Hello Bowling Fans!
Today, we had promised to air a 2009-2010 PBA Tour Season Preview on Xtra Frame. Unfortunately, my voice decided to go the way of the Anaheim Angels’ ability to hit this weekend so, hopefully, you will take this instead.
(Try to read the blog in my voice, as it will make the experience feel almost as good as if you were watching it on video.)
Hello Bowling Fans and welcome to the 2009-2010 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Season Preview. I’m P.B. Atkinson.
SCHEDULE
First off, let’s start by talking about the schedule. It’s a little different this year, mostly due to the addition of the inaugural PBA World Series of Bowling, which took place in Detroit from August 2 to September 6.
With this change, it’s helpful if we think of the season as consisting of two halves and to think about it in terms of TV air dates. The first half of the season consists of eight telecasts emanating from the World Series, where six complete PBA Tour events took place, and the telecasts for each were taped over the final two days (September 5 and 6), to be aired on ESPN starting October 25.
Five PBA Women’s Series presented by BOWL.com events were also staged alongside the regular Tour during the World Series, and the title matches of each of those tournaments will also be included on five of the telecasts.
Finally, a PBA World Championship, a PBA Women’s World Championship and a PBA Senior World Championship were held simultaneously during the final week of the World Series. The title matches of the Women’s and Senior versions of those tournaments will be aired on the first ESPN telecast October 25, along with a special Trick Shot Challenge featuring several stars from the PBA Tour. The finals of the PBA World Championship will be broadcast live from Northrock Lanes on December 13 to wrap up the first half of the Tour season, after which the Tour will go on hiatus (to give me time to pick up on snow bunnies in Aspen over the holidays) until the second half begins January 3.
The second half of the season actually begins with one more taped event, the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by the USBC, which takes place in Wichita December 7-13, with the show airing January 3. Then, the Tour will go into it’s traditional “live TV” mode with 11 more televised events. There is one taped telecast during the second half (the Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational), and it will air on Super Bowl Sunday, but the remainder of the events will be broadcast live. There is also a one-week break on March 14 between the Don Johnson Eliminator and the PBA Match Play Championship so that I may go to Cabo and pick up on college coeds.
The second half of the season will feature three major events (the PBA Tournament of Champions, USBC Masters and the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open) and a number of exciting format variations like the Gemini Championship (which will incorporate two different oil patterns…last year’s versions netted us Walter Ray’s “8-10 heard ‘round the world” from Reno and Belmo’s coronation party in Long Island), the Eliminator (won by Chris Barnes over Mika Koivuniemi last year), the Match Play Championship (Barnes again, this time over Walter Ray) and the hugely controversial Plastic Ball Championship (won by Jeff Carter, but more notably launched the Wilbon/Malott PTI saga that ended in a duel at the King of Bowling), which has been re-named for PBA legend Mark Roth.
So in all, this season’s schedule consists of 20 televised events, ending on April 4 with the PBA Marathon Open.
COMPETITION
It’s a bit unfair to be handicapping this when I already know the outcome of the first six events, but that never seemed to stop Vegas or your local horse tracks, so here goes.
My short list of PBA Player of the Year candidates are: Wes Malott, Rhino Page, Norm Duke and Chris Barnes. OK, maybe that list isn’t as short as Norm Duke, but it’s definitely closer to Rhino Page than Wes Malott. It’s basically last year’s list except swapping out Mike Scroggins for Rhino. Of course, there may be a bunch of guys who bowled well at the World Series that I did not name here. Oh well. These are the guys I’m picking and here’s why:
WES MALOTT
He’s got the confidence…or, as Apollo Creed might say, the “Eye of the Tiger”. Hey, maybe that’s a new nickname for Wes? The Tiger? Why not? He’s only got 23 nicknames now, why not 24? What? That name’s already taken? By some golfer you say? Darn those guys, isn’t it enough they play for a trillion dollars every year…they have to take all the good nicknames too? What’s that? You want my prediction? OK…well, Wes is just darn good. Plus he made the show on Shark and at the World Championship, so that’s a nice head start.
RHINO PAGE
This guy’s the anti-Wes. He’s fire to the Big Nasty’s ice. Plus, he’s now the most versatile lefty on the Tour after his incredible performance at the World Series. He made two shows (including the World Championship) finished in a tie for 5th on another (which he lost in a roll-off to Bill O’Neill…but he was the only lefty in the top 24) and he flat-out just wants to beat people to a pulp on the lanes. Plus, did you see the feature on him on Xtra Frame? He’s a great guy too!
NORM DUKE
Since he sets Player of the Year as a goal every season, you have to put him on the list. Bowled well at the World Series with one show and several other near-misses, but struggled in the World Championship, where he was going for a third consecutive win (probably due to the quick turnaround after Shark…Norm, like me, likes to take it easy going into majors and this scheduling messed up his mojo a bit). He’s still right there though and the three majors left on the schedule bode well for his chances.
CHRIS BARNES
Still considered the best player on Tour by his peers, Barnes showed no slowdown in capturing the Lumber Leader award for cumulative pinfall during qualifying for all seven World Series of Bowling events. If he would’ve liked bowling in the Arena Bay a little more (everything after the Round of 16 were bowled on that side of the Thunderbowl Lanes establishment) he might’ve made more than just the one show (the Motor City Open, where he qualified 2nd) he made in Detroit.
DARK HORSES
BILL O’NEILL
Made three telecasts in Detroit, including the World Championship. Seven shows last year is Player of the Year-caliber but no wins yet. If he turns it around on TV he’s got a better chance than NBC having a successful programming lineup.
SEAN RASH
Made two shows in Detroit (but not the World Championship) and had several other near-misses. If he can parlay a few of the shows into wins and add another major to his resume (he won the 2007 USBC Masters) he may pull it off.
JASON BELMONTE
The longest shot of the group, but he also had a good World Series (watch him on the Scorpion telecast November 29) and seems to be learning how to win on Tour at an exponential rate. He led the World Championship qualifying by 300 pins last year, and if he could happen to pull that kind of feat off again at the T of C or the U.S. Open (where there is no dropping of pins or elimination matches) he might have a chance.
OVERVIEW
OK, now my fingers are hurting to go along with my fractured voice. Must rest up for this week’s edition of The Bowling Show and PBA: 39x60 Pre- and Post-Game duties this Sunday. At any rate, it should be an exciting season. I’m looking forward to it almost as much as my trips to Aspen and Cabo, which is saying something. Until next time, this is P.B. Atkinson reminding you to…well, watch the PBA on ESPN!
