USBC Collegiate Sectionals Taking Place This Weekend
The USBC Sectionals Qualifiers are taking place this upcoming weekend, March 12-14, 2010. The top 64 men’s and top 64 women’s teams have been divided into four groups of 16. The team events will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with the singles events taking place on Friday.
The four sectionals locations are spread across the country. The East Sectional is in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The West Sectional is in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Midwest Qualifier is in Peoria, Illinois. The Central Qualifier is in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In the singles events, bowlers will bowl six games of qualifying. The top four bowlers from each location will advance to the Intercollegiate Singles Championships, taking place in Euless, Texas on May 16-19, 2010.
In the team events, teams will bowl 64 baker games across two days. The top four teams from each sectional location will advance to the Intercollegiate Team Championships, taking place in El Paso, Texas on April 14-17, 2010.
Jack Jurek Leads after Round 2 of U.S. Open
Jack Jurek used a 1298 (+98) score in the second round of the U.S. Open to bring his 12 game total to 2672 (+272, 222.67 Average), which leads Amleto Monacelli’s 2659. Other bowlers rounding out the top five are David Beres (2656), Jason Wojnar (2652), and Robert Smith (2650). Bill O’Neill had the high score for the day of 1457, but currently sits in 13th place. As of right now, the cut score (top 25%, 88/352 bowlers) is at 2396 (-4, 199.67 Average). Today bowlers are bowling 6 more games, then the cut will be made to the top 88 of the 352 bowler field. Those who make the cut will come back on Friday for 9 more games, before cutting to the top 24. Then matchplay begins on Friday night and will continue throughout the day on Saturday.
USBC to Allow Alcohol at Open Championships?
In an article written by Jeff Richgels on his “11th Frame” blog, Jeff mentions that the USBC may be allowing alcohol at the USBC Open Championships. Jeff’s full article can be found here. The article mentions that the USBC could definitely use the extra money that selling alcohol could bring in. Not only that, this could also bring more bowlers that were turned away because of the “no alcohol” rules. The USBC recently laid off 10% of their workers and also announced that they were canceling the “Clash of Champions.” Like Jeff said, if this brings more entries, it’s very hard to oppose it. No official announcement has been made yet. The full article can be found on the 11th Frame Blog.
Walter Ray Wins USBC Masters
Walter Ray Williams, Jr. has won his second career USBC Masters title. Walter Ray defeated top qualifier Chris Barnes by a score of 290-217. His first Masters title also came at the hands of Chris Barnes, in 2004. Walter Ray now has eight major titles, tied with Mike Aulby and Pete Weber. Earl Anthony is the only bowler with more, which he has 10 major titles.
To start of the TV finals, Ryan Ciminelli took on Mike Scroggins. Ciminelli won the match, 246-229, and went on to take on Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Walter Ray won that match, 258-224, to go on and face Chris Barnes. In winning the Masters, Walter Ray also takes home $50,000.
See which equipment the pros were using on my InTheBag page for the USBC Masters.
Chris Barnes Earns #1 Seed for USBC Masters TV Finals
Chris Barnes went undefeated in matchplay this week to earn the #1 seed for the TV finals of the USBC Masters. Barnes defeated Walter Ray Williams, Jr. to earn the top seed. Walter Ray earned the #2 seed by winning all of his matches until facing Barnes. Ryan Ciminelli and Mike Scroggins earned the #3 and #4 seeds by winning their ways out of the losers bracket.
In the opening match of the stepladder TV finals, Ciminelli and Scroggins will face off. The winner of that match will go on to bowl against Walter Ray Williams, Jr. This winner will face Barnes in the final round.
Loschetter Leads Going into Matchplay of USBC Masters
Chris Loschetter has retained the lead in the USBC Masters with a third block score of 1155 to bring his 15 game total score to 3498 (+498, 233.2 Average). Jason Belmonte has moved into second place with a score of 3421. Patrick Allen moved up into third at 3404. Chris Barnes and Ryan Shafer are in fourth and fifth with 3377 and 3369.
The field has been cut to the top 63 bowlers plus last year’s champion John Nolen. The cut score for the top 63 is 3068 (+68, 204.53 Average). Double Elimination matchplay will begin this evening at 4:00 Pacific Time, 7:00 Eastern Time. Matchplay will continue tomorrow (Friday) throughout the day. The TV Finals will be bowled Sunday afternoon on ESPN at 3:00 Eastern Time, 12:00 Pacific Time.
Chris Loschetter Takes Over Lead in USBC Masters
Chris Loschetter had a score of 1143 (+143, 228.6 Average) in the second block of the USBC Masters to take over the lead. Loschetter’s leading 10 game score is 2343 (+343, 234.3 Average). Wes Malott had the highest block 2 score of 1215 to move him into third place with a total of 2268. Chris Barnes is currently in second place at 2329. Jason Belmonte and Patrick Allen are in fourth and fifth with 2285 and 2268.
The field has been cut to the top 25% (67 bowlers) with the cut score at 2063 (+63, 206.3 Average). Today the bowlers will bowl 5 more games of qualifying. The field will be cut to the top 63 bowlers and last year’s champion John Nolen will be added as the 64th bowler to begin matchplay.
Brian Voss Takes Early Lead in USBC Masters
Brian Voss came out of the gate on fire Tuesday to start off the USBC Masters. Voss led the B squad, starting with a 5 game total of 1242 (+242, 248.4 Average). Jeff Carter is close behind at 1215. Eugene McCune was the A squad leader at 1214. Chris Loschetter and Chris Barnes round out the top 5 at 1200 and 1192. Currently, the cut to the top 67 is at 1052 (+52). Both squads will bowl 5 more games today (Wednesday) before cutting to the top 25% of all bowlers.
This year’s USBC Masters tournament is taking place at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.
Janawicz and Edwards Win in Team USA Trials
John Janawicz became a Team USA member for the third time by winning in the Team Trials this year. Janawicz had a 100+ pin lead going into the final two games of the tournament. He shot 159 and 183 to finish out the tournament with a final 36-game score of 8168 (+968, 226.8 Average). Mike Fagan made a late run to try to take over the lead, but left a 7-pin in the tenth to fall three pins short. This years team will include Janawicz (1st), Fagan (2nd), Craig Hanson (3rd), Cassidy Schaub (Selection), and John Szczerbinski (Selection).
Over on the women’s side things weren’t quite as close. Brenda Edwards finished with a 36-game score of 7890 (+690, 219.1 Average) to make the team for her third time. Edwards led the field by 169 pins with Kendra Gaines finishing in second. This years team will include Edwards (1st), Gaines (2nd), Emily Maier (3rd), Tennelle Milligan (Selection), and Diandra Asbaty (Selection).
Heading into the Team USA Trials, 13 players had already secured spots by virtue of their selection earlier this year. Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes, Wes Malott, Tommy Jones, Patrick Allen, Rhino Page and Bill O’Neill make up the remainder of the men’s team. On the women’s side, Stefanie Nation, Shannon O’Keefe, Shannon Pluhowsky, Liz Johnson, Kelly Kulick and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard were selected.
The full results can be found on bowl.com
Article from Herald Tribune about USBC Ignorance
With some help from a friend, I found a very nice article about the ignorance of the USBC. The full article can be found on the Herald Tribune’s website at HeraldTribune.com.
Here are some strong points of the article. I encourage you to read the full article to inform yourself of exactly how the USBC feels about constructive criticism.
USBC displays little tolerance for negative opinions
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 8:56 p.m.
QUESTION: When is a bowling discussion forum not a bowling discussion forum?
ANSWER: As of the time the United States Bowling Congress unveiled its all-new forums on Aug. 3.
USBC obviously has the right to monitor its own forums and establish “terms” regarding its use. But why even have discussion forums if all posts are held for moderation and subject to strict censorship?
‘Negatives’ deleted
………..
Mark Miller, one of 41 USBC forum moderators, has stated the following policy: “Anything deemed to be negative toward USBC or the sport of bowling will be deleted.”
By the same token, one frequent poster was told that one of his posts was censored “due to the fact it had absolutely nothing to do with any positive aspect of bowling … (and) as the rules state when you sign up, we are here to promote bowling in a positive way.”
………..
Not long ago, USBC’s vice president of media, Pete Tredwell, ventured into the PBA.com Web site.
In starting a new thread, Tredwell said, in part: “I’m trying to learn what people see as the most important things we do, so that we can better serve our customers … I’d like to hear what this group thinks … (and I’m) hoping people take this seriously, and don’t use it as a platform to make jokes.”
……..
After many negative posts, a PBA.com moderator, Bruce Falcon, posted the following, in part:
“This thread has been very educational. I have learned that USBC has a lot of time to spend in PBA message boards. I have learned that the USBC has no vision … I have learned that the USBC has no communication from top to bottom … I have learned that the USBC is in danger of going bankrupt … I have learned that bowl.com was really bad before, and (they) just simply had to change because it was old and sucked and there were no employees working on it … I have learned that the national governing body of bowling is not real good and nobody has a clue. The USBC better get it together or it won’t really matter in 5 years. They better start changing their thinking quick.”
Tredwell responded to Falcon: “Congratulations, your post was the tipping point. After this post, I am done with this thread. What you wrote was inflammatory and hurtful to the entire industry. Hope you are proud.” And Tredwell left the thread amidst a sea of negative responses.
