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.

2014 versus 2015 USBC Women's Championships

My results for this year's USBC Women's Nationals came in. Compared to last year, we did almost the same, but slightly better. We bowled this year in one of my favorite bowling venues, National Bowling Stadium.

In the Singles, Doubles and 4-person team, I should have been but wasn't satisfied that my 9-game average was 2-3 pins below this season's 2-league averages. It's probably because the last time I bowled in the Stadium I did better.

2016's Nationals will be held in Las Vegas at South Point. This will be a brand new venue altogether, so I need to remind myself not to expect too much.

Year     Team    Doubles   Singles    Pin Total
2014     1732      814           405           2951
2015     1752      775           433           2960

2014 USBC Women's Nationals, Reno Convention Center

This past week, I bowled my first USBC Women's National Tournament at the Reno Convention Center. Unlike the less than stellar accommodations in my first women's state tournament (Fresno) in 2012, this is the way tournaments should be done.

My teammates are all longtime bowlers: Kathy, my Monday night teammate, bowled juniors as a kid. She remains friends with many her teammates, who still bowl leagues and tournaments.

Then there's Jan and Wilma. Jan and Wilma bowl with my other Monday night teammate Mark on Thursday nights. Both have bowled for nearly as long as I've been alive.

The biggest highlight in attending this tournament was to see Jan get recognized for her 50th consecutive Women's National tournament (see article on Bowl.com).

L to R: Lani, Jan, Wilma, Kathy

Unlike the National Bowling Stadium in downtown Reno, the lanes where we bowled were not a permanent part of the convention center.

For the first time this year in the USBC Women's Championships, bowlers were classified according to average. No handicap scoring was used. Our team bowled in the Emerald division (575-649 combined average). When Kathy and I bowled doubles, we were in Division 4 (290-319 combined average).

As a tournament participant (and being part of Jan's team certainly helped), Kathy and I got a $20 discount toward any purchase in the pro shop and gift store. I got a couple of towels and an ID tag for my 2-ball roller.

Kathy used her discount to buy a new Storm 3-ball roller bag for her son, who needs the bag to carry his bowling balls and shoes for a junior tournament next weekend in Orange County (southern California). He's competing for a spot in the Junior Gold Championship which will be held this July in Buffalo, New York.

It was very, very cool to see my name on the big scoreboard. During doubles, each bowler's home city was listed next to her name. I was never prouder to see "San Francisco, CA" next to mine. Only wish my series had been as big as my name on the scoreboard.

Because this was a weekday trip, Kathy got me a killer Groupon deal at the Grand Sierra Resort, which is near the Reno-Tahoe airport.

For $59, we got a 2-night stay with waived resort fee, free room wi-fi, and 2-day complimentary breakfast buffets for 2.

Like cruise ships, the Grand Sierra features amenities that make it possible that you'd never have to leave the hotel. Within the hotel there's a Starbucks, Johnny Rockets, Round Table Pizza, Port of Subs, a wedding chapel and a pool area called "The Beach".

My absolute favorite amenity: the 24-hour, 50 lane bowling center.

Grand Sierra's 24-hour, 50 lane bowling center

It's definitely my first choice on a future Reno trip -- when I'm not there to bowl in a tournament.

National Bowling Stadium - Reno, Nevada

The Asian American Bowling Association hosts 3 annual bowling tournaments on Chinese New Year, Memorial Day and Labor Day. Yesterday, I returned from the AABA's Labor Day tournament (my second out-of-area, first was in Fresno, California) at the renowned National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.  Great to see familiar faces from league and past tournaments.

If you're a serious bowler and you've never been to The Stadium, you must make a trip to go there. 78 lanes. Stadium seating. Spacious, clean, comfortable seating and equipment areas. I thought it was extremely cool to see my name on the jumbo scoreboard.

The best part about bowling in The Stadium, no walk-ins. Activity is mostly year-round tournaments and probably why the facilities are always so pristine.

Now that I've gotten a taste of what it's like to bowl at a state-of-the-art facility, I'd love the opportunity to bowl at the International Training and Research Center (ITRC) in Arlington, Texas and the Kegel Training Center (KTC) in Lake Wales, Florida.