Professional Bowlers Association

Fans of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour can now participate in live ESPN shows this season as part of PBA’s exciting, new Inside Angle.

Become a fan of the PBA on Facebook and be sure to watch the live PBA World Championship final rounds on ESPN Dec. 13 at 1p.m. Eastern. ESPN announcers Rob Stone and Randy Pedersen will read and answer a fan question live during the show from Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kansas and other live shows on Tour this season.

PBA Inside Angle introduced the earpiece/microphone technology giving Rob and Randy the ability to talk directly to the Greatest Bowlers in the World during competition. If one of the players is wearing the device on any of the live shows this season, it will be possible for a PBA Tour fan watching at home to pose a question to a player during the show.

The PBA Inside Angle debuted last summer at the GEICO PBA Team Shootout hosted by Six Flags at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Anchor Chris Barnes stepped up in the tenth frame for his Team GEICO up 2-0 over Team Bayer needing a strike to close out the match and avoid a sudden death rolloff for the title.

ESPN play-by-play announcer Rob Stone and PBA’s Inside Angle set the stage:

Rob Stone: All right Chris Barnes, you knew I was going to be talking to you at this point, right? What is going on between the ears right now?

Chris Barnes: Well, you know, it’s nice to have your voice in there instead of my own most of the time. I’m going to move a board off the 4 pin and another half for the cycle around. This is the fun part here. This is when the adrenaline gets going. This is why we bowl. A little breathing right now and we’re going to make a good one.

Barnes took a deep breath or two and then he let the ball fly. Perfect swing, release, roll, result: 10 in the pit and a singles, doubles and team sweep for Team GEICO and the PBA Team Shootout title. The combination made for exhilarating, fun and compelling television.

During the PBA World Series of Bowling at the Scorpion Championship, Australian Jason Belmonte gave his insight in the 7^th frame of his semifinal matchup with Thomas Smallwood as they fought for a PBA title.

Jason Belmonte: I was using a pretty strong ball, I jumped in at the couple of shots in practice and it looked OK. I left a 4-9; I didn’t throw it that bad and then the next two I actually felt like I threw it a little softer – they hooked a little earlier. So I just ball changed to something a little weaker and then stood in the same spot and tried to throw it good.

PBA Inside Angle provided another fascinating look inside the game right from the competitor going for the title. Look for PBA Inside Angle during Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour shows on ESPN this season.

Become a fan of the PBA on Facebook, your question could be in the ear of a player competing for the PBA World Championship, live on ESPN. How’s that for an inside angle?

Check out some interesting parallels that popped up between this year’s World Series of Poker and World Series of Bowling.

This week Joe Cada, from the Detroit area, became the youngest winner in the history of the Main Event at the World Series of Poker. Coverage of this year’s WSOP was different from the last few years. Why would such a successful franchise make major changes to a time-honored format when entries are up, new sponsorships are being created, online play is on the rise and a secure television relationship is in place?

The Professional Bowlers Association opened the 2009-2010 season with its brand new World Series of Bowling event from the Detroit area. The PBA World Championship’s preliminary rounds were contested from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 at Thunderbowl Lanes, the final event to close the inaugural WSOB.

The final four PBA World Championship competitors Thomas Smallwood, Rhino Page, Bill O’Neill and Wes Malott advanced to the final round of the tournament on Dec. 13 which can be seen live on ESPN from Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kansas.

The 2009 World Series of Poker Main event began more than four months ago at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Play began then concluded when the final table was determined, the finalists referred to as the “November Nine.” Play was delayed, then ended on Nov. 10 with tape-delayed coverage of the final table scheduled to air later that evening on ESPN.

World Series of Poker organizers promised unprecedented coverage of this year’s Main Event, with more televised hours than ever before. The changes haven’t come without controversy from the poker world.

World Series of Bowling fans were treated to unprecedented coverage of bowling action at Thunderbowl Lanes on Xtra Frame, the official video service of the PBA in addition to seven weeks of coverage on ESPN. Changes to the PBA schedule haven’t come without controversy in the bowling world.

True poker fans want to see more of the nitty-gritty hands and less of the standard, all-in confrontations, they also want to see little things that the pros do to amass large stacks of chips. Many of those nitty-gritty hands, while less exciting than the all-in confrontations, are interesting for different reasons. For some very vocal fans, all they want to see is the all-in confrontations.

True bowling fans have only seen one-game matches in the past; new coverage of bowling at the WSOB is giving fans more of the nitty-gritty of being a professional bowler while featuring the little things that can mean the difference between winning and losing. Many of those elements, recently featured in the documentary coverage of the Cheetah Championship, while less exciting than the one-game live matches, are interesting for different reasons. For some very vocal fans, all they want to see is the live one-game matches.

Is it just good business to change things up to rekindle interest while building a new fan base regardless of what has been done in the past?