Bowlers Journal International - March 2008 - (Page 40)

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS BARNES & CICCONE HAVE PLENTY OF 'GENEROUS' COMPANY AS THE RATINGS FOR THE DENNY'S PBA TOUR telecasts surged in January, post-NFL, Chris Barnes and Joe Ciccone probably wish nobody had been watching their title game fold-ups during back-toback telecasts from Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas. Neither Michael Haugen Jr. at the H&R Block Tournament of Champions, nor the team of Michael Fagan and Danny Wiseman at the Exempt Doubles Classic, expected such generosity from their opponents. To read some of the comments on internet message boards, you’d think Barnes and Ciccone were the first players ever to give away a title. The criticism of Barnes stemmed more from past difficulties “closing the deal” in televised matches, accentuated by losing a 52-pin lead less than half-agame to go in the title game of the T of C. His performance in the 10th frame — 9-spare-9 — may not have been good enough to pull out the championship, but it certainly was not atrocious. Ciccone whiffing the 2-5 spare that he needed to send the Doubles title game into sudden-death certainly qualified as a dramatic blunder at the most inopportune time. But he wasn't the first to pull such a faux pas. Ciccone joins a list that includes several Hall of Famers who somehow forgot how to bowl during the final moments of a title game ■ 1956 BPAA ALL-STAR — Needing a mark in the 10th frame to secure his second All-Star tournament victory, Joe Wilman left a washout and failed to convert the spare, thus letting Bill Lillard wear the crown. With national wire services covering the tournament, Wilman’s misfortune was carried in the sports section of practically every significant daily newspaper in the country the next day. Some speculated Wilman was “playing it safe,” and intentionally missed the headpin to avoid leaving a split. Wilman denied that was his strategy, but it was a far different bowling era when even the contenders for the sport’s biggest prize threw strikes on less than 50 percent of their attempts. If you needed a mark, the odds were that two shots would be necessary. Strategizing how to leave an easier spare shot doesn’t sound so far-fetched under those circumstances. ■ 1963 PORTLAND OPEN — Needing a mark in the 10th frame to win, a red-hot, 22-year-old Billy Hardwick, in the midst of his first Bowler of the Year season, left a 10-pin. He promptly missed it, handing the title to Darylee Cox. ■ 1969 DENVER OPEN — Several years later, Hardwick got back the title he'd given away. Needing a mark to secure the win, Teata Semiz left an 8-10 split in the 10th frame. Of course, in those days, the 8-10 was often considered more bad luck than bad execution. ■ 1974 HARTFORD OPEN — Needing a spare and an 8-count to win, as he sought to become the first PBA bowler to earn more than $100,000 in a season, Earl Anthony left the 4-6-7 split. Moments later, Nelson Burton Jr. was presented the trophy and first-place check, while Anthony left Bradley Bowl before anyone could catch him for an interview. (Anthony came up $415 short of six figures for the year, but made it over the top in 1975.) ■ 1983 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OPEN — After throwing what for all practical purposes was a tournament-clinching strike on his first ball in the 10th frame, Don Genalo went “5-out” on his next two shots to lose to Jimmie Pritts Jr., 214-212. It goes down as the most costly mental mistake in PBA history, as Genalo thought he needed a double in the 10th to win. When he left the Greek Church after the first strike, he haphazardly rolled his final ball into the right gutter, not realizing that he needed to knock down just three of the remaining pins to salvage the victory. ■ 1991 FAIR LANES OPEN — In the granddaddy of all giveaways, Del Ballard Jr. suddenly turned into a completely out-of-time novice, unable to keep the ball on the lane, when a simple seven-count was needed to wrap up the title. So pumped up after getting the first two strikes in the 10th frame for the apparent victory, Ballard rushed through his preparation for the fill ball. Intending to throw it just like the previous shots, he began moving his feet without his normal pushaway trigger. It resulted in an awkward, out-of-balance release as he tossed the ball well right of target, without anywhere near his normal side rotation. Thirty feet later, the ball was in the gutter and the final score was 213-207 in favor of Pete Weber. Of course, Weber was shocked; mere seconds earlier, he had been contemplating leading the tournament by 375 pins after match play, only to finish second. With one errant shot by Ballard, Weber's mental state morphed from frustration to redemption. — Lyle Zikes of the Tournament of Champions as a gutsy move, Haugen just considered it business as usual. “I wasn’t doing well with the ball I started with,” he explains, “so what did I have to lose?” Now with two PBA titles — including 40 bowlers journal international a major — on his resumé, it’s much easier to look back on his 11-year PBA career with emotions other than frustration. Haugen’s is a story of chasing a childhood dream and overcoming adversity. Sometimes it seemed as if he was traversing a mine field. On good days, it was more like an obstacle course. Before the dawning of the exempt tour, Haugen kept his pro career going by bowling well on the Regional circuit. MARCH 2008

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

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