At about the time the PBA Playoffs began, Focused TV aired a mini-documentary on the PBA Tour. It includes interviews with PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, current PBA members Jason Belmonte, Bill O'Neill, Kyle Troup and Norm Duke.
If you don't follow the PBA, or haven't in some time, the interviews will help you bridge the old versus the new PBA. If you have about 20 minutes, it's worth a watch.
Led by Manager/Player/Anchor Bowler Norm Duke, the PBA League's Dallas Strikers bowl the first Baker System Format perfect game. Hover over "Recap on ESPN" and click the link to see all 12 strikes. The atmosphere at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine where all league games were held is like nothing other. Everyone is standing and cheering for all the bowlers.
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.
On March 13, my blog entry discussed Terrell's attempt to bowl at the elite level. Can't say I was surprised to see so many negative comments when he bowled at the USBC Championships in May and his upcoming debut in the PBA World Series of Bowling at South Point in Las Vegas this weekend. However, most that follow the sport of bowling closely support TO's efforts.
Longtime PBA veteran bowler Norm Duke said it best: "It's unfair for all the bowlers in the world to compare him with us...He does have a pretty good fundamentally sound bowling game, but we should be fair to him. He knows his role here. He wants to see what it is like."--Associated Press, October 24, 2013.
For those naysayers that likely didn't know, Terrell's average during the USBC Championships was about 167. Not great, but not terrible either. It's my guess Terrell will do better than he did in March.
