Bowling Philosophy-March 2010

Time Stands Still
by Thomas Scherrer

By all accounts, the PBA Tour's 2009-10 season has been marked by the "WOW!" factor in terms of storylines and drama-filled events. In a season where we have seen laid-off auto workers (Thomas Smallwood) to can't miss talents (Bill O'Neill) to PTQ qualifiers (Anthony LaCaze) to ladies (Kelly Kulick) winning PBA titles, the WOW! factor appeared to be run dry of new stories in this crazy and curious PBA season.

Now...you can add amateurs to this list as well. On Sunday afternoon, Brian Ziesig of Levittown, NY lived a bowler's dream by winning his first professional title in the GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship. The win for Ziesig, the first ever by a non-member in a standard PBA event, was made even sweeter, with the tournament emanating from AMF Babylon Lanes in Long Island. A proverbial home field advantage, Ziesig beat the iconic Walter Ray Williams Jr. and then two-handed phenom Jason Belmonte, with the latter coming in an electrifying title match where both players struck out late to force a 247-247 tie and then to sport's ultimate sudden death: a one-ball roll off. Belmonte's first and only offering left an absolutely devastating solid 7 pin. Ziesig stepped up needing a strike to claim victory and did just that, getting a friendly lean on the 10 pin to claim victory and literally tear the roof off of AMF Babylon Lanes (which some people in bowling wouldn't actually mind if all the roofs of AMF centers blew off).

Some might see the tomahawked 10 pin over Belmonte and rolling the 2-8 to beat Williams as signs of destiny from Ziesig, or perhaps some pure luck. However, Ziesig's bowling need no apology or excuses. One of the finest players Long Island has to offer, he earned this victory by putting on a tremendous performance all week long. In a week where technology went back to the future, so to speak by having each player use only two plastic bowling balls, Ziesig took on the game's best with about as much equity as you can get in bowling. Talent and skill won this tournament, as well as a solid 238.12 average, and the ability by Ziesig on television to easily be the most comfortable a person has been on TV all year by anybody bowling. Jokes with Rob Stone and Randy Pedersen, not taking himself too seriously, stepping up in the title match against Belmonte needing all 3 strikes to force a roll off and then doing so like it was nothing more than a Thursday night at South Levittown Lanes. For all you knew, Ziesig could have been drinking a Coors Light (or 4) off the approach area: he looked that damn relaxed, it was eerie.

Personally, I can say I don't know Brian Ziesig well enough to call him a friend or a buddy, but I do know this about him: his bowling was never in question. This tournament win by no means validated who he was as a bowler or even as a person. That part of his legacy was always intact, however what Ziesig did for most of us who have watched him these past several years locally validated our dream. It was a win not just for him, but we all felt like we won Sunday. Of course, we cannot say that actually happened: Ziesig won, we cheered, we screamed, hell, part of a NEBA tournament in East Haven, CT where I was bowling, time stood still. Ziesig was the main attraction even though he was not in the bowling alley. He wasn't even in the same state!!! He was living out a dream most of us dare to dream when we are younger, but no longer can dream due to the real world. There are bills to pay, jobs to endure, kids to raise, and other to-do's in the world. But for Brian Ziesig, he made us forget about that: in an event where bowling went back in time, technologically speaking, time stood still figuratively. So what if we couldn't actually see Ziesig's winning shot (that's because everyone stood up in the building!!!), the crowd let us know; Randy and Rob let us know; and even our collective amateur hearts let us know. Brian Ziesig was a winner with or without this title, but this makes it all the more sweeter that for one week, Big Head was Big Man on bowling's campus for one week.

Other Tidbits on Bowling

• The 2009-10 season now has a serious dilemma on their hands. There is a good possibility that the Player of the Year race might actually be tied at season's end. As of right now, both Williams and O'Neill are tied with 56 points with one event left, the Marathon Open in Baltimore. While it makes for great drama to see if both The Real Deal and DeadEye make the televised finals, if neither make it, it does open up the reality that there could be a share of the POY...kinda, sorta.

• The tiebreaker for the POY race will be determined by the Harry Smith Point Leader list for which Williams leads right now. While it would be a fair and simple way to determine who should be the 09-10 POY, it once again presents a question as to who fans think is this season's best player. Yes, I've got a literal marathon blog coming up about this later on in the week.

• Has the Kulick Factor worn off? It seems as if Kelly Kulick's historic Tournament of Champions victory has passed through the media with scant attention. Yes, it got local media outlets, some TV interviews, and a brilliant Rick Reilly article on espn.com. It also got some heat from fanhouse.com's David Whitley that it cannot be seen as a legitimate sporting event because "if the best female in the world can beat the best male in the world, it doesn't qualify".

• Glad to see David Whitley has a job in sports. He has also railed all over NCAA women's bowling, for which he basically denounced it as being legit as well, figuring that while Whitley was looking for Vanderbilt's 2007 national championship, he "should have looked for a plate of golden nachos atop a silver pitcher of beer". No truth to the rumor that this clueless (I had another vulgar word in place of clueless) writer has actually attended one of Vanderbilt's two hour practice sessions or any of their workout's in the gym, but yeah, he's qualified to write about bowling just like I am qualified to write about health care reform.

• As for Vandy, they walk into the 2010 NCAA championships, once again as the prohibitive favorite to win the title. The last two seasons, things have not gone according to plan. Makes you wonder if a program that has thrived primarily on recruiting the best talent in high school and not actually developing players and creating roles for them has fallen behind the curve on teaching players to be better instead of trying to build a fantasy team. Sounds harsh? The results the past few have shown that talent alone doesn't win in a team sport. Yes, there will be more on this next week as well for April's Bowling Philosophy.

• Speaking of plastics, the Brockton County Bowling Association is having their second Hall of Fame Classic as Boston Bowl in Hanover, MA April 11th. The tournament consists of 3 games, 90% handicap of 230 average, with two separate blocks at 11am and 1pm. The format is eliminator style, half the field advances and so on until there is a winner. Players can only use plastic or rubber bowling balls for competition. This is more of a personal wish, but I wish there was more events like this where technology was not the sole factor in who wins tournaments but more on talent. The only way to make the game more equitable is to have flatter gutter-to-gutter patterns or make a rule enforcing not merely a rule on restricting technology but limiting it.

• To take this one step further, college bowling Tier One events in college only allow players the use of 5 bowling balls. I used to hate this rule when I bowled but now I understand the financial and logistical reasoning behind why Karl Nikolai instituted this rule. It also gives the game more of a sense that it takes lane play, strategy, ball speed regulation, and hand position changes to be good on top of having good team skills and communication as opposed to Bowler X is carrying all over the place and Bowler Y is not despite having more tools in their bag.

• On Mark Roth: we always talk about how great players are, but never how important they are/were. If this past week's GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship was a reflection on how loved Roth was, then we should all be so lucky. As for his importance to the game of bowling, try these questions on for size: are there better players in bowling history than Mark Roth? Absolutely. Are there more important players in bowling history than Mark Roth? Who? WHO?
  

Tommy Scherrer is now back working in the bowling center, as well as a USBC Level One certified coach. He is also on the radio Wednesday nights from 7-8pm. Log onto audiojournal.net and click on the Listen Live link to listen to myself and Adam Durrance broadcast a recap of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.

Bowling Philosophy-March 2010

"Retro Diary: 2009 GoRVing Match Play Championship"

by Tommy Scherrer

As the 2009-10 PBA season returns for its last 3 events, I felt it was time to dust off the archives from last year's 2009 GoRVing Match Play Championship, featuring Chris Barnes and Walter Ray Williams Jr. I did for two reasons: 1) after searching for an actual job for 3 months, I finally landed a supervisory position with Wal-Mart and 2) I am attempting to get to this week's tournament to provide more insight into my entries. Currently, I am still waiting on the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for a possible credential to cover the tournament in Norwich, CT. Longshot odds? Sure, but it was worth a shot. Without further ado, let's go to the wayback machine with footnotes!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Go RVing Match Play Championship

Barnes....Williams...it's the PBA on ESPN (cue the John Tesh music). Wait, what? That was the NBA on NBC? Sorry, folks.


12:55 PM: Quick cutaway from Baseball Tonight to Chris Barnes throwing a practice shot. Looked like he struck, he fist pumped. Nothing like a practice shot and a fist pump.(1)

12:57: Old School PBA clip with Tommy Jones in his Buddy Holly glasses...and he must have stopped at Denny's before the video shoot. Damn, Thomas.

1:00: Dicky V!!! It's Awesome baby...with a capital A!

1:01: Rob Stone giving us the rundown and then Randy Pedersen chimes in with his observation: he feels like Barnes has a huge advantage with the multiple patterns and the fact that he has rolled to 4 straight Extreme Swing telecasts. Quick cut to last night's action between Williams and Chris Loschetter then Barnes and Mike Wolfe. The exhibition those two put on last night was amazing. Barnes shot 824 for 3 games on two different patterns.(2)

1:04: WRW has got a lime green MoRich shirt with what appears to be polka-dots, Barnes is in his usual Lance Armstrong biker shirt.(3) Stone misspeaks by saying that this is the 4th time these two have bowled for a title. This is actually only the second time they have bowled on TV for a title and the 4th time, period.

1:08: I always feel like...somebody's WATCHIN MEEEEE! Geico: so easy, a wad of money and googly eyes can do it.

1:09: The chess match on the lanes...the Chameleon on the left, Cheetah on the right. Both players plan to play up the rail. Walter does just that: RED BALL UP 5!!!(4)

1:11: Barnes with a can opener strike to start, then dribbles, shoots, and scores on the left lane.

1:12: Hey, look. Barnes pulled a shot...what a shocker that was. Big 4 and the first open of the match.

1:14: Walter Ray....HAMBONE.(5) Or an opening 4 bagger (well said, Rob Stone). Then he packs another strike for 5 in a row.

1:16: Barnes strikes on the left lane with the Resurgence. Amazing how many miles that ball still has on it. Arguably the ball that saved Columbia 300. My girlfriend and I are discussing the bowling ball, saying how that ball tore up oil patterns in college (and still does as she bowls for Vanderbilt, as most of you know), but how she never could get a good feel for it.

1:20: Walter Ray with a humbling career review in comparison to Earl Anthony saying that was Earl did was much more impressive as he now has 7 in a row.

1:21: Barnes spares then strikes and flat out cannot hang with Williams if the outside is playing that well.(6) As Williams trips the 4 pin for 8 in a row. Crowd isn't even jacked up.

1:22: Now 9 in a row...you almost had a feeling something like this might happen today with these two and the friction zone to the right.

1:24: Barnes is Noble sign...very creative. Barnes changes balls again, really trying to max out his look on the lanes. Shoots 241. Now it is Walter...with a 7 pin...ouch. Suddenly, we have a match. Just like that. AND HE MISSED A SINGLE PIN SPARE!!! Incredible. The entire match changed. Barnes is only down 26 after one game when it looked like he'd be dead.

1:29: Nice section on youth bowling. One of the major criticisms of bowling in the last 5-10 years has been the death of junior bowling and how it has killed the adult leagues now. Tons of scholarships??? Don't think so...(7)

1:31 Randy talks to Barnes and WRW in between games. A nice evaluation...brain fart says Williams on the whiffed 7 pin.(8)

1:35: Lumber Liquidators...title sponsor of the PBA. Yep, I'm sold.

1:37: Barnes to start Game 2 and strikes. Barnes saw the light and is looking to explode through it. Walter on Cheetah makes a ball change and goes 2-8...something doesn't look right with him.

1:39: uh oh...uh oh...Barnes has found both lanes it would seem. He looks absolutely locked in.

1:40: Ball change for Deadeye...4-9. Misses both pins and then goes big 4 on the Chameleon. This is a fold worthy of the New York Mets bullpen...can't you just see K-Rod blowing out a vocal chord due to his excessive celebrating and being out for two months?(9) But I digress...

1:42: And Barnes is playing the Phillies...shoot me now. Now Barnes has 5 in a row, he looks absolutely locked in. Did I already say that? Sorry, that was a "Memento" moment, except I did not need to tattoo myself with notes.(10)

1:43: Walter Ray with the Flomax weekly update...and again goes high during the quick segment. He is having weak stream issues right now.

1:45: ESPN commercial for fantasy baseball with Alyssa Milano: the only child star that did not have a true falling out in her career in the last 25 years. Think about it very carefully and see if you can't figure out one more who accomplished that goal.

1:48: We return to Barnes now leading in the match suddenly...wow, just opened up the rack for 6 in a row. He is remarkable when he's right, now he has 7 in a row. One is thinking Barnes has started to run away and its only the middle of the match.

1:51: Now Barnes has 9 in a row...sensational. Walter Ray finally doubles in the match. I hate to say this about Williams but he has to try and alter Barnes' look instead of trying to run after him. Could he maybe move left and stay ahead of him?(11)

1:52: Barnes takes a re-rack.(12) Foolish of him but we'll see if it works. And yes, an SPLIT! WE still have a match! Barnes gives away roughly 30 pins back and it is now a 48 pin match after two games. That is easily doable for Deadeye to recover from.

1:56: Michelle: "I want to say this has lived up to the hype...but not entirely in a good way."
Me: "It is the beauty and the curse of these two."
Michelle: "It is."

What we mean by that is that we expect these two players to give us a thrill in good ways but they keep handing each other chances instead of just outbowling each other.

1:59: Walter Ray with Randy: he sounds boring and uncomfortable with what is going on. Barnes with Randy: he sounds relaxed and certain of his next move but yet also doesn't give you this sense of I am going to destroy Walter Ray...he stands no chance, don't miss old guy or you will lose.(13)

2:04: They are going commercial free for the last match. Barnes has a healthy lead but we have seen him gag away healthier leads with fewer frames. Williams promptly starts with a strike. Barnes moves laterally and goes 4 pin. Back to Chameleon...bird dogs the 10 pin! OUCH!!!

2:08: Walter gets over amped and barely leaves the 10 pin. That can be his only miss of the match. Then Barnes on Cheetah goes plack 10. Now what is the move for CB on what is easily the tougher of the two lanes, amazingly, the Cheetah?

2:10: Williams makes a ball change...and strikes. WOW. Then nails on the Chameleon and strikes...look out Chris.(14)

2:13: Barnes hasn't missed on Chameleon all day by the way. The lane he is finishing on. Williams goes 4 pin on the left lane. Where Barnes has created right, he has erased Walter's left.

2:15: Barnes' first non strike on the left lane. Now it is a 39 pin lead for Barnes. Williams still can't strike on the left lane. Barnes starts worrying about his carry. I ask you why that even came up in his mind, but that would make too much sense. It was the Chris Norry moment.(15)

2:17: Barnes again makes a tight shot (spinchter tightening...). Leaves the 2-4-5 and makes it. Still leading...one more mark...BIRD DOGS IT FOR THE WINNA!

2:18: Barnes wins and for the first time in his career wins back-to-back events, capping off one of the greatest runs in bowling history. As for Walter Ray, he fought hard but that missed 7 pin truly was the downfall of his day. He actually won two of the three games but lost total wood by 29. 722-693, a 29 pin win for Barnes and his 12th title.

2:23: Randy and Walter Ray again after the match. Gracious as a champion, he said that Chris bowled better than he did. But his interview was telling: his game is predicated around playing straight and being accurate but the power players really force him to slow his ball speed down and rely on carry as much as his ability to throw it firm and make the pins dance.(16)

2:28: Barnes and Pedersen interview after the last commercial break. You can tell how great his mind is when he just bowls and lets his talent take over.(17) He gambled right on the lanes and he took away WRW's hold left. He is still alive to repeat as Player of the Year but he will need to cap off this amazing run of bowling.

1. There is also nothing like Barnes striking in a meaningless moment, you know, when it doesn't count as much. Alas.
2. This wasn't even Barnes' finest performance during last year's swing of extreme bowling. Go back to his performance in the Plastic Ball Championship where Barnes averaged over 257 in match play alone. Astounding.
3. I did not do my research admittedly, Walter Ray's shirt was comprised of horseshoes and bowling balls. As for Barnes, he was wearing that red/maroon shirt that made you think he was trying to emulate Tiger Woods on Sunday. No truth to the rumor that Barnes emulated Woods' off the course activities as well.
4. Walter has recently added to his arsenal now: BLUE BALL UP 5!!!
5. Everyone and their mother seems to outright detest Rob Stone for using the Hambone as a reference for a 4 bagger. I don't, didn't and never will for one simple reason: in the 2007-08 season, two things got over with fans: Rhino Page's awesome rookie season and the Hambone. It elicited more conversation than anything else in bowling that season, fans brought signs, chanted it during shots...you mean like actual fan interaction? Really...who woulda thunk it?
6. I kind of sort of forgot that Barnes still had 2+ games and the with oil transition and his higher rev rate, he would force WRW to alter his gameplan. When he tripped the 4 pin, it was already beginning. No one noticed it at that point.
7. For all bowling fans, read Gary Beck's white paper, "20/23 Vision" for a quick synopsis on how junior bowling has declined. This despite what industry insiders have been saying that bowling continues to grow in popularity. It is, but from a recreational standpoint.
8. Revisionist history is one thing, but Walter Ray sounded defeated after missing the 7 pin. Another note to the end of the first game: when Walter Ray missed the 7 pin, the whole building went completely silent. Almost as if they had seen a ghost or something. It was so shocking that when they went to break, they try to coerce applause out of the crowd but nobody made a sound. Like Norwich had become a mute colony.
9. K-Rod might have been the only Met in the 2009 season not to get injured. The list: Carlos Delgado (hip), Jose Reyes (calf/hamstring), John Maine (shoulder), JJ Putz (elbow), Luis Castillo (ankle), Ollie Perez (knee/head), Johan Santana (elbow), Carlos Beltran (knee), David Wright (concussion), Ryan Church (legs), Alex Cora (thumbs), Jeff Francouer (thumb). You get the idea...the Mets were a MASH unit in 2009. Now Beltran had knee surgery, Reyes has a thyroid issue, and K-Rod has pinkeye to start Spring Training.
10. Rent the movie...trust me, you'll love it.
11. I had a slight moment of clarity after I wrote this. I just questioned the 2nd best bowling in PBA history, the best right hander in PBA history, a man who has won 47 titles and 8 majors and has made 4 million bucks in his career and can still win a record 7th Player of the Year at age fifty?!? Forgive me, I really didn't know what I was on at that time.
12. I remember what Michelle said to me when he took the re-rack: "he's gunna choke on this shot". Sometimes, you don't question Valedictorians and four time All-Americans who go to Vanderbilt.
13. Post-editing mistake: I should have probably quoted that last line for Barnes saying that he was going to rip Walter Ray to shreds in the last game. As for Walter Ray...yeah, his speech was so enthusiastic I needed a hose to cool myself down. Like Bizzaro Lou Holtz giving me a pep talk/speech before a big game. It did not inspire confidence.
14. Randy said "uh-oh...", I said look out, Michelle said, "oh, great". Michelle, for future reference thinks Walter Ray is terrible for bowling.
15. Lynda Barnes' (Chris' wife) maiden name was Norry. I like to joke often that Chris should have taken Lynda's name because she was the more dominant bowler of the two. Safe to say Chris Barnes will not be inviting me to any JDRF charity events soon, for which I would love to contribute to. I feel that Type I diabetes is no laughing matter for children and they should be allowed to have some semblance of a normal childhood.
    
16. Walter Ray also said at the end of the interview he would not be cutting his throat after this telecast. Yes fans, he actually said this. You wonder why I keep saying that Walter Ray, as great as he is, needs to go away? You just cannot say such a remark like that with people listening.
    
17. Barnes would go on to finish 3rd in the US Open a few weeks later with what can only be described as only the most infamous solid 8 in bowling history against Mike Scroggins. Yes, much more infamous than Pedersen's solid 8 in the 1995 TPC. In retrospect (after all this is a retro version), this was as good as I've even seen a bowler bowl for 6 weeks maybe EVER. Barnes was just so good at showing off all of his talents, while embracing every format the PBA could throw at him for almost two months and he responded every time. He was a solid 8 away from winning another US Open and back-to-back POY. He was outright sensational at this time last year.
    

Bowling Philosophy-March 2010

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T"

Mike Scroggins: respect due, greatness still lacking

by Tommy Scherrer

If you are a frequent follower of Twitter, you may have noticed that former Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien is following the 'tweets' of young 19 year old Sarah Killen. O'Brien joked that interviewing squirrels in his backyard and cutting to a commercial was a call for help and his salvation was to randomly follow a person on Twitter for which Killen was the lucky soul who has seen her life change almost instantaneously. Killen is due to be married in September and was afraid of financing the wedding. O'Brien steps in, follows her, and at the snap of a finger custom made shoes, wedding dress offers, bottles of wine, and limos. What, did Ric Flair's "Custom Made" segment get hijacked for purposes of Killen's wedding? Killen has turned from teenage bride-to-be into a celebrity overnight.

(Note: isn't it strange that in 2010 that an unemployed entertainer can randomly 'follow' a teenage girl over the Internet or social network, give her instant credibility, she in turn, gets all of her wedding dreams to come true, where she might not have been able to finance it on her own. And we're cool with this??? Really....any other situation, Detective Stabler and Benson would be at CoCo's front door asking questions about this but since it's O'Brien, we just think he is bored and needed to make someone's day, or in this case, her wedding day.)

What does Killen have to do with Mike Scroggins? They have both become overnight sensations. Now it is hard to say that a 45 year old balding professional bowler can have the same overnight sensation as Killen but we, the bowling people, have made Scroggins a storyline often this season. How could we not? The 2009 US Open champion did the rare feat of defending his title as the 2010 Open #1 qualifier, yet being unable to successfully defend it, losing to Bill O'Neill in the title match. Scroggins has won two titles this season, the second time in his career he has won multiple titles in a season. Scroggins has now put himself in a position for Player of the Year with 3 events remaining in the PBA season and it would honestly not surprise anyone if Scroggins could find his way onto television once more and possibly win another title and become the man of the 2009-10 season.

In the past few weeks, Scroggins has been bandied about in a few articles (including one of my own) defining his greatness as a player. I am sticking to my guns and saying that Scroggins needs to crack the 10 title plateau in order to be a Hall of Famer, and possibly throw in another major title in there as well. His performance last week in the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator was simply put, a tremendous performance. Scroggins was the only lefthander to make the 16 person eliminator portion of the tournament. He was all alone on the left and as strange as it may sound, may have helped him. No one crossing his line to the pocket, Scroggins creating his ski slope to the 1-2 for 3 games in each eliminator section. It was tremendous bowling by Scroggins to make the show and he got the added benefit of the eliminator format to create a better ball reaction than his fellow righthanders. All he had to do was not have the lowest score in any match and he was a champion again and that is just what he did, outlasting crowd favorite Brian Kretzer in the title match 206-195 (yes, it was a tough title match to watch but after thinking about it some more, the Chameleon pattern can do that: it can get ugly).

Scroggins has earned his accolades for being a very good bowler but my grades are high. Scroggins is not yet a great player but he keeps teetering me towards the other side of the beam. I do respect him because he has continued to perform at a high level for the last 7-8 years where most players get to this age and start declining in terms of performance. It has been a privilege to see him bowl on a tour where it is rev dominant and Scroggins is more speed/accuracy dominant. I do hope that he finds a few more wins in the last few years of his career, then I can write my Mike Scroggins Hall of Fame article on BP. But he is not getting any custom made shoes or wine or anything like that. Remember, I don't have CoCo's compensation pay.

Thomas Scherrer is a USBC Certified Level One coach and now is on the radio!!! Look him up on http://audiojournal.net/ by clicking on the "Listen Live" link. The show is every Wednesday from 7-8pm EST as I broadcast the Worcester Telegram and Gazette to inform and empower people who are blind, disabled, or are unable to read print or visual material.

Bowling Philosophy-March 2010

"In 'Layman's' Terms"
by Tommy Scherrer

Did it ever occur to anyone who attempts to write about bowling how they come up with their ideas for a report or a blog? I was peddling away on my apartment's stationary bike this afternoon and felt compelled to write something of significance for this week's BP edition. On the bike...nothing...while doing squats...nothing...hamstring curls...nothing....box jumps....nothing. So I was in the middle of my second set of squats and encountered a 45 pound weight falling off the bar and literally breaking into two pieces!!! I have never done such a thing before. There is was: cracked in half, clean as a whistle. How did this happen? Was the plate not set? Did I lean too much to one side? The answer was the bar where the plate goes on actually dipped and ostensibly, the plate fell off and to the ground. Luckily, no one (myself included) was hurt as the plate sustained a private funeral.

With my workout over, I had my answer to the BP Report (it needs a catchy name, doesn't it?): answer some questions on bowling. Where would I find questions to answer?...one might ask. Thankfully, Andy Morton's report on pba.com usually has open questions, entitled "The Big Four". However, Mr. Morton was out of service so Donnie Layman substituted and opened up five questions, or what he dubbed "The Greek Church". Thank you, Mr. Layman...let's answer these questions. Remember, this is just personal belief on my part and not what is fact or otherwise.

Q1: Does Mike Scroggins ever get enough credit for how great he really is?

A: Scroggins gets credit for these things: great person, very good bowler, and vastly underrated major performer. What he won't get credit for (by fans) is being a great personality, plus his style of game is not very exciting. Again, not his fault, but his steady performances over the last 7 years has been a reflection of his hard work as a bowler. Personally, I feel he needs another major title to establish himself as a Hall of Fame bowler or 3-5 more PBA titles. For the past decade though, tremendously consistent...really good...not great.

Q2: Can Bill O'Neill hold off Walter Ray and company for the Chris Schenkel Player of the Year?

A: Let's hope so as fans for the future of bowling. Yes, from an historical standpoint, having Walter Ray Williams Jr. try and win a record 7th POY would be a special moment in bowling history. Nobody 25 years ago would have possibly imagined that anyone could come along and rival Earl Anthony's bowling records and in some cases, go flying right past them. However, it is not in the best interest of a sport or an organization that is trying to promote younger talent AND is viewed as being a little too old to begin with, to have the POY be a 50-year-old.

Suppose we use golf as an analogy and say that Tom Watson wins the British Open and on top of that, were to beat a then morally sound Tiger Woods for Golfer of the Year at 58 years old in 2009. You loved the sentimental moment of Major Tom winning another Open championship, but Golfer of the Year??? That is insane, right? Imagine how foolish golfers half Watson's age would feel if that were to happen. Walter Ray winning the Masters? Great. Excellent performance by the game's greatest right handed bowler in PBA history. Winning Player of the Year at 50? It is not great for the sport, no matter how anyone spins it. As for the others? Try if they can, but for bowling to move into another generation, Bill O'Neill needs to finish off the 2009-10 season with the game's highest seasonal honor.

Q3: Will Jason Belmonte's hamstring stop him from making a run at POY?

A: It will and it has. Already not bowling in Columbus, Ohio this week, Belmonte might not even try bowling for a few weeks. Look, there is no need for Belmo to run out there and try and play hurt, not at his age, not when the PBA needs him to be a crowd favorite and not damaged goods. Belmonte has had a very strong season for his first full-time run on the PBA. He absolutely tore up the US Open pattern this week when he was healthy, so be on the lookout for that in the future. Medical advice: rest, ice, compress, and elevate Belmo.

Q4: Can PDW (Pete Weber) make it to 2nd on the all-time titles list before his illustrious career ends?

A: Weber's 2007 US Open was his 34th title. He has just tied Mark Roth on the titles list and arguably became the great power bowler of all time. Since then he has made 9 telecasts and hasn't won since. Remember, Weber had won his 34 titles in his first 116 shows, which would average to about one title for every 3.5 telecasts. If you were to prorate that in the last 3 years, Weber would have had at least 2 or 3 more wins and perhaps snuck in a major in there for good measure. You would now have 36-37 titles and now 9 majors, 4 titles and one major shy of Anthony and one major better than Williams. To me, the ultimate gauge on a player's professional career is whether or not he can win major titles. Just look at how we now observe Norm Duke's career in the last few years because of his recent major title run. Duke went from great player to an iconic, historical player in the course of 3 major events. That to me, that is what should matter.

So, to rephrase Layman's question into Question 4a: can he win two more majors to tie Anthony? To me, that would certainly re-open what many feel is a dead debate about comparing Weber and Williams and their careers against each other. Give me the guy who has more majors than anyone else and who gave the PBA more mainstream attention than anyone in the past decade than anyone else. Glad we had this discussion, let's move on.

Q5: Who else thinks Tommy Jones is on the brink of returning to his previous dominance?

A: Such an open-ended question, it should be on the list of Questions That Have An Obvious Answer However Do Not Because Of The Sport. Let's get some facts straight about winning in the PBA: it is whether you dominate on Sunday. Not on Saturday. Not Thursday. Not any day but Sunday. Yes, you have to actually get to Sunday (so being good during the week is important) but if you were to say bowling could stick to its single-elimination matchplay and say, have only two bowlers bowl on television in a best 3 out of 5 format to determine the week's winner, we could use the 'who dominated?' card during the whole week. In Jones' case, he could run over everyone when every event was single-elimination. Of his 12 titles, 8 of them were of single-elimination matchplay. Jones knew how to sprint in bowling terms like a 100 meter runner, and now he is being forced to run more 10K's and half-marathons on top of his sprinting. Not that Jones cannot be good with all of this, but it does take away a dynamic part of his game which made him a force. However, Barnes adapted, Duke adapted, Walter Ray adapted, even Scroggins adapted both ways in stepladder and matchplay formats. Weber, Jason Couch and Bohn have been more successful in long distance/stepladder format tournaments than matchplay and their winning has taken some decline. Jones will have to adapt better or have his Hall of Fame career suffer a Ballard-like string of zeros. Those are just facts in the last few years.

This is not to say Jones will not return to dominance. His numbers this year are consistent across the board. He even stole some of my argument's thunder last week by making the US Open televised finals. However, do I think Jones could benefit from the PBA going back to more single-elimination matchplay format...yes I do. And when I mean 'more' I mean pretty much all of the standard events.


Could I be wrong about all of these questions? Sure, but I will go back to what I mentioned about O'Neill Monday and say that the PBA could really, really, really, reeeeeallllly benefit from him winning Player of the Year. Scroggins is a potential Hall of Fame player but for the moment will not be a great player. Belmonte...seriously, mate: rest up. Weber's goal should be to tie the major record, which to me is a far greater accomplishment in this generation of bowling. As for Jones, dominance is relevant to what you define dominance is? Is seven shows and no wins as good as 3 shows and two wins? Not even close...you want wins over consistency because that is what people remember. And you will remember how this article got started: with a 45 pound plate snapping into two.


Tommy Scherrer is a USBC Level One certified coach and a fan of bowling since age 9. Bowling Philosophy is written to offer insight and provide thought to the world of bowling.

Sports in General

"Oh, Whoa...Canada"

by Tommy Scherrer

Q: Thomas, can we, as Americans relate to what was going on with the Canadian hockey team having to win a gold medal?

A: Take a trip back to June 22, 1938. It is Joe Louis-Max Schmeling II, with the heavyweight championship of boxing on the line. But more than just a bout between the "Brown Bomber" and "Black Uhlan of the Rhine", it was America against Germany...Nazi Germany, no less. The venue is Yankee Stadium, the crowd is over 70,000 fans, the political tensions riding very, very, very high, and just in case you didn't know, boxing mattered about a million times more than it does in 2010. Imagine Louis leading after 10 rounds, he's got Schmeling on points, he has scored one early knockdown but Schmeling (a former world champion) recovers to take the bout to the 11th round, needing just one punch to even the bout. Suddenly, Schmeling catches Louis dropping his left after a jab with a vicious shot similar to their first bout in 1936, which shelved Louis for his first professional loss. Same scenario, Louis is knocked down but he responds to the count to continue fighting. All of a sudden, Schmeling is back in the fight and all he needs is one more shot like that to pull of a national tragedy. Imagine in the 13th round, Schmeling does so: blisters Louis with a flurry to where referee Arthur Donovan steps in and stops the fight. Schmeling wins the world title, Louis caves under all the pressure, America mourns its inferiority to the Aryan Race of Nazi German and Hitler and the sport for which they have held as their own sees the face of their country fall to the forces of evil.

If Zack Parisi's goal with 24 seconds left in regulation to tie Sunday's Gold Medal hockey game was the 11th round right cross, then the 13th round flurry would have been an overtime goal from the likes of a Patrick Kane, a Phil Kessel, or God forbid Canada, a Chris Drury, who would have gone back to New York City, captain of the New York Rangers, a conquering hero in this country...again. There would be Drury banging home a low stuff-in attempt in front of goaltender Roberto Luongo, silence in the building, a nation in both symbolic and literal tears.

However, reality was that Louis destroyed Schmeling in two minutes and 4 seconds. Reality was, Sidney Crosby awoke from his coma and scored seven minutes and forty seconds into overtime to give Canada a 3-2 win over the United States to give a nation of 33 million souls a celebration worth the moment. Here is Crosby, 22, already a Stanley Cup champion, the heir to hockey's throne, as well as Canada's throne, firing one past Ryan Miller to set the city of Vancouver on fire and the country of Canada into joy, excitement, and in some cases, relief.

That scenario is probably as close as Americans can relate to what Canadians were feeling for roughly two weeks enduring the 2010 Winter Olympic hockey tournament. Truth is, we will never know what those players, coaches, management, and administration of Canada were going through trying to answer their early round struggles, the benching of the iconic Martin Brodeur, the sleepwalking job Joe Thornton and Crosby were doing...you name it, Americans could not relate on any level whatsoever. Most importantly, the fans and citizens of Canada were probably more on edge than the players were. You see, fans invest in everything. They buy tickets to see athletes perform feats that they only dreamed about in dirt fields, driveways with basketball hoops boarded up on the garage, and homemade ice rinks made out of cold winter nights and the sprinkler machine running. They cheer their heroes on, almost blindly, hoping that they can give us one moment that we can tell our unborn kids, our grandkids, our nephews or nieces, or even someone who is unable to see. Sunday night, Sidney Crosby gave everyone in one nation a moment to remember. He also gave one nation a big sigh of relief since this is their game.

Americans can counter and say that they created baseball, basketball, and football...stockcar racing, modern tenpin bowling, and extreme sports. That, however is just the problem: our athletic attention is splintered into so many factions that no single sport can define our nation. We like to think a sport such as football does the way hockey grips Canada, but that is doing Canadians a major disservice to their past as well as to the present. Only one team in this tournament could actually fail with anything other than a gold medal and that was Canada.

Russia...? Maybe upset but they would not have lost sleep over not winning gold.

Sweden...? The reigning gold medalists would have liked to have defended it, but probably knew they were a younger Peter Foresburg away and an even hotter Henrik Lundqvist away from repeating.

USA...? Please. Most "experts" did not think that this "team" would be good enough to get a medal game.

Canada have everything to lose and absolutely nothing to gain. Win the gold medal and they'll say it was your mission accomplished. Lose to the US on Sunday and be labeled as underachievers, chokers, losers, men who lacked national pride, or any other negative label. Sidney Crosby changed that notion for at least 4 years.

Arguably, the most important hockey game played since June 14, 1994 and easily, the most important Olympic hockey game since Lake Placid, 1980 had two nations sitting on the edge of their collective seats. However, only one nation had everything riding on it. The other had scouting combines, spring training, NASCAR, a US Open, and TigerWatch on their minds.

Canada...your game, your time, your moment.

Bowling Philosophy-U.S. Open Recap

A look into the future...we hope.

"The Dawning of a New Era?"

by Tommy Scherrer

Back in 2005, Bill O'Neill burst onto the professional bowling scene by narrowly missing the televised finals of the U.S. Open and as an amateur no less. He was immediately labeled the next "can't miss" product, and the resume would suffice that he was a "can't miss" talent. A 4-time First Team All-American at Saginaw Valley State, a 3-time Collegiate Bowler of the Year, numerous junior title wins, local tournament wins, collegiate all-event wins, what didn't Bill O'Neill win from the ages of 12 to 22?

Bowling has had its share of Next Ones, some living up to the hype (Marshall Holman/Parker Bohn III), some not living up to the hype based on injury (Rick Steelsmith/Robert Smith), and some possibly overhyped yet it was totally justified when they came out (Chris Barnes/Patrick Healey Jr.). All of these players had plenty of success and major titles, but some fell short of what our expectations are. Naturally, it is almost impossible to live up to hype: it blows our conceptual minds to think My God...look at this guy's talent. Steelsmith's got Holman's physical gifts with the professionalism of Mike Aulby. He can win 30 titles in today's game. Sadly, injuries and some unfortunate luck on television relegated Steelsmith to only two titles as a pro (and the 1987 Masters as an amateur). You cannot predict what can happen in a player's professional career when it comes to health or circumstances on television; rather it is something you have to hope works out. O'Neill's first 4 seasons, however was not just "can't miss" but "can't win". He finally eradicated the winless demons by winning the Chameleon championship in 2009, proving his tremendous talent had paid off. The next question was could he take the steps to being the Next One?

If Bill O'Neill was to take step one to being the Next One in professional bowling, he had to win yesterday's 67th U.S. Open. He did not disappoint, firing a tremendous 267 game in the championship match over reigning and defending champion Mike Scroggins for O'Neill's first career major title, $60,000, and a fresh 3-year exemption on the PBA Tour. The situation was perfectly set up for O'Neill to make the leap to superstardom...beat two former U.S. Open champions in Scroggins and Tommy Jones, dominate the way he did, make it two horse race for Player of the Year, and set up at long last, the passing of the torch situation to the next generation.

Wait, you say? Didn't we have the torch passed with Barnes? We all thought we did but sadly, our reflections go back to Sundays and Barnes has not lived up to "hype" of Sundays. For that matter, O'Neill has not up until this season, winning twice. But look at circumstances for the future: Barnes is now 40 years old. His shelf life may only have another 8-10 years, which is still plenty of time for Barnes to be one of the faces of the PBA, but he cannot be the Alpha Dog of bowling anymore. His time has come and gone, some would joke never arrived, but that is disingenuous of people to say: the guy is too Damn good...except on Sunday. O'Neill is 28, to be wed in May, a major champion bowler, the best of the young guns of bowling, and on the verge of becoming one of the youngest Players of the Year in PBA history. This makes more sense than Barnes constantly teasing us with his virutoso performances on Friday and Saturday then looking like he is afraid of the moment on Sunday.

The actual passing of the torch, however, started in almost perfect fashion. Step one: beat the incumbent. Scroggins was the defending Open champion and the top seed for the televised finals, with a chance at making history. O'Neill looked in trouble early, then rattled off ten consecutive strikes to crush the party at Scroggys. He marinated, grilled, and virtually ate Scroggins on national TV. If you are going to win a major, it better be against someone who has been there before to make this work. Step two: go get Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Find him, bowl him, beat him, destroy him. Obviously, you cannot script those moments like Ric Flair-Sting in pro wrestling but these guys are good enough to make a show together in the final 4 tournaments that it almost makes tremendous sense, doesn't it? If the game is ever going to fully bypass what has been a 24 year run of greatness by Walter Ray with no legitimate successor to the throne, doesn't this has to happen? Doesn't Bill O'Neill have to cripple Walter Ray? If so, when?

The opportune time would be this season. Williams and O'Neill are currently 1-2 in the POY race, Williams is 50, O'Neill is 28. Williams has more titles than anyone else in PBA history, O'Neill has two. Williams has won Player of the Year a record tying 6 times, O'Neill has never sniffed it. This season would be the perfect time. To clear up any confusion, the torch still belongs to Dead-Eye Williams. Has been that way for roughly 17 years, no one can even attempt to argue this. It isn't as if the fate of the bowling world depends on it happening this year, but you figure both players will find another themselves on Sunday at some point to end the year, they are just that good. You hope as a fan that you see them together and with a title at stake. More than just a title at stake, however...it would be the possible future of professional bowling at stake.

This has nothing to do with Walter Ray as much as it does with O'Neill. The game needs a new focal point, a new superstar, a new Alpha Dog to carry the PBA and bowling for the next 10-15 years. Walter Ray has been arguably the best player to ever lace up bowling shoes, but nobody has rivaled his dominance consistently enought to take over the game's mantle. Is that too much for Billy O to handle? We don't know but if this is going to work out in the most ideal way, O'Neill beats Walter Ray for something super significant to take his place as bowling's top dog. Doing it this year to beat him for Player of the Year would be the beginning of a brand new era in the sport of bowling. It's about time we start looking to see if this can happen. It's about time we see a new era of bowling truly be ushered in.

It's about time...isn't it?

The author: Tommy Scherrer is a USBC Level I instructor and former collegiate bowler at William Paterson University. He is currently writing Bowling Philosophy to provide conversation and insight into the world of bowling, the business, and the profession.