This Sunday’s telecast of the Scorpion Championship had more supporting characters and plot twists than a Spiderman sequel. Who to root for?

Well, there was local boy makes good Tom Smallwood, who now throws X’s for a living after getting the ax from GM last X-mas (what company does that, by the way?). Then, there was Mike DeVaney, a guy who’s never been lower than 19th in points in any of the last six seasons, yet, somehow, found himself living out of his car just a few short months ago in order to save up enough money to even get to the World Series. Then there was Sean Rash, who’s gone from looking like Tommy Jones to Chris Barnes on TV. And finally, we had the guy who’s been saddled with the overwhelming task of single-handedly “saving bowling” in Jason Belmonte.

Belmo and Smallwood were featured in Match 1, and this one was no contest from the start. Smallwood was suffering from a sore back and didn’t seem to be 100%...well, it was either that or the fact that he couldn’t get his ball (any of them…he tried three during the match, which may be a record) within shouting distance of the pocket. Belmo started the game off with a bad break in the 1st (a pocket 4-9), then after tripping the 4 on two consecutive high hits, he switched to a less-hooking ball and crushed four more strikes. After building a huge lead, Belmo conducted a bit of an area check the last three frames and coasted into the final with a 222-175.

Match 2 was a struggle-fest of titanic proportions, as Sean Rash looked to exorcise the demons of last week’s 10th frame meltdown against journeyman pro Mike DeVaney. Everything was going along smoothly for Rash through six frames, as he’d built a nice lead and looked pretty well lined up on both lanes. In frame 7, Rash left an impossibly wicked blower 7-10 on a great shot, then nearly converted when he bounced the 10-pin back out onto the lane.

DeVaney tried urethane to start, but quickly became unconvinced of that strategy before switching back to reactive in frame 6. Although he never struck on the right lane the entire match, DeVaney hung in and threw strikes on the right lane in frames 6 and 8. Rash then got up and began to go down. A missed washout in the 8th preceded a 2-10 split in the 9th, and suddenly it was an even match. DeVaney missed again in the 9th (making him 0 for 5 on that lane for the game) but packed a double and nine in the 10th to force Rash to get all three in the 10th to win. Rash grabbed the first one and missed high, leading to a 182-162 loss.

That brought us to the Women’s Series final, and those of us hoping for a low-score reprieve like we had last week were out of luck. Shannon Pluhowsky, who was looking for her second consecutive title, looked unbeatable once again as her opponent Liz Johnson rifled through several different balls trying to find some kind of decent way to get to the pocket consistently. Shannon had this match firmly in her grasp until two big boo-boos in the 9th and 10th (a missed 2-4-7 and a 3-7 split) unbelievably gave Johnson a chance to double in the 10th for the win. Lucky for Shannon, Johnson had to throw on the brutal right lane, and could only muster a 3-6-10 leave on her opening attempt, giving Pluhowsky another title, 192-177.

In the men’s final, Belmo made a giant leap right and opted to play up the first arrow. His first two frames looked pretty good with a 4-pin and a flush strike. DeVaney stayed in at 25 with his reactive ball for this match, but ran into trouble in the third when his ball hooked high for a 4-6-7-10 split. Belmo tried to give back some of his early lead in the 3rd and 4th when he nearly missed the 3-6-10 and then converted the 2-4-10 split. Heading into the commercial break, the booth asked JB what was going on out there and he explained how the 3-6-10 was probably tougher for him to make than the 2-4-10 (in literature, we call that foreshadowing).

As good players always do, DeVaney got himself lined up on the right lane and parlayed it into a quick double in the 4th and 5th. But a blower 7-10 in the 6th derailed his momentum and Belmo clung to a 13-pin lead heading into the 8th, where his first pitch was thrown a board and a half left of target and snapped through the nose for (what else?) a 3-6-10. On the spare, Belmo tried to get it further right but the ball grabbed early, catching too little of the 6 and leaving the 10 for an open frame. DeVaney threw a clutch double in the 8th and 9th, giving him a 7 pin lead as Belmo stepped up for his final turn.

The young Aussie drilled a perfect strike in the 9th, and needed two in the 10th to force DeVaney to get the same for the win. But Belmo’s shot in the 10th was a carbon copy of the one he threw in the 8th, and the ball veered high for a 3-6-9-10. He could still force DeVaney to mark if he could spare it, but although he figured out how to get the 3-6-10, his plastic ball deflected off the 3-pin and failed to get the 9, leaving the door wide open for DeVaney to pick up his second career win. DeVaney got the required 7 pins and finished with a 189-170 victory, earning the nickname “El Gato” from Rob Stone after demonstrating an uncanny ability to come back to life after being down and out so many times.

And the nickname is probably even more appropriate after hearing what DeVaney said in his post-match news conference (available now on the pba.com home page by clicking the video window at the top right). That’s right, DeVaney was living out of his car just a few weeks ago in order to save up enough money to even come to the World Series of Bowling. Now, without any knowledge of the details of what led to that circumstance, the only thing I can comment upon is just how much pressure Mike must have been under to perform well. In fact, it seemed to be etched on his face with the contorted facial expressions and incessant squinting of the left eye that I can’t remember from back in the days when DeVaney was just a carefree young bowler in the West Region in the mid-1990’s. But he’s back in the winner’s circle again and one can only hope that the next time he finds himself in position for a title the situation is a little less dire.

Here are a couple more notes from this week’s show:
Another good Around the World Series Feature by Rob. Funny stuff!
Belmo’s move to the gutter shows what serious talent he’s got (and the look on his face after losing shows what serious desire he has to win). I wonder if he’s ever tried putting his thumb in for certain spares (like the 3-6-10) when the lanes get super dry?
Was it a coincidence that they went to commercial interviewing Belmo (who was sporting a Grizzly Adams beard), then showed a USBC commercial featuring Belmo clean-shaven, then showed a Barbosol ad in succession?
Although no low-scoring records were breached, the finalists may have set a record for ball changes (10 different strike balls were used by my count).
The song they played during DeVaney’s turns (picked by DeVaney) was “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by Johnny Cash. A little heavier choice than Shannon Pluhowsky’s “Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night” by the Black-Eyed Peas.
That’s all for this week folks. See you next week for the Shark TV Recap…Wes “The King” Malott is back on TV baby!