1/8/13 UPDATE: Bowl Progressive Pot Games with Pete Weber and Kelly Kulick

Off the Street Pro Shop located within 4th Street Bowl announced last night they will host (VISE and Storm sponsored) another fundraiser for the family of Tony Reyes.  It will be held on Friday, January 11 at 4th Street Bowl (San Jose, CA) and on Saturday, January 12 at Pacific Avenue Bowl (Stockton, CA).

Entry fee is $200. For more details on the tournament, you can view/download the flyer here.

For those that will be participating, it sounds like loads of fun and wish you luck against PDW and Kelly.

UPDATE: As of January 9, 2013, Pete Weber is injured and will not be able to bowl. PBA Analyst and Hall of Famer Randy Pedersen will bowl with Kelly Kulick in PDW's place.

Chris Hardwick, Nerdist & Newest PBA Team Owner

image source: Chris Hardwick

As mentioned in my November 11 blog entry, the PBA announced a 6-team league which will begin in January 2013. Yesterday, it was announced the league's newest owner is Chris Hardwick.

Chris is a stand-up comedian/AMC's Talking Dead/Nerdist host. What I found out today is he's the son of former PBA tour professional Billy Hardwick. He is named after ABC Sports legend  Chris Schenkel. While Chris's bowling isn't quite at the level his dad's once was, he is an accomplished bowler with a 190-200 average.

Team will be based out of Silver Lake, CA. Players on the Silver Lake Atom Splitter team include Chris Barnes as captain as well as 2012 Weber Cup Europe team members Dom Barrett and Stuart Williams. From what I've seen so far, these guys are going to be my favorite team.

For those who of you not familiar with Nerdist, there are podcast segments of bowling with their celebrity guests. Guests have included the cast/crew of Mad Men, Mythbusters and Breaking Bad.

Here's a YouTube clip of a Team Nerdist vs. Team Mythbusters (serious bowling it's not):

Jack Pinto, A Giant Hero

image source: ABC News

image source: @TeamVic

Victor Cruz, wide receiver for the New York Giants, learned via Twitter (@TeamVic) that he lost one of his biggest fans from Sandy Hook Elementary School, 6-year old Jack Pinto. The picture of the red cleats in today's game against the Atlanta Falcons is a tribute to Jack.

To paraphrase numerous Facebook responses, "I'm not a New York Giants fan. Never will be. But Cruz. WOW."

Victor is planning to visit Newtown this week to give his jersey and cleats to Jack's family.

Moneyball

image source: imdb.com

Over the weekend, I finally got to see "Moneyball" online through my cable provider. As described in imdb.com's summary of the movie, "Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players." 

This analysis is the foundation of SABR, which stands for Society for American Baseball Research, or better known as sabermetrics. Until I saw this movie, I underestimated its impact on how today's baseball game is managed as a business. If you're a baseball fan and haven't seen the film, I strongly recommend it.

Here's a YouTube clip from the movie which summarizes what the Oakland A's achieved in the 2002 season.

(note: the actor portraying Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry in this scene is Arliss Howard.  Mr. Howard is married to Debra Winger).

UPS My Choice

As we are officially into the holiday season, many of us will or already have ordered merchandise online. I recently signed up for UPS My Choice, a free service that notifies you of pending deliveries. The attached screen shot from my cell phone is one of my San Francisco Giants 2012 World Series orders from MLB.com.

Two great features of this service: 1. Signup is free; 2. Specific 4-hour window as to when your package will be delivered. And if that date and/or time isn't convenient, you can click on the tracking number link, sign into UPS My Choice and opt for a different delivery window time and date to have your package delivered.

For me, this service is a wonderful convenience. No more impromptu treasure hunts trying to figure out where the driver decided to leave your package. Best of all, no more attempt to deliver notification dangling on your mailbox or front door.