The Cornerstone
The Foundation Newsletter
Volume 14, Issue 8 September 2010
"The crisis is upon us, friends. Our sport is in trouble. Many of you, that love the game as we do, will look at the crisis like a friend who is in trouble and needs our help. We must not shrink from the task before us, we should welcome it. It is 'our' generation that has been called to the challenge. If not now, when? If not us, who?"
The Foundation
“One World, One Game”
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Letter from the Editor
Walter Ray and the ESPY
PBA Hall of Famer, Walter Ray Williams Jr. earned a record seventh PBA Player of the Year honor in 2009-10 also earned a seventh ESPN “Best Bowler” ESPY last month.
I must admit, I didn’t see that one coming.
Honestly, after the banner year that Kelly Kulick had, she not only seemed like the obvious choice for the honor, but like a shoe-in to win. There really was no bowler better than her for the season.
Let’s look at what she accomplished.
During the 2009 World Series of Bowling, Kelly won the Women’s Series Shark Championship and the Women’s World Championships. Her win at the Women’s World Championships earned her a berth in the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions. She defeated Chris Barnes in the title match to become the first woman to ever win a PBA Tour Title. Then she won the 2010 USBC Queens. She followed that up with a win at the 2010 Women’s US Open. So, four of her last five victories were majors.
ESPYs are awarded by fan votes. I am certainly not trying to take away from Walter Ray’s greatness, because let’s face it, he is great. But to all of those fans who didn’t vote for Kelly I ask, how could you not vote for Kelly? She had an amazing year; really, an unprecedented year. She really was the most deserving. Shame on you for not voting for her.
All three bowlers who were nominated were outstanding candidates for the honor. Walter Ray, Kelly and Bill O’Neil are great bowlers; each deserving of the honor. But this year…it really should have gone to Kelly.
Inaugural Youth Bowling Summit scheduled at International Bowling Campus
Top ball manufacturers and industry leaders to discuss future youth programs
Four major bowling ball manufacturers have been invited to the International Bowling Campus (IBC) in Arlington, Texas August 24, 2010, for a historic meeting on youth bowling, according to the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA).
Leaders from Brunswick Bowling, Ebonite International, Storm Bowling Products and 900 Global/AMF, along with Steve Johnson, executive director of the BPAA and Stu Upson, executive director of the USBC, will take part in the one-day meeting to discuss the future of youth bowling, explore ways the group can partner together to improve existing programs and review potential new initiatives.
"I believe youth bowling can be helped by a myriad of support, and to that end we have invited some of the most powerful people in the industry to Arlington to exchange ideas," said Chad Murphy, BPAA Director of Youth.
A day after the summit, a representative sampling of proprietors and youth directors from around the country will meet at the IBC with the BPAA for an orientation on a new project to be kicked off this fall.
A new youth experience/coaching concept is scheduled to be tested in as many as fifteen centers across the U.S. This project will be a joint program supported by BPAA in conjunction with USBC.
The BPAA also provided a recap of another successful summer of scholarship tournaments that awarded over $170,000 to youth bowlers to use toward college expenses.
"Because of these tournaments, and the volunteers from the proprietor ranks, dozens of kids will now have the opportunity to offset some of their present and future costs of achieving their college education," said Steve Johnson, executive director of the BPAA. "We are grateful for their time and willingness to work with our youth and the future of our sport."
For more information, or to become involved in these programs, contact BPAA Youth Director Chad Murphy at chad@bpaa.com or call 817-385-8469.
United States win 14 of 16 gold medals on the final day of competition at Tournament of The Americas
The 16-player team from the United States won all four gold medals in the 4-player Team event, all four gold medals in Country All-Events and six out of eight gold medals in Individual All Events on the final day of competition in the 48th Lee Evans Tournament of The Americas at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
The U.S teams dominated the team event over 12 games - two blocks of six games over two days - to sweep the gold medals. Colombia took two silver medals in Senior and Junior B, while the Dominican Republic and Canada earned silver in Adult and Junior A, respectively. Canada also claimed the bronze medals in Adult and Senior while Puerto Rico got both bronze medals in the Junior divisions.
With their performance in the Team events, the U.S. bowlers also sealed the victory in Country All Events in each division. The outcome of the gold, silver and bronze medals was the exactly the same as in the team events.
Cassidy Schaub led all players with 7717 pinfall total and an average of 214.36 for 36 games (12 games Singles, 6 games Doubles, 6 games Mixed Doubles and 12 games Team) to win the gold medal in Adult Male All Events.
Other U.S. gold medal winners were Ed Roberts, Lucy Sandelin, Kyle King, Elise Bolton, and Michael Coffey.
Aumi Guerra, Dominican Republic, was the best female bowler of the ToA averaging 207.75 for her 36 games en route to win the gold medal in the Adult Female division. The title in Junior Female B went to Kristie Lopez, Puerto Rico, who felled 7073 pins (196.47 ave.).
The Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas is the oldest annual international tournament in the American Zone.
The invitational competition for countries of PABCON (Pan American Bowling Confederation - the American Zone of World Tenpin Bowling Association) has four divisions for men and women: Adult, Senior (ages 50-plus), Junior A (ages 16-19) and Junior B (ages 12-15).
In each division, one team comprised of two men and two women compete in Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Team event throughout the week-long tournament. After 36 games, Individual All-Events and National All-Events champions are recognized.
PBA = $1,000, 000 Prize Fund
PBA Unveils Plans for Richest Tournament of Champions in History
SEATTLE, Wash. (Aug. 13, 2010) – The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is gearing up for the richest tournament in professional bowling history, the $1 million PBA Tournament of Champions, and for the first time is creating an opportunity for any player who has ever won a PBA title to take a shot at the record $250,000 first prize.
The PBA Tournament of Champions will be conducted Jan. 16-22 at Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas, Nev., and it will feature an all-new format featuring a “Champions field” to determine the players who will advance to the “Elite field.”
ALL-TIME GREATS to Compete
The “Elite field” will be composed of: 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exempt players; any player who was listed among the “50 Greatest Players in PBA History” during the PBA Tour’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2009; any PBA Hall of Famer; any player who has won five or more PBA Tour titles; any player who has won a PBA major championship; the 2010 PBA Senior U.S. Open and USBC Senior Masters champions, and the 2010 PBA Regional Players Championship and Regional Players Invitational winners.
All other PBA title winners, up to a maximum of 180, will make up the “Champions” field. The Champions field will include players who have won four or fewer PBA Tour titles or a PBA Regional, PBA Women’s Series, PBA Senior Tour or PBA Senior Regional title as of Jan. 9, 2011. Titles won by players who were not members at that time are not eligible.
THE FORMAT
The Champions field will bowl 14 games – two seven-game qualifying rounds each on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 16 and 17. After 14 games, the top half of the Champions field (up to 90 players) will join the Elite field. Qualifying scores from the Champions round will be dropped.
The Elite field – including Champions field qualifiers and Elite players – will begin qualifying on Monday evening, Jan. 17. All bowlers then will bowl 20 games in four five-game blocks to determine the top 54 (based on 216 entries) who will advance into the Cashers Round.
After two eight-game blocks in the Cashers Round, the top 24 based on 36 total games will advance to a traditional 24 games of round-robin match play. At the conclusion of match play, the top four will advance to the TV final.
The first key step, however, is that all players eligible and wishing to enter must be full-fledged PBA members as of Oct. 1.
The entry fee for all Tournament of Champions competitors will be $750 if paid by Dec. 15 ($1,000 after Dec. 15). To enter, look for the Tournament of Champions entry link when you log on to pba.com as a PBA member.
TV FINALS FEATURES: $450,000.00
The rewards for bowling well will be unprecedented in PBA history. The payoffs for making the four-player stepladder final on Saturday, Jan. 22, will be $250,000 to win, $100,000 for second, $60,000 for third and $40,000 for fourth place. Based upon a starting field of 216, last-to-cash will be $2,500 for 54th place.
Concluding the week will be the PBA Hall of Fame dinner on Saturday, Jan. 22. Details on that event will be announced soon.
The entire Tournament of Champions will be covered live on pba.com’s Xtra Frame video streaming service. To subscribe, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.
The PBA Tournament of Champions is the PBA Tour’s signature event, an event filled with historical significance including the 2010 TOC which was won by Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J. – the first woman ever to bowl in the event, and the first woman ever to win a PBA Tour title.
The first PBA Tournament of Champions was held in 1965 in Akron, Ohio. Billy Hardwick won that first event and earned $25,000.00.
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,800 of the best bowlers from 13 countries who compete in Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, Regional and Senior Tour events. Nearly one million ESPN viewers watch PBA Tour on Sundays during the tour season and thousands watch PBA activities online by using PBA’s video streaming service, Xtra Frame. PBA sponsors include Barbasol, Bayer, Brunswick, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, One A Day Men’s 50+ Multivitamin, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information, log on to www.pba.com.
(Note: This article was reprinted (and edited for space) with permission from the PBA).
Swift bowls over Bieber to become celebrity inductee into laceName w:st="on">InternationallaceName> laceName w:st="on">BowlinglaceName> laceType w:st="on">MuseumlaceType> and Hall of Fame
ARLINGTON, TX, August 11, 2010 - The public has spoken and country music sensation Taylor Swift is the fan's choice as the 2010 celebrity inductee into the laceName w:st="on">InternationallaceName> laceName w:st="on">BowlinglaceName> laceType w:st="on">MuseumlaceType> and Hall of Fame. With nearly 1.3 million votes cast online at www.gobowling.com, Swift topped pop star Justin Bieber in a hotly contested race to forever secure her place in bowling history. Swift and Bieber were among nine celebrity nominees selected by the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA) for their public support of the sport of bowling. Placing at a distant third to Swift and Bieber was comic legend and former "King Pin" star Bill Murray who went on a late run to amass nearly 20,000 online votes during National Bowling Week (July 31 to August 7), an impressive total, but not nearly enough to catch Swift or Bieber who each garnered more than 600,000 votes. Rounding out the bottom of the competition was late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon who netted just 623 votes. The results of the Celebrity Hall of Fame vote were first reported in the August 23rd issue of OK! Magazine.
"In many ways Taylor Swift perfectly represents the current face of bowling, especially as the sport enjoys unprecedented growth in popularity among youth, women and young adults," said Steve Johnson, executive director of the BPAA. "While we are grateful to Justin Bieber and all of our candidates for their enthusiasm for our great sport, we are tremendously proud to welcome Ms. Swift as our celebrity inductee into the Hall of Fame and we extend our deepest congratulations to her and the hundreds of thousands of fans who cast votes on her behalf."
For the first time in bowling history, the industry opened the Hall of Fame celebrity induction process to the fans - and the votes rolled in. Since the fan polls opened July 12, nearly 1.3 million votes were cast in a fierce competition that has seen the front-runner position shift multiple times between Swift and Bieber. Additionally, underscoring the global popularity of bowling, the BPAA reported that votes were cast by individuals in all 50 states and across 113 countries.
As released today by the BPAA and OK! Magazine, below are the final vote tallies among the nine Celebrity Hall of Fame nominees:
1. Taylor Swift..............................................................613,324 votes
2. Justin Bieber.............................................................608,015 votes
3. Bill Murray..................................................................21,451 votes
4. Jeff Bridges................................................................14,754 votes
5. Pauley Perrette.............................................................9,472 votes
6. Kim Kardashian............................................................3,628 votes
7. Dwight Howard................................................................779 votes
8. Chris Paul.......................................................................663 votes
9. Jimmy Fallon...................................................................623 votes
Below is bowling background information on the celebrity nominees:
· Taylor Swift - Since country music star Taylor Swift's rise to fame, she has been frequently spotted and photographed hitting the lanes with celebrity friends like Selena Gomez and Cory Monteith.
· Justin Bieber - Teenage heart throb Justin Bieber demonstrated his love of bowling in the music video for his smash hit single "Baby," that has garnered nearly 232 million views on YouTube. Bieber also hosted a bowling-themed release party in New York City for his album "My World 2.0," where he defeated R&B star and New York radio personality Nick Cannon in a bowling showdown.
· Jeff Bridges - Oscar award-winning actor Jeff Bridges starred as "The Dude" in the 1998 critically acclaimed bowling film "The Big Lebowski." In Bridges' role he reinvented "cool" and the movie has since become a cult classic.
· Bill Murray - Comic genius Bill Murray starred as the memorable Ernie McCracken in the 1996 comedy "King Pin." Since his role as the flamboyant McCracken, Murray has been a bowling icon with the popularity of his character living on through millions of Internet views.
· Pauley Perrette - Perrette is best known for her portrayal as the lovable and upbeat gothic forensic scientist Abbey Sciuto who regularly enjoys bowling with nuns in the hit CBS series NCIS.
· Kim Kardashian - Photographs of Kim Kardashian at bowling centers and charity bowling events have graced the covers of celebrity magazines and tabloids nationwide. Kardashian also showed her skills on the lanes with sister Khloe on her hit reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."
· Dwight Howard - A true bowling aficionado, NBA all-star center Dwight Howard frequently hosts charity bowling tournaments in Orlando and has been honored in the pages of U.S. Bowler Magazine for his support of the sport.
· Chris Paul - NBA all-star point guard Chris Paul is an avid bowler who has served as an advocate and youth ambassador for the United States Bowling Congress. Paul, who dubs bowling his "second favorite sport" regularly runs a celebrity invitational pro-am bowling tournament on the PBA tour that pairs celebrities with professional bowlers.
· Jimmy Fallon - The former Saturday Night Live star turned late night talk show host regularly conducts zany segments with celebrity guests including Grapefruit Bowling with Jennifer Anniston, Drew Barrymore's bowling ball lick and a perennial show favorite - Human Bowling.
Over 90 countries enter the 46th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup
October 16th to 23rd in Toulon on the French Riviera.
Among those is the world's newest country of Kosovo, recognized by the USA and most of the European Union countries. The Director of Bowling in Kosovan city of Prishtine, Fitim Fazliu, is clearly delighted and commented: "Participating in the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup will be a huge highlight for our bowling industry, sport and for our country."
Among the bowlers so far nominated will be two former champions: