Bowlers Journal International - March 2008 - (Page 52)

REGIONAL ROUNDUP BY LYLE ZIKES BIG FISH IN THE SMALL PBA PONDS Some of the top Regional players never made it big on the PBA's national Tour. FIFTY YEARS AGO, WHEN ATTORNEY, agent and entrepreneur Ed-die Elias set up a meeting involving most of the sport’s top players at the 1958 All-Star tournament, there was nothing on the agenda about developing a professional regional tournament program. Other than the All-Star and the annual ABC Championships, scratch tournament bowling at the time was nothing but a mass, chaotic hodge-podge of locale events. Elias focused on going beyond that, promising to organize a national association and put together a national tour with national television and national sponsors. A few years later, Elias succeeded in getting the Professional Bowlers Association off the ground. But still guiding it through an urgent growing process, he wasn’t enthusiastic about diverting resources to create a regional component to his organization. “I had to talk him into it,” says Chuck Pezzano, a PBA Charter Member whose influence on pro bowling and the sport in general has been immeasurable. Author of voluminous columns, articles and books, it may be that Pezzano’s greatest and most enduring promotional idea was to organize a series of local weekend scratch events in the New York/New Jersey area that evolved into the PBA’s Eastern Region tournament program. “What enabled me to convince Eddie Elias that the PBA should invest in regional programs was the opportunity it provided to expand the membership,” recalls Pezzano. “Really, if we were just going to rely on bowlers interested in the national tour, our membership would have peaked at about 500.” Geographically, the Northeast U.S. was a logical launching point for such a tournament program because it provided a close concentration of bowlers and bowling centers. Pezzano, with the help of influential proprietors such as Frank Esposito, instilled all the professional ingredients and touches of national PBA tournaments into his weekend events — name shirts, extended formats, bowling ball weighin, lane courtesy requirements, ProAms, etc. Beyond the prestige aspect, ALL-TIME REGIONAL CHAMPS Including Senior Regionals 1. Guppy Troup (13) Pete Weber 3. Steve Jaros 4. Sam Zurich (1) 5. Dale Traber 6. Ross Packard (7) 7. Hugh Miller 8. Mike Scroggins Dennis Horan Jr. 10. Walter Ray Williams Jr. Jeff Richgels Roger Bowker (2) 13. Henry Gonzalez (2) 14. Dave Husted 15. Bob Learn Jr. Jason Couch 40 40 39 36 35 34 31 29 29 28 28 28 27 25 24 24 PBA REGIONAL BREAKDOWN 52 bowlers journal international 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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