Professional Bowlers Association

Attention all PBA Bracket Battle players: Pete Weber and Mike DeVaney have withdrawn from the Go RVing Match Play Championship. Weber is still nursing a back injury and DeVaney stayed home in San Diego while he and wife Carrie await the birth of their second child.

In both cases, their opponents have been granted byes and automatic berths in the Round of 32, so if you have already submitted your PBA bracket, you have until 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday to update it. Eddie Van Daniker Jr. (Weber’s first-round opponent) and George Lambert IV (DeVaney’s opponent) should be inserted into your Round of 32 (the bracket does not automatically make these changes for you).

What if the PGA Tour required players to use persimmon woods or the USTA required its players to use wood-framed tennis rackets instead of today’s equipment that incorporates high-tech titanium and graphite technology?

The Professional Bowlers Association GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship March 24-28 at AMF Babylon Lanes in West Babylon, N.Y., is the one event on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour that turns back the clock on bowling ball technology so that players will have less reliance on today’s high-powered equipment.

This year’s Plastic Ball Championship is named after PBA Hall of Famer and native New Yorker Mark Roth who used plastic ball technology to win most of his 34 Tour titles, which ranks him in a tie for third all-time with fellow Hall of Famer Pete Weber. Roth, who suffered a stroke last May, is planning to attend the event.

Plastic polyester balls like the ones that will be used in this tournament are used today almost exclusively for spare shooting due to the balls’ proclivity to go straight on the majority of today’s lane conditions. Plastic was the most popular material used in bowling ball construction in the 1970s and early 80s. Today’s most popular balls are made of a resin material with exotic weight blocks, which enhance the balls’ ability to hook. More...

The last thing Kelly Kulick could have imagined as she rolled her way to victory in the Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions in January was that her historic victory would lead to a visit to the White House.

And beyond simply acknowledging her as the first woman to win a Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour title, Kulick found herself being honored as an American pioneer who had carved out a unique place in the nation’s history as the first woman to win a major championship in a male-dominated professional sport.

Kulick was invited to attend the International Women’s Day reception held in the East Room of the White House on Monday in celebration of Women’s History Month. Hosted by President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, approximately 250 women attended the event which honored contributions of women in history and contemporary society.

The event began at 5 p.m. Eastern with a speech by Mrs. Obama who recognized all those in attendance.

“Today all of you are joining the long list of incredible women who have graced these halls both as visitors and as residents, from admirals and actresses to civil rights pioneers,” Mrs. Obama told the group. “We’re here today not just to pay tribute to leaders and icons and household names. During Women’s History Month, we’re also here to honor the quiet heroes who’ve shaped this country… We honor the women who traveled those lonely roads to be the first in those courtrooms, to be the first ones in those boardrooms, to be the first ones on those playing fields… We honor women who refused to listen to those who would say that you couldn’t or shouldn’t pursue your dreams.”

President Obama then spoke of the roles of women in building America, the women he has appointed to positions of influence within his administration, and his hopes for gender equality in the future.

Kulick said there was no formal receiving line or photo opportunities, but after the speeches by President and Mrs. Obama, there was a short reception where she did get to briefly meet the president.

“I was really just taking it all in and I was looking to see who I might recognize,” Kulick said. “They might have been there, but I didn’t notice any other sports figures.

“I didn’t have a chance to speak at length with the president or first lady, but I did get to meet the president and shake his hand, which was certainly a great honor,” Kulick said.

Kulick said it was a simple and moving ceremony. More...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas, won his eighth career title and second of the 2009-10 season in the Professional Bowlers Association’s Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator finals at Sequoia Pro Bowl Sunday, surviving a 10th-frame error to edge home-state favorite Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio, 206-195, in the championship match.

Scroggins, 45, put together three strikes in the middle of the final game to pull away from Kretzer, but when he left and missed a 7 pin in the 10th frame, he gave Kretzer a chance to strike out for a tie. Kretzer got a break when he kicked out the 6 pin for his first strike in the 10th, but then he left the 2-4-5-8 on his second shot to end his hopes for his first title.

“I didn’t miss a 7 pin all week,” Scroggins said later. “I just got the ball a little left. I knew I missed it as soon as I let it go, and then I sat down and starting thinking about a roll-off.

“After finishing second in the U.S. Open last week, I wasn’t expecting much,” the 45-year-old Scroggins said. “But I got lined up after the first seven games and went from nowhere to somewhere.”

With his second win of the year, Scroggins has become a candidate for PBA Player of the Year honors heading into the final three events of the season.

“I’m just trying to follow in Walter Ray Williams Jr.’s footsteps,” he grinned. “He’s been setting an example for us older guys.”

Williams, at age 50, also is a two-time winner this season. Bill O’Neill, Williams and Scroggins are one-two-three in the PBA Player of the Year point standings. More...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott will take on a diverse field in the Professional Bowlers Association’s Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator finals at Sequoia Pro Bowl Sunday, including Ohio native Brian Kretzer, U.S. Open runner-up Mike Scroggins and Finland’s two-handed star, Osku Palermaa.

The finals will air at 12:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.

Kretzer, Malott, Scroggins and Palermaa emerged Saturday as survivors of three rounds of elimination games by dominating their respective four-player groups.

Kretzer, a 43-year-old veteran who has bowled 166 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour events without winning a title, eliminated Mika Koivuniemi, Mike DeVaney and Michael Haugen Jr. to win his bracket. He topped Haugen, the top seed in his bracket, 221-210, in the final game for a 659-650 come-from-behind win in the three-game total pinfall Eliminator round.

“Winning out here isn’t easy,” Kretzer said. “If (a title) comes, it comes, but I’m not concerned about it. I don’t make that many TV shows, so it’ll be exciting, and to do it this close to home will make it a little extra special.”

Palermaa, who bowled in the tournament on a PBA Commissioner’s Exemption, topped Sean Rash, Brad Angelo and Ryan Shafer to win his group. The 28-year-old two-handed player won the Dubai Open a week ago in the United Arab Emirates, bowled a weekend tournament in Barcelona, Spain, and then made a quick stop in Sweden on his way to Columbus. In his only previous American television appearance, he finished fifth in the 2004 U.S. Open as an amateur.

“That was a learning experience,” Palermaa said. “My goal in being here is to get a chance to bowl full-time on the PBA Tour next year. To be the best, you have to bowl against the best. When I’m bowling my best, I can beat anyone.”

Malott earned his spot in the finals with a 700-697 win over non-titlist Steve Harman of Indianapolis after topping Tommy Jones and Mike Fagan in the first two Eliminator rounds. The Pflugerville, Texas, resident has had a solid year, but has yet to win a title in the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season.

“I’ve been fighting my timing. I’ve been close a couple of times, but this year things haven’t been falling my way. Last year, things went right for me,” Malott said. “It’s frustrating. It’s amazing how fast momentum changes in sports. But I have some confidence going into the show Sunday. I feel like I’m close to 100 percent compared to where I have been. I hope I can get a win. I’m missing that.” More...