Superman!

It’s not how you start, but how you finish. Although a great start and a great finish are okay too, as Doug Kent can attest to. Kent became the sixth bowler in Denny’s PBA Tour history to win two Majors in one season, defeating Chris Barnes, 237-216, Sunday to win the 2007 Denny’s World Championship at DeVos Place. Kent won the season-opening USBC Masters for his second career Major title, then captured his second career World Championship in the season’s second-to-last event. He is the first bowler since Walter Ray Williams Jr. in 2002-03 to win two Majors in a season and the eighth bowler all-time to win multiple World Championships.“This one really feels great, to win two in a season is very rare and just to be in this position is a great feeling,” Kent said. Though he’s been fairly quiet in the second half of the season, with two Majors under his belt Kent threw his name in an already crowded Player of the Year race with one event and the final Major – remaining. Barnes advanced to the title match with a 246-226 win over Tony Reyes.Kent earned $50,000 and a four-season Denny’s PBA Tour exemption through the 2010-11 season with the win. Barnes took home $25,000 for second, Wiseman earned $13,000 for third and Reyes earned $10,000 for fourth. Next week the Denny’s PBA Tour season wraps up with the 2007 PBA Tournament of Champions, March 29-April 1. The live ESPN-televised finals take place Sunday, April 1 at 1 p.m. EST at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Sunday Showdown All Set!

Wes Malott and Tony Reyes faced off in the Round of 8 in the 2007 Denny’s World Championship for the right to be the lone finalist without a Denny’s PBA Tour Major title. After six games of best-of-seven match play, Reyes advanced with a 4-2 win over Malott at Spectrum Lanes. Reyes will face No. 6 Chris Barnes, the only bowler to go undefeated in match play. Barnes rolled through his two rounds of match play going 8-0 in defeating Mike Edwards in the Round of Super 16 and Tim Criss in the Round of 8. Doug Kent and Danny Wiseman both advanced with 4-1 victories over Brad Angelo and Jeff Lizzi, respectively. The four bowlers advance to tomorrow's live ESPN televised finals at 2 p.m. EST at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Mich. The winner will take home $50,000 and a four-season exemption through the 2010-11 Denny’s PBA Tour season.

Video Bowling Excercise...

By Lisa Baertlein Reuters, Fri Mar 23, 11:33 AM ET
Until two weeks ago, Ruth Ebert never had the slightest interest in the video games favored by her one and only granddaughter. "I'm 82 years old, so I missed that part of our culture. Soap operas, yes. Video games, no," chirped Ebert, who recently started playing a tennis game on Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS) new Wii video game console at the Virginia retirement community she calls home. "It was funny, because normally I would not be someone who would do that," said Ebert, who picked up the console's motion-sensing Wiimote and challenged the machine to a match. While she took the early on-court lead, the Wii beat her in the end. Still, it hurt less than her real-world losses: "I didn't mind losing to a video game. It couldn't rub it in."
UNDERDOG DELIVERS
Japan's Nintendo has been on a mission to expand the $30 billion global video game market far beyond the children and young males who make up its core consumers. And the company, a former underdog best known for fun, high-quality games based on off-beat characters like plumbers -- think Mario Bros. -- has sent shock waves through game industry with the unexpected and runaway success of the Wii. That $250 console has been stealing the show from Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s (6758.T)(NYSE:SNE - news) PlayStation 3, higher-powered consoles that are much more expensive than the Wii. While those rivals focused on cutting-edge graphics and high-tech bells and whistles, Nintendo focused on making game play easier, more intuitive and more appealing to a mass market. That bet paid off. The Wii outsold the new Microsoft and Sony consoles in January and February and is generating its own buzz with everyone from nuns to cancer patients to toddlers. There are Wii parties and Wii bowling contests. Players, who often look quite silly and occasionally injure themselves in fits of overzealous play, upload video of their Wii antics to a variety of technology Web sites like GameTrailers.com and Google's (Nasdaq:GOOG - news) YouTube. "I thought it was tremendous," said Ted Campbell, 77. Last week he played the Wii for the first time at Springfield, Virginia's Greenspring Retirement Community, where Ebert is also a resident. The community hasn't yet decided where to keep the Wii, although Ebert has volunteered her one-bedroom apartment, with its big-screen TV.
WII WAVE
Flora Dierbach, 72, chairs the entertainment committee at a sister facility owned by Erickson Retirement Communities in Chicago and helped arrange a Wii bowling tournament -- the latest Wii craze. "It's a very social thing and it's good exercise ... and you don't have to throw a 16-pound (7.25-kg) bowling ball to get results," said Dierbach, who added the competition had people who hardly knew each other cheering and hugging in the span of a few hours. "We just had a ball with it. You think it's your grandkids' game and it's not," she said, noting that Erickson paid for the Wiis in its facilities. Greenspring resident and long-time bowler Sim Taylor said his grandchildren are also great fans of video games. "I never could understand it," said Taylor, who at 81 has surprised himself by adding video games to his list of hobbies. That isn't the case with Millicent, his wife of 55 years. "She sticks with bridge," Taylor said.

Join in...

This week’s 2007 Denny’s World Championship at Spectrum Lanes and DeVos Place features a 150-bowler field bowling three rounds of qualifying before the field is cut to the top 50. An additional nine game qualifying block will take place Thursday for the cashers, after which the field will be cut to the top 40 for single elimination match play. The top eight after qualifying receive byes into the Round of Super 16. Best-of-seven games match play begins Thursday night with the Round of 32. The Round of 16 takes place Friday with the winners advancing to take on the top eight from qualifying in the Round of Super 16. The Round of 8 takes place Friday night to determine the final four for Sunday’s live ESPN televised finals. PBA Pro-Ams and Fan Day take place Saturday, March 24 at Spectrum Lanes at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, action shifts to DeVos Place where the final four will bowl live on ESPN at 2 p.m. EST with the winner taking home $50,000 and a four-season exemption through the 2010-11 season.

Back to Michigan!

The third of four Majors on the Denny’s PBA Tour takes place this week, the 2007 Denny’s World Championship at Spectrum Lanes in Wyoming, Mich., with the finals taking place Sunday, March 25 at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids. A lot is at stake this week as this will be the final event of the season which awards points, as next week’s season-ending PBA Tournament of Champions is an invitational event. Exemptions will be handed out this week, and the PBA Player of the Year race could be decided.Walter Ray Williams Jr. will look to win back-to-back Denny’s World Championships as he won his seventh career Major and record-tying 41st career Denny’s PBA Tour title in last season’s event at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis. Last year at Spectrum Lanes, Patrick Allen captured his second title of the season in the final standard event of 2005-06, which also saw Dale Traber earn the final exemption for 2006-07 through the PBA World Point Rankings. Since this year’s finals are in DeVos Place, Allen won’t get a chance to defend the title in Spectrum Lanes should he reach the finals, but he will look for his fourth career title in the state of Michigan.

Classic TV...

Danny Wiseman’s title in the 2001 Johnny Petraglia Open and Steve Hoskins’ win in the 1997 Bayer/Brunswick TPC kick off this week’s lineup of PBA action on ESPN Classic. Action switches gears on Tuesday with Walter Ray Williams Jr.’s win in the 2001 Greater Cincinnati Classic and Pete Weber’s title in the 1998 PBA National Championship. Tommy Delutz Jr.’s win in the 2001 Long Island Open and Brian Voss’ title in the 1998 National Finance Championship are featured on Wednesday. Thursday will see Weber’s win in the 2001 Greater Louisville Open and Bryan Goebel’s victory in the 1998 Brunswick World Tournament of Champions. Ricky Ward’s title in the 2002 Medford Open and Brian Himmler’s 1998 Albuquerque Open title on Friday lead into the weekend which features Steve Cook and Mike Aulby’s title in the 1986 Show Boat Doubles on Saturday followed by Norm Duke’s win in the 2007 Pepsi Championship on Sunday.

Stormin Norman!

Norm Duke knows all too well the feeling of firing a 300 game in a national TV semifinal only to lose in the title match. That’s why Duke showed no mercy in Sunday’s 2007 Pepsi Championship title match. After third-seeded Ryan Shafer fired the 18th nationally televised 300 game in Denny’s PBA Tour history in the semifinals, the top-seeded Duke showed why he dominated the tournament from start to finish, defeating Shafer 235-219 to win his third title of the season and the 26th of his career. Duke fired a 300 game in the semifinals of the 2003 GEICO Earl Anthony Classic against Walter Ray Williams Jr. only to lose to Mike DeVaney in the title match, who was also in this week’s championship round. Shafer could never get on track in the title match. After striking in the first two frames to run his string of strikes to 18 in a row, he failed to strike again until the 8th frame while Duke struck six consecutive times after an open in the 1st. It was the fourth time in his career and the second time this season Duke defeated Shafer in a title match, and it pushed Duke’s record overall against Shafer on TV to 6-1. Duke also defeated Shafer in the title match of the 2006 Columbia 300 Classic, his second of three titles this season.The win capped a huge comeback for the 25-year veteran who withdrew from the first seven events of the second half after breaking a toe in January. He finished 11th in the Bayer Classic and fifth in the 64th U.S. Open in his first two events back before putting himself back in the PBA Player of the Year race with his third win. Duke took home $25,000 for the win, while Shafer earned $13,000 for second, plus a $10,000 bonus for the 300 game. Carter took home $6,500 for third, Reyes earned $5,500 for fourth while DeVaney earned $5,000 for fifth. The Denny’s PBA Tour heads to Wyoming, MI next week for the 2007 Denny’s World Championship at Spectrum Lanes, March 18-25, the third of four Majors of the 2006-07 schedule. The live ESPN televised finals take place at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Mi. Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m. EST.

Go Duke!

You can’t say much more about Norm Duke, the proof is in the performance. The 25-year veteran, who already has two titles on the 2006-07 Denny’s PBA Tour, continued his amazing run in the 2007 Pepsi Championship Friday night at Woodland Bowl. Duke, who has led every round of the Tour’s last standard event of the season, compiled a record of 15-3 in Friday’s round-robin match play and concluded action with a 32-game pinfall of 8,346 with 30 bonus pins being awarded for a win in match play and 15 for a tie. “It keeps getting better. A lot of the guys in the field like the boom ball and keep moving in. With his finish, Duke is awarded the top seed in Sunday’s live ESPN televised stepladder finals. Duke lost to his closest competitor in the Round of 16’s position round, but, it didn’t make a difference as Jeff Carter was still 450 pins behind. Carter who is making his second career TV appearance in consecutive tournaments, finished match play 15-2-1 with 7,896. Ryan Shafer will be the No. 3 seeded bowler on Sunday’s show after racking up an 11-7 record. Shafer finished with a 32-game pinfall of 7,868. No. 4 seed Tony Reyes will open Sunday’s finals taking on No. 5 seed Mike DeVaney. The five bowlers advance to Sunday’s live ESPN televised finals at 12:30 p.m. EST at Woodland Bowl. The winner will take home $25,000 and a one-season Denny’s PBA Tour exemption.

Here we go!

The 2006-07 Denny’s PBA Tour heads to Indianapolis this week for the 2007 Pepsi Championship, March 14-18. Qualifying is today with the Round of 64 slated to begin on Thursday. Competition will conclude Sunday with the top five bowlers competing live on ESPN at 12:30 p.m. EST.

True Friend...

With sadness I must report that George Prybyla, former proprietor of Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, passed away on Tuesday, March 13. Bowling has lost a true friend and a huge promoter of our sport. Please attend if you are able.

The arrangements are:

Visitation
Thursday, March 15 from 2 p.m. - 9 p.m.
E.J. Mandziuk & Son Funeral Home
3801 18 Mile Rd. (NW corner of 18 Mile Rd and Ryan)
Sterling Heights, MI 48314
(586) 726-4682

Well Done!

The Metro Detroit USBC Association (MDUSBC) turned over a collective $15,289.85 to the United States Bowling Congress Bowl for the Cure effort. The fundraising took place primarily in the month of February. Two major fundraisers took place during the month.

The first was the third annual at Indian Lanes in Wyandotte. This fundraiser took in $2,162 in donations making a three-year donation total of $5,632. Conducted on Feb. 16 the event was organized by Debbie Parsons with the support of proprietors Alan and Adeline DeBiasi.

The MDUSBC conducted an event on Feb. 24 at Fairlanes in Madison Heights with a net donation of $8,217.85. There were 158 participants in the event. Event chairperson Aileen Hnidy solicited sponsorships from 11 different sponsors in addition to organizing several raffles and 50/50 drawings on the day of the event.

Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling Heights solicited donations from their customers to the tune of $3,000 during the month. Laura Dembek and proprietors Randy and Cheryl Shank was very instrumental in organizing the drive.

Coupled with donations from several leagues namely S&B Ladies Classic at Bowl One Lanes in Troy ($1,401), Ms Fits Bowling League at Wonderland Lanes in Commerce Township ($120), American Christian Bowlers Association at Hartfield Lanes in Berkley ($110), Greater Grace Saturday Morning League at Hartfield Lanes ($100), St. Stephan AME at Hartfield Lanes ($94) and Spare Timers Mixed at Hartfield Lanes ($85) pushed the totals upward.

The Metro Detroit USBC Association became effective May 1, 2006 as a result of the merger of the Detroit Women’s Bowling Association, Greater Detroit Bowling Association, Greater Detroit Youth Association and the Pontiac Women’s Bowling Association serving nearly 90,000 adult and youth bowlers in the Metropolitan Detroit market.

Just Classic!

Dave Soutar’s title in the 2000 ABC Senior Masters and Justin Hromek’s win in the 1995 Reno Classic kick off this week’s lineup of PBA action on ESPN Classic. Action switches gears on Tuesday with Norm Duke’s win in the 2000 Brunswick Don Carter Classic and John Handegard’s title in the 1995 Northwest Classic. Walter Ray Williams Jr.’s win in the 2001 PBA National Championship and Jason Couch’s title in the 1995 Indianapolis Open are featured on Wednesday. Thursday will see Couch’s win in the 2001. The Villages Sun Bowl and David Ozio’s victory in the 1995 AMF Dick Weber Classic. Parker Bohn III’s title in the 2001 ABC Masters and Ernie Schlegel’s 1995 Bayer/Brunswick TPC title on Friday lead into the weekend which features Handegard’s title in the 1995 PBA Senior Championship on Saturday followed by Johnny Petraglia & Jason Hurd’s win in the '99 National/Senior Doubles and a 7 hour Walter Ray Williams Jr. marathon on Sunday.

Ah, the good ol' days...

This Date in Denny’s PBA Tour History March 5 1994 David Traber defeats his brother, Dale, 196-187 to win the 1994 PBA National Championship, his first Major title. Earlier in the day, Johnny Petraglia bowled the seventh perfect game on national TV, defeating Walter Ray Williams Jr., 300-194. 1983 Eighteen year old Norm Duke knocks off four PBA champions including Tom Milton, 238-204, to pick up his first Tour title in the 1983 Cleveland Open. March 6 1976 Earl Anthony rolls to his second straight Tour title, defeating Tommy Hudson, 246-195, in the 1976 AMF Dick Weber 5-Star Open in Tamarac, Fla. March 7 1992 Brian Voss becomes the PBA’s seventh millionaire, winning his 12th career Tour title in the Paula Carter’s Homestead Classic. 1964 Tommy Tuttle captures his first PBA tournament championship by winning the Colt PBA Open in Glenn Burnie, Md. March 9 2003 Walter Ray Williams Jr. caps a record-breaking season by winning the PBA World Championship, pushing his total season earnings for 2002-03 to a record $419,600. 1996 Tom Baker wins his first title in 10 years, defeating Bob Learn Jr. 278-247, in the finals of the 1996 ACDelco Classic. 1963 Billy Hardwick picks up his first Tour title after 17 previous attempts. Hardwick holds off Roger Helle in the 1963 Mobile Sertome PBA Open in Mobile, Ala. March 11 1989 Mike Aulby wins his second consecutive tournament and the 16th of his career, defeating Brad Snell, 246-202 for the title in the Budweiser Open.

You could be next!

The 2007 Pepsi Championship in Indianapolis is the lone standard event remaining on the 2006-07 Denny’s PBA Tour, so time is running out for your chance to earn an exemption for the 2007-08 season. There are several reasons to sign up a Denny’s PBA Tour Qualifying Round. Last season, Sean Rash became the first non-exempt bowler to win a Denny’s PBA Tour title when he went from qualifier to champion in the 2006 West Virginia Championship. This season Mike Mineman accomplished the feat in the 2007 Bayer Classic, ironically held in the same bowling center as Rash’s win. Eugene McCune consistently entered Denny’s PBA Tour Qualifying Rounds and regained his exemption as the high non-exempt points leader in the 2005-06 PBA World Point Rankings. But to accomplish either of these feats, you have to enter. For more information click here.

Atta Boy PDW!!

There are few things Pete Weber has yet to accomplish in his PBA Hall of Fame career, but surprisingly he has never been named PBA Player of the Year. With a win in the most grueling tournament of the season Sunday, he’s one step closer to that elusive award.Weber defeated Wes Malott, 210-204, Sunday to win the 64th U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone Carolier, his fourth career U.S. Open crown and record-tying eighth career Major title. The win also put Weber, who has two titles this season, in a tie with Mark Roth for third on the all-time titles list with his 34th career Denny’s PBA Tour title. Brunswick Zone Carolier was where Weber found out two years ago that his legendary father, Dick, passed away on February 14, 2005. With his win Sunday, Pete joined his father and Don Carter as the only bowlers to win the U.S. Open or BPAA All-Star – the U.S. Open’s predecessor – four times. “This was one of my dreams, to be one of the guys to win four U.S. Opens. I might not be done, I might have six or seven before my career is over,” Weber said. “My dad and Don Carter are the only two to win this event four times so I am joining an elite group. Even though the All-Star was not an official title, to me it is, and it is in dad’s book and Don’s book. So to me, we have 12 U.S. Open titles among us.” Weber took home $100,000 and a three-season Denny’s PBA Tour exemption for the win. Malott earned $50,000 for second, Jeff Carter took home $25,000 for third while Dave D’Entremont earned $15,000 for fourth. The Denny’s PBA Tour takes a one-week break before the final three events of the season, starting with the 2007 Pepsi Championship March 14-18 at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, Ind. The live ESPN televised finals take place Sunday, March 18, at 12:30pm.

Jersey Boys...

One pin. One pin was all that separated the top two seeds for this afternoon's finals of the 64th U.S. Open, the second of four Majors on the 2006-07 Denny’s PBA Tour at Brunswick Zone Carolier. Wes Malott narrowly edged Pete Weber, 246-245 in the position round of the 24-game round-robin match play portion of the event. Malott will await one of three bowlers in either Weber, Jeff Carter or Dave D’Entremont in today's live ESPN televised finals. Carter will look to become just the 18th bowler to win a Major as his first career title. The No. 3 seed Carter will open the final taking on six-time titlist Dave D’Entremont who ended the round with 11,463 and an 18-6 record to take the fourth seed.The final four will bowl for the $100,000 top prize and three-season exemption live on ESPN today at Noon EST at Brunswick Zone Carolier.

And Down the stretch they come...

In a situation that he’s not accustomed to being in, Jeff Carter has the perfect aggressive mindset and plans to keep it that way. The Denny’s PBA Tour exempt bowler who has never won a title on the sport’s highest level regained the lead Friday night in the 64th U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone Carolier.Carter, who led the 492-bowler qualifying field on Wednesday, accumulated a record of 6-2 and a 35-game pinfall of 7,870 in the PBA Major’s first round of match play. Carter outdistanced his closest competitor, Pete Weber, by 86 pins in the round-robin portion of the event which carried all previous pinfall from the tournament over and awarded 30 bonus pins for each win and 15 for a tie.
It was not all disappointing though for Weber, who finished Friday night with 7,784, as he started the round 21st, 200 pins behind then-second place Carter.Dave D’Entremont also came from the second half of the 24-man round-robin match play field, moving from 17th to third as the only bowler to go a perfect 8-0 in the round and end the night with 7,664.Wes Malott, who entered round at the No. 1 position, slipped three spots to fourth, going 5-3 in the round and ending with 7,654.The final two eight-game blocks take place Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST. The top four bowlers advance to Sunday’s championship round.The final four will bowl for the $100,000 top prize and three-season exemption live on ESPN Sunday at Noon EST at Brunswick Zone Carolier.

A Michigan Man!

After using the same ball throughout the first two days of competition in this week’s 64th U.S. Open, Mika Koivuniemi decided to change things up with a new ball Thursday morning. The ball change resulted in an opening-game 168. Going back to the Brunswick Fury he used in the first two rounds, the seven-time Denny’s PBA Tour titlist Koivuniemi averaged 225.00 over the final five games to lead the field heading into the final round of qualifying Friday with a 3,924 18-game pinfall and 218.00 average. Koivuniemi leads 123 bowlers into Friday’s nine-game block, after which the top 24 will advance to round robin match play. The 2001 U.S. Open champion, Koivuniemi (Hartland, Mich.) will be looking for his third career Major title. He won his seventh career title earlier this season in the Sun City Classic in El Paso, Texas. Jeff Carter who held the lead after Wednesday’s second round, is second with 3,885, while 24-year-old phenom Sean Rash who has captured two titles this season, is third with 3,853. Among the other bowlers advancing Thursday was 3 time U.S. Open champion Pete Weber who sits 8th with 3,829 and all-time Tour title leader and two-time U.S. Open champion Walter Ray Williams Jr. is 12th with 3,807. The final round of qualifying is already underway, the first of three round robin sessions gets underway tonight at 6. The top four after match play will bowl for the $100,000 top prize and a 3 season exemption live on ESPN Sunday at Noon EST at Brunswick Zone Carolier.

Good Start!

A little work goes a long way. At least that’s the case for Denny’s PBA Tour exempt bowler Jeff Carter.Carter, who entered this week’s 64th U.S. Open 42nd on the PBA World Point Rankings, currently sits on top of the 489 bowler field after two days of qualifying at Brunswick Zone Carolier. Carter, who has a 12-game pinfall of 2,673. Carter opened Wednesday’s action with a 235 followed by four consecutive games over the 200 mark, including a 256 in game four, to finish with a six-game total of 1,319.Wes Malott is 30 pins behind Carter in second with 2,643. Malott, who finished with 1,282 in six games on Tuesday, improved with 1,361 on Wednesday. Mika Koivuniemi (Hartland, Mich.) is in third with 2,631 after finishing Wednesday with 1,293. Rounding out the top four is Ritchie Allen. Allen, who was to be exempt on the 2006-07 Denny’s PBA Tour before receiving an injury exemption to the 2007-08 Denny’s PBA Tour, ended Wednesday action with 1,241 for a 12-game total of 2,604.The entire field returns this morning for another six games. The top 25 percent of the field (123) will advance to Friday’s nine-game block Friday morning at 9 a.m. before being cut to the top 24 for round-robin match play. The top four bowlers will advance to Sunday’s live ESPN televised stepladder finals at Noon EST at Brunswick Zone Carolier. The winner will take home $100,000 and a three-season Denny’s PBA Tour exemption.