July 25, 2008

 

By: Mark Martin

 

PBA SCHEDULE RELEASED

 

The Professional Bowlers Association has announced its 2008-09 PBA Tour schedule, which includes 20 stops between October and April.

 

The PBA Tour will once again visit the metro Detroit area when the world’s greatest men and women bowlers come to Taylor Lanes Nov. 12-16. This will be the only Michigan stop on the schedule with the elimination of the Michigan Classic which was formerly held at Spectrum lanes in suburban Grand Rapids .

 

The PBA season will begin Oct. 19-26 with the Denny’s World Championship from Northrock Lanes in Wichita , Kan. This will also be the first major of the year and it’s interesting that it’s this early in the season. The PBA is probably taking a page from NASCAR which begins its season with the Daytona 500.

 

The Women’s Series will expand from four events in 2007 to seven events in 2009. This series is presented by USBC with events held in Omaha , Neb ; Taylor ; Vernon Hills , Ill. ; Cheektowaga , N.Y. ; Baltimore ; Reno ; and Medford , Ore.

 

The USBC Masters, which has been the season opening event in three of the past four years, will move to Feb. 2009 and be held in Las Vegas at the Cashman Center . This will kick off the 2009 USBC Championships which promises to become the largest tournament in history. By moving the USBC Masters to the site of the annual championships returns to the tradition beginning in 1951 of competing on the same lanes.

 

The third event of the PBA season to be held at Olympia Lanes in Hammond , Ind. will be the PBA Golden Anniversary Championship. This event will feature 16 senior bowlers competing in the same format as the Women’s Series with the top two advancing to compete for the title during the live ESPN-televised championship round.

 

“We are very excited about some of the changes to the 2008-09 schedule, particularly moving the World Championship to the first week of the season, which will be a great way to kick off our 50th anniversary,” said PBA Commissioner and CEO Fred Schreyer. “We are thankful for the many loyal hosts we return to this season, and look forward to working with our new partners as well.”

 

Look for many exciting times in the upcoming season.

 

------

 

CASTING CALL

 

Renowned New York photographer Paul Mobley is looking for bowlers to participate in a photo shoot that he will be doing in August at a bowling center in the metropolitan Detroit area.

 

He will be capturing the essence of bowling as an American pastime and you can possibly become involved by e-mailing a digital photo of yourself to mark.martin@mdusbc.com. Pictures should be a head shot only, no action photos.

 

Male and female bowlers are needed for the project.

 

Mobley will select the bowlers based on the digital photos submitted.

 

Mobley trained as a photographer at Detroit ’s Center for Creative Studies and later in New York studios of leading photographers. His first book, American Farmer: Portraits from the Heartland, will be published in the fall by Welcome Books. See Mobley’s work at www.paulmobleystudio.com.

 

Send your picture and you may become a star!

 

------

 

HONOR SCORES

300 Games

Date, Name, Hometown, Center, League

July 12, William Manley Jr., Detroit , Troy Lanes, National Senior Bowling Association Tournament

 

 

800 Series

Date, Name (Score), Hometown, Center, League

July 12, William Manley Jr. (807), Detroit , Troy Lanes, National Senior Bowling Association Tournament

 

 

 

Mark Martin writes a weekly bowling column for The Daily Oakland Press and is the association manager of the Metro Detroit USBC Association. He can be reached at (248) 443-2695, faxed at (248) 443-2690 or e-mailed at mark.martin@mdusbc.com.