Professional Bowlers Association

The climactic telecast of the PBA World Championship took place Sunday and it was easily the best show of the year. The TV folks did a fantastic job of squeezing in every possible storyline imaginable (Ryan Shafer's past heartbreak, Sean Rash and Jason Belmonte's rivalry, Osku Palermaa and Belmonte's eerie similarities, Rash's World Series of Bowling dominance, etc.) so that, whichever way the bowling went, it was sure to mean something to us all.

Considering how well Rash and Belmonte had bowled in the World Series, a lot of folks (including me) were expecting nothing but a final featuring the two newly minted rivals, but Shafer and Osku had other plans. As you saw in the Pre-game warmup for the show, the bowlers were striking at will on the Rash-chosen Scorpion oil pattern and many people (including Storm/Roto-Grip ball rep Chris Schlemmer) expected a high-scoring affair, but the lane oil had other plans for that as well.

MATCH 1

Fans who might have been hoping for an all two-hander final had their hopes dashed in the opening match. Rash and Shafer zoomed out to games of 245 and 236, leaving the slow-starting two-handers behind to duel for the third and final spot in the next round. Coming down the stretch, Belmonte - who started hot and then suffered through some mid-game transition and a couple of poor shots - seemed to get it together heading into the final two frames. But he slammed a very familiar-looking stone 7 (a carbon copy of the one he left to lose the Plastic Ball Championship in 2009) in the 9th and finished with a 203. Osku, needing a double to advance or strike nine-spare to tie was forced to the second option when his second shot in the 10th left a pesky 10-pin. Luckily, Osku throws it 30 mph on his spare attempts because the only thing that looked like it could've knocked that 10-pin over on his spare shot was the wind as the ball blew by the 10-pin. After paramedics came in to defribrillate Osku's heart (just kidding, but mine definitely would have stopped) Belmonte and the burly Finn went to a one-ball sudden death roll-off.

Belmonte elected to lead off and left the bucket on a shot that sailed wide on him. Needing just 7 or better, Osku packed a strike and joined the others in the next match. According to Belmonte's Facebook page, the loss was "bitterly disappointing" and was really a big missed opportunity, considering the conventional wisdom that he gets tougher to beat in the eliminator format the longer he stays on the show. But the rest of the players heeded Randy and Chris Barnes' advice and got him out of there early.

MATCH 2

The second match of the day was a virtual dead heat all the way into the 9th, as all three players fought transition that was seeing their balls hook too early in the front and not enough on the back part of the lane. Rash looked like he might have it figured out until a wicked 7-10 split jumped up in his 9th frame and doomed him to a 193 score. After the miss, Osku caught a double for 217 and Shafer, looking to join Palermaa in the final, finally got the break he's been waiting for in 50 long TV appearances, rolling the 2-pin in consecutive shots in the 9th and 10th for 222 to secure his spot in the title match.

It was a cruel ending for Rash, after his complete domination of the qualifying rounds and really a pretty good game here in the finals. His consolation is that he has five more appearances over the rest of the World Series telecasts and clearly, the respect of his fellow competitors for what he was able to accomplish at South Point.

MATCH 3

As is often the case on these eliminator-format telecasts (and is also true in any show where more than one two-hander makes the finals), the longer it goes, the more the conditions favor the two-handed player. The reasons are detailed in this blog, and, using that logic, one would assume that Osku would have the advantage over Shafer heading into the final, due to the former's ability to generate the revs necessary to get left of the front-lane burn and around the back-end oil. But Shafer definitely has a few tricks up his sleeve, especially one that his fellow players refer to as "Voodoo roll" that allows the crafty veteran to stay right longer than most other players, thanks to his unique release.

But as the game progressed, it was clear that both players would need to make adjustments in order to combat the rapidly-changing environment, and heading into the 8th frame, both players were pacing sub-200 scores. Shafer made a good move (a ball change coupled with a move to the left) to give himself a chance to strike, but couldn't figure out the carry part of the equation, leaving flat-10s in the 8th and 9th to give Palermaa the opening he needed. After sniffing around all game, Osku found something late and put together a double in the 9th and 10th to shut out Shafer with a score of 203.

And just like that, Osku Palermaa became the second player from Finland - and the first two-hander - to win a PBA major title. The win was a huge boost for Palermaa, and caps off a great stretch in both his professional and private life that has seen him welcome a daughter into the world and now cash his biggest PBA check. And for those of you who think Palermaa lacks a little something in the personality department, check out this post-show interview and his cheeky, confident smile and sense of humor. It may be a little on the dry side, but it is definitely there.

Well, the year's first major is now in the books, but that doesn't mean there is not a huge amount of PBA-related things going on in the near future. The animal pattern finals now begin on ESPN, starting with the Bayer Viper Open next Sunday at 3pm ET (note the time change). Also airing Saturday and Sunday on Xtra Frame is the first-ever Xtra Frame Tour event - where a National title will be contested and awarded entirely on your online bowling channel. Don't miss a moment of the action and subscribe to Xtra Frame now (for just $7.99 a month or get a day pass for just $3.99) to see the champion crowned at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, California!

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Well, did I lie? Last week I said this Sunday's episode of the PBA World Championship on ESPN would be filled with thrills, chills and spills - and the four players who comprised the Mike Aulby Division Finals did not disappoint.

A 300 game by Jason Belmonte! A tight finish between Mike Fagan and Brian Kretzer for the last spot in the title match. And a harrowing fall by rookie Josh Blanchard made this week's show by far the most talked-about telecast of the season.

Let's get right to the action because this group was fighting for the last of four spots (Osku Palermaa, Ryan Shafer and Sean Rash nailed down the first three) in the PBA World Championship finals next week on ESPN. Our opening match, unlike the scorefests we've seen the last two weeks, illustrated the difficulty of the Shark oil pattern (Belmonte's choice), with no one really looking 100% comfortable and two players (Belmonte and Blanchard) looking very lost indeed.

Blanchard began to unravel after flagging a 7-pin in the 2nd, following that miss up with two more open frames to give the rest of the guys a chance to breathe. Belmonte gave Blanchard hope however, as he struggled for the opening five frames, only holding on to an 18-pin advantage at the halfway point. Fagan was able to stay out of trouble throughout the match, while Kretzer, who likes to play well left with slow speed, seemed to have the best look of the finalists early.

As the match wore on, Belmonte settled down and began to hammer the pocket. Two rock-solid 9-pins after a double kept him from pulling away from Blanchard, but the young, recently graduated collegiate star just couldn't find it. When he left the 2-10 in the 9th, any outside chance he might have had went by the wayside, but on the spare attempt things went from bad to worse for poor Josh.

Throwing a brand-new spare ball, Blanchard hung up in the thumb - and I'm talking HUNG UP - as in, it didn't come off his hand. The momentum of the ball carried Blanchard awkwardly out onto the lane surface, where he then slipped and fell right on his keyster between the right edge of the lane and the right gutter. Like a gentleman, Belmonte went out to check if he was OK - he was - but the real damage was undoubtedly more to Blanchard's ego.

I can tell you that the moment was just as scary live as it was on tape - and equally as shocking. I wish I could say that I've never seen anything like this before - but I have. I did it myself during a PBA regional event. Of course, when I did it no one was there with a video camera (let alone ten HD ESPN cameras) and it didn't end up on youtube or yahoo's home page or Sportscenter.

One fan wondered on Facebook why the PBA didn't edit out the moment from the telecast to spare Josh the ignominy. My feeling on that is that Josh will make many more shows in the future and will experience a lot of success in the sport. Omitting it would have robbed Josh of the ability to gain new fans, plus what will be the satisfaction of redeeming himself the next time he finds himself under the TV lights.

The show went on in Match 2, and Randy and Chris Barnes' astute observation that Jason Belmonte would start to get comfortable the longer he stayed on the show began to come true in a big way. Belmonte (and really everyone through the first half of the game) started to get lined in and the strikes began to mount. Both Fagan and Kretzer slowed down in the latter part of the match, but Belmonte continued to strike, staying perfect heading into the 10th. He threw three great shots there to cap off an astounding display of accuracy and power that saw him become the 21st player in PBA history to roll a 300 game on television (and a $10,000 bonus).

It was probably also the only time in PBA history that a televised match was not decided after the first player to finish shot 300. That's because Fagan and Kretzer were still close heading into the 10th. Kretzer finished first and had a chance to close out the match with 9 pins on his fill ball. He threw a rocket at the pocket that bounced off the headpin like Rodney Dangerfield's shot in this Miller Lite commercial (look for a cameo from the late, great Don Carter) and left a pocket 8-10. Fagan needed three strikes to tie. So what does he do? HE MAKES A BALL CHANGE!

That's right folks. A ball change. (A move that Chris Barnes said he liked and I also happened to agree). Fagan guessed right and struck on the first one, but the second shot hooked a bit high for a 4-pin, giving Kretzer a 231-220 win and the chance to get slaughtered by - oops, I mean - to bowl against, Belmonte.

Although Belmonte did begin to lose his reaction in the middle and then again towards the end of the final match, Kretzer seemed to be the one suffering from a "300 hangover" as he never was able to figure anything out in the title match. Belmonte's quick start buried Kretzer early and, by the time things started to get really interesting for Belmonte, he just needed to stay clean in the 9th and 10th to lock up the match. He did so, winning 196-179, and now we have an unbelievably great final four for next week's competition for the first major of the PBA season.

See you all next week!

PS - And if you're also upset that a guy falling down got more coverage in the national media than a guy throwing a 300 on TV with two freaking hands, then feel free to vent your frustrations in the direction of those responsible!

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The fourth and final spot for the PBA World Championship finals will be determined this Sunday when the PBA World Championship Mike Aulby Division Final, airs at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN from the South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas. The field of 16 finalists will be down to the final four for the Sunday, Jan. 15 battle for the $50,000 first prize, the Earl Anthony Trophy and the PBA Tour’s first major title of the 2011-12 season.

Australia’s two-handed star, Jason Belmonte, leads the field of four players in Sunday’s Mike Aulby Division finals. He will be joined in the Aulby elimination round by Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio; rookie Josh Blanchard of Gilbert, Ariz., and Mike Fagan of Dallas.

Belmonte hasn’t won a title since his first PBA Tour victory in the 2009 Bowling Foundation Long Island Classic propelled him to 2009-09 PBA Rookie of the Year honors. Kretzer won his only PBA Tour title in the 2010 Go RVing Match Play Championship. Fagan is a two-time title winner. His most recent victory was in the 2010 One A Day Dick Weber Open. Blanchard, a former Wichita State University star, joined the PBA in October and won a PBA West Region Non-Champions tournament in Reno, Nev., in his first appearance as a member. Sunday’s telecast will be his PBA Tour television debut.

The Aulby Division winner will join Finland’s Osku Palermaa, Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., and Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in the World Championship finals on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.

In Sunday’s division finals, all four players will bowl a one-game match. The player with the lowest score will be eliminated. The three survivors will bowl another game, with the low man knocked out. The two finalists will bowl a final game, with the survivor advancing to the World Championship finals.

The Mike Aulby finals is named after the PBA Hall of Famer, 29-time PBA Tour champion and winner of the 1979 and 1985 PBA National Championships.

Three easy steps to enhance your PBA World Championship telecast experience:

1. Free Xtra Frame Mike Aulby finals preview show (now available on pba.com’s Xtra Frame) - Tune into pba.com’s Xtra Frame for interviews with the finalists as they give their insight into strategy and equipment selection. All World Championship preview shows on Xtra Frame are available the Wednesday before each Sunday ESPN telecast for free.

2. Sunday, 1 p.m. ET – ESPN telecast of the Mike Aulby Division final from South Point in Las Vegas.

3. Sunday 2:30 p.m. ET – Xtra Frame post-tournament show interviews the winning player and provides in-depth ball rep analysis of the winner’s equipment selection and ball preparation. (Xtra subscription information is available on the pba.com Xtra Frame page.)

Bowling fans can provide their feedback on World Championship telecasts through PBA’s social networking platforms on Facebook and Twitter.

It sure does seem like there are a lot of critics out there these days, bashing any number of PBA players for their inability to convert TV appearances into titles. And statistically speaking, they've got a point. Chris Barnes has "just" 13 titles to show for his 75 career TV apps. Sean Rash hasn't won a title in four years and nine shows. Heck, even Tommy Jones, who used to be as automatic on TV as a Keurig coffee maker is only one out of his last eight - and no one saw that one because it was the Japan Cup!

Jason Belmonte won his lone title in his first TV appearance - and has gone eight straight shows without a win. Bill O'Neill made ten shows before getting his first win - then he went on a tear and won three - and now he's 0 for his last three again with a haunting split in the 10th to exit the U.S. Open last season. Mika Koivuniemi made all four major finals last year - and the moment we probably remember most is that hellacious 10-pin miss at the Open to cost him the title to Norm Duke. Mika went one-for-four in those majors last year - and had to shoot 299-268 the last two games to get that done.

What about Duke? He's clearly got TV figured out, right? Well not exactly. 34 titles in 108 appearances looks very Barnesian indeed. Plus there was that little dry spell between '83 and '91 where he went 11 shows without a win. But clearly he's had it figured out the last 10 years, right? Wrong. Between 2002 and 2006 he went four for 20.

So what gives? Why does it seem like every player sucks as soon as the TV lights are switched on? It all comes down to the odds my friends.

ONLY ONE CAN WIN
On every telecast, there can only be one champion. So when four players make it to the show, you only have a 25% chance to emerge victorious. But certainly the "better" players have better odds on TV right? It turns out no. Walter Ray Williams and Earl Anthony, the two greatest players in bowling history are 50-50 on TV.

What that means is, even if you're seeded straight into the title match, your odds are only 50-50 of emerging victorious. And for every subsequent match you have to win to get to the title, your odds decrease accordingly - so they are only 25% if you have to win two matches and just 12.5% if you have to win three. Good luck with that.

One popular argument among some players is that if they just "did away" with TV, it would be more fair and they'd have more titles. Turns out that argument is wrong too. The top title earners of all time typically have just as many wins from lower seed positions as they do from the top seed - which means if there were no TV they'd have about the same number of wins as they'd have with it - and way less money in their pockets and fans who knew who the heck they were.

THE ENVIRONMENT IS DIFFERENT
The reason the top pros are so good at bowling is that they are incredible at making adjustments. But they are most incredible when they have a little bit of time to plan out those adjustments - like between blocks of qualifying or match play. Once they've seen how a set of lanes will break down, the pros are masters at "mapping out" their strategies and improving upon their efforts the next time around.

But on TV, there are no second chances. When you make the show in Columbus on 15 year-old Brunswick Pro Anvilane on the Shark pattern on an 80-degree day in March with one high rev-rate righty, one high rev-rate lefty and a righty tweener, that is the only time you are ever going to experience those conditions. And if you don't win on it, there isn't going to be a second chance.

What that does is it puts enormous pressure on you to try and plan for - and then adjust to - any possible situation you may encounter. And there are only about 6,482 possible situations. A guy might get hot and shoot 270 at your 250 in the opening match and look invincible. And then in game two he might miss a move and shoot 170 to lose to a 180 (making you really happy, knowing you would have had at least a 90% chance of shooting a better game than that - there's those odds again!)

Or the lanes might decide to change between your 8th frame and your 10th, requiring you to make a move - right as you're about to throw one of the most important, defining shots of your career. Do you go left and slow down your speed a little or just stay where you are and try to jam one in there?

Ryan Shafer, probably the poster boy for TV victimization in the history of the PBA (four titles in 50 TV appearances) had to make that decision in the PBA World Championship a few weeks back. It didn't work out and he gave Andres Gomez a chance to win. Then the odds jumped up and bit Andres. Maybe now you might just begin to understand why Ryan was so emotional after advancing to the PBA World Championship finals on January 15th.

The point of all this is...THESE PLAYERS DON'T SUCK! These players are the best in the world and the bowling format of TV just happens to be about the most slippery and difficult environment with which any athlete will ever be forced to contend.

So, when a guy who is obviously one of the best in the world at their sport just happens to be caught with the odds against him, maybe try to show a little sympathy and cut the guy a break. That's all I'm saying.

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LAS VEGAS – Australia’s two-handed star, Jason Belmonte, leads the field of four players in Sunday’s Mike Aulby Division finals, the fourth and final elimination round leading into the PBA World Championship finals. The Aulby round will air in high-definition on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

The Aulby Division winner will join Finland’s Osku Palermaa; Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., and Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in the World Championship finals on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 1 p.m. ET. At stake will be a $50,000 first prize, the Earl Anthony Trophy and the PBA Tour’s first major title of the 2011-12 season.

All competition will be conducted on a pair of lanes specially installed in an exhibit hall at South Point Hotel and Casino.

Belmonte, 28, hasn’t won a title since his first PBA Tour victory in the 2009 Bowling Foundation Long Island Classic propelled him to 2009-09 PBA Rookie of the Year honors. During the 40-game qualifying portion of the PBA World Championship, he finished third behind Rash and Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., averaging 226.18 for five rounds on five different lane conditions. He will be joined in the Aulby elimination round by Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio; rookie Josh Blanchard of Gilbert, Ariz., and Mike Fagan of Dallas.

Kretzer won his only PBA Tour title in the 2010 Go RVing Match Play Championship. Fagan is a two-time title winner. His most recent victory was in the 2010 One A Day Dick Weber Open. Blanchard, a former Wichita State University star, joined the PBA in October and won a PBA West Region Non-Champions tournament in Reno, Nev., in his first appearance as a member. Sunday’s telecast will be his PBA Tour television debut.

In the Aulby eliminator event, all four players will bowl a one-game match with the lowest scoring player eliminated. The three survivors will bowl a second game, again with the low man knocked out. The two finalists will bowl a final game to determine who will advance to the World Championship finals.

The four World Championship divisional finals have been named for PBA superstars who excelled in the event during their careers. Palermaa won the Don Carter Division berth, Shafer the Billy Hardwick Division title and Rash topped the Johnny Petraglia Division. The championship trophy is named in honor of Anthony, the only player ever to win the event six times.

A preview of the Aulby Division finals will be webcast on pba.com’s Xtra Frame beginning Wednesday, and a post-game show will be presented on Xtra Frame immediately following Sunday’s ESPN finals.