Bowlers Journal International - April 2008 - (Page 28)

PROBOWLING WILL THE 'HAMBONE' STICK TO VIEWERS' RIBS? Is Rob Stone's term for a four-bagger sort of like a Brooklyn strike? sportswriter Steve Gorches of the Post-Tribune in Indiana during the Denny’s World Championship. “Fans get pumped up for the stupid word 'hambone.' It puts a smile on my face that people are enjoying the sport.” In contrast to Hall of Fame sportscaster Chris Schenkel, whose philosophy was simply to supply “captions“ to help explain the picture on the screen, Stone and veteran color commentator Randy Pedersen are bursting with energy and a comedic repertoire. “Drop and give me ten,” is one of Stone’s offthe-wall ways of calling a strike. “There’s a tenpin party in the pit,” is Pedersen’s description of a flush pocket shot that sucks all the pins off the lane Are Randy Pedersen (left) and Rob Stone helping improve ratings on ESPN? in an instant. Stone has exlearns is that three straight strikes hibited some quick learning skills, is called a turkey. As odd as it may although some viewers continue to sound at first, it’s something even a sulk that ESPN would bring in somecasual bowler remembers, perhaps one with admittedly no bowling backbecause it is so idiosyncratic. A hunground to be the lead announcer on dred years later, the term lives on. a television series featuring the most Enter Rob Stone, a bowling neoskilled bowlers on the planet. phyte with a quick and unconstrained On one telecast in January, mind, an uninhibited personality, and Pedersen advised that it’s important someone who's certainly not adverse to be aware of the sleeper in the 2-8 to invoking humor and self-promotion spare combination. Stone asked why into his conversations. Give him a the 8-pin was called a sleeper and microphone and a national television actually had Pedersen initially gropstage, and look what has happened. ing for an answer. Yet, a few weeks The term he coined, “hambone” — later, when Norm Duke picked up used to describe a basic four-bagger the 2-8 combination in Indianapolis, — has taken on a life of its own. Stone instantly reported that Duke “I just started it as fun and it’s had “put the sleeper to bed.” become a monster,” Stone told While the PBA’s Sunday ratings PBA LLC / MITCHELL PERHAPS EVERY CENTURY OR SO, A new, completely illogical bit of terminology is bound to make its way into a sport’s lexicon. In the very early 1900s, a couple of bowling alley owners offered, as a Thanksgiving promotion, a live turkey to any customer who could string three strikes in a row. Ever since, one of the first things someone new to the sport always go up significantly after the football season, most of the telecasts this January and February showed upticks in viewers compared to corresponding dates a year ago. Some have credited Stone and the announcing team’s sideshow antics, particularly the "hambone" references, with motivating more people to seek out and watch the show. If that's true, having a term like "hambone" become a ratings booster is a lot like — to invoke another of the sport’s unique and colorful historical terms — throwing a Brooklyn strike. You know such a strike is extremely lucky, but you’re happy with the result anyway. Besides, when it comes to getting the breaks, pro bowling has been getting tapped — Lyle Zikes for years. 'THE LEGEND' RETURNS One of the intriguing aspects of PBA Senior Tour competition is that you don’t always know when your next dominant 50-year-old rookie is going to appear. A current case in point is Harry Sullins, the one-time national Tour iron man who still holds the record for consecutive PBA tournaments. He shoed up in 239 straight events between 1986 and 1994, and won five titles in the process. Sullins faded off the national scene in the late 1990s, eventually taking a GM position with a Detroit area center. Those duties left little opportunity for him to pursue tournament play, so the player once nicknamed “The Legend“ slipped into the land of the forgotten — a place where names come up in discussions that begin with, “Whatever happened to ?“ Well, now Sullins is back, first popping up in a Central/Midwest Senior Regional tournament in Bowling Green, Ky., last October, less than two weeks after turning 50. The righthander gave an indication of things to come by finishing fifth in that 28 bowlers journal international APRIL 2008

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

Bowlers Journal International - April 2008 Contents Leading Off Letters Bowlitically Incorrect Calendar Par Bowling The Coach Frame of Mind Inside Line The Truth Be Bowled Tournaments Pro Bowling PBA Bayer Classic PBA Pepsi Championship PBA Don Johnson Classic Regional Roundup Cover Story Up Close Senior Tour The USBC Move USBC Convention Pattern Play Anniversary Flashback Time Capsule Media Beat No Holes Barred Shop Talk Spotlight Marketplace Hall Marks Profit Prophet Advertisers' Index Classified Advertising Intelligencer Business Calendar Business People Strikes Me

Bowlers Journal International - April 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.