Document text
PBA strikes Medford Most of the sport's big names will compete in the inaugural Medford Open this week at Lava Lanes By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune It's out with the old, in with the new. Sort of. Yes, it's true the Professional Bowlers Association Tour has undergone dramatic changes in the past year under new ownership: Purses are fatter, the qualifying format is an edgier, sudden-death experience, and visibility is mounting in the nation's media, particularly with entertaining spots on ESPN, a link on that company's Web site and regular coverage in USA Today. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Like, Walter Ray Williams Jr. at the top of the earnings list. And Parker Bohn III at the top of the points list. And the likes of Pete Weber, Norm Duke, Mike Aulby, Chris Barnes and Jason Couch - to name only a few - figuring prominently in these and other rankings. The stars are still the show, and they will be out in force this week at the inaugural PBA Medford Open at Lava Lanes. The event, much-anticipated in local bowling and business circles since it was announced last June, will be held Monday through Sunday, with the finals televised live on ESPN. After pro-ams and practice sessions early in the week, upward of 120 pros will begin competition Thursday and work toward Sunday's five-man finals. This is the third leg of what has become a uniquely expanded season. It was prompted by the ownership change - three former Microsoft executives bought the PBA in April 2000 to run it as a moneymaking business rather than maintaining the organization's nonprofit status. They hired two former Nike executives, Ian Hamilton and Steve Miller, as commissioner and president, respectively. The aforementioned changes followed. Eight tour events from last spring were carried over and added to the 2001-02 season, leaving 28 events for this season. The U.S. Open a month ago concluded the 10 fall events, and the tour was idle until the Earl Anthony Memorial Classic, which will be completed today in Seattle. Medford is the second of 10 remaining tournaments into March. Williams has earned $144,500 to Bohn's $143,000. In points, the latter has a lead of about 20,000, with a total of 274,585. A standard tournament victory is worth 22,000 points. Those two are in the thick of the race for the coveted player-of-the-year award, along with Weber, who recently passed his legendary father, Dick, in all-time titles, 27-26; Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, who won the U.S. Open; and Couch, who is near the top in all major categories and leads in average at 221.49. Williams is a five-time player of the year and is the front-runner. He didn't bowl to his standards last winter, but the fall season was another matter altogether as he made five TV finals in a row under the unpredictable new format. "I never dreamed anyone would be able to do that," said Williams, who nevertheless isn't enamored with the format that puts a premium on match play. "I had a very successful fall season, and I'm looking to add to that. You can't rest on what you did last week or last month or last year. You have to go out and perform every week. The competition is very good out here." Williams, in his 20th year on tour, liked the old qualifying format in which players bowled 18 games to determine the top 24, then another 24 games of round robin. All the games counted toward the total pinfall, which determined the five TV finalists. In place since the tour began with three events in 1959, the format provided little suspense through the course of the tournament. Now, everyone in the field bowls nine games, and the top 64 advance. Another nine qualifying games trims the field to the top 32. The field is then bracketed for best-of-five matches until four winners and a wild-card entrant advance to the TV finals. Williams graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in physics. "I understand statistics a little bit," he says. "I know that the more you do something, the more the better player will prevail. That's why in the old format over 42 games, the better players got there more often." He contends the bowler who knocks down the most pins during the week deserves to be rewarded and argues that, regardless of the format, most people watching the TV finals don't understand how the five players got there. Despite his reservations, Williams praises the new PBA for having "the gumption to put their money where their mouth is" and taking steps to make the tour more appealing to players and fans alike. Others consider limited qualifying and elimination match play a plus because it puts everyone on equal footing from one stage to the next and provides a thrill for the fans. Essentially, one bowler lives, another dies with each match. "He may not have knocked down, averagewise, the most pins," Bohn says of a given tournament winner, "but he knocked down the most pins at the right time when he needed to. In match play, it doesn't matter what the score is, as long as you beat your opponent. "It's for the fans. There's excitement to be had on every given shot. I'll tell you, it keeps you on your toes, and it gives the fans the feeling of being down there and living the highs and lows with you." Bohn gave a for-instance, using Bryon Smith, a Roseburg product who is ninth on the points list, as an example. At the Battle at Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Va., last March, Bohn waxed Smith in the first best-of-five game, then won the second for a 2-0 lead. He needed a double in the 10th frame of the third game to win the match but didn't get the second strike, enabling Smith to win. Smith then hung a 300 game on Bohn. "If you're watching this," says Bohn, "you're saying, 'Oh my God, now it's the fifth game and it looked like Parker was going to run away and hide.'" Smith won the match, Bohn went home and onlookers were left to collect their breath from the drama. Tinkering with the format isn't the only change deemed positive by many on tour. The boost in purses, an exclusive contract with ESPN and a changing of the season to mirror the traditional bowling season - fall to spring - are others. The PBA raised its overall prize fund from $1.8 million the previous year to $4.3 million this year. The standard winner's check has doubled to $40,000, and more money is being paid through the ranks. For majors, the winner's take is more than six figures. The agreement with ESPN, meanwhile, is for three years, with a three-year option, and includes promotional spots. Among the goals with the new TV deal is to provide consistent scheduling - same day, same time, same channel each week - that hasn't happened since the PBA's contract with ABC ended in 1997. Weber has already been involved in the TV ads. "I know around my area," says Weber, who lives in St. Ann, Mo., "people are seeing the PBA a lot more. People are commenting, 'Hey, man, I saw you on the spot on ESPN.' Or they saw something in the paper or heard it on the radio. I think people are starting to notice us a little bit better. The new owners are going in the right direction." This week, that direction points here. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.