PRACTICE ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

All we can bowl for $10

We'll be practicing at AMF Pinole Valley Lanes at 11:00 AM on Sunday. This will be the first time in awhile that all of us have gotten together to work on skills. Please put together a list of things you'd like to work on. I'm sure there will be a fair amount of overlapping between us. (Did I hear someone say "10-pin?") Since this is a bowling buffet with all we can bowl for $10, we might as well exploit it for all we can.  

At 1:00, which may be right around the time we finish, ESPN will be broadcasting the PBA Super Clash between Jason Belmonte and Sean Rash. They're bowling a head-to-head three game series with a $2,000.00 prize for each game and $10,000.00 for the winner of the series. You can read the details about the match here. I'll stick around to watch it if anyone else feels like it.



That's 1 PM Pacific Time



PBA USES BLUE DYE TO ILLUSTRATE OIL ON ITS LANES

Did you watch the World Series of Bowling the past two weekends? We've seen some exciting matches and the PBA's latest innovation -- blue dye in the oil so the viewers can see where the oil is on the lane. Click the link below for a report from ThePostGame.com.



PBA Uses Blue Dye To Illustrate Oil On Its Lanes

Next Sunday's telecast of the PBA Chameleon Championship will be the third of four telecasts to feature the dyed oil. Tune into ESPN at 10:00 AM (PST).

PBA LEAGUE CAN USE A LITTLE SHOWTIME

Have a peek at page 11

I got a little ink in the November 2013 issue of Bowling World magazine. This was actually a reprint of Fred Eisenhammer's column in L.A. Bowling Examiner. The subject was the upcoming PBA League season and the absence of women in the league. If you're interested you can read it through one of the links above or by picking up a free copy of Bowling World at the bowling center.

BOWLING ON TV

Here is the PBA television schedule for the upcoming season. All of these events will be televised Sundays on ESPN. The times are Pacific time.

DATE         TIME      TOURNAMENT
Dec 01 2013  10:00 AM  WSOB PBA CHEETAH CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec 08 2013  10:00 AM  WSOB PBA VIPER CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec 15 2013  10:00 AM  WSOB PBA CHAMELEON CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec 22 2013  10:00 AM  WSOB PBA SCORPION CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec 29 2013  10:00 AM  WSOB PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan 05 2014  10:00 AM  WBT WOMEN'S FINALS
Jan 05 2014  10:00 AM  WBT MEN'S FINALS
Jan 12 2014  10:00 AM  PBA RPI FINALS
Jan 19 2014  12:00 PM  INTERNATIONAL JAPAN CUP
Jan 26 2014   9:00 AM  PBA LEAGUE
Feb 09 2014   9:00 AM  PBA LEAGUE
Feb 16 2014  12:00 PM  PBA LEAGUE
Feb 23 2014  12:00 PM  USBC MASTERS
Mar 02 2014  12:00 PM  PBA LEAGUE
Mar 23 2014  10:00 AM  PBA LEAGUE - POSITION ROUND
Mar 30 2014   1:30 PM  PBA LEAGUE - WILDCARD ROUND
Apr 06 2014  10:00 AM  PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Apr 13 2014  11:00 AM  PBA LEAGUE - ELIAS CUP FINALS

WSOB = World Series of Bowling
WBT = World Bowling Tour
RPI = Regional Players Invitational

PRO BOWLING'S U.S. OPEN& “BATTLE OF THE SEXES”

There will be a new twist to the U.S. Open Champtionship this year. The men and women will hold their champtionships simultaneously in Columbus, Ohio. This will be followed by a single game bowl-off between the men's and women's champions. Even better, it will be shown live by ESPN on Saturday, July 27th starting at 9:00 AM (PDT). If you're working Saturday, set your DVR to record it.

THE THREE NEW PBA OIL PATTERNS

Three new patterns were introduced on the PBA's Geico Summer Swing. They are Badger, Bear, and Wolf. They weren't used in our PBA Experience league this year but they might be available by next year. Here is some information about them:

The Bowling Tree: Three New Oil Patterns to Debut in Milwaukee for the GEICO PBA Summer Swing.

Don't forget that the PBA King of the Swing (Summer Swing championship match) is on TV today from 4:00-6:00 PM.

'via Blog this'

GEICO PBA KING OF THE SWING ON CBS SPORTS NETWORK

TUESDAY ON CBS SPORTS NETWORK (7 P.M. ET); GEICO PBA King of the Swing | Professional Bowlers Association:

It's a two hour telecast that begins at 4:00 PM, Pacific time. I hope everyone will get home in time to see it. I'll be at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs play the Angels so I'll have to miss this one.

Channel 613 on DirecTV, 418 & 732(HD) on Comcast Cable

'via Blog this'

PBA LEAGUE GEAR

You might have heard Olivia mention how much she likes the Pittsburgh Jack Rabbits' jersey and logo from the new PBA League. Here's a sampling of the team Olivia likes. The jersey can be purchased from Gemini and the ball can be purchased through On The Ball. This team is owned by LaMarr Woodley of the Pittsburgh Steelers so that would explain the colors and football-styling of the logo.

The PBA is now selling PBA League merchandise

PBA50 TOUR TO VISIT HARVEST PARK BOWL



2013 Schedule



The new PBA50 logo

PBA50 (formerly known as the PBA Senior Tour) will have a tour stop in Brentwood this spring. As the name implies, PBA50 is open to PBA members who are least age 50.

The Northern California Classic will be held at Harvest Park Bowl June 16-19. I'd like to go.

PBAL UPDATE

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new PBA League that will debut in 2013. The PBAL held its draft on November 9th and the results of that draft can be found here.

I think all of the team captains drafted very well as each team appears to have a solid roster. There were a few interesting, unexpected picks in the draft. Norm Duke selected fellow Hall of Famer, Amleto Monacelli (age 51) with his third round pick. Sean Rash selected Hall of Famer, Walter Ray Williams Jr. with his fourth round pick. Williams is the top winner in PBA history but he's 53 years old. Finally, with his supplemental pick, Mike Fagan selected Kelly Kulick, the only woman to win a PBA title.

I don't mean to say that people over 50 and women can't be top bowlers. Williams, Monacelli, and Kulick are great bowlers. But we can see who wins nearly every PBA event -- men under age 50. So with 140 PBA bowlers eligible in the draft and only 40 of them being picked, I was surprised by those selections. I suppose the league format makes it a different proposition than regular tournament bowling. I hope all three of them will do well.

If this league is operated and televised well, it could be very exciting to watch. I can't wait for it to get started.

PBA ON TV

Sharon asked when the PBA telecasts will resume this season and I found the answer at the PBA's website. I added the schedule to the Bowling Links in the right column. 

Upcoming New PBA Tour Broadcasts

Tournament	Date	Time	Channel
WTBA BAYER ASPIRIN WORLD BOWLING TOUR FINALS - MEN	Sunday, December 09, 2012	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
WTBA BAYER ASPIRIN WORLD BOWLING TOUR FINALS - WOMEN	Sunday, December 09, 2012	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
ALKA SELTZER PLUS COLD CHEETAH CHAMPIONSHIP	Sunday, December 16, 2012	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA VIPER CHAMPIONSHIP	Sunday, December 23, 2012	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA CHAMELEON CHAMPIONSHIP	Sunday, December 30, 2012	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
BOWLERS JOURNAL PBA SCORPION CHAMPIONSHIP	Sunday, January 06, 2013	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP	Sunday, January 13, 2013	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
ROUND 1 JAPAN CUP	Sunday, January 20, 2013	3:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA LEAGUE ROUND 1	Sunday, January 27, 2013	12:00 PM ET	ESPN
CHRIS PAUL PBA LEAGUE ALL STARS	Sunday, February 03, 2013	4:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA LEAGUE ROUND 2 W/ CARMEN SALVINO CLASSIC FINALS	Sunday, February 10, 2013	3:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA LEAGUE ROUND 3 W/ MARK ROTH CLASSIC FINALS	Sunday, February 17, 2013	3:00 PM ET	ESPN
USBC MASTERS	Sunday, February 24, 2013	3:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA LEAGUE ROUND 4 W/ DON CARTER CLASSIC FINALS	Sunday, March 03, 2013	3:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA LEAGUE ROUND 5 W/ EARL ANTHONY PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS	Sunday, March 24, 2013	1:00 PM ET	ESPN
PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS	Sunday, March 31, 2013	2:30 PM ET	ESPN
PBA LEAGUE ELIAS CUP FINALS	Sunday, April 07, 2013	1:00 PM ET	ESPN

PBA LEAGUE OF EIGHT TEAMS TO DEBUT IN 2012-2013 SEASON



Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see the world's top pro bowlers participate in a league bowling format like ours? We'll get our wish in the upcoming season according this article from the PBA. There will be eight teams with five bolwers per team and a draft just like in other pro team sports.

The draft will be held on Friday, November 9th and according to this article from the PBA, Norm Duke will have the first pick in the draft. I'd love to watch the draft but it will begin at 10:00 AM and I don't have the day off. The PBA League's debut match will be televised Sunday, January 27th at 9:00 AM Pacific time on ESPN. I'm excited to see how it turns out.