PBA SPARE SHOTS

SUNDAY’S CHRIS PAUL PBA
CELEBRITY INVITATIONAL
DRAWS RAVES FROM MILITARY LEADER

Sunday’s Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational, which airs in front of the NFL Super Bowl at 2 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, was not only a fun and fiercely competitive bowling event, but it drew high praise from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base commander Capt. Bill Snyder, who hosted the event in suburban New Orleans.

“They were all fantastic,” Snyder said of celebrity stars Paul, LaMarr Woodley, Hines Ward, Ludacris and Jack Del Rio as well as PBA stars Pete Weber, Norm Duke, Wes Malott and Jason Belmonte. “All of the celebrities took time out to sign autographs and talk to the hundreds of sailors who came to see them. Chris Paul and all of the celebrities made it a night to remember for the military personnel and their families.”

“(Chris Paul) gives back to the community,” added Master-at-Arms 1st Class Pierre Peacock, a North Carolina native like Paul is. “No one has ever questioned his sincerity or intentions. His charity events consistently help thousands of families in North Carolina and in Louisiana. He’s a class act, on and off the court.”

MONACELLI, PALERMAA, BAKER, PETRAGLIA RECEIVE COMMISSIONER’S EXEMPTIONS

Three PBA Hall of Famers and Europe’s two-handed bowling star have been granted Commissioner’s Exemptions for upcoming Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour events.

Venezuela’s Amleto Monacelli will join the field for the Bayer Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship at Brunswick Zone-Wheat Ridge in Wheat Ridge, Colo., Feb. 16-21. Monacelli, who was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1997, is a 19-time PBA Tour winner.

Finland’s Osku Palermaa, the first two-handed bowler to get national television exposure in the United States, will compete in the Don Johnson Buckeye State Eliminator March 2-7 at Sequoia Pro Bowl in Columbus, Ohio. Palermaa, last season’s European Bowling Tour points leader, finished fifth in the 2004 U.S. Open in his American television debut. He’ll be joined in the Columbus field by fellow two-handed players Jason Belmonte of Australia and Ohio’s own two-hander, Cassidy Schaub of Polk, Ohio.

PBA Senior Tour star Tom Baker of King, N.C., will participate in the PBA Match Play Championship March 16-21 at Norwich Bowling Center in Norwich, Conn. Baker, a 10-time PBA Tour champion and eight-time winner on the PBA Senior Tour, is a four-time Senior Tour Player of the Year. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1999.

Johnny Petraglia of Jackson, N.J., one of five PBA players to complete the “PBA Triple Crown” (victories in the U.S. Open, Tournament of Champions and PBA World Championship), will bowl in the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship March 23-28 at AMF Babylon Lanes in West Babylon, N.Y. A long-time friend and opponent of Roth, Petraglia has announced he’ll donate half of his earnings to the Mark Roth Fund which is providing financial assistance to Roth in the wake of the disabling stroke he suffered in early June.

PBA’S XTRA FRAME TO PROVIDE FREE ONLINE COVERAGE OF USBC MASTERS

The PBA, in cooperation with the United States Bowling Congress, will provide a week of free online coverage of the USBC Masters, Feb. 9-14, on pba.com’s Xtra Frame “bowling channel.” To view Xtra Frame, bowling fans must install a free software program called “Silverlight” if they have not already done so.

Xtra Frame, the “official video service of the PBA,” is available year-round, providing unique interviews, behind-the-scenes news, in-depth discussion of player equipment and strategies, and much more. For subscription information, click on the Xtra Frame icon on the pba.com home page.

KELLY KULICK, TOM SMALLWOOD MEDIA EXPRESS ROLLS ON

Kelly Kulick’s news media express continues to race along, with a steady stream of newspaper, television and radio interviews on her schedule in addition to a national teleconference. Following live interviews on CBS’s Early Show, ESPN’s First Take, Fox Business, a segment on ABC Evening News and a mention on NBC’s Jay Leno Show, Kulick’s victory earned a half-page in the Feb. 1 issue of Sports Illustrated. Her story also was told on National Public Radio’s “Only a Game” program (heard on 200 stations across the nation), Sirius Satellite Radio 98, CNN, the New York Daily News and the Los Angeles Daily News.

Coming Friday: Carolyn Dorin-Ballard will talk about why Kulick’s is a “Breakthrough Woman” CNN’s Morning Headline News with Robin Meade. The segment will air Friday between 8:30-9 a.m. Eastern, and will feature video of Kulick’s Tournament of champions win and along with photos of Kulick and Dorin-Ballard.

The magnitude of Kulick’s feat even reached into Canada where Toronto Star television writer Chris Zelkovich noted that 373,000 viewers watched the PBA while only 267,000 viewers watched the Toronto Raptors-Milwaukee Bucks NBA game on Friday and 256,000 tuned in for the Los Angeles Lakers-Raptors game on Sunday, "How did bowling draw a bigger audience on a Sunday afternoon than the Raptors did on Friday and Sunday nights?” Zelkovich asked. “The only possible explanation is that people were channel surfing and came across the sight of a woman, Kelly Kulick, making history by beating the guys."

In the meantime, Tom Smallwood’s feel-good story continues to get attention. The laid-off General Motors employee who became PBA World Champion was featured in a front-page sports section story in Wednesday’s Los Angeles Times. CBS News with Katie Couric shot material for a story about Smallwood’s triumph during the One A Day Dick Weber Open. A story is coming in Parade magazine, which is distributed to millions of American newspaper readers, and Sports Illustrated spent the entire week in Las Vegas working on a Smallwood article.

WILLIAMS, JOHNSON NAMED “BOWLERS OF THE DECADE” BY US BOWLER

Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., has added another astonishing accomplishment to his astonishing resumй, winning “Bowler of the Decade” honors from USBC’s US Bowler magazine for an unprecedented second decade in a row. PBA Women’s Series competitor Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., was selected as US Bowler’s female bowler of the decade for the 2000s.

Between 2000 and 2009, Williams won 17 PBA Tour titles including five majors, earned more than $1.5 million and made 63 television appearances to easily top runner-up Norm Duke and third-place vote-getter Chris Barnes. During the decade, Duke won 16 titles including four majors, earned $1.29 million and made 49 TV shows.

Despite the demise of the women’s pro tour in 2003, Johnson won five PWBA titles, the 2009 USBC Queens, 2007 Women’s U.S. Open, a pair of PBA Women’s Series presented by BOWL.COM titles and she was the first woman to advance to a PBA Tour title match (2005). Runner-up was Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, an 11-time PWBA winner. She also won the 2001 Queens and has two PBA Women’s Series titles. Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., was third.

US Bowler conducted three separate polls – among bowling writers, PBA and/or PBA Women’s Series members, and BOWL.COM visitors – and all three polls produced the same top three results.

DUBLIN BOWL PROPRIETOR TED HOFFMAN RECEIVES BPAA’S HIGHEST HONOR

Ted Hoffman, co-proprietor of Earl Anthony’s Dublin Bowl in Dublin, Calif. – recent host of the 2010 Earl Anthony Memorial Classic - has been named winner of the 2010 Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America Victor Lerner Memorial Medal, BPAA’s highest honor.

Hoffman, a long-time PBA Western Region tournament director and a member of the PBA Hall of Fame, is being recognized for his lifetime of service to the sport. He will receive his award on June 28 during International Bowl Expo at the Las Vegas Hilton.

ENTRIES STILL AVAILABLE FOR U.S. OPEN, FINAL MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP OF 2009-10 SEASON

The biggest question of the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season is, who will become the next unlikely hero in a season filled with unlikely heroes. He or she could emerge from the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open, the final major championship of the season.

Entries are still available for men and women who are chasing the dream of winning a PBA Tour title. The U.S. Open is set for Feb. 22-28 at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis. For schedule and entry information, visit pba.com and look for the U.S. Open under the “Schedule” tab.

Thus far into the 2009-10 season, out-of-work General Motors factory worker Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., won the PBA World Championship and Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., stunned the sports world with her victory in the PBA Tournament of Champions. The United States Bowling Congress Masters title will be decided Feb. 9-14 in Reno, Nev., but keep in mind that previously-unknown John Nolen of Grand Blanc, Mich., captured the 2009 title for his first PBA Tour title.

Beyond the major championships, Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa., and Anthony LaCaze of Melrose Park, Ill., also won their first PBA Tour titles in the PBA Chameleon Championship and Earl Anthony Memorial Classic, respectively. Mike Fagan of Patchogue, N.Y., won his second PBA Tour title, but first as a singles competitor, in the One A Day Dick Weber Open. Mike DeVaney of San Diego and Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, N.Y., each broke extended title droughts with victories during the PBA World Series of Bowling.

Who’s going to be the PBA’s next unsung champion?

2009-10 LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR STATISTICAL LEADERS

EARNINGS Events Total
1, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich. 11 $73,460
2, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas 11 $70,210
3, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla. 11 $70,070
4, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla. 11 $64,235
5, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa. 11 $63,125
6, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y. 11 $60,550
7, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas 11 $57,320
8, Mike DeVaney, San Diego 11 $48,470
9, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y. 11 $48,380
10, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas 11 $44,720

PBA WORLD RANKING POINTS Titles Points
1, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla. 1 121,910
2, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas 0 110,033
3, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan. 0 106,061
4, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa. 1 106,034
5, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas 0 101,399
6, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla. 1 97,619
7, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y. 1 94,805
8, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich. 1 93,760
9, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C. 0 92,917
10, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y. 1 92,188

PBA PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS CRA Points
1, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa. 4 30
2, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich. 2 28
3, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla. 3 26
4, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J. 1 24
Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla. 3 24
Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y. 2 24
7, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas 2 20
8, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla. 1 16
Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y. 2 16
Mike DeVaney, San Diego 1 16
Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y. 1 16
Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas 1 16
Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill. 1 16
(CRA = Championship Round Appearances)