Monday, December 28, 2015

Lefties Strike Again

source: GoBowling.com
Kim Bolleby, Jakob Butturff, Ryan Ciminelli, Gary Faulkner Jr.

The above picture says it all. Yesterday's finalists in the PBA Viper Championship were all lefties. Congratulations to Ryan Ciminelli for winning his second major PBA tournament.

In case you missed it (as I did - upgraded to a new cable box this week), it's now available on YouTube.



Sunday, December 20, 2015

Southpaw Show

source: PBA Tour
L to R: EJ Tackett, Ryan Ciminelli, Gary Faulkner Jr., Scott Norton, Rhino Page
source: PBA
L to R: Norm Duke, Parker Bohn III, Paul Moor, Andrew Cain
This past week, ESPN aired the Rolltech PBA Championship (live - very cool) and the Cheetah Championship from the place I've bowled Labor Day weekend for the past 4 years, National Bowling Stadium in Reno.

Of the 9 finalists pictured, all but 2 of them are left-handed bowlers - Norm Duke and EJ Tackett. I find it funny that both are on the far left-side of the photos. Congratulations to Gary Faulkner Jr. for his first PBA title winning the Rolltech Championship, and to Parker Bohn III for the Cheetah Championship.

Special shout out to UK's Paul Moor, who made his first PBA TV final. Paul's also a former Weber Cup teammate of Dom Barrett.

Also in pro bowling news, Danielle McEwen's hot streak continues. Danielle and Liz Johnson were selected in the 2016 PBA League draft. Danielle will bowl for Del Ballard's Motown Muscle. Liz, for the Portland Lumberjacks.

In case you missed the live telecast of the Rolltech stepladder finals, it's here and on YouTube. Mookie Betts sits in the booth for a bit and shares his WSOB experiences. You'll also see him sitting in the front row later in the broadcast.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

The Golden Girls - Team USA

source: Bowl.com
L to R: Shannon O'Keefe, Stefanie Johnson, Danielle McEwen, Shannon Pluhowsky, Kelly Kulick, Liz Johnson
Congratulations to Team USA on your gold medal against Korea in the World Women's Championships in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). Special congrats to anchor bowler Liz Johnson for her perfect 300 game in the match.

A few days earlier, hotter than Hades Danielle McEwen and partner Kelly Kulick captured gold in doubles.

Wanna see how The Golden Girls did it? Here's video of both gold medal winning matches:

Doubles match:


Team match played earlier today:


Sunday, December 06, 2015

Danielle McEwan - youth and college bowling days

source: NCAA
As Danielle McEwan begins bowling with Team USA in the 2015 Women's World Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, I thought it'd be fun to see Danielle bowl from her youth and college bowling days.

From 2009 Teen Masters (with a 5-step approach and stronger New York accent when interviewed):


And, as the anchor bowler when she was a junior at Fairleigh Dickinson University:


In case you missed my blog entry from last month, here's the link from November 1.

Good luck to you, Kelly, Shannon O, Shannon P, Liz and Stefanie in Abu Dhabi.

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers - 33 consecutive wins

source: Total Pro Sports
Tonight, the Golden State Warriors won their 20th consecutive game in Steph's hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Warriors are more than halfway to matching the 43-year record of 33 consecutive wins by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

Coached by Bill Sharman, the team primarily revolved around 3 players: center Wilt Chamberlain (13), guards Gail Goodrich (25) and Jerry West (44). While most 11 year old girls screamed over David Cassidy, yours truly carried a big torch for Gail Goodrich.

Chamberlain, West and Goodrich are all members of Naismith's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Goodrich and West had a combined scoring average of 52 points a game. For me, they were the Splash Brothers long before Stephen Curry's and Klay Thompson's dads even played in the NBA.

Here's a short video with interviews with the Big 3. They may have played over 40 years ago, but it's clear how well the Lakers could run, shoot and pass the ball.