PBA Senior Tour Heads for Oympia Lanes in Hammond

As the 2012 PBA Senior Tour season draws to a close, a field of approximately 120 players will compete in the PBA Senior South Shore Open presented by DV8 Aug. 6-9 at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind.  The Senior South Shore Open is the second-to-last event of the season which wraps up with the Senior Decatur Open presented by Brunswick Aug. 11-14. Here are a few storylines heading into the Hammond event:

Walter Ray Williams Jr. hopes to clinch first Senior POY crown: Heading into the final two tournaments of the PBA’s 2012 Senior Tour season, Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr., holds a commanding lead in the Senior Player of the Year points race. As the Senior Tour’s only two-time winner this season, the
52-year-old  holds a 16-point lead over fellow Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli
and Mike Edwards. If he can clinch POY in Hammond it would be his first Senior
honor to go along with a record seven PBA Tour POY awards. Williams was also the 2010 Senior Rookie of the Year.

Return of Johnny Petraglia to 2012 season: PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia will make his return to the 2012 season after a three-month absence because of shoulder surgery. Right before his surgery, Petraglia, a 14-time winner on the PBA Tour and seven-time winner on the Senior Tour, became the only bowler in PBA history to win a PBA Tour or Senior Tour title in six different decades when he won the Senior Dayton Classic in May. Fellow PBA great Dick Weber also won titles in six decades but his final tournament win was a PBA regional title.

Former Tour players make their mark on Senior Tour in first year of eligibility:
This season four players have scored wins in their first year of eligibility
including Lennie Boresch Jr., who won the Sun Bowl in The Villages in his Senior Tour debut; former PBA Tour player Bob Learn Jr. (Senior Mooresville Classic), Amleto Monacelli (Senior U.S. Open) and Mike Edwards (USBC Senior Masters).  All are in contention for Senior Rookie of the Year honors which is determined by a vote by PBA members and selected bowling media.

Harry Sullins hoping to defend his title: In 2011, Harry Sullins, a winner of
five PBA Tour titles, won his second Senior Tour title of the season and third
of his career by defeating eventual Senior Player of the Year Ron Mohr of Eagle
River, Alaska, 246-221, in the championship match of the Senior Lake County
Open.
PBA legend Dave Soutar’s career coming to a close: After more than a
half-century competing on the PBA National and Senior Tours, Hall of Famer Dave Soutar of Bradenton, FL, will call it a career at the conclusion of the 2012
Senior Tour season. Soutar has logged 51 years in PBA competition and a record
257 Senior Tour tournaments heading into the Hammond event. He is an 18-time PBA Tour winner and seven-time winner on the Senior Tour which includes the 2002 Senior Lake County Open.

Hammond’s own Kenny Parks hoping for first title of the season and second of his career:  Kenny Parks of Hammond, the winner of the 2008 USBC Senior Masters, will be trying for his second career Senior Tour title. His best finishes this season are a seventh and 11th and he finished fourth in last year’s Senior Lake County Open.

Bohn, Aulby, Wiseman Set for Charity Events

Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Hall of Famers Parker Bohn III and Mike Aulby will once again be the celebrity pro bowlers for the 11th annual Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation Charity Bowling Tournament, which is set for Thursday in Indianapolis.

The fundraising event, to be held at Western Bowl in conjunction with NASCAR’s Brickyard 400, benefits the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at Riley Hospital, and the Wells Center for Pediatric Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

In the 10 events held to date, more than $2 million has been raised.

Danny Wiseman is lending his support to another Indianapolis fundraiser, hosted by midget race car driver Dillon Welch. The “Bowling With the Stars” event will take place on Sunday, Aug. 26, at Woodland Bowl, to benefit “Sheltering Wings,” which provides services to domestic abuse victims in central Indiana.

Wiseman also is conducting his inaugural Danny Wiseman Junior Scholarship Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 14, at AMF Country Club Lanes in Baltimore. For more information about Wiseman’s charitable activities, visit: www.dannywisemanbowling.com .

PBA Retains Shamrock Sports and Entertainment

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) has retained Portland, Maine-based Shamrock Sports and Entertainment to provide strategic marketing and sponsorship development services for the world’s largest professional bowling program.

The joint announcement was made Monday by PBA CEO Geoff Reiss and Shamrock's President & Founder, Brian Corcoran.

"Re-defining what the PBA has to offer to marketers is fundamental to our success and represents a huge growth opportunity for us,” Reiss said. “Working with Shamrock will kick start our ability to develop programs that will demonstrate that the PBA offers unparalleled value to its partners.

“The PBA has concluded Shamrock is the partner we believe will elevate the PBA brand. Brian’s record of success in other sports, including NASCAR, is exactly the kind of success story we plan to develop as part of our new relationship with America’s business leaders.”

Shamrock is a privately-owned sports marketing and sales agency led by Corcoran, a former NASCAR and Fenway Sports Group Executive. At NASCAR, Corcoran spearheaded efforts to land the largest sports sponsorship in U.S. history with the series entitlement of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, reported at $750 million, that later evolved into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“The heart of our business is developing profitable partnerships between brands and properties to generate excitement beyond what either could achieve on its own,” Corcoran said. “Shamrock is not in the business of sponsorship; we are in the business of creating strategic and mutually rewarding partnerships. Our goal is to optimize the assets of our partners and establish value in their brands.

“We don’t acquire rights, we activate rights,” he added. “We don’t buy impressions, we create experiences. We don’t showcase brands, we communicate brand values.”

Shamrock’s current client roster includes the Boston Athletic Association, which conducts the Boston Marathon; Seaworld Parks and Entertainment; Richard Childress Racing; the Millrose Games and the Arena Football League, among others.

Shamrock's immediate priorities are to enhance and extend the PBA brand through entitlement partnership programs and other initiatives.

Initially, Corcoran and Shamrock Executive Vice President Dan Gacetta will oversee the PBA partnership.

"We are extremely excited to forge a partnership with the PBA, which represents the elite of the world’s more than 90 million bowling participants,” Corcoran said. “Bowling is without question the largest competitive sport in the world. It has unlimited potential. Our goal will be to tap that potential by providing participants and corporate partners with unmatched experiences and value."

For more information on the PBA and partnership opportunities, contact Corcoran (bc@shamrockse.com) or Gacetta (dg@shamrockse.com) by email or by telephone at 207-899-0490.

For more information about the Professional Bowlers Association, visit pba.com.

Track Bowling Explains Ball Numbers

2012 North Point Junior Gold Champions

AJ Johnson of Oswego, IL, Robyn Renslow of Brentwood, CA, Bradley Crouse, Nazareth, PA, and Breanna Clemmer, Clover, SC, all came away with championships in their respective divisions in the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships held last week at Woodland Bowl (Indianapolis). A record total of 1,929 athletes took part in the event competing for more than $250,000 in scholarships. 

Sean Rash Choosen "Best Bowler" Awarded the ESPY

Sean Rash followed up his 2011-12 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year crown by receiving the 2012 “Best Bowler” ESPY Award during the 20th Annual ESPY Awards ceremony at the Nokia Theatre Wednesday evening.

Rash became the fans’ choice in the bowling category thanks to a 2011-12 Tour season in which the 29-year-old right-hander won the season-ending PBA Tournament of Champions for his only title, but had six championship round finishes, including third place in the PBA World Championship. Qualifying for a record five consecutive TV finals during the World Series of Bowling helped the Alaska native dominate PBA Tour stats where he finished first in average, points and earnings.  His Tournament of Champions win was the fifth Tour title of his career.

“This is very special because it’s an award voted on by the fans—bowling fans
and sports fans,” said Rash, who now makes his home in the Chicago suburb of
Montgomery, IL.  “The fans are why we do what we do—they’re why I get up in the morning.

“Winning the Tournament of Champions, Player of the Year, getting married (to wife Sara) and winning the ESPY has made it just an unbelievable year,” Rash added. “Even though I had a frustrating start to the season, I had a lot of support from my family, fans, friends and Brunswick and without them I couldn’t have done it.”

Joining Rash at the ceremonies were fellow ESPY candidates Jason Belmonte and Mike Fagan who also were finalists for the PBA Player of the Year crown which was announced on pba.com’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel in May.

During the 2011-12 season Belmonte, who won the ESPY in 2011, won three titles and had seven top five finishes. Fagan qualified for TV shows in all four majors winning the USBC Masters, finished second in the U.S. Open, fourth in the Tournament of Champions and 12th in the PBA World Championship. He also won an international PBA Tour title.

ESPY Award candidates are selected by ESPN staff for a variety of sports
categories and special moments in athletic competition. Winners are determined
by fan voting through espn.com.

BEST BOWLER ESPY AWARD WINNERS
2012 – Sean Rash
2011 – Jason Belmonte
2010 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2009 – Norm Duke
2008 – Norm Duke
2007 – Norm Duke
2006 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2005 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2004 – Pete Weber
2003 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2002 – Pete Weber
2001 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
2000 – Parker Bohn III
1999 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
1998 – Walter Ray Williams Jr.
1997 – Bob Learn Jr.
1996 – Mike Aulby
1995 – Norm Duke
1994 – Norm Duke

GEICO PBA Summer Shootout on ESPN

Reigning U.S. Open champ Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO, put 12 points on the board in Round 4 of the GEICO PBA Summer Shootout at 10pin bowling lounge, helping his Storm team take the early lead in the annual Manufacturers Cup competition.

The first four rounds of one ball, low-man-out singles elimination matches aired Sunday on ESPN2. In each round, nine players representing nine different bowling ball brands competed in three groups of three players each. The survivor of the low-man-out preliminary matches advance to a final match where the winner earned 12 points, runner-up 8 points and third-place finisher 7 points. Those eliminated in the preliminary matches earned lesser points.

Weber, behind a flawless seven-strike performance (three in his preliminary match and four in a row in a Round 4 showdown with Roto Grip’s Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio), helped Storm take a three-point lead over Ebonite and DV8 in the bowling ball manufacturers’ contest. Brunswick’s Chris Loschetter finished third in Round 4 after an eight-count on his first shot in the three-player final match.

In the first round, Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, NY, threw four strikes in a row – two in his preliminary match and two more in the final showdown to eliminate Storm’s Osku Palermaa of Finland and DV8’s Ronnie Russell of Camby, IN, staking Brunswick to an early lead in the team competition. Russell struck on his first shot in the final match, but had a nine-count on his second shot. Palermaa finished third after an eight-count on his first attempt.

Round 2 went to Columbia 300’s Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, who struck on his first three shots to edge DV8’s Mike Machuga of Erie, PA (double and nine-count). Ebonite’s Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC, was third after a nine-count on his first shot in the final match.

Newly-inducted PBA Hall of Famer Jason Couch, who announced his retirement from PBA Tour competition at the start of the Summer Shootout, temporarily put Ebonite into the team lead when he claimed 12 points in Round 3, ousting 900 Global’s Robert Smith of Las Vegas, who left three pins standing on his second shot. Hammer’s Bill O’Neill of Southampton, PA, was knocked out with a seven-count on his first ball.

Five more rounds of singles and doubles low-man-out elimination rounds will determine the team seeding positions for an elimination position round contest leading into the Baker doubles format stepladder finals. All remaining rounds of the GEICO PBA Summer Shootout will air on ESPN on Saturday, July 14, at noon ET and Sunday, July 15, at 1 p.m. ET.

GEICO PBA SUMMER SHOOTOUT

10pin bowling lounge, Chicago, thru July 8

Singles Low-Man-Out Elimination Format (points awarded to each team based upon finishing position in each round)

Round 1: 1, Ryan Ciminelli, Brunswick, 12 points. 2, Ronnie Russell, DV8, 8 points. 3, Osku Palermaa, Storm, 7 points. 4th-6th (5 points each) - Jason Couch, Ebonite; Bill O’Neill, Hammer; Brian Voss, 900 Global. 7th-9th (2 points each) - Brian Kretzer, Roto Grip; Dan MacLelland, Columbia 300; Mike Fagan, Track. 

Round 2: 1, Chris Barnes, Columbia 300, 12. 2, Mike Machuga, DV8, 8. 3, Tommy Jones, Ebonite, 7. 4th-6th (5 points each) – Mika Koivuniemi, Track; Pete Weber, Storm; Missy Parkin, 900 Global. 7th-9th (2 points each) – Sean Rash, Brunswick; Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Roto Grip; Mike Wolfe, Ebonite. 

Round 3: 1, Jason Couch, Ebonite, 12. 2, Robert Smith, 900 Global, 8. 3, Bill O’Neill, Hammer, 7. 4th-6th (5 points each) – Wes Malott, Roto Grip; Jason Belmonte, Storm; Brian Valenta, DV8. 7th-9th (2 points each) – Dan MacLelland, Columbia 300; Ryan Ciminelli, Brunswick; Mike Fagan, Track. 

Round 4: 1, Pete Weber, Storm, 12. 2, Brian Kretzer, Roto Grip, 8. 3, Chris Loschetter, Brunswick, 7. 4th-6th (5 points each) – Mike Wolfe, Ebonite; Ronnie Russell, DV8; Chris Barnes, Columbia 300. 7th-9th (2 points each) – Mika Koivuniemi, Track; Missy Parkin, 900 Global; Tommy Jones, Ebonite. 

Manufacturers Cup Standings (points after four rounds): 1, Storm 29. 2 (tie) Ebonite and DV8 26. 4, Brunswick 23. 5, Columbia 300 21. 6, 900 Global 20. 7, Hammer 19. 8, Roto Grip 17. 9, Track 11.