source: Bowl.com
L; Wu Siu Hong (Hong Kong), R: Clara Guerrero (Colombia)
Congratulations to Wu Siu Hong, who brought Hong Kong its first title, and Clara Guerrero of Colombia, who successfully defended her title in this year's QubicaAMF World Cup.
This is great stuff to watch, especially for those like me that follow bowling outside the United States.
I haven't watched it yet myself, but here's Bowl.com's video broadcast of the semifinals and finals.
A brief post this week. It was a weekend of too many loved ones lost. The attacks in Paris, and the deaths of a former classmate yesterday and another classmate's husband this evening.
Rest in peace, Deb and Bob. Deb will always hold special memories for me. Along with fellow high school classmate Michelle, we stuck to each other like glue when we found each other during freshman orientation at Ohio State. My deepest condolences to their friends and families, as well as those lost in Paris. We will never forget.
Written by Pete Seeger, Performed by The Byrds
Lyrics taken from Book of Ecclesiastes
YouTube video by TsDSeason2BJolly
Ryan Ciminelli, 2015 Bowlmor AMF US Open winner source: Bowl.com
Congratulations to lefty Ryan Ciminelli on winning the 2015 Bowlmor AMF US Open today. He defeated 4th seed and this author's favorite bowler Dom Barrett. Dom defeated defending champion Wes Malott, longtime greats Norm Duke and Pete Weber in the stepladder finals before losing to Ryan, 236-223.
Special recognition to Danielle McEwan, who bowled well enough to qualify for match play, cashed out and finished in a tie for 23rd place with Dom's Weber Cup teammate, Stuart Williams.
If you didn't see the finals today, wait 1-3 weeks and it should be available for viewing on YouTube. As it is with major bowling tournaments, it was an exciting match to watch. So glad CBS Sports got Dave Lamont and PBA legend Marshall Holman to call the action.
I'll close with a slow motion video from the US Open featuring Ryan and my Storm Nation favorites featured right after each other: Marshall Kent, Danielle and Dom.
- Three gold medals (trios, team, Masters) and one bronze medal (doubles) at 2014 PABCON Championships
- Fourth at 2012 and 2013 QubicaAMF World Cup
- One gold medal (team) at 2012 WTBA World Youth Championships
- One gold medal (team) at 2011 PABCON Youth Championships
- Four gold medals (all-events, doubles, team, national all-events) and two silver medals (singles, mixed doubles) at 2011 Tournament of the Americas
Other
- 2012 and 2013 USBC Team USA Trials champion
- Runner-up at 2015 USBC Team USA Trials
- Third at 2013 U.S. Women's Open (see my July 20, 2013 blog entry)
- Bowled collegiately at Fairleigh Dickinson
- NCAA Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013
- First-team Collegiate All-American and Academic All-American in 2011, 2012 and 2013
- FDU Female Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013
- 2011, 2012 and 2013 Northeast Conference Bowler of the Year
- 2010 Collegiate Masters champion
- 2010 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and member of National Championship team
This is all very impressive. The long list continues to grow. For the past 2 months, Danielle's been on another planet.
-Wins PWBA Tour Championship
-Invited to 2015 World Women's Championships for Team USA
-Wins South Point PBA West Challenge
-Wins PBA Team Challenge with her team, Dead Money
What's inspiring about Danielle is her poise at such a young age. Her game should be shown on all bowling instructional videos, as her form is fundamentally sound.
You can see it here in the PWBA Southfield Open (Women's Tour Championship):
And as the only female on a team that bowled against the heavily favored 4 Majors and 100 at 1 (Bill O'Neill, Tommy Jones, Tom Daugherty, Wes Malott and Jason Belmonte), it was team work and calm under pressure which enabled them to win the 2-game Baker System match. For me, a big plus to see 2015 Weber Cup captain Dom Barrett appear as a guest analyst.
While watching the MLB's National League championships on TBS last week, my picture quality was less than perfect.
Flipped over to my local cable sports network and found the picture quality and sound was even worse than TBS.
Time for a customer service online chat. I find it's much faster and responsive than a phone call. After a 15 minute chat and no success with a cable box reset, they scheduled a service appointment 3 days out. I'd have to leave work early to meet the technician. When finished with the chat, I tweeted the problem out of frustration. I am certain the tweet got someone's attention.
The next morning at work, a cable TV technician called me. He told me my issue was "escalated" and instructed me to check my television to see if the picture problem was fixed. I said I'd check as soon as I got home. Sure enough, the pictures on both networks were back to their HD splendor. Best of all, I avoided an early exit from work and cancelled online my service appointment.
This past issue is one of several I've had with this cable provider since my move to the Outer Sunset in 2011. (HINT: it's the cable provider that provides a very fast internet)
1. Added HD about a year after my move into Inner Sunset condo.
Found out later it would have been cheaper to switch to an HD package with more channels. Self-discovery of other packaged/bundle changes or deals that aren't as described would be a recurring theme over my next 2 moves.
2. Added triple-play package when I moved to the Outer Sunset.
Upon my move:
a) landline number I was told I could keep when moving wasn't true, and
b) internet connection went out after a day.
I was told the earliest service appointment was in 3 days. I tweeted this, and got a call from a local technician within an hour. He got my internet back up in 15 minutes. I continued to complain about the phone number issue. Ultimately, I got the service charges waived and 50% off that month's bill.
3. Offered a special double-play package good for 2 years when I moved to the Lakeside District.
Turns out the special price is only for 1 year. In the second year, the monthly rate goes up, but it's still less than the "regular" rate. Again, repeated complaints via Twitter got someone from the executive offices to resolve my issue. They gave me the 2-year double-play package, with each month at the same rate.
For those of you that have given up cable and satellite because of poor service, I commend you. I know there are alternatives. But if you've read this far, you've concluded that I like to argue.
Team Europe L to R: Osku Palermaa, Dom Barrett, Stu Williams, Martin Larsen
source: Weber Cup
For the third consecutive year, Team Europe has captured the Weber Cup (named after bowling legend Dick Weber).
Team USA (Tommy Jones, Bill O'Neill, Wes Malott and Parker Bohn III) was no match for Team Europe, winning in a rout, 17-4.
As mentioned in my July 28, 2013 blog entry, all of the U.S. Open Bowling finalists are sponsored by Storm Bowling. It's the same for Team Europe. Osku Palermaa, captain Dom Barrett and Martin Larsen are also sponsored by Storm. Stuart Williams is sponsored by Roto Grip, a brand Storm owns.
The PBA announced this week Boston Red Sox's Mookie Betts received an invitation to bowl in PBA's World Series of Bowling in Reno's National Bowling Stadium December 7 - 19.
Like former MLB pitcher John Burkett (see May 18, 2014 blog entry), Mookie has bowled since childhood and currently carries a 200+ average.
Proof is in the pudding. Here's a Boston Herald video link of Mookie on a bowling outing with CSN NE. Below is a screenshot of his league averages from Bowl.com.
Geez Louise. His bowling average is almost as high as his 2015 batting average of .291. Forget about Be Like Mike. I wanna Be Like Mookie.
UPDATE - December 12, 2015: Mookie completed the World Series of Bowling across 4 animal patterns. Considering this was his debut on very tough lane conditions, he finished with a respectable 190 average.
As quickly as he learned to adjust from 2nd base to center field with the Red Sox, I have no doubt he'll do the same with bowling. I was so glad to read many skeptics became supporters when they saw Mookie bowl. Let's hope the PBA extends Mookie an invitation to bowl next year. And I'm certain his average will exceed 190.
Yesterday, I took in a late morning showing of Ridley Scott's newest film, "The Martian" starring Matt Damon.
Since I spend a lot more time bowling than I do at theaters, the films I do take in are what I consider "must-see" worthy.
And based on what I've read, the screenplay adaptation is very faithful to Andy Weir's novel.
In my opinion, it's one of the best films of the year.
It's not often a wide-release film can be well-written, funny and smart. So if you enjoy seeing movies, go see it.
My preordered iPhone 6S arrived on Friday.
Longer, wider and thinner, the biggest difference between my previous 5S versus my new 6S is the memory capacity.
My 5S is 16GB. The 6S, 64GB.
If you're looking for a review of the phone, you won't find it here. There are hundreds of reputable tech resources that will provide a more thorough review than I ever could.
What I can tell you: How to wipe the data off the phone.
I'm pretty anal about certain purchases, especially cell phones. Since my first cell phone purchase in 1997, I always keep the original packaging and accessories. (See previous March 14, 2014 blog entry: A History of Cell Phones I've Owned).
I got my 6S up and running yesterday morning. Because it was an iPhone to another iPhone, the painless transfer took about 20 minutes. My settings and all but 1 app were all transferred successfully to the new phone.
As I'm planning to sell the 5S through eBay, I wiped the settings clean, took the phone out of its green silicone cover, wrapped the earphones and charger back into the original box. If you're a do-it-yourself kind of person, the process to wipe the data clean is pretty easy.
Here's how I did it:
1. Back up data to iCloud on the 5S.
2. Turn on the 6S and signed into iCloud to make the transfer. Not required, but advise having phone plugged into the charger during the transfer process.
3. Follow the carrier's instructions on transferring the phone service to the 6S.
4. With an internet connection still on, I wiped the data off the old 5S phone.
Settings->General->Reset (at the bottom)->Erase All Content and Settings.
NOTE: Erase All Content and Settings ensures the data is off the old phone only. If you disregard this feature and delete data by using the Edit function, the data is deleted in iCloud, and therefore won't transfer to the new phone.
You will be asked twice to be sure if you want to do this, and you'll be asked for your iCloud password again.
5. Power off the old phone completely. Return phone, earphones, and charger with USB adapter back into the original box.
To be done tomorrow:
6. Print eBay seller packing slip and ship to seller.
7. Wait for money to appear on PayPal account.
8. Gloat that my new toy didn't cost as much as I thought it would.
You may have wondered where I've been the past 2 weeks. I've been away, honoring the memory of my parents. Happy Belated Birthday to my Dad, who would have been 80 years old yesterday.
Congratulations to Australian 10-pin bowler Andrew Frawley who captured gold in Men's Masters and Singles, and a silver medal for Team Australia at the 2015 World Senior Championships held at Sam's Bowl in Las Vegas.
Andrew may not be very well known in the United States, but he's had considerable success as an instructor and coach at the international level.
A previous blog entry dated July 8, 2012 includes a series of videos "Learn to Bowl" Andrew made those new to the game. The videos were made several years ago, but the basics outlined still apply today.
If you've got about an hour, here's video of the Masters finals.
It wasn't enough for San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner to attain 2 post-season MVP's in 2014.
This past week, Mr. Incredible/Paul Bunyan/John Wayne hit 2 home runs in his last 2 starts. His 2015 season-to-date total = 5. It's the most home runs hit by a pitcher since Carlos Zambrano (Chicago Cubs) in 2006.
Oh, and he won both those games too. For Giants fans that can't get enough, here they are:
August 16:
August 21:
Gotta love his home run trot too. Head down, no flash. Barry Sanders would be proud.
As I'm sticky, tired and listless from the heat today (86F in San Francisco, 99F in the Peninsula), I'm all about posting something easy. Below is video from last weekend's PWBA tournament in Topeka, Kansas.
Former Nebraska standout Liz Kuhlkin came in as the #3 seed. Liz defeated Clara Guerrero, Liz Johnson and top seed Danielle McEwan to claim her first PWBA title.
Results from this past week of my Wednesday night league summer session came in early this morning. Traditionally in league bowling, the last week of the season is sweepers. Highest scores of the night earn extra cash. While my series wasn't the personal high I bowled in the SFUSBC Women's Championships, it was good enough to capture 2nd place.
SFUSBC 9th Annual Womens Championships 2015
Speaking of which, the official results from the SFUSBC Womens Championships came in. My goal for our team, Above Average, was to finish well enough to cash out. We did a little better than that. Team finished 2nd, and my singles series, 567 scratch + 189 handicap, also took 2nd place. An added bonus, my series was the highest handicap score, which added an extra $20.
It's all good. Reality knocked me down a bunch of pegs when I bowled in a 6-game handicap and scratch tournament across 4 lanes yesterday. I realized immediately I was, appropriately termed, out of my league.
The lane conditions and competition (2 of the bowlers are currently on college teams, most were scratch bowlers) were a lot tougher than standard league conditions. I bowled only 2 games above my average, 1 game at my average, and the remaining 3 games 20-30 pins below my average. I gained lots of valuable lessons from this experience.
A big congratulations to Stefanie Johnson who won last weekend's PWBA Wichita Open. You can see her in action here:
And it's now available on YouTube, here's the PWBA Lubbock Open finals match on July 18, featuring again Stefanie versus Jazreel Tan in the finals match.
Last weekend, we had some hot and and very unseasonably humid weather for the San Francisco Bay Area.
As I live within a mile of Lake Merced and the house has no window screens, it makes me vulnerable to mosquito orgies. I have to be careful because my insect bites can really swell up.
When I was a kid in Ohio, I've had bites so bad my eyes and lower lip swelled to the point it looked like I lost a bout to Ronda Rousey.
Over the past 3 months, my attempts at non-toxic repellents included:
large salt shaker of mint leaves in the window sill
run a fan all night next to the bed
citronella bracelets on my ankles and wrists.
They worked with marginal success.
At my condo on 8th Avenue, I bought removable/adjustable window screens. I can't use them where I live now because I have a large window (84" L x 48" W) that opens out like a door. I then considered buying a mosquito net that works like a canopy over a bed. That would have meant drilling holes in the ceiling to suspend the canopy. No.
A failed trip to Home Depot led me to JoAnn Fabrics. Had a light bulb moment. Buy mesh by the yard. Hang it up with large clips (see above photo) and secure it with velcro. I ended up needing only the large clips and mesh. Total cost = $10.
With the return to cooler, seasonable weather, a nightly spray of eucalyptus, mint soap and a slather of camphor/menthol ointment over the eyelids, I have been for the most part, bite free.
The 11-week tour began in Milwaukee with the USBC Queens. It will continue weekly throughout the summer and end with the PWBA Tour Championship on September 10.
Jazreel is no stranger to women's bowling. She has been one of the mainstays on the Singaporean women's national team (see June 3, 2013 blog entry), a powerhouse in international bowling circles for the past 4-5 years. In the above picture, 3 of Jazzy's teammates (Cherie Tan, Daphne Tan, and Shayna Ng) made the match play cut (final 16).
For this professional bowling fan, I am extremely excited to see the PWBA tour's return. Here's video from last week's stepladder final at the Storm Sacramento Open.
From news sources Comic Book Resources and Raw Story, Berkeley Breathed's beloved comic strip, Bloom County, has made its return.
Admittedly, I only began following Bloom County in 1981 because of Opus, a large nosed, naive and perpetually optimistic penguin who was born in the Falkland Islands.
Next to Opus is Bill the Cat, who was at one time Opus's running mate for the National Radical Meadow Party.
I'm not one who follows politics very closely, but Bloom County enabled me to see the funny side of it.
As the author wrote today, "A return after 25 years. Feels like going home."
As an avid follower of professional bowling, I subscribe to several bowling channels on YouTube. Bowlingdigital.com covers tournaments and events in venues all over the world.
The coolest feature of Bowling Digital's channel is the Flavio Cuvo videos featuring the various styles in slow motion of the bowlers from a World Bowling Tour (WBT) tournament.
Below is video taken from the 2014 50th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup. It took place from November 1-9, 2014 at 24-lane Sky Bowling Center inside the Sky Tower in Wroclaw, Poland.
It's been 2 weeks since the Golden State Warriors won their first NBA title in 40 years.
Credit former head coach Mark Jackson to assemble the players, but the missing piece was hiring a former player without any head coaching experience.
The coach who would succeed Mark Jackson for the 2014-15 season is former Arizona, TNT analyst, Phoenix Suns General Manager and member of 5 NBA Championship teams (3 with the Chicago Bulls, 2 with the San Antonio Spurs), Steve Kerr.
If you have about 33 minutes, I've attached the video of Coach Kerr's introductory press conference. I find it fascinating to hear the Warriors incredible season come full circle. He transformed a good team into a great one.
Need a condensed version? Forward it to the 4-minute mark and listen for about 2-3 minutes. Listen closely to Kerr's answer as to why he'd want to give up a great gig with TNT to coach in the NBA.
Anyone who's ever left a high paying job to work for less money and deeper fulfillment will understand.
