SPREAD THE WORD … BOWLING IS HERE

This is the debut of the new “bowling” page on lvrj.com, and it comes at the start of a major tournament at Red Rock that will usher in Southern Nevada’s biggest year for the sport.

I’m Jeff Wolf, a sports writer/blogger for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and LVRJ.com. I also report on motor sports, rodeo and whatever other assignments are handed to me.

Bowling, however, is why I’m punching away at this keyboard.

I grew up in the sport. My parents worked in bowling centers in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1960s and that’s how they were able to pay my tuition to The Ohio State University.

I was 5 when I knocked over my first pins. That was at a second-floor bowling alley — they weren’t called “bowling centers” then — and I hit at least one pin each frame because the pinboy would set a pin in each gutter for me.

I’ve done every possible job in a bowling center from working Brunswick and AMF pinsetters to fumigating rental shoes to cleaning bathrooms to tending bar.

I averaged about 185 when lanes were wood and lacquered, hand-oiled and balls cost less than $30.

I averaged about 185 a couple years ago during a brief comeback on synthetic lanes and approaches using a bowling ball that cost about $200.

I haven’t bowled in more than a year but might try to sub in the upcoming USBC Open Championships, a 154-day mega-event at a temporary 60-lane creation being finished at Cashman Center near downtown Las Vegas.

Enough about me.

The plans for this page are to provide blogs, news and results for all levels of bowling; the PBA, the USBC, big-buck tournaments and local items.

LOCAL UPDATES
The local bowlers’ honor roll has moved from the Community Sports Page in the printed editions of the Review-Journal to LVRJ.com. The honor roll at http://www.lvrj.com/hottopics/communitysports.html now is found at this Web site.

There’s a lot of high school bowling news on our Web site. Go to NevadaPreps.com.

It will expand and get better.

MAJOR TOURNAMENTS
Beginning with the PBA Tournament of Champions at Red Rock, which runs through Sunday, bowling fans have a full schedule the next five months.

After this week’s PBA “major,” the USBC Masters will be Feb. 10-15 in the temporary complex Cashman. More than 500 competitors are expected to compete for part of the $400,000 prize fund.

And the granddaddy of all tournaments opens a 154-day run at Cashman with the 106th edition of the USBC Open Championships. More than 17,500 teams and 85,000 bowlers will compete in the event, which was last held in Las Vegas in 1986.

ABOUT THE USBC OPEN
The return of the Open to Las Vegas is a dream come true.

I’ve been fortunate to report on the old Firestone Tournament of Champions in Akron, Ohio, in the mid 1980s. Was lucky enough to start at the Review-Journal in time to cover a PBA Tour event at The Showboat before it was turned into rubble.

Now, I’ll be able to attend the biggest participatory sports event in the world and a continuous event that is older than the World Series and Indianapolis 500. The first Open was in 1901.

I just got back from visiting Cashman and meeting USBC publicist Matt Cannizzaro, who arrived in Las Vegas last weekend from his home in Texas and won’t leave before the tournament concludes on July 24.

Keep checking back here for more news and information on the Open.

PBA AT RED ROCK
Check back for daily results of the Tournament of Champions.

The following is an event schedule and press release for the event from the Professional Bowlers Association:

WEDNESDAY
10 a.m.-2 p.m. -- Qualifying Round 1 (8 Games)

5-10 p.m. -- Qualifying Round 2 (8 Games)

THURSDAY

10 a.m.-2 p.m. -- Qualifying Round 3 (8 Games then cut to top 24

5-8 p.m. -- Match Play Round 1 (8 Games)

FRIDAY
11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. -- Match Play Round 2 (8 Games)

5-8:30 p.m. -- Match Play Round 3 (8 games, top 4 advance to TV finals)

SATURDAY
Pro-Am Events and PBA Fan Day

9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m.- Pro-am squads

2-3 p.m. -- Autograph Session featuring the PBA's Top 50 bowlers of all time

7-11 p.m. -- PBA’s 50th Anniversary Gala/Hall of Fame Ceremony

SUNDAY
9:30 a.m. (Pacific; 12:30 p.m. Eastern) -- ESPN television finals

$200,000 AWAITS TOP PROS
The most talented contemporary stars of the Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour will face off against some of the legends of the sport in the PBA H&R Block Tournament of Champions that began Wednesday at Red Rock Lanes.

At stake in the second “major” championship on the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour is a $50,000 first prize and a three-year exemption to compete on the PBA Tour.

The centerpiece of the PBA’s 50th anniversary celebration week in Las Vegas features a 60-player field of PBA champions. Leading the pack of current stars is Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., who is trying to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive “major” title. Legends in the field include Mark Roth, Mike Aulby, Carmen Salvino and Nelson Burton Jr.

Also in the field are 2008 PBA Senior U.S. Open champion Wayne Webb, 2008 United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters champion Kenny Parks, six past Tournament of Champions winners, a slew of PBA hall-of-famers, the most recent PBA Tour champions and two top players from the PBA’s Regional ranks: Regional Players Championship winner Sean Swanson of Springfield, Mo., and Regional Players Invitational champion John Nolen of Waterford, Mich.

Another highlight will be the PBA’s 50th Anniversary Gala presented by the Bowling Foundation that will take place Saturday from 7-11 p.m. at the Red Rock. The 50 greatest players in PBA history will be honored, and the top player in PBA history, as selected by a national panel of bowling experts, will be announced. While 48 of the 50 have been announced, the two bowlers still in contention for No. 1 in the voting are the late Earl Anthony and Walter Ray Williams Jr.

During the gala, Duke, Del Ballard Jr. and John Handegard will be inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame.

Las Vegas area adults and youth league bowlers will have an opportunity Saturday to bowl in a special pro-am event at Red Rock Lanes, bowling with three different PBA stars in that special event. For pro-am information: (702) 797-7467.

The live ESPN-televised finals of the H&R Block Tournament of Champions at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

H&R BLOCK TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS ROSTER

Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C.
Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla.
Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y.
Mike Aulby, Indianapolis
Tom Baker, King, N.C.
Del Ballard Jr., N. Richland Hills, Texas
Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas
Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J.
Roy Buckley, Westerville, Ohio
Nelson Burton Jr., Stuart, Fla.
Steve Cook, Granite Bay, Calif.
Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla.
Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio
Mike DeVaney, San Diego
Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla.
Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla.
Michael Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y.
Dave Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y.
Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan.
Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz.
Brian Himmler, Cincinnati
Jason Hurd, Titusville, Fla.
Dave Husted, Milwaukie, Ore.
Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill.
Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C.
Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y.
Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y.
Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich.
Larry Laub, Lincoln, Calif.
Rick Lawrence, Waxahachie, Texas
Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa.
Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas
Don McCune, Las Vegas
Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind.
Mike Mineman, Collinsville, Ill.
Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela
John Nolen, Waterford, Mich.
Rhino Page, Topeka, Kan.
Kenny Parks, Hammond, Ind.
John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J.
Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan.
Tony Reyes, San Bruno, Calif.
Mark Roth, Fulton, N.Y.
Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill.
Ernie Schlegel, Vancouver, Wash.
Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas
Teata Semiz, North Brunswick, N.J.
Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y.
Robert Smith, Columbus, Ohio
Dave Soutar, Bradenton, Fla.
Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo.
David Traber, Hebron, Ill.
Brian Voss, Kennesaw, Ga.
Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore.
Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif.
Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo.
Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas
Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla.
Danny Wiseman, Baltimore
Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind.