Professional Bowlers Association

This week on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour featured the granddaddy of all major tournaments, the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open. Traditionally, this is the tournament where the best of the best never fail to rise to the top, and this week’s telecast was no different.

Following a position round for the ages (seen live on Xtra Frame Saturday night, and that I still can't believe), four Hall-of-Fame caliber players qualified for TV in a four-man, three-match stepladder format.

In match 1, Tommy Jones (who's quietly been bowling phenomenally the past few months without qualifying for TV) took on his buddy and fellow Ebonite staffer Jason Couch. Couch bowled great all week but may have been suffering from a little bit of shell shock from the night before after the way he dodged three bazooka bullets from Jason Belmonte, Norm Duke and Walter Ray Williams, Jr. in the position round.

This match was over almost before it started, with TJ jumping out to a game-opening six-bagger and burying Couch, who actually bowled pretty well for a U.S. Open-difficulty-level oil pattern. But his carry-challenged (he left four flat 7's) 192 game wasn't even close and TJ rolled into match 2 with a 245 score.

Facing Bill O'Neill in the semifinal, Jones made a questionable ball change (he told Rob and Randy via the Inside Angle feature that the oil had carried down just enough to put him between balls) but his choice to switch caused him to get off to a terrible 36 in the 3rd start and give O'Neill the breathing room on TV he's been waiting for. More...

Xtra Frame subscribers were once again treated to unfathomable drama Saturday night during the position round of the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open.

Coming just a week after Brian Voss' epic 7-10 conversion at a critical point in last week's position round match, and just two weeks after Chris Barnes' legendary 300 game to propel him to the top seed in the USBC Masters, this week's action may have (I mean TOTALLY) topped both.

Let me set the stage for you. In the #1 versus #2 match you had Bill O'Neill and defending U.S. Open champ Mike Scroggins (who by the way tossed a 300 game in front of the Xtra Frame cameras earlier in the final round) in a match to determine the top seed for Sunday's ESPN finals. Then, there was Tommy Jones looking to shoot a big game to try and steal the #2 position. And these were by far the most boring two scenarios!

In the nos. 4-8 spots (only four would make the show) you had five players separated by just 88 pins: Jason Belmonte (who pulled a hammy earlier in the block and could barely walk), Walter Ray Williams, Jr., Norm Duke, Jason Couch and Pete Weber (who only have 117 titles and god knows how many majors among them). All five had a legitimate chance of making the show.

After jockeying for position the last game, about 4,321 possible scenarios could have happened heading into the 10th frame.

First, Belmo had a pop to post a score that WRW, Duke, and Couch would then have a chance to beat (PDW needed a huge game to make it and struggled early to put himself out of the running). The Aussie sensation couldn't muster anything more than 190, literally limping over the finish line (but nevertheless earning our respect with a gutsy performance to even give himself a chance), but still holding onto a slim chance of making the telecast.

Next, Norm Duke overcame a 2-4-10 and a bizarre 5-7-10 (both resulting in open frames) to cobble together a clutch 6-bagger to pull out 201 and finish ahead of Belmo.

Couch needed a double to sneak in past Duke (assuming WRW was unable to double in his 10th frame, giving Duke the 30 bonus pins for their match). Couch produced, knocking Norm out of the show. This left Walter Ray, the greatest winner in PBA history needing a double and seven pins to qualify for TV, and a chance to win his second consecutive major (he took the USBC Masters a few weeks back).

Williams crushed the first two, eliciting huge reactions from himself and the standing-room-only crowd at historic Woodland Bowl. Then, the most shocking thing I've ever witnessed in my 30 years of watching bowling occurred. Walter Ray de-celled one through the nose, leaving the dreaded 3-6-9-10, leaving him tied with Duke, (which gave him just 15 bonus pins for the match) and putting Jason Couch on the show. Pandemonium ensued.

I could tell you more about it, but since a picture (or in this case, a video) is worth a thousand words, you should probably just do yourself a favor and subscribe to Xtra Frame today. Don't miss another moment!

I once bowled in the U.S. Open. In fact, it was the only PBA Tour stop I’d ever competed in until my disastrous attempt at the One A Day Dick Weber Open a few weeks back.

The year was 1992. I was a freshman at UCLA and had just graduated into the adult ranks after an excellent junior bowling career in Southern California.

I was lucky to make the transition from juniors to the big boys pretty smoothly, and before long I was enjoying quite a bit of success in some of the local scratch tournaments in the area. I entered the BPAA’s US Open qualifier at Clairemont Bowl in San Diego. It was a pretty good field if I remember correctly. Some of the players you might recognize included PBA champs Jim Murtishaw and Mike Devaney, ’95 PBA Rookie of the Year Billy Myers Jr., and PBA West Region star Marv Sargent and a number of others.

There were two spots available through the qualifier, which included prize money and an all-expenses paid trip to bowl the big event at Roseland Bowl in Canandaigua, New York. I ended up winning the qualifier by converting a 3-10 split in the 10th frame of the last game to squeak out a victory over Chip Pettiford, who earned the other spot. The lanes were pretty tough that weekend…I won with an X-Calibur playing right down the 1-2 boards and averaged around 210 for two days. I felt pretty good about myself. That would soon change.

When I arrived in New York, I was pumped up to bowl. I didn’t just want to bowl with Walter Ray and company, I wanted to kick their butts and make the show! In the practice session, I was sure I had a chance. I bowled from the second they turned on the lights all the way until the shut ‘em off. The lanes were pretty tough, but by the end I’d figured out a nice little zone to play and I seemed to be throwing a decent number of strikes. I was sure Brian Voss was quaking in his custom-made shoes when he saw what a good look I had from a few lanes over. Either that or he’d just come in from the snow (I couldn’t believe there were places where it snowed in April!) and was still a little cold.

Once the tournament started, however, things were a little (A LOT) different. I drew A squad and I crossed with Joe Firpo, Brian Leclair and Charlie Standish. Mike Aulby was to my left and Steve Hoskins was to my right. The lanes were TOTALLY different than they’d been in practice (they seemed about 20 boards tighter outside of 10 and 20 boards drier inside of that) and the combination of idolatry and total confusion made me stiffen up like the Statue of Liberty. In the third frame, I got one about a board wide and picked off the 6-9-10. On the spare I threw a perfect shot and left the bucket. I’d been on a spare by the way.

After racking up a sweet score of 72 through the 6th, I went up for my shot in the 7th only to be pulled back off the approach by my belt loops. It was Steve Hoskins telling me that if I double-jumped him one more time he was going to throw me down the lane. Of course, that settled my nerves right up and I scratched out a nice buck-thirty-something in game one.

Through the end of the first six-game block I’d put myself safely out of contention with a score of 180-under or so. When I came back later in the day, I watched guys like Weber and Learn and Williams school the pins for 100 and 200 over blocks. I couldn’t believe anyone could shoot what they were shooting on the junk I’d just bowled on. Of course, I would later find out that B and C squad were a tad easier (if you think playing 6th to 7th arrow is easy, that is) but judging by the scores, most of the 450-plus bowlers in the field felt the same way I did.

After shooting about even on the second shift for day two, I went into the final day with the goal of getting back to even and hoping for a check. I knew the lanes were a little softer on the late shift (this was back when there were no re-oils between squads) and I started the block with a shiny burgundy Hammer and shot 230-something. I then lost my line with that ball and went to a Teal Rhino Pro to shoot two-oh the second game. The third game I started with the front nine and every single person in upstate New York crowded in behind my pair to see if I could finish off a 300. With a few hundred watching, I hummed one a half board inside of target with a little extra speed. It entered the pins half pocket and bounced right like John McCain at a pro-life rally. The 5-8-10 (yes, that is correct) were left standing. Mortification ensued.

But the resulting 263 put me less than double digits under par. Unfortunately, that was as close to par as I would get, limping home the last three to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Walter Ray went on to lead that tournament by more than 500 pins, putting on a display of touch and accuracy that would lead his fellow competitor (the Hall-of-Famer and legendary gutter player David Ozio) to say, “What he’s doing is like dropping a champagne glass from an extension ladder onto asphalt without breaking it.” It was truly a masterful feat that I carried with me throughout my college days as the decision of whether or not to go on Tour after college rattled around my brain.

You pretty much know the rest. But the experience definitely taught me how much I had to learn and how great the pros really are. What they do is truly remarkable...and this week's U.S. Open is sure to once again bring the cream to the top.

WATCH THE ACTION ALL WEEK LONG ON XTRA FRAME. BECOME A SUBSCRIBER TODAY!

Four! Four! Four recaps in one! Coming down off the high that was BV converting the 7-10 at a crucial point in the position round match here in the Bayer Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles last night, I’ve decided to try and squeeze in a couple of missing recaps from the last few weeks of action on Tour before tonight’s second Chris Barnes Challenge presented by Columbia 300.

Not to make excuses, but my new gig traveling with the Tour to cover the events for Xtra Frame gives me precisely one full day home a week with my family…so my choices are 1) re-watch the show I just attended and do a recap that a few fans inevitably will criticize mercilessly (and are the only ones whose feedback I seem to remember unfortunately) or 2) attempt to hold the threads of my marriage and family together by spending every possible moment of my almost non-existent free time I can with them until the season ends in April. As hard as it is for me to put the bowling crack pipe down, the last few weeks, I’ve been choosing #2.

So that leaves us with four missing recaps that, despite not a single message board thread or email telling me that you’re missing them, I’m convinced you no doubt are…so let’s talk Dublin, Fountain Valley, Chris Paul and the USBC Masters. More...

Well, at least now Tom Smallwood (remember him? Laid off ex-GM worker who became PBA World Champion just over a month ago?) will get a little rest.

After Kelly Kulick’s historic big bang at the PBA Tournament of Champions this Sunday, I would imagine the reporters will be flocking faster to Ms. Kulick than if Brad and Angelina had just broken up. (Wait, they have?)

I’d also imagine that a few of you who are reading this are first-time visitors to our cozy little pba.com website, considering our web traffic jumped like 2-zillion percent in the past 24 hours (what do you think of the site by the way? Can I interest you in an Xtra Frame subscription for just $7.99 a month in return for more bowling than you can shake a stick at?). Because of that anticipated influx of new readers, we’re going to spend a little more time explaining exactly why Kelly’s win is so significant (and so amazing) in layman’s terms.

First off, in bowling, women have had slightly more success competing against men (although not much more) than they have in other sports like golf and tennis. The reason? Lane conditions. You see, sometimes the oil that is placed on the lanes can favor bowlers with less strength and power than others, and this is usually the time when women have had success against men in professional bowling events. What was amazing about Kelly Kulick’s performance this week, however, was that this was not the case at the Tournament of Champions. It was like Annika Sorenstam beating the men in The Masters at a fully stretched out Augusta National. More...