Bowlers Journal International - March 2008 - (Page 34)

DENNY'STOUR BY J.R. SCHMIDT YES, SPARE SHOOTING IS STILL IMPORTANT IT MAY BE BOWLING'S POWER ERA, BUT WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN (IN LAS VEGAS OR ELSEWHERE), A SIMPLE SPARE CONVERSION CAN STILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. GOING INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH of the PBA Exempt Doubles Classic at the new Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas, one thing was certain: At least one new champion would be crowned. One team consisted of two nonwinners (Joe Ciccone and Ronnie Russell), while the other featured another non-champ (Michael Fagan) and a future PBA Hall of Famer (Danny Wiseman). Experience prevailed in the end as Fagan and Wiseman shared the $40,000 HERO NODA THERECAP PBA EXEMPT DOUBLES CLASSIC January 20-22 & 27, 2008 Red Rock Lanes, Las Vegas, Nev. 1. Danny Wiseman-Michael Fagan, $40,000; 2. Ronnie Russell-Joe Ciccone, $18,000; 3. Bill O’Neill-Mike Scroggins, $9,000; 4. Wes Malott-Chris Barnes, $7,000. ESPN Finals: Russell-Ciccone def. Malott-Barnes, 235-193; RussellCiccone def. O'Neill-Scroggins, 233-223; Wiseman-Fagan def. Russell-Ciccone, 210-208. 16-Game Round Robin Doubles Match Play (Including 30 Bonus Pins for Each Team Match Won and 10 Bonus Pins for Each Individual Match Won): 1. Danny Wiseman (7-9)-Michael Fagan (12-4), 9-6-1, 14,384; 2. Mike Scroggins (12-4)-Bill O'Neill (9-6-1), 12-4, 14,248; 3. Chris Barnes (9-61)-Wes Malott (5-11), 9-7, 14,105; 4. Joe Ciccone (8-7-1)-Ronnie Russell (9-7), 11-5, 14,001; 5. Mike Edwards (5-10-1)-Tommy Delutz Jr. (11-5), 9-7, 13,997, $6,000; 6. Michael Machuga (7-9)-Dino Castillo (7-8-1), 5-10-1, 13,880, $5,600; 7. Robert Smith (9-6-1)-Patrick Allen (7-9), 9-7, 13,780, $5,300; 8. Riga Kalfas (10-6)-Eric Forkel (510-1), 8-8, 13,713, $5,000; 9. Mika Koivuniemi (5-11)-Walter Ray Williams Jr. (8-8), 6-10, 13,662, $4,700; 10. Stevie Weber (10-6)-Steve Jaros (7-9), 8-8, 13,641, $4,500; 11. Brad Angelo (7-9)-Brian Kretzer (8-8), 8-8, 13,625, $4,400; 12. Chris Loschetter (6-9-1)-Ryan Ciminelli (7-9), 6-9-1, 13,586, $4,300; 13. Brian LeClair (12-4)-Mitch Beasley (7-9), 10-6, 13,492, $4,250; 14. Troy Wollenbecker (7-9)-Doug Kent (88), 6-9-1, 13,385, $4,200; 15. Mike Wolfe (6-10)-Tommy Jones (5-11), 3-13, 13,385, $4,150; 16. Jason Wojnar (9-7)-Pete Weber (6-10), 7-9, 13,338, $4,100. Lane Pattern: Chameleon. 14Game Cut Score (32nd Place): 3095. Leading Qualifier: Dino Castillo, 3326. Advanced from Tour Qualifying Round: Ryan Ciminelli, Rhino Page, Roger Kossert, Vayle Floria, Dennis Horan Jr., Edward VanDaniker Jr., Eric Forkel, Wayne Webb, Tom Daugherty, Humberto Vasquez, Rick Francis, Kurry Crayton and Rick Benard (amateur). None of the finalists — including, from the left, Ronnie Russell, Danny Wiseman, Joe Ciccone, Bill O'Neill, Michael Fagan or Chris Barnes — could have predicted how the PBA Exempt Doubles title would be decided. ﬁrst-place prize, but in actuality, experience had very little to do with the outcome. It's safe to say that nobody — not the bowlers, not the crowd, not the ESPN television audience — could have predicted how Fagan would secure his ﬁrst PBA title and Wiseman would bag his 11th. Fagan and Wiseman won sitting down, the championship handed to them on a silver platter via their opponents' missed spare in the 10th frame. 34 bowlers journal international MARCH 2008 It was a surreal ending to an unusual tournament. The PBA Exempt Doubles Classic wrapped around the H&R Block Tournament of Champions at Red Rock — its qualifying and match play rounds conducted before the T of C, and its championship round taped after the live T of C telecast on ESPN, for airing on Super Bowl Sunday. And unlike PBA doubles tournaments of the past, which saw the players create their own teams (Mike Aulby and Steve Cook won the Showboat Doubles Classic three times), pairings were based on 14-game qualifying totals. Among the four teams advancing to the championship round, Wiseman and Fagan qualiﬁed third and fourth, Chris Barnes and Wes Malott qualiﬁed ninth and 10th, Ciccone and Russell qualiﬁed 11th and 12th, while Mike Scroggins and Bill O'Neill made the cut with just two team spots to spare, in 27th and 28th. Ciccone and Russell won the ﬁrst two TV matches, ﬁrst disposing of Barnes and Malott thanks to clutch late-game strikes by Russell, and then coming from behind to down Scroggins and O'Neill with some 10th-frame heroics by Ciccone. Given the nerves-of-steel performances in those matches by Russell and Ciccone, their meltdown in the ﬁnal frame of the title match was completely unexpected. Interestingly, Wiseman had designated the much less-experienced Fagan to bowl the 10th frame for their team. Wiseman knew Fagan wanted to "step up to the next level," and ﬁgured putting him in a position that may require him to perform in the clutch could accomplish that. Fagan stayed clean in the 10th, but left the door open for Ciccone and Russell. Ciccone, needing strike-nine-spare for a one-pin win, got the strike, then left the 2-5 on his second shot. Suddenly, a spare was needed just to knot the match at 210. As Wiseman prepared for sudden-death, Ciccone ﬁred his spare shot and missed both pins to the left. "I never would have imagined winning my ﬁrst title this way," Fagan said later. "But I'll take it any way I can get it." BALL CHECK WISEMAN: Roto Grip Cell. FAGAN: Hammer Black Widow and Black Widow Bite. RUSSELL: Brunswick Ultra Zone. CICCONE: Brunswick Blast Zone. O'NEILL: Storm T-Road Solid. SCROGGINS: Roto Grip Cell. MALOTT: Columbia 300 Momentum. BARNES: Columbia 300 Resurgence.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Bowlers Journal International - March 2008

Bowlers Journal International - March 2008 Contents Leading Off Letters Bowlitically Incorrect Par Bowling The Coach Calendar Inside Line Tournaments The Truth Be Bowled Pro Bowling Back On Track Weber Tales Spares Do Matter Cover Story Up Close USBC Women's Time Capsule Flashback Strategy Session Guest Column Regional Roundup Team USA Trials Military Salute Global Guide No Holes Barred Marketplace Bowling Summit Museum Update Hall Marks Advertisers' Index Rememberance Classified Advertising Intelligencer Business Calendar Business People Strikes Me

Bowlers Journal International - March 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.