at 115 pins under average; Celia Johnson 93 pins under in the Elks League and Pancha Melendrez, […]
Continue reading11th Frame – 10/18/2018
By Bill Ryan A survey from a third-party research firm shows that participants at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships support recent changes to the tournament, including the addition of a third average-based division and withholding publication of lane conditions to improve fairness. The USBC Open Championships survey was reviewed and analyzed by Victus Advisors. In 2017, USBC introduced significant changes to the Open Championships designed to improve the experience and competitive environment of the event, including a new division intended to increase peer-to-peer competition. Now that bowlers have experienced the changes for two years, USBC conducted a survey to determine the acceptance and approval of the changes. Victus found bowlers responded with an overwhelming acceptance and approval of the change in division structure for competitiveness (85 percent) and a strong positive majority (76 percent) about overall changes to the division structure and average requirements. Registration trends for the 2019 Open Championships in Las Vegas also support these findings. To date, 8,230 teams have registered for the event. If current registration trends continue, 2019 projects to be the largest tournament since 2012. Victus’ key findings from the Open Championships survey data include: • The overwhelming majority (85 percent) said that the new division structure allowed them to be more competitive or made no difference to the competitiveness of the Open Championships. This is a clear indication that the addition of a third average-based division at the tournament had its intended effect of increasing peer-to-peer competition at the event. • Overall, 76 percent of respondents said they think the three-division structure is positive for the long-term success of the tournament or that they agree with the goals of the changes. This is indicative of the generally positive view of the new division structure. • A total of 65 percent of respondents indicated they agreed with or had no opinion about keeping lane patterns secret until after the conclusion of the event. This majority shows a positive leaning toward the changes made in lane condition communications in 2017 and 2018. The survey also asked bowlers to identify their levels of satisfaction relating to 19 aspects of the 2018 tournament. Victus observed that overall satisfaction with tournament operations was among the best performing categories in terms of bowler satisfaction, which further indicates there has not been a significant backlash to the operational changes made in 2017 and 2018. The complete Victus Advisors report on the 2018 Open Championships survey is published onBOWL.com/OpenChamp. Surviving the Game Results of the first week of Al-Mar’s Surviving the game found the first three bowlers eliminated were all from the Ladies Major League. They are Diane Swisher, 75 […]
Continue readingThe 11th Frame 10/11/18
By Bill Ryan There are a lot of theives in bowling leagues. No. I’m not talking about money nor merchandise, rather I’m talking abou the theft of something very valuable, the TIME of other bowlers. There are some fair and legitimate reasons why a bowler may not be up and ready to bowl at their turn, but those are few and far between. More often than not, it’s the lack of paying attention that it is one’s turn to bowl. Some bowlers may need a bathroom break, and that can be forgiven within reason. There are other times when smokers drift outside for a quick hit or 10. However, it has been my experience that most of the smokers do not abuse the time and plan to go for their smoke breaks between games when there is a little more time. There are others that just plain ignore and don’t care that they are holding up the rest of the bowlers on their pair of lanes. Decades ago, it used to be the custom that the lead-off bowler of a team would not throw the first ball in a new frame until their anchor bowler had thrown their first ball in the previous frame. That custom went out 20 fashion trends ago. Those things generally work themselves out as the game progresses. If it’s your turn … bowl. It’s just that simple. There is no rule nor reccommendation to wait, so please don’t. It is now expected that when it is your turn, you should be up and bowling. By not doing so you are wasting up to two minutes each frame. With 30 frames in a 3-game league that adds up and is not unusual to see one team or another be regularly 20 to 30 minutes behind other teams in the same league. With nine other bowlers on your pair of lanes, on a five-person team, one bowler can easily steal that time from the others adding up to the theft of an accumulation of three Everyone’s time is of value. Some bowlers may need to get to work after bowling, or get home to their family or to watch their favorite television show or sporting event. Whatever the reason, why do you think you should steal their time from them? There is no legitimate answer. Team captains if your lead-off has a penchant for this blatant waste of time, rearrange the lineup and get that problem elsewhere in your lineup. Everybody can get sidetracked now and then. We are all guilty of this from time to time, but when it happens frame after frame, game after game, week after week, on a regular basis, you are a thief and when you steal my time, that is time that I will never get back. You’ve robbed me of that precious commodity. Stop it. Walter Ray comes to town There are a limited few openings left for the upcoming Walter Ray Williams Jr. bowling clinic to be held at Al-Mar Lanes on Friday, Dec. 7 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The cost is $79 per person and this is an excellent way tosharpen your game. For younger bowlers who may not know Williams is a 7-time professional player of the year and the all PBA career money leader and title holder. He is also a silver certified coach. Don’t be shut out reserve your spot in the clinic soon. League highlights through Oct. 7Jackand Jill:Steve Burton, 289, 717; Kirk Starkey 258, 674; Billy Malik, 602; Steven Hoodlebrink 269; Women: Cindy StPeter, 186, 531; Brandi Binion, 191, 467 Standings: VinChar, 16-5; A Split Happens, We’re Broken, St.Peter and Binion-Stephenson, each 14-7DiagonAlley Cats,bgMake Hachtel 128,334; Tim Brackenbury, 143, 301; Women Erin Hachtel, 123, 356; Gina O’Hare, 328; Robin Cagle,120. Standings: Cagle, 12-9; Hachtel and Lapolt-O-Hare, both 11-10MixedUp Guys and Gals:Josh Crawford, 264, 703; Jeff Sayre 618; Bob Johnson, 606; Stretch Stevems. 275’ Dave Dohanos 224; Women; Lori Hutton, 216,581; Andrea Blasius, 489; Tonia Blair, 474; Betsy Johnson, 193; Judy Lee, 179. Standings: Time to Strike and Bowling for Booze,both 18-3.Bobcat 2 a Days:Easton Duncan, 279; Conner Main Standings: Boys Avery Latta 51 wins; Tyler […]
Continue readingThe 11th Frame 10/4/18
By Bill Ryan Congratulations to the Bowling Green State Univertsity men’s bowling team for its recent championship in the collegiate tournament held in Adrian, Michigan. The team topped eight other teams for the win including University of Michigan. The Falcons totaled 7,237 pins with Olivet College its closest competitor at 6.953. Two Falcons were among the top five with SteveKocher second overall at 1,755 pins and Kyle Waynick fifth at 1,185. Look for more Falcon details as the season continues. Also, congratulations to Gary Wachter in the Eagles League for the first 300 game of the season, he finished with a 716 series. Lucas Jenne in the same league fell one pin shy at 299; and Mike Metzker was another pin back with his 298. In the pros Professional Bowlers Association champions Patrick Allen of South Salem, N.Y., and Mika Koivuniemi of Finland have been elected to the PBA Hall of Fame along with veteran bowling journalist Bob Johnson of Las Vegas and long-time Indianapolis tournament host Jim Doty, PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark rently announced. The 2019 PBA Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held on Jan. 5, at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas, as part of the PBA Hall of Fame Classic tournament that will be contested at the International Research and Training Center Jan. 2-6. The finals of the first tournament on the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season will be televised live on FS1 on Sunday, Jan. 6, at 11 a.m. EST. Veteran PBA50 Tour player Chris Keane of Cape Coral, Fla., has been selected as the 2018 PBA50 Dick Weber Sportsmanship Award winner in voting by his fellow competitors, becoming the second two-time winner of the award. The 60-year-old Keane, who won his first sportsmanship award in 2014, has been competing on the PBA50 Tour for eight seasons. He took the opportunity to bowl full-time on the PBA50 Tour after selling his car wash and auto repair business. “It was very special to win it the first time and especially so the second time,” Keane said. “You become such a family out here (on tour) that you want to see everyone succeed. I try to reach out and help guys whenever I can and many of them do the same for me. The only other player to previously earn the Dick Weber Sportsmanship Award twice was Robert Harvey in 2010 and 2013. Other 2018 PBA50 Tour award winners were Michael Haugen Jr., who earned PBA50 Tour Player of the Year; Rolando Sebelen, Rookie of the Year, and Ron Mohr who earned his third consecutive PBA60 Player of the Year. Player and Rookie of the Year awards were based on competition points. Recipients will receive their awards during a presentation at the 2019 Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open in Las Vegas. Reminder: Al-Mar Lanes’ eighth annual World Series of “Basebowl” Championship is Sunda at 10 a.m. Details at Al-Mar. League highlights through Sept. 30 ASD I Remodeling Tour Trials (featuring professional=style lane conditions) : Adam Dilsaver, 254, 660; Steven Kocher, 235, 644; Derek May, 632; Dave Walter, 265, 606; Rob Bentley 244; Mark Wolford Sr. 236, 610. Standings: BGSU 2, 24-6; Wammes, 21-9; Dilsaver, 20-10. Bobcat 2 a Days: Linda Alfaro, 217, 596; Avery Latta, 171, 481; Jana Kirian, 170, 472;Miguel Lorenzen, 152, 433 Stands: Boys Latta and Austin Bowen, each 42 wins; Gilrs Kaylee Gonyer, 30; Savaqnah Garner, 25. Randy Miller Doubles (four games): Kris Kolk, 230, 820; Shaun Crusa, 234, 817; Gene Van De Velde,2322, 780Yogi Wammes, 233, 736 Standings Kolk-Wammes, 66.5-33.5; Grames-Grames 61-39. Eagles: Gary Wachter, 200, 716; Brian Close, 716; Lucas Jenne, 299, 696; Mike Metzker, 298, 692; Brent Norris, 267. Division leaders: ASD Remodeling 33-2 and Cardiac Kids, 22-13 American: […]
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