PBA Spare Shots
DAVE LAMONT TO FILL IN AS FOX SPORTS ANNOUNCER FOR LUBBOCK SPORTS OPEN
Veteran PBA announcer Dave LaMont will fill in as the lead announcer for the Lubbock Sports Open live on FS1 on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 3 p.m. EST, replacing Rob Stone, who has previous commitments with FOX and won’t be available for Sunday’s PBA telecast.
Bowling fans who watched the televised finals of the 1991 U.S. Open from Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis will never forget the trophy presentation when winner Pete Weber hoisted the majestic ceramic eagle trophy, gave it a shake and saw it crash and shatter into a thousand pieces on the approach.
How that actually happened came to light during the 2019 PBA Hall of Fame ceremonies in Arlington, Texas, when PBA HOF legend Nelson (Bo) Burton Jr. told the crowd he may have contributed to the trophy incident. According to Bo, when he saw the trophy sitting off to the side before the ABC-TV telecast, he decided to show the eagle to the crowd, so he unscrewed the nut that held the eagle to the base…and forgot to re-attach the nut when he replaced the eagle 0n the base. So, bottom line, one of PBA’s historic moments was actually his fault.
Was the story true or a fable invented by Burton? When asked to confirm the story, he laughed and said, “You decide. It remains a mystery. What I actually did was mention to Chris Schenkel that it was a really pretty trophy, so I picked it up and staged it for a camera shot,” Burton said. “Whether or not I loosened the eagle, who knows? I honestly don’t know what happened…but it’s a good story.”
PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: BUTTURFF JOINS ELITE GROUP WITH 20TH REGIONAL TITLE
Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Ariz., overcame a tightly bunched leaderboard in the final position round match to win his 20th PBA Regional title Sunday in the PBA Lubbock Sports Southwest Open at South Plains Lanes, reaching the 20-title milestone in only 59 tournaments.
At age 24, Butturff is believed to be the youngest player to reach that title milestone. He is the 38th player in PBA history to win 20 regional titles.
Butturff, undoubtably the hottest player in the PBA, held a 38-pin lead over Sam Cooley of Australia going into the 21st and final game of the tournament while snapping at their heels were former PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., and Tom Daugherty from Riverview, Fla. Only 66 pins separated the top four players. In the final game, Butturff suffered a first-frame open, but rebounded with a plethora of strikes to win his match against Cooley, 248-202. He earned an additional 30 bonus pins for winning the match and won the tournament going away by completing an unbeaten 8-0 round of match play.
The tournament was a prelude event to the Go Bowling! PBA Tour’s Lubbock Sports Open that begins Wednesday in Lubbock, Texas.
Rash defeated Daugherty, 222-210, to jump to second place as Cooley claimed third while Daugherty maintained fourth place. Butturff earned $4,000 for the victory, Rash collected $2,400, as Cooley added $1,600, while Daugherty settled for $1,200.
The PBA Tour’s Lubbock Sports Open follows at South Plains with the finals to be televised live on Fox Sports’ FS1 channel on Sunday at 2 p.m. Central.
● Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio and partner Ronnie Russell of Marion, Ind., defeated Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind. and non-PBA member Ryan Burks of Valparaiso, Ind., 2-0, in a best-of-three-game title match to win the PBA/PBA50 Don Vay Memorial Central Doubles Classic title at Legend Lanes in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Sunday.
Teams in the PBA Central Region’s first tournament of 2019 included one bowler age 50 or older, and one bowler under the age of 50. The title was the Kretzer’s 25th and Russell’s ninth. They also split a $4,000 first prize.
Kretzer and Russell blanked Larry Verble of Mason, Mich., and T.J. Schmidt of Mishawaka, Ind., 2-0, while McCune and Burks topped Doug Kent of Newark, N.Y. and Tim Pfeifer of Oakdale, Pa., 2-1, in the best-of-three semifinal round to set up the championship match.
● The only regional event on tap for the Jan. 26-27 weekend is the PBA Japan Region’s Roto Grip Cup and Shark Open at PBA Fuji Bowl in Iruma, Japan.
● For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on PBA Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area…and remember, you can follow “live scoring” for all PBA Regional events on pba.com (easily accessible for Apple and Android device users using the PBA app).
QUICK NOTES:
• Fans can follow the points status of eligible PBA Tour players competing for berths on the U.S. and European Weber Cup teams as the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season progresses on Twitter and Facebook by clicking on these links: https://twitter.com/webercup/status/1085141731685945344 or https://www.facebook.com/WeberCup/photos/a.643454192442977/2027287540726295/?type=3&theater
• After three Go Bowling! PBA Tour points events in 2019, the eight leaders in the race to the PBA Playoffs are: Jakob Butturff, 7,185 points; Jesper Svensson, 4,725; Sean Rash, 3,830; Bill O'Neill; 3,705; Jason Belmonte; 3,550; Patrick Girard, 3,250; Anthony Lavery-Spahr, and Matt Ogle, 2,880. The top 24 in points following the USBC Masters will qualify for the inaugural PBA Playoffs; the top eight will earn a first-round bye in the single-elimination Playoffs. To follow the points competition as the season progresses, use this link: https://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/PointsList/132?list=1. An additional points competition including 2018 and 2019 points will qualify the field for the 2019 PBA Tour Finals. To track the top eight in that competition, click here: https://www.pba.com/SeasonStats/PointsList/132?list=5.
• Another ongoing competition to follow is the Bowl4life PBA Rookie Watch which will lead to the 2019 PBA Rookie of the Year earning a $2,500 bonus from the Bowl4Life Foundation while the foundation donates another $2,500 to a youth bowler scholarship in the Rookie of the Year’s name. After three Go Bowling! PBA Tour events, the top three rookies in PBA competition points are: Matt Ogle, Louisville, Ky.; Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., and Jake Rollins, Glen Rock, N.J.
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