PBA Stars to Appear on LettermanDenny’s PBA Tour stars Chris Barnes, Norm Duke and Tommy Jones will make an appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” Monday, July 30.
The three stars will perform trick shots on a portable lane throughout the late night talk show, which airs Monday night at 11:35 p.m.
Barnes is an eight-time Denny’s PBA Tour titlist who won the inaugural 2004-05 PBA Skills Challenge, a trick shot competition which made him famous for his “Flying Eagle” shot.
Duke, who owns 26 Denny’s PBA Tour titles, is also a past Skills Challenge competition winner, capturing the title during the 2005-06 season. Duke is known for striking with a ball thrown from a towel, as well as converting the 7-10 split with one ball ricocheting off a slow spinning ball.
Jones, the 2005-06 PBA Player of the Year who last season reached 10 Denny’s PBA Tour titles faster than any player in history, joined in the Skills Challenge competition the last two years as well. He became known for throwing a ball over a chair to throw a strike.
David Letterman is in his 25th year of late-night television, hosting nearly 5,000 broadcasts and 15,000 guests. He has garnered 14 Emmy Awards and 89 Emmy nominations in that span. After spending almost 12 years at "Late Night with David Letterman," Letterman moved his show to the CBS Television Network on Aug. 30, 1993, and is now in his 14th season on CBS.
Regional Tour RundownAll seven PBA Regions are in action this weekend, August 3-5. The South Region heads to Casselberry, Fla., for the Casselberry Open while the Northwest and West Regions are in Dublin, Calif., for the Earl Anthony Memorial Classic. The Central and Midwest Regions will be in Countryside, Ill., for the Rolling Lanes Lane Master Senior Open and the East Region travels to York, Pa., for the Bowlers Supply Open. The Southwest Region rounds out the group with the Cecil Caddel Brunswick Doubles Challenge in Dallas, Texas.
PBA Senior Tour Returns to ActionFollowing a two-week break after Tom Baker’s win in the 2007 USBC Senior Masters, the PBA Senior Tour returns to action with its 10th event of the season, the PBA Senior Council Bluffs Open at Thunderbowl, July 30 – Aug. 2.
Qualifying for the event runs Tuesday and Wednesday with competitors bowling two eight-game blocks with the top 32 bowlers advancing to match play, which will feature six rounds of competition before crowning the champion Thursday evening.
The PBA Senior Tour will remain in the Midwest for its final three stops of the year after the Council Bluffs event, heading to Hammond, Ind., Decatur, Ill., and Ballwin, Mo.
PBA Women’s Series Details RevealedThe PBA announced Friday details of the 2007 PBA Women’s Series, a special four-event mini-season to take place during the 2007-08 Denny’s PBA Tour.
The 2007 PBA Women’s Series, which is sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), marks the first opportunity for women to bowl on Tour since the Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) folded in 2003. The series will feature 16 women competing in four events which will run concurrently with four Denny’s PBA Tour events. All events will feature a $51,100 prize fund including a $10,000 top prize.
The 16 women will qualify for the series at the 2007 PBA Women’s Tour Trials, which will be held in conjunction with the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open, a USBC event, at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., August 13-18. The top 16 women – who have paid the additional Tour Trials entry fee – after the four days of qualifying will earn exemptions for the 2007 PBA Women’s Series.
The four Women’s Series events will take place within a five-week period and will run concurrently with Denny’s PBA Tour events. The series will kick off with the Motor City Classic in Taylor, Mich., Oct. 31-Nov. 4, followed by the Etonic Championship in Cheektowaga, N.Y., Nov. 7-11, and the Lake County Indiana Classic presented by United Way in Merrillville, Ind., Nov. 14-18. After a one-week break, the women will return for the final event, the Great Lakes Classic in Wyoming, Mich., Nov. 28-Dec. 2.
The 16 women will bowl the same format as the men in each of the four events, which will feature a single elimination match play format. A practice session will be held Wednesday night from 4:30-6 p.m. for all bowlers competing in the events. Competition begins Thursday with the 16 women bowling two seven-game qualifying blocks from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. The top eight women will advance to match play, which takes place Friday with the best-of-seven games Round of 8 taking place at 2 p.m. and the best-of-seven Round of 4 at 7 p.m.
The final two women will advance to Sunday’s live ESPN televised championship round, with the women’s final match taking place after the two men’s semifinal matches. The winner will receive $10,000 with the runner-up taking home $6,000.
Duke, Williams Win ShootoutOn paper, the team of Norm Duke and Walter Ray Williams Jr. should have been dominant in the first outdoor PBA event since 2001. In reality, they were.
Duke and Williams, two of the most decorated bowlers in history, completed their march through the special summer doubles event, sweeping the championship round matches against Tony Reyes and Robert Smith to win the GEICO® PBA All-Star Shootout Hosted by Six Flags at Six Flags St. Louis.
Although Reyes and Smith came into the finals as the only team to go 3-0 in round robin match play, they were no match for Duke and Williams, who swept the two singles matches – worth one point each – and the final doubles match worth two points for the 4-0 win. The pair of Hall of Famers – Williams a PBA and USBC Hall of Famer and Duke a USBC Hall of Famer – with a combined 68 Denny’s PBA Tour titles split the $50,000 top prize.
PBA All-Star Shootout Re-Air ScheduleEven though competition in the GEICO® PBA All-Star Shootout Hosted by Six Flags has wrapped up, bowling fans can still capture the excitement of the rare outdoor PBA event with re-airs of eight shows from the event on ESPN2. Below is the complete re-air schedule (all times Eastern):
| Day | | Time |
| Wednesday, Aug. 1 | | 5:30 a.m. |
| Sunday, Aug. 5 | | 2:30 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Aug. 8 | | 3:30 a.m. |
| Thursday, Aug. 9 | | 3:30 a.m. |
| Friday, Aug. 10 | | 3:30 a.m. |
| Friday, Aug. 10 | | 4 a.m. |
| Tuesday, Aug. 14 | | 11:30 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Aug. 15 | | 2:30 a.m. |
Apply for the PBA Junior Membership Program TodayApplications for the PBA Junior Membership Program are currently available for junior bowlers. The program, designed to give junior bowlers ages 17 and under the opportunity to receive exclusive offers from the PBA, costs just $25 annually.
Bowlers who participate in the Junior Membership Program will receive equipment discounts from select PBA product registered companies, exclusive e-mail news bulletins from the PBA, a monthly tip from some of the top bowlers from the Denny’s PBA Tour, a free PBA Yearbook, a free month of PBA Strikepass and a PBA Junior Membership card which will enable them to gain access to the official PBA Junior Membership home page on www.pba.com that contains exclusive online contests and promotions.
The application for the PBA Junior Membership Program can be found
here.
ESPN ClassicKurt Pilon’s win in the 2001 Peoria Open kicks off this week’s lineup of PBA action on ESPN Classic. Action continues Tuesday with Norm Duke’s win in the 2006 Columbia 300 Classic and Pete Weber’s title in the 2001 Great Lakes Classic. Patrick Allen takes over on Wednesday with wins in the 2007 H&R Block Classic and the 2001 Greater Detroit Open while Thursday will see Danny Wiseman’s win in the 2001 Johnny Petraglia Open. Walter Ray Williams Jr.’s 2001 Greater Cincinnati Open title leads into the weekend which will feature Tommy Delutz Jr.’s win in the 2001 Long Island Open on Saturday and Bob Benoit’s win in the 1988 Quaker State Open on Sunday.
Below is the complete ESPN Classic schedule for this week:
ESPN CLASSIC JULY 30 – AUGUST 5
| Day | | Event (Winner) | | Time |
| Monday, July 30 | | 2001 Peoria Open (Kurt Pilon) | | Noon – 1 p.m. |
| Tuesday, July 31 | | 2006 Columbia 300 Classic (Norm Duke) | | 9 – 10 a.m. |
| Tuesday, July 31 | | 2001 Great Lakes Classic (Pete Weber) | | Noon – 1 p.m. |
| Wednesday, Aug. 1 | | 2007 H&R Block Classic (Patrick Allen) | | 9 – 10 a.m. |
| Wednesday, Aug. 1 | | 2001 Greater Detroit Open (Patrick Allen) | | Noon – 1 p.m. |
| Thursday, Aug. 2 | | 2001 Johnny Petraglia Open (Danny Wiseman) | | Noon – 1 p.m. |
| Friday, Aug. 3 | | 2001 Greater Cincinnati Open (W.R. Williams Jr.) | | Noon – 1 p.m. |
| Saturday, Aug. 4 | | 2001 Long Island Open (Tommy Delutz Jr.) | | Noon – 1 p.m. |
| Sunday, Aug. 5 | | 1988 Quaker State Open (Bob Benoit) | | 6 – 7 p.m. |
*All times Eastern.
BirthdaysJuly 30Ricky Ward – Owns six career Denny’s PBA Tour titles.
August 1Chris Johnson – Named the 2003-04 PBA Rookie of the Year.
August 4Brian Voss – PBA Hall of Famer owns 24 career Denny’s PBA Tour titles.
Wayne Webb – Inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1993. Owns 20 career Denny’s PBA Tour titles.
This Date in Denny’s PBA Tour HistoryJuly 311993Mike Aulby bowls the sixth televised 300 game in Tour history on his way to winning the 1993 Wichita Open. Aulby was perfect in the title match, defeating David Ozio, 300-279, in what is still tied for the second-highest scoring match on television in Tour history.
1966Dick Ritger becomes one of the few back-to-back winners in the history of the PBA when he duplicates his Fort Worth victory with another Tour title in the 1966 Reading Open in Reading, Pa.
August 11999Bob Learn Jr. wins his first career Major title, defeating Jason Couch, 231-215, in the title match of Bowling’s U.S. Open at Mohegan Sun Arena.
August 31988Making his sixth TV appearance of the season, Dave Husted finally breaks through with his first title of the season with a 233-191 win over Joe Berardi in the title match of the 1988 La Mode Classic.
1976Carmen Salvino wins his 15th career victory, topping Larry Laub, 210-192, in the 1976 Quad Cities Open in Davenport, Iowa.
August 41963Jim St. John wins his second straight Tour title and third in four weeks as he tops Ed Bourdase in the 1963 Meridian PBA Open in Meridian, Miss.
August 51987Mark Roth uses a near-perfect 299 game and a 785 three-game series to capture his 33rd career PBA title and the $16,000 top prize in the 1987 Greater Buffalo Open.