Dom Barrett - 2018 PBA US Open Champion

source: Bowl.com
2018 PBA US Open Champion
Dom Barrett

On the right side of my blog page, there is a list of links which are labels I've added to all entries.

You'll notice bowling and San Francisco Giants are the biggest and darkest. It's no secret among professional bowlers, Danielle McEwan and Dom Barrett are my favorites.


So it was only fitting that this past Wednesday during league night, Dom Barrett climbed the stepladder as the 4th seed to win the 2018 PBA US Open.

Before league shadow practice started, I caught about the first 4 frames of Dom's match with Kris Prather live on CBS Sports. My first thought, wow, Dom's defeated Marshall Kent and EJ Tackett.

Kris had a rather sizable lead over Dom. I figured then it'd be a Prather-Buttruff final, especially after the way both bowled all week. Our scoreboards came up and I had to go to my pair to start league for the night.

It wasn't until my last game my teammate Jason asked me if I wanted to know who won. I said yes. He showed the picture from his phone.

Dom's wearing a green jacket. WOW.

Fist pumps follow and cheers of yes! yes! yes!

Along with Liz Johnson's climb as the 5th seed in the 2017 PWBA US Open, the 33-year old native of England demonstrated poise, experience, grit, grind and determination to defeat 4 bowlers in their 20's (Kent, Tackett, and Prather are 26, Buttruff is 24).

I've already watched the match twice. I'll likely watch it again tonight. I watched his 2013 PBA World Championship match versus Sean Rash at least 6 times.

Congratulations Dom!

2018 PBA-PWBA Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Doubles

source: PBA/PWBA
L to R: Storm Bowling founders Bill and Barbara Chrisman,
EJ Tackett, Liz Johnson and Luci Bonneau Tournament founder Donna Conners

Article by bvint - link to PBA/PWBA article

EJ Tackett, Liz Johnson Win PBA-PWBA Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Doubles in Dramatic Fashion

As a big fan of the PBA and PWBA, I'd like to see more mixed tournaments. I eagerly await the match to be shown on YouTube.

Again, congratulations to EJ and Liz.

2016 PBA Player of the Year - EJ Tackett

source: PBA
E.J. Tackett

No brainer here. He won the PBA World Championship in December (see December 11, 2016 entry) to finish with 4 PBA titles in 2016.

Congratulations to EJ Tackett, 2016's PBA Player of the Year.

And his dominating presence continues. He climbed the stepladder to win the 2017 DHC PBA Japan Invitational last month.

See for yourself.

2016 PBA World Series of Bowling VIII - ESPN3 Live Streaming

source: PBA
EJ Tackett

Congratulations to E.J.Tackett for winning this year's PBA World Championship. A remarkable feat as this was E.J.'s second straight year in the finals match. He lost to Gary Faulkner Jr. in 2015.

Previous winners Tom Smallwood (2009) and my fave Dom Barrett (2013) finished 2nd and 3rd. Jason Belmonte finished 4th and Anthony Simonsen 5th.

Today's match aired live on ESPN. Yesterday, the other 5 tournaments that make up the World Series took place.

Oil pattern names:
Chameleon, Cheetah, Scorpion, Shark, and Viper.

I spent most of the day watching them all live. But not on television. On my laptop.

How? On ESPN3, ESPN's online streaming service (cable/satellite subscription required). Yeah, the same service that makes available college football and basketball games you can't get on television.

As written in my February 7, 2016 posting:
There will always be complainers that want matches to air live on a broadcast network like ABC (as it did 50+ years ago) or CBS (instead of CBS Sports Network)

I'll put it gently. The 20th century ended 15 years ago. There are too many other sports venues with larger markets where bowling cannot compete. Not going to happen.

It may not have happened on TV, but for me, live on ESPN3 is a terrific 21st century solution.

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.