onefrombills
06-07-2009, 12:10 AM
PBA Communications
The Professional Bowlers Association will kick off its second half-century in August with another wave of new programs, beginning with the all-new PBA World Series of Bowling and featuring a 14-city journey that will result in 23 Sunday afternoon television shows on ESPN.
The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour will shift the 67th U.S. Open to a February date and a new home in Indianapolis; create the first Internet-based "bowling league" for PBA stars; bring back the controversial "plastic ball" championship; expand opportunities for the world's best women bowlers, and convert the PBA World Championship into a unique two-part event concluding with a live television final in Wichita, Kan.
The PBA World Series of Bowling gets the season started with an all-new festival of competition featuring five weeks of PBA Tour, PBA Women's Series and PBA Senior Tour competition - all in the Metro Detroit area - capped by two days of TV finals on Sept. 5 and 6. The PBA Tour then hits the road for the second half of its season, traveling to popular bowling markets from coast to coast.
Among the highlights:
? The U.S. Open moves to February to maximize its exposure on ESPN, and will be hosted by Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.
? The PBA World Championship will become a two-part event, with qualifying and match play contested during the World Series and the four finalists advancing to a live ESPN final in Wichita, Kan., on Dec. 13.
? A new PBA Xtra Frame League will involve 32 top PBA players bowling in an eight-week "singles league" format during the second half of the season. One-game matches will be bowled during Tour stops in Medford, Ore.; Dublin, Calif.; Fountain Valley, Calif.; Omaha; Columbus, Ohio; Norwich, Conn., and West Babylon, N.Y. The series of weekly head-to-head matches will be broadcast exclusively on the pba.com subscription service, Xtra Frame.
? The PBA Women's Series presented by BOWL.COM will once again showcase the best in women's bowling. The series will feature a third major championship - the Women's World Championship at Thunderbowl Lanes - and a new Tour Qualifying Round program for PBA Women's Series events that will allow at least two women to advance to the 20-player fields for traditional Women's Series events. PBA Women's Series winners also will advance to the PBA Women's Series Showdown presented by BOWL.COM at the end of the season.
? The "Versatility Swing" returns, featuring the PBA Tour's five "animal-pattern" championships (Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark). The winner of each plus the points leader among non-titlists will advance to the new post-season PBA Experience Showdown presented by BOWL.COM, a special event including six grassroots league bowlers randomly selected from USBC's PBA Experience League program. The Showdown will be hosted by USBC at its new International Training Center in Arlington, Texas.
? The "Extreme Swing" returns and will include the Omaha Classic (which will use a dual oiling pattern scheme), Don Johnson Eliminator, Match Play Championship, Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship and the season-ending Marathon Open. The controversial "plastic ball" event will require all players to use identical bowling balls using throw-back technology from the 1970s. The event is being re-named in honor of Roth, the PBA superstar who introduced the power game and became a dominant force in that era.
For the complete schedules, click www.PBA.com
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events and awarded over $4.3 million in prize money during the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA National Tour. The organization has more than 4,000 members spanning 13 countries, and nearly one million viewers tune-in to watch the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour every Sunday on ESPN throughout the season. PBA sponsors include Amp Energy, Bayer, Brunswick, CLR, Denny's, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, Motel 6, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information on the PBA, log on to www.pba.com.
The Professional Bowlers Association will kick off its second half-century in August with another wave of new programs, beginning with the all-new PBA World Series of Bowling and featuring a 14-city journey that will result in 23 Sunday afternoon television shows on ESPN.
The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour will shift the 67th U.S. Open to a February date and a new home in Indianapolis; create the first Internet-based "bowling league" for PBA stars; bring back the controversial "plastic ball" championship; expand opportunities for the world's best women bowlers, and convert the PBA World Championship into a unique two-part event concluding with a live television final in Wichita, Kan.
The PBA World Series of Bowling gets the season started with an all-new festival of competition featuring five weeks of PBA Tour, PBA Women's Series and PBA Senior Tour competition - all in the Metro Detroit area - capped by two days of TV finals on Sept. 5 and 6. The PBA Tour then hits the road for the second half of its season, traveling to popular bowling markets from coast to coast.
Among the highlights:
? The U.S. Open moves to February to maximize its exposure on ESPN, and will be hosted by Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.
? The PBA World Championship will become a two-part event, with qualifying and match play contested during the World Series and the four finalists advancing to a live ESPN final in Wichita, Kan., on Dec. 13.
? A new PBA Xtra Frame League will involve 32 top PBA players bowling in an eight-week "singles league" format during the second half of the season. One-game matches will be bowled during Tour stops in Medford, Ore.; Dublin, Calif.; Fountain Valley, Calif.; Omaha; Columbus, Ohio; Norwich, Conn., and West Babylon, N.Y. The series of weekly head-to-head matches will be broadcast exclusively on the pba.com subscription service, Xtra Frame.
? The PBA Women's Series presented by BOWL.COM will once again showcase the best in women's bowling. The series will feature a third major championship - the Women's World Championship at Thunderbowl Lanes - and a new Tour Qualifying Round program for PBA Women's Series events that will allow at least two women to advance to the 20-player fields for traditional Women's Series events. PBA Women's Series winners also will advance to the PBA Women's Series Showdown presented by BOWL.COM at the end of the season.
? The "Versatility Swing" returns, featuring the PBA Tour's five "animal-pattern" championships (Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark). The winner of each plus the points leader among non-titlists will advance to the new post-season PBA Experience Showdown presented by BOWL.COM, a special event including six grassroots league bowlers randomly selected from USBC's PBA Experience League program. The Showdown will be hosted by USBC at its new International Training Center in Arlington, Texas.
? The "Extreme Swing" returns and will include the Omaha Classic (which will use a dual oiling pattern scheme), Don Johnson Eliminator, Match Play Championship, Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship and the season-ending Marathon Open. The controversial "plastic ball" event will require all players to use identical bowling balls using throw-back technology from the 1970s. The event is being re-named in honor of Roth, the PBA superstar who introduced the power game and became a dominant force in that era.
For the complete schedules, click www.PBA.com
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events and awarded over $4.3 million in prize money during the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA National Tour. The organization has more than 4,000 members spanning 13 countries, and nearly one million viewers tune-in to watch the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour every Sunday on ESPN throughout the season. PBA sponsors include Amp Energy, Bayer, Brunswick, CLR, Denny's, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, Motel 6, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others. For more information on the PBA, log on to www.pba.com.