Anyone see the WSOB Cheetah championship today?

[GeoLes]

I watched the whole event and I started to cringe watching Jeff Roche bowl. He uses DV8 so that was cool to see him make the telecast but his form was so ugly!

I think Bill would probably puke watching him bowl. It is so unnatural and plain ugly. Normally during the telecast they talk about how awesome the pros form is. All they could say about Roche was "unorthodox" and that was being nice.

They were being polite. Ii was wondering if he did not have some sort of physical handicap the network though was not PC to talk about. Either way, he was able to make the muster non-the-less.

Reality check. Look around any bowling league night and you will see all kinds of bowling approaches. I guess there is room at the top for the same type of variabiltiy.

I am just learning more about the various patterns and found it interesting to see the choice of line in playing this short pattern. The annoucers played up the short pattern fact a little, but it would do more for the game in general if they explained the dynamics that make a given pattern more difficult to play than another. I think more casual watchers would see bowling as more than throwing a ball at a bunch of pins.

[75lockwood]

It's already on youtube, at least this game is

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LTnKKI8Aj0

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2bEzGp7kLg

And yes, his delivery is hideous. I do like the DV8 shirt and escpecially like his Terror!

thanks! lol i just checked youtube again found this but sunday`s are for bowling uploaded 10 minutes ago

[scottymoney]

They were being polite. Ii was wondering if he did not have some sort of physical handicap the network though was not PC to talk about. Either way, he was able to make the muster non-the-less.

Reality check. Look around any bowling league night and you will see all kinds of bowling approaches. I guess there is room at the top for the same type of variabiltiy.

I am just learning more about the various patterns and found it interesting to see the choice of line in playing this short pattern. The annoucers played up the short pattern fact a little, but it would do more for the game in general if they explained the dynamics that make a given pattern more difficult to play than another. I think more casual watchers would see bowling as more than throwing a ball at a bunch of pins.

I would like to know if there was a physical handicap causing him to have to play this way. I do think they need to discuss more about patterns as just length and how easy it is to score on them. They could cut out a bit of the showing the guys warming up to maybe show a diagram of how the oil is on the lanes and how the bowlers need to play it. They could really use the Madden telestrator!

[Cochese]

Would be cool if they showed a trace of the line each ball was thrown every frame. Would show what line they are playing and how they adjust.

[GeoLes]

Definitely. My wife is now caught up. Last year, I bored her with observations about where the bowler stood, over which mark he seemed to roll, observations of "inside out" ball release etc. Now she has had a few lessons under her belt, she gets it and watches for such things. It seems to me that when the announcers have "fill in time", they can cut to pattern graphics and perferred lines, slow motion release shots, etc. As long as it is easy for the layman to grasp. It's better than talking about non-essential, all be it human interest info.

I am aware that bowling is trying to break from the old image of "perfect-haird-Earl Anthony-sitting-sipping water-rolling a strike-(small fist pump)-sitting-sipping-scratching-looking". There is so much further the PBA can go nick colorful bowling shirts, names, and Pete Webber tempermental antics. I think that the more the casual observer knows of the inside of the game, the more it is appreciated.

I found it interesting that the bowling was followed by a polker tourament with a $1 million minimum pot. They talked about who these guys were and how they came to have money to burn, what cards they held, what potential hand they could build from the open cards, etc. There is always the occasional irrelevant fact. They even mentioned that one of the gamblers was left-handed. (very helpful to know which hand he used to rake in the chips after a winning hand).

[scottymoney]

Still unsure why ESPN is carrying poker. Poker was a fad a few years ago, but I found it to be very boring.

Maybe one of these they will replace Pederson. Never liked the guy and think they could put someone else in there to do a much better job. Maybe they stay away from pointing out oil patterns and such because Pederson just can't do it? I don't know, they could do so much more with it.

Another thing they never really touch on is how these players got to the finals. They always mention they made it to the round of 16 and so on, but they don't really show you any footage of what these guys went through. (You would only really know if you had xtraframe) Explaining tournament format would even give people a greater appreciation for what these guys did.

[scottymoney]

Just re-watched it and Pederson did say one of the best lines ever when refering to Roche's style. "It is like an octopus falling out of a tree".

Not sure if anyone else noticed bad camera angles on some of the shots? The way they switched cameras you never see the ball hit the pins!

[MisterSinister]

I thought Roche was going to pull a Tom Daughrety after he whiffed on that 10 pin. He didn't quite reach that low, nor did his thumb stick and send him flying down the lane like Josh Blanchard, but still not good. I couldn't believe someone with such a quirky delivery can bowl at that high of a level. I give him tons of credit though, he does what he does, and he is very good at it. After he got his jitters out, he finished well. Good to see Bill O'niel win again, I like him a lot. Can't wait for next week, my man Mike Fagan takes to the lanes looking for a another title. I know it's pre recorded, but GO MIKE!!! Also, even though I don't bowl thumbless anyomre, I am still a supporter of Tom Daughrety. It put a huge smile on my face when I read that he qualified 4th for the Shark Championship. Can't wait to see him Jan 6th, and I hope he wins. Tough show though, he has to go through Belmo, and Osku.

[J Anderson]

A few thoughts:
With enough practice you can be consistent doing things the "wrong" way.

The stiffness of Roche's approach and the consistency of his slide foot going left makes me wonder if there isn't a physical problem behind his unorthodox delivery, like Wayne Garber's broken kneecaps.

ESPN. There are times when it looks like they sub out the production to the local high school AV club. Any one else catch that when they showed the stepladder before the second game the switched Oneal's score with Loecsheter's? Sometimes they show what balls the player has and which one is being used. Some times they don't. And when they do remember to mention that a bowler has changed balls they almost never say what the new ball is.

I have the feeling that ESPN isn't sure who their target audience is. Is it hardcore bowler's who really want to know the difference between Cheetah and Viper? Is it the average league bowler, hoping that just watching the pros will his or her game a little better? Is is the non-bowler who might get interested by the 'up close and personal' side bars? Until they figure it out, I think we're doomed to an odd mix of a little bit of everything, not particularly well done, and not enough of anything in particular to satisfy anyone.

[GeoLes]

I like to see the ball reaction on the lane but so often the score graphics are placed lower left screen where it blocks the split second you need to see the delivery. It would be nice to move that to the top of the screen somewhere out of the way.