Congratulations to Donald "DC" Chatman. DC tied the state high series record at Bama Lanes in Montgomery on September 21, 2011. He
bowled games of 300, 300 and 279 for an 879 series. He tied Ron Ware, who had the exact 3 game set, on June 8 at Plamor Lanes in Huntsville.
Witnesses say the lone 10 pin in the fourth frame of the last game was leaning, but failed to fall preventing the perfect series.
Ben Thames of Enterprise had an 878 series in June 2003. Now, we have had two 879 series in a matter of months. That is incredible and amazing that one (or two) could perform under that kind of pressure knowing how history will be written with your name on such an incredible accomplishment.
Congratulations DC.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Stop the insanity of the 'celebrity' hall of fame
Yes, it is that time of year where you, the bowling fan, can vote for the next inductee to the Celebrity Bowling Hall of Fame. I thought this was some kind of fad. But it does not seem to go away. Why are we doing this? Why do we care? Have the nominees really deserved a nomination? Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers are nominated because they have a party or charity fundraiser in a bowling center. Let's face it, if they could play golf, their fundraiser would be on the links! In previous years we have seen sports stars nominated because they could at least average 180 in a league. Is it a coincidence that when the PBA televised the Chris Paul invitational with his sports and music buddies bowling, we no longer see this group on the ballot? Once they showed their bowling prowess on national television, the public was no longer fooled by this silliness.
If we want to keep this thing a little serious, then Jeff Bridges and Bill Murray should be included for their iconic characters in bowling-related movies. If Lady Gaga is on the ballot, why not Tim Matheson or Michael J. Fox? Even if their movies bombed, the bowling theme shows more relevance than Lady Gaga's one time in a bowling center.
Kill the Celebrity Bowling Hall of Fame. We all know why Kim Khardashian is nominated. She was the 'celebrity' that opened one of the high end bowling lounges. This one event put her on this list? Maybe it was the dress.
If we want to keep this thing a little serious, then Jeff Bridges and Bill Murray should be included for their iconic characters in bowling-related movies. If Lady Gaga is on the ballot, why not Tim Matheson or Michael J. Fox? Even if their movies bombed, the bowling theme shows more relevance than Lady Gaga's one time in a bowling center.
Kill the Celebrity Bowling Hall of Fame. We all know why Kim Khardashian is nominated. She was the 'celebrity' that opened one of the high end bowling lounges. This one event put her on this list? Maybe it was the dress.
Monday, July 4, 2011
PBA Team Shootout Review
Well, the yearly summer PBA Shootout is now completed. It was definitely more interesting than previous years being outside while Batman and Bugs Bunny cheered the bowlers. I almost missed this years event as I was not that excited about the shootout as previous years. I thought it may be more of the same.
Did the PBA change more than just the venue? It was almost scripted like a WWE pay-per-view event. First, the good thing was the move to an inside venue. I only like to sweat when I run, bike, or cut the yard. Bowling is not an outside activity during a hot Midwestern summer. If you believe the Democrats, global warming makes bowling very uncomfortable. Of course, the new PBA jerseys could be worn by Lance Armstrong and crew during a bicycle road race. Just change the Ebonite logo with a Trek one.
Of course, it was not a bowling alley, nor a bowling center, but a bowling lounge. What is a bowling lounge? It is a more expensive place to eat, drink, and bowl. Awesome ambiance, but still more expensive. I was expecting to see $5 soft drinks, $10 beers, and $12 wines on the tables with the bowlers. I'm sure Jason's water bottle was at least a $3 drink. Another thing about bowling lounges? They seem to attract the 'beautiful people.' Kim Khardashian has been publicized at a bowling lounge. Is this the second bowling tournament where I have seen an attractive blonde woman sitting directly in the camera's line of view? I guess I lost my concentration as I have not heard any announcement or close-up identifying her as a PBA wife or girlfriend. I'm betting she did not have to pay for her ticket to the show.
An advantage of tape delay show is more time to edit. We have heard about 'Bottlegate' for a couple of weeks now. The old saying is that any publicity is good publicity. The new PBA encouraged Pete Weber's antics. It put some life into the telecasts. Any competitor is focused on what he has to do. So, no one is encouraging you should distract your opponents. Well, that seems to be ok for free throw shots or field goal kicks. However, I don't see another PGA golfer sneezing in Phil Mickelson's backswing. ESPN and the PBA had plenty of extra camera angles, background video and commentary ready to go as soon as Sean Rash expressed his frustration. I'm not blaming either bowler, just noting that everyone was ready to exploit the event quickly. There would not have been as much analysis of this if this event was televised life.
I like the ball manufacturer staff team competition. However, with the shape of the economy, the pros on these teams look like the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Twins. One or two teams are loaded while the other groups are 'smaller market' teams. The Ebonite team is like the Brunswick team of the 90's. Remember, they had all the big names back then. Parker Bohn was one of them and is still on the team. This is rare. The few examples are Dick Weber with AMF, Johnny Petraglia and Parker Bohn with Brunswick. This is like your favorite baseball player staying with his team for his whole career. Looking at the teams, obviously Ebonite and Storm are your big players. Looking at the inventory at your pro shop, these are the two brands you will see. Around Alabama, Brunswick and 900Global products are less likely to be stocked. If I want to be on Brunswick's staff, I need to win a televised tournament with a Brunswick ball and then I can be on the Team Shootout the next summer. 900Global's best player is a senior bowler. Being a smaller company, it is not likely to have a large staff. Is Robert Smith still an exempt bowler? It is also not likely to renew bowlers with larger contracts. From Walter Ray's site:
Watching 900Global winning was good for the event. Having Ebonite dominate the points events and then losing the tournament is like the seasons of the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, and Kentucky Wildcats. Unless you are a big fan of these teams, it is fun to root against them.
But, with 900Global running the table and winning for the upset still seems like a scripted WWE event. If these are 'exhibition' summer events, maybe scripting them would make them just as entertaining as this year's Team Shootout. If the final would have been Team Storm versus Team Ebonite as was the highly probable outcome, I may not have been around to watch it, as my interest would have been lost a long time before.
Did the PBA change more than just the venue? It was almost scripted like a WWE pay-per-view event. First, the good thing was the move to an inside venue. I only like to sweat when I run, bike, or cut the yard. Bowling is not an outside activity during a hot Midwestern summer. If you believe the Democrats, global warming makes bowling very uncomfortable. Of course, the new PBA jerseys could be worn by Lance Armstrong and crew during a bicycle road race. Just change the Ebonite logo with a Trek one.
Of course, it was not a bowling alley, nor a bowling center, but a bowling lounge. What is a bowling lounge? It is a more expensive place to eat, drink, and bowl. Awesome ambiance, but still more expensive. I was expecting to see $5 soft drinks, $10 beers, and $12 wines on the tables with the bowlers. I'm sure Jason's water bottle was at least a $3 drink. Another thing about bowling lounges? They seem to attract the 'beautiful people.' Kim Khardashian has been publicized at a bowling lounge. Is this the second bowling tournament where I have seen an attractive blonde woman sitting directly in the camera's line of view? I guess I lost my concentration as I have not heard any announcement or close-up identifying her as a PBA wife or girlfriend. I'm betting she did not have to pay for her ticket to the show.
An advantage of tape delay show is more time to edit. We have heard about 'Bottlegate' for a couple of weeks now. The old saying is that any publicity is good publicity. The new PBA encouraged Pete Weber's antics. It put some life into the telecasts. Any competitor is focused on what he has to do. So, no one is encouraging you should distract your opponents. Well, that seems to be ok for free throw shots or field goal kicks. However, I don't see another PGA golfer sneezing in Phil Mickelson's backswing. ESPN and the PBA had plenty of extra camera angles, background video and commentary ready to go as soon as Sean Rash expressed his frustration. I'm not blaming either bowler, just noting that everyone was ready to exploit the event quickly. There would not have been as much analysis of this if this event was televised life.
I like the ball manufacturer staff team competition. However, with the shape of the economy, the pros on these teams look like the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Twins. One or two teams are loaded while the other groups are 'smaller market' teams. The Ebonite team is like the Brunswick team of the 90's. Remember, they had all the big names back then. Parker Bohn was one of them and is still on the team. This is rare. The few examples are Dick Weber with AMF, Johnny Petraglia and Parker Bohn with Brunswick. This is like your favorite baseball player staying with his team for his whole career. Looking at the teams, obviously Ebonite and Storm are your big players. Looking at the inventory at your pro shop, these are the two brands you will see. Around Alabama, Brunswick and 900Global products are less likely to be stocked. If I want to be on Brunswick's staff, I need to win a televised tournament with a Brunswick ball and then I can be on the Team Shootout the next summer. 900Global's best player is a senior bowler. Being a smaller company, it is not likely to have a large staff. Is Robert Smith still an exempt bowler? It is also not likely to renew bowlers with larger contracts. From Walter Ray's site:
“The company I represented last year did not offer to renew my contract at the end of the season,” Williams said. “I had heard some really good things about Track equipment last season and the equipment coming out of Ebonite International. You want to go to a company with good equipment so you can be competitive.”With the prize money professional bowling offers today, a serious pro needs a ball contract. Since Walter is with Track, you couldn't find him on the Ebonite team. Ebonite could literally have it's own Team Shootout event with the pros representing each of the four brands; Ebonite, Columbia, Track, and Hammer. Walter, most likely, had conflicts with the short PBA Senior tour.
Watching 900Global winning was good for the event. Having Ebonite dominate the points events and then losing the tournament is like the seasons of the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, and Kentucky Wildcats. Unless you are a big fan of these teams, it is fun to root against them.
But, with 900Global running the table and winning for the upset still seems like a scripted WWE event. If these are 'exhibition' summer events, maybe scripting them would make them just as entertaining as this year's Team Shootout. If the final would have been Team Storm versus Team Ebonite as was the highly probable outcome, I may not have been around to watch it, as my interest would have been lost a long time before.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
New State Record
Congratulations to Ron Ware. Ron set a new state high series record during the Super Classic League at Plamor Lanes on June 8, 2011. He bowled games of 300, 300 and 279 for an 879 series. He broke the 2003 record set almost exactly 8 years ago by Ben Thames of Enterprise by 1 pin.
To beat 879 will be a tough feat. There are only a few ways to do it.
1. Throw 36 strikes in a row for a 900 series.
2. Throw 35 strikes in a row for 890-899
Or the less obvious ways,
3. Throw 24 strikes or 25 strikes in a row, then a spare, then strike out for a 890 or 880 series.
Or reverse this order
4. Spare, then 35 strikes in a row, or strike, spare, and 34 strikes in a row.
Congratulations Ron.
To beat 879 will be a tough feat. There are only a few ways to do it.
1. Throw 36 strikes in a row for a 900 series.
2. Throw 35 strikes in a row for 890-899
Or the less obvious ways,
3. Throw 24 strikes or 25 strikes in a row, then a spare, then strike out for a 890 or 880 series.
Or reverse this order
4. Spare, then 35 strikes in a row, or strike, spare, and 34 strikes in a row.
Congratulations Ron.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Overconfidence?
When I get to the host city of the USBC Open (or previously, the ABC Nationals), I like to watch earlier squads to gather information as to where I can or should play the lanes. Now, you can read the Internet for other bowlers' experiences or insights. One source of information has always been USBC Hall of Famer Jeff Richgels. He has posted on his blog his information, sources and practice methods for his team on how they attack their team pair.
If you have been following bowl.com, there have been higher scores and numerous honor scores. The top teams are, once again, scoring high. Even Jeff has posted his insight while practicing on the Open lane condition in his home house.
Side note: We used to bowl the same dates and squads as Jeff Richgels teams. Well, both groups moved to different dates. While they took our money most every year, I do remember those guys congratulating me as I bowled a perfect game in team event in 2007. I also enjoyed bowling with some of them during the Bowlers Journal squads. As current and former professional bowlers, they are a pleasure to bowl with and against. They are a credit to our sport. However, I am glad we no longer bowl on the same USBC Open squads!
May 21 update: Too prophetic. This team is now leading the USBC Open team event with a record 1281 team game.
You know the feeling when you strike every shot in practice, and then cannot strike once the competition begins? I'm starting to get that feeling before I am even on the plane to Reno.
If you have been following bowl.com, there have been higher scores and numerous honor scores. The top teams are, once again, scoring high. Even Jeff has posted his insight while practicing on the Open lane condition in his home house.
One thing to emphasize about this year is that it's more about getting to the pocket "correctly" to carry well, rather than just finding the pocket, as it usually is at the Open Championships.Getting to the pocket is not an issue this year? The Open is not a tournament to let your guard down and lose focus on your goal. The pessimist in me knows a bad set or sets this year will be more disappointing than in year's past. I will now block all this Internet information and do my normal routine. I will watch similar bowlers to my style while I am there and see how they are doing. I will make my adjustments to the lanes as they are playing. Tougher conditions dictate that I play more conservative. Easier house conditions usually require more aggressive style, such as more speed or more back-end reaction. I will keep a tough condition mentality and try not to lose that focus after my first double. I hope it will be the start of many strings. But only focus, concentration, and good shots make that happen, even if it was on a house shot.
Side note: We used to bowl the same dates and squads as Jeff Richgels teams. Well, both groups moved to different dates. While they took our money most every year, I do remember those guys congratulating me as I bowled a perfect game in team event in 2007. I also enjoyed bowling with some of them during the Bowlers Journal squads. As current and former professional bowlers, they are a pleasure to bowl with and against. They are a credit to our sport. However, I am glad we no longer bowl on the same USBC Open squads!
May 21 update: Too prophetic. This team is now leading the USBC Open team event with a record 1281 team game.
You know the feeling when you strike every shot in practice, and then cannot strike once the competition begins? I'm starting to get that feeling before I am even on the plane to Reno.
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