PBA needs a snow storm

Watching the PBA Tour on ABC growing up in the 1960s and ’70s was a fixture for me and millions of others.

And the best environment to watch it was a cold, winter days back home in Ohio. Snowy days were even better.

For the sake of professional bowling, I hope the weather is nasty around the country for the next week. Sadly, it’s supposed to be nice here in Las Vegas.

Pro bowling needs as many people at home to watch special programming from South Point this weekend and Red Rock next weekend.

The next seven days will mark many historical milestones for the PBA Tour.

It started Friday at South Point with the first of three, successive televised rounds live on ESPN and ESPN 2 to conclude the PBA World Championship;

When the PBA Tournament of Champions starts a six-day run Sunday afternoon at Red Rock, the purse of $1 million and winner’s share of $250,000 each will be PBA records;

And the Saturday, Jan. 22, televised step-ladder finals of the T of C will air live on ABC, marking the first time the network has aired a PBA event in 14 years.

It’s great time for bowling ... just too bad it won’t be snowing in Southern Nevada.

Below are complete schedules and added info.

PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Schedule
Friday
   Match 1: No. 8 Jason Belmonte, Australia, def. No. 7 Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas (loser earns $8,000)
   Match 2: No. 6 Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., def. Belmonte (loser earns $9,000)
Saturday, Jan. 15, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2
   Lead in: 30-minute recap of Friday’s competition and preview of upcoming matches; match 3 with No. 5 Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., vs. Haugen (loser earns $10,000)
   Match 4: No. 4 Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, vs. winner of match 3 (loser earns $11,000)
Sunday, Jan. 16, 10 a.m., ESPN
   Match 5: No. 3 Osku Palermaa, Finland, vs. winner of match 4 (loser earns $12,000);
   Semifinal Match: No. 2 Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., vs. winner of match 5 (loser earns $14,000);
   Championship Match: No. 1 Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., vs. winner of semifinal match (winner earns $50,000, loser earns $25,000)

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Red Rock Lanes
Saturday, Jan. 15
   9 and 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. – Pro-Am squads
   4:30 p.m. – Autograph sessions
   6:30 p.m. – Champions field practice
Sunday, Jan. 16
   9 a.m. – Elite field practice
   1 p.m. – Champions field, 7 qualifying games
Monday, Jan. 17
   8 a.m. – Champions field, 7 qualifying games; top 50% after 14 games advance to Elite field
   4 p.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games
   7 p.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games
Tuesday, Jan. 18
   8 a.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games
   11 a.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games
   4 p.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games
   7 p.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games
Wednesday, Jan. 19
   8 a.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games
   11 a.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games; top 54 (based on 216 entries) after 20 games advance to Cashers Round
   5 p.m. – Cashers Round 1, 8 qualifying games
Thursday, Jan. 20
   10 a.m. – Cashers Round 2, 8 qualifying games; top 24 after 36 games advance to round robin match play
   5 p.m. – Top 24, 8 match play games
Friday, Jan. 21
   11 a.m. – Top 24, 8 match play games
   5 p.m. – Top 24, 8 match play games: top 4 after 60 games advance to stepladder finals
Saturday, Jan. 22
   11:30 a.m. – Top 4, live stepladder finals, ABC
   7 p.m. – PBA Hall of Fame dinner

AIR BALL
Professional bowlers will be competing for over $1 million in major PBA tournaments over the next week in Southern Nevada.
It’s unlikely anything during competition will produce video worthy of going viral on the Internet like the one recorded during last week’s Team USA Trials tournament at Strike Zone. It has received more than 1 million hits.
The video shows one of Josh Scanlan’s 10th frames. After starting with two strikes, his thumb appeared to stick in the ball leading to an errant shot that bounced onto an adjacent lane, bounds out of a gutter and registers an illegal strike on the wrong lane.
“It’s amazing to see a fluke shot get so much attention,” said Scanlan, of Grayslake, Ill., who finished 49th. “I’m glad it’s allowing millions of people to know there is a Team USA Trials.”
The video, which can be seen at bowl.com/tv, went viral after being featured on the Yahoo.com home page, Jimmy Kimmel Live show, ESPN’s SportsCenter, CNN Headline News and HuffingtonPost.com.