Nothing like a bit of Monday morning morphine to pump into your system as you reflect on the weekends events. My TGIF league was a challenge to say the least. Nothing like going into position rounds while fighting one of the worst weeks of allergies you can remember. Focusing on timing, balance, and not sneezing on your ball on the approach brings a whole new challenge to the game. None the less, I posted a weak 609, but was enough to pull 6 of 8 points. I guess my opponents were feeling sorry for me. On a positive note, the new SST Tanks were amazing. They felt like I had been wearing them for years they were so comfortable. I struggled with some slide issues early on due to finding the right combination of heel and sole (which ended up being H2/S10 for those keeping track), but overall I have to say that I am very impressed with how they feel and performed. Saturday passed in a medication induced fog, but Sunday gave me the chance to watch the PBA Regional Players Invitational Finals, PBA50 Tour Finals, and the Teen Masters Championship. Even though they were recorded telecasts, it's always fun to watch bowling. Well, for me it is anyway.
The RPI Invitational Finals kicked off the day with some familiar names in bowling as well as a few relatively unknown bowlers outside of their region. The great thing about these type of evens is that it isn't absolutely dominated by the PBA Tour players that you see week in and week out when matches do happen to be televised. Sure Chris Barnes (PBA Tour player since 1998) represented the Southwest Region, but posted a humbling 163 after running high on several of his shots. In the end, the unknown Ben Laughlin from Chandler, Arizona took the top prize of $6,000 and a PBA Tournament of Champions entry defeating Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, Florida 225-187. Just goes to show you that anyone on any day can have an amazing run no matter who they are bowling against. Laughlin looked cold as ice on the lanes, not letting a rough start in the semi-finals phase him at all. Pushing through, posting a 222 and 225 the first time he had ever been on tv. Hats off good sir, you earned it!
The PBA50 Tour Finals followed up the RPI Invitational which looked like a who's who of bowlers that have truly shaped the sport and dominated the game. Pete Weber, Amleto Monacelli, and the great Walter Ray Williams Jr. made up the show. This amazing trio represent the heart of the sport covering just about every subject. Pete with his pedigree in the sport and his bad boy attitude, Amleto carrying the torch of the world on his back as the most prolific international bowler to ever hit the scene, and dead-eye himself, Walter Ray. The record holder for most PBA wins in the history of the sport. His 47 titles are a feat that many believe will never be broken. The match started with a playful PDW, noticeably missing his sun glasses, going up against the ageless Monacelli. Punch for punch the game was what you would expect out of the two great bowlers. The tipping point came when Weber rolled high for a 2-4-10 split. Converting it and forcing Monacelli to stay on the mark, it appeared to just fuel him bringing the match to a dominating 243-208 win. In the finals, a frustrated W.R. Williams Jr was trying his best to keep his game face on, rolling on a pattern he was obviously not a fan of, the PBA50 Cheetah. Strike for strike the finals match was everything you could have wished for in a head to head battle between two titans like this. Williams led most of the match with a slight margin before Monacelli made a late charge with a three-bagger heading into the 10th frame. In what can only be described as an epic break, Monacelli needing a strike to force a pressure crushing 10th frame for Williams, left the 4 pin on his first ball in and missed the spare to all but hand the win to his opponent. With disbelief on Williams' face, he knew he had just been given a gift by Monacelli.
The televised bowling day on ESPN was wrapped up with the Teen Masters Championship. In this unique format, the tournament is designed to level the playing field of insane oil patterns and the crazy technology that is embedded into the bowling balls of today. Each bowler is given a polyester (plastic ball) and a urethane and that is all they are allowed to use. In addition to that little twist, the finals pair were oiled at different lengths. The left lane held 36' and the right a mere 26' of oil. Also the volume was a throw back to the 80's with only 7ml. of oil. For all of you non bowling geeks out there, a typical house shot (THS) is in the range of 38'-40' with about 14ml of oil. The PBA and Team USA bowlers are normally on patterns that can range from 33'-47' and a whopping 26ml of wet stuff! Sorry, I get excited about the details... at any rate, to put it simply, these kids were pushed to be amazingly accurate with their game. In a rematch of the 2013 finals between Ashley Dunn of Palmdale, California and Greg Young or Viera, Florida, the two talented bowlers went at it again for another great show. The two game format came down to a single frame roll off after the two bowlers posted scores of 160-179 in game one and a 184-153 in game two. In the end, Young's strike bested Dunn's 7 count to take the tile and it's $64,000 scholarship for the second year in a row. These two have shown that the sport of bowling is going strong and has a bright future.
0 comments:
Post a Comment