If you haven’t had your fill of televised bowling this season, there’s much more in store over the next several weeks.
Here’s a rundown of what’s happening in the professional ranks (on TV and otherwise):
KING OF BOWLING
The King of Bowling powered by AMP Energy series, which was taped on April 9-10 at the Kegel Training Facility in Lake Wales, Fla., airs on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays through May 20.
Last night’s show pitted “King” Wes Malott against the winner of the match between left-handers Patrick Allen and Mike Scroggins, and also featured a challenge match between Malott, this year’s PBA Player of the Year, against Mike Wilbon, co-host of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption.
On May 6, it will be the winner of the Walter Ray Williams Jr. versus Bill O’Neill match taking on the current king; on May 13, the winner of the John Nolen versus Rhino Page match will advance against the reigning king, and on May 20, Brad Angelo of Lockport will face Parker Bohn III with the winner advancing to meet the current king.
Each week, the winner pockets $10,000.
BOWLING’S CLASH OF CHAMPIONS
Thirteen United States Bowling Congress national individual champions from 2008 along with U.S. Open champions Norm Duke and Kim Terrell-Kearney and last season’s PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes will compete in the second annual Clash of Champions, which will be televised at 4 p.m. May 9 on CBS Sports.
The event is being taped tonight on four specially-constructed lanes at the Reno (Nev.) Events Center. These lanes also hosted the USBC Queens finals, which was televised live last night on ESPN2. Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga was among the five finalists vying for the Queens crown.
Bowling's Clash of Champions will feature eight men and eight women – some of them teenagers -- who won national tournaments in 2008. First place is worth $50,000.
Other men’s competitors are USBC Open Championships Regular All-Events titlist Jay Futrell, USBC Senior Masters winner Kenny Parks, USBC Team USA Trials champion Derek Eoff, U.S. Junior Amateur champion Geoffrey Young, USBC Youth Open all-events titlist Toby Sambueno and USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships winner Dan Vick.
On the women’s side are USBC Queens champion and defending Clash champion Lynda Barnes (Chris’ wife), USBC Women's Championships Classic All-Events titlist Liz Johnson, USBC Senior Queens winner Sandy Postma, USBC Team USA Trials champion Shannon O'Keefe, U.S. Junior Amateur champion Kristie Petravich, USBC Youth Open all-events titlist Rebekah Diers and USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships winner Jennifer Wright.
DYDO JAPAN CUP
Patrick Allen defeated Wes Malott, 247-214, last weekend to pick up the $50,000 first prize in the DYDO Japan Cup 2009 in Tokyo, but as big a story was the cool $100,000 given to Rhino Page for his 300 game in the finals.
Page, last year’s PBA Rookie of the Year, tossed the first perfect game in Japan Cup TV finals history in the Round of 8. It’s interesting that the Japanese awarded him $100,000 for a perfect game, while it’s only worth $10,000 on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour in the states.
Malott defeated Page in the semifinals, 236-216, while Allen turned back Korea’s Byun Yong-Hwan, Korea, 203-159 in the other semifinal match.
There has been no announcement on when (or if) the Japan Cup finals will be televised in the U.S.
PBA SENIOR TOUR
The PBA Senior Tour is in full swing but, unfortunately, no tournaments will take place in Western New York or even within a couple hundred miles of Buffalo or Rochester. The closest to us is the Dayton (Ohio) Classic which concluded Tuesday night.
Rohn Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska, defeated former PBA great Brian Voss, 211-206, for the $8,000 top prize.
In last week’s action in Jackson, Mich., the scores were ridiculously high. Batavian Charlie Juliano averaged over 200 for his 16 qualifying games, but it took a 225 average just to cash and about a 240 average to reach the finals.
Why the PBA has to resort to a wide-open shootout is beyond me. It’s not like these senior bowlers have lost their skills. Most are in their early- to mid-50’s, and are far from hanging it up.
Many of the stars we grew up with are on the Senior Tour -- guys such as Johnny Petraglia, Wayne Webb, Guppy Troup, Dave Soutar and Tom Baker. Too bad ESPN or ESPN2 can’t find a time slot for these bowlers.
REGIONALS, TOUR TRIALS
Pavilion’s Brian Green is entered in this weekend’s PBA East Region King Pin Lanes Open in Rome (N.Y.). Bowlers will be competing on the Chameleon pattern, one of four oil patterns that Green bowled on in the Turnbull Heating PBA Experience Singles League in Batavia this season.
Medina’s Curtis Foss said he once again is planning to compete in the PBA Tour Trials in Allen Park, Mich., from May 26-31. The top eight bowlers, based on their cumulative pin totals over the five days, will earn PBA Tour exemptions for the 2009-10 season.
(Mike Pettinella’s Pin Points bowling column appears every Thursday during the bowling season. If you have an item of interest for his column, please contact him at mikepett2002@yahoo.com or at 343-3736 or by mail at 55 Edgewood Drive, Batavia).