onefrombills
11-12-2008, 11:15 PM
When the 2009 USBC Open Championships kicks off in February, the storied event will have a new look with brand new, state-of-the-art scoreboards.
To make sure the scoreboards are working properly and can quickly be assembled when construction begins at Cashman Center in Las Vegas next month, a construction rehearsal and testing session was conducted last week in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Albuquerque Convention Center, which played host to the 2008 Open Championships, opened its doors again for the 60 lanes worth of scoreboards to be assembled for the first time. The new set-up also requires a custom-made super structure to hold the scoreboards in place.
"Last week in Albuquerque, we got our first look at the future of USBC tournaments, and the look and feel of the new scoreboards was just amazing," said Jack Mordini, the USBC Vice President of Tournaments and Events. "The construction went well, and the functionality and capabilities were even better than we expected. We are truly excited about the new look, and we're looking forward to unveiling it to the bowlers in February."
The new scoreboards are comparable to the oversized screens often found in sports venues and arenas across the country, but will offer a clearer picture thanks to the latest 10mm technology. They will feature enhanced graphics with 4.4 trillion colors and streaming video capabilities and will be tagged as the world's largest mobile scoreboard of its kind. The setup also will include a 12 feet by 9 feet, high-definition video display screen over the tournament's traditional Center Aisle.
The last modification to the look of the scoreboards came when computerized scoring was used for the first time at the 1979 event in Tampa, Fla., and the three-color, digitized flip dot scoreboards now used in non-Reno years replaced the boardmen and bookmen who manually tracked scores. The last time the Open Championships had a change of this magnitude was when synthetic lanes were used for the first time at the 1980 event in Louisville, Ky.
The super structure and scoreboards now will be transported to Las Vegas, where construction for the upcoming Open Championships will begin in early December.
Bowling action in Las Vegas starts with the USBC Masters from Feb. 9-15, and the first teams will take to the lanes for the Open Championships on Feb. 21. The 2009 tournament will feature more than 17,000 teams and run each day until July 24. As of now, it will be the largest event held outside of the 78-lane National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., and the second largest tournament in history.
There are still plenty of spots available for the 2009 Open Championships. The deadline for entries is Dec. 14, 2008. For more information, contact the entries department at usbcopenchampionships@bowl.com or by calling (800) 514-BOWL, ext. 3170.
To make sure the scoreboards are working properly and can quickly be assembled when construction begins at Cashman Center in Las Vegas next month, a construction rehearsal and testing session was conducted last week in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Albuquerque Convention Center, which played host to the 2008 Open Championships, opened its doors again for the 60 lanes worth of scoreboards to be assembled for the first time. The new set-up also requires a custom-made super structure to hold the scoreboards in place.
"Last week in Albuquerque, we got our first look at the future of USBC tournaments, and the look and feel of the new scoreboards was just amazing," said Jack Mordini, the USBC Vice President of Tournaments and Events. "The construction went well, and the functionality and capabilities were even better than we expected. We are truly excited about the new look, and we're looking forward to unveiling it to the bowlers in February."
The new scoreboards are comparable to the oversized screens often found in sports venues and arenas across the country, but will offer a clearer picture thanks to the latest 10mm technology. They will feature enhanced graphics with 4.4 trillion colors and streaming video capabilities and will be tagged as the world's largest mobile scoreboard of its kind. The setup also will include a 12 feet by 9 feet, high-definition video display screen over the tournament's traditional Center Aisle.
The last modification to the look of the scoreboards came when computerized scoring was used for the first time at the 1979 event in Tampa, Fla., and the three-color, digitized flip dot scoreboards now used in non-Reno years replaced the boardmen and bookmen who manually tracked scores. The last time the Open Championships had a change of this magnitude was when synthetic lanes were used for the first time at the 1980 event in Louisville, Ky.
The super structure and scoreboards now will be transported to Las Vegas, where construction for the upcoming Open Championships will begin in early December.
Bowling action in Las Vegas starts with the USBC Masters from Feb. 9-15, and the first teams will take to the lanes for the Open Championships on Feb. 21. The 2009 tournament will feature more than 17,000 teams and run each day until July 24. As of now, it will be the largest event held outside of the 78-lane National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., and the second largest tournament in history.
There are still plenty of spots available for the 2009 Open Championships. The deadline for entries is Dec. 14, 2008. For more information, contact the entries department at usbcopenchampionships@bowl.com or by calling (800) 514-BOWL, ext. 3170.