PBA SPARE SHOTS

PBA Spare Shots

PBA’S “60 MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS” UNVEILING CONTINUES: 41 THRU 45

The countdown to unveil the complete list of the PBA”s “60 most memorable moments” in its 60-year history continues, one a day, Monday through Friday, on all PBA Network outlets. Last week, “memorable moments” 41 through 45 were unveiled. Here are those five moments as the countdown continues:

41) With his 259-189 win over Chris Barnes in the 2008 PBA World Championship, Norm Duke became the first and only bowler to win three consecutive PBA major championships: Denny’s World Championship (Indianapolis in February 2008), 65th Denny’s U.S. Open (North Brunswick, N.J., in March 2008) and his second PBA World Championship (Wichita in October 2008).

42) The PBA launched its online streaming service, Xtra Frame, during the 2007 Lumber Liquidators Championship in Baltimore. The service promised fans a live “Match of the Week.” Today, Xtra Frame features more than 1,200 hours of live bowling from the PBA Tour, PBA50 Tour, PWBA Tour, PBA Xtra Frame Tour Series and select PBA Regional Tour and special events each year. Xtra Frame evolved from PBA's Strike Pass, a vision of the new PBA owners to bring bowling to the World Wide Web back in 2002.

43) Liz Johnson became the first woman to advance to a PBA Tour TV finals during the 2005 PBA Banquet Open in Wyoming, Mich., defeating Wes Malott, 235-228, before losing to Tommy Jones, 219-192, in the championship match.

44) In 1973 Don McCune used chemicals to soften the surface of his bowling balls, creating hooking power no other player could match. Legal at the time, McCune’s ingenuity led to a six-title season, a tour-best $69,000 in earnings and PBA Player of the Year honors…and a bunch of new rules regulating altering bowling balls. The ultimate impact was a new era of bowling balls designed to create hooking power.

45) Del Ballard Jr. made history by winning $100,000, the richest first prize in PBA history, when he defeated Pete Weber, 247-209, in the 1987 Seagram’s Coolers U.S. Open at Narrows Plaza Bowl in Tacoma, Wash.

To check on releases of subsequent “moments” as they are revealed, check the PBA Network: PBA on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProfessionalBowlersAssociation) or Instagram (pbatour); subscribe to the PBA channel on YouTube (PBABowling); tweet along on Twitter (@pbatour), and on the web:https://www.pba.com/PBANetwork/MostMemorableMoments.

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR CBS SPORTS NETWORK TAPINGS OF PBA TOUR FINALS

Tickets are now available for the May 4 and May 5 CBS Sports Network tapings of the PBA Tour Finals at Thunderbowl Lanes in suburban Detroit. The PBA Tour Finals will feature the top eight players in PBA Tour earnings for the past two seasons. Round robin match play tapings on May 4 are at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET. The semifinal and final rounds on May 5 will be taped at noon, 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $10, $20 and $30, may be purchased by visitinghttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/pba-tour-finals-tickets-42645582084. Tickets also will be available at the door.

The USBC Masters (April 10-15) in Syracuse, N.Y., and the PBA Xtra Frame Port Property Management Maine Shootout at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine (April 16-18) are the final two events that will affect the combined earnings list. Going into those events, the top eight players are: EJ Tackett ($380,828), Jason Belmonte ($380,357), Jesper Svensson($296,456), Dom Barrett ($254,490), Anthony Simonsen ($236,834), Marshall Kent ($223,745), Tommy Jones($175,652) and, in the No. 8 position, Sean Rash ($154,472). Tom Smallwood is right behind Rash with a $153,057 total.

The PBA Tour finals will air on five consecutive Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network beginning May 15.

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: PB3 WINS THIRD PBA50 REGIONAL TITLE

PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., defeated Rick Graham of Lancaster, Pa., 245-212, to win the $3,000 first prize in the PBA50 Rossi Lanes Eastern Open at Rossi Lanes in Elmira, N.Y., Sunday. For Bohn it was his third career PBA50 Regional title to go along with 35 PBA Tour, 35 standard PBA Regional and four PBA50 Tour titles.

Bohn, who had just returned from bowling in the Brunswick Euro Challenge in Munich, Germany, qualified second, earning byes for two rounds. In the finals, he defeated defending champion David Kneas of Annapolis, Md., 2-0, in the best-of-three-game Round of 8 before eliminating 2016 Rossi Lanes champ Brian Boghosian of Springfield, Mass., 202-163, in the semifinal round.

Graham, who turned 50 last August, was the qualifying leader. He defeated Darryl Bower of Middletown, Pa., 2-0, in the Round of 8, and Don Herrington of Ballston Lake, N.Y., 200-198, in his semifinal round match.

● Quebec native Ray Lussier of San Jose, Calif., defeated Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Ariz., 244-236, to win the PBA Northwest/West DV8 Open at Caveman Bowl in Grants Pass, Ore., Sunday for a $2,000 first prize and his first PBA Northwest/West Region title.

Butturff defeated Blaine Weninger of Happy Valley, Ore., 228-206, in the semifinal match after defeating Warren Crawford of McKinleyville, Calif., in the opening match, 279-217.

● Mike Mineman of St. Louis defeated Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio, 212-196, to win the PBA50 Monte Skeels Allstate Midwest/Central Open at Liberty Lanes in Carpentersville, Ill., Saturday. Mineman earned $1,500 along with his seventh overall PBA Regional title.

In the semifinal round, Mineman defeated Walt Schaub of Schaumburg, Ill., 222-203, and Kretzer edged Jeff Johnson of Freeport, Ill., 196-151, to set up the championship match.

● Closing out the March PBA Regional schedule will be the Copperfield Bowl Southwest Challenge for non-title winners over Easter weekend in Houston, Texas.

● 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 device users using the PBA app).

QUICK NOTES

● Listen to PBA CEO/Commissioner Tom Clark’s interview with Herb FM Sports Radio’s Chris Heidel regarding the PBA’s new television agreement with FOX Sports on https://www.iheart.com/podcast/herbfm-sports-radio-28673959/