Summer is here and that can only mean three things in bowling: made-for-TV events, the International Bowl Expo trade show and PBA Senior Tour action.
Xtra Frame and pba.com will be there to cover all three, starting with the first of 15 half-hour TV shows otherwise known as the GEICO PBA Team Shootout.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE TV SCHEDULE
This year's Team Shootout features a new twist as teams fielded by equipment manufacturers will compete for bragging rights (plus a pretty decent prize fund) on two specially constructed lanes at Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in Jackson, NJ. Tune in Sunday at 2:30pm ET for the first of four epsiodes, then come back to pba.com for my TV Recap the following day.
BOWL EXPO
With the help of our friends at Bowlers Journal, Xtra Frame will be attending this year's Bowl Expo International trade show in Las Vegas. Check pba.com all throughout the week for exclusive video from the trade show floor featuring players, industry insiders and fans.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE BOWL EXPO INFO
PBA SENIOR TOUR
After spending the last couple of weeks covering the PBA Senior Tour, I can honestly say that these guys have still got it.
I was especially impressed at the Senior U.S. Open with Dave Ferraro, a Hall of Famer and member of the 50 Greatest who came out of a happy retirement to bowl 50 some-odd games against the best over-50 bowlers in the world in the toughest of the Senior Tour's major events. What did he do? Well, he just led the thing heading into the last game of match play, ultimately finishing third.
Even though he didn't win, it was a privilege seeing Ferraro compete again and it reminded me that he probably could've won twice as many titles had he chosen to continue his Tour career (he retired relatively young in the mid-90's).
The next week, we were reminded once again of the greatness of Walter Ray Williams, Jr. as he nearly pulled off a win in the USBC Senior Masters after losing his first round match to Hugh Miller. From the brutal loser's bracket WRW impressively won 10 straight matches to advance to the final against Wayne Webb. Webb put on a show of his own in the final, nearly tossing a 300 in game two of the three-game match to earn the win.
Every match-play round of both of these events are available now on Xtra Frame.
JAPAN CUP
The annual excursion to Japan produced another great event and a compelling story with Dino Castillo advancing to the final and attempting to get his first Tour win against best friend Tommy Jones. The matches (the Round of 8 through the final) will air on Xtra Frame July 6, with commentary from Mike J. Laneside and 2008-2009 PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes.
So, the off-season is really no time for rest and relaxation for the PBA. With the above, plus the extensive live Regional and Senior tournament schedule, plus coverage of the Teen Masters, there is truly lots to do, see and watch for fans of professional bowling this summer.