Bowlers Journal International - April 2008 - (Page 30)

DENNY'STOUR BY JIM DRESSEL BY J.R. SCHMIDT BARNES CURES HEADACHE WITH A BAYER IN EL PASO GIVEN TOMMY JONES' 11-2 RECORD IN TITLE MATCHES AND THE 8-18 MARK OF CHRIS BARNES, IT SHAPED UP AS ONE OF THE TOUR'S BIGGEST MISMATCHES. SO GUESS WHO WON? WHEN CHRIS BARNES MADE THE TV FINALS of the 2008 Bayer Classic at Oasis Lanes in El Paso, Texas, he was not thinking about the most catastrophic mistake of his career two weeks earlier when he missed a 10-pin that ultimately cost him the Tournament of Champions crown against Michael Haugen. Instead, he recalled that after Del Ballard Jr. plopped a ball in the gutter that cost him the 1991 Fair Lanes Classic, the Texas righthander PBA LLC / LAMBIE THERECAP PBA BAYER CLASSIC February 6-10, 2008 Oasis Lanes, El Paso, Texas 1. Chris Barnes, $25,000; 2. Tommy Jones, $13,000; 3. Mika Koivuniemi, $6,000; 4. Mike DeVaney, $6,000. ESPN Finals: Jones def. DeVaney, 216-135; Barnes def. Koivuniemi, 240-198; Barnes def. Jones, 241158. Round of 8 (Best of 7, Losers Received $4,100 Each): Mika Koivuniemi def. Eugene McCune, 4-1; Chris Barnes def. Sean Rash, 4-1; Mike DeVaney def. Rhino Page, 4-2; Tommy Jones def. Tom Baker, 4-3. Round of 16 (Best of 7, Losers Received $2,700 Each): Mika Koivuniemi def. Tommy Delutz Jr., 4-0; Eugene McCune def. Walter Ray Williams Jr., 4-3; Sean Rash def. Riga Kalfas, 4-3; Chris Barnes def. Edward VanDaniker Jr., 4-1; Rhino Page def. D.J. Archer, 4-2; Mike DeVaney def. Robert Smith, 4-2; Tom Baker def. Brian Kretzer, 4-2; Tommy Jones def. Ryan Shafer, 4-3. Round of 32 (Best of 7, Losers Received $2,200 Each): Tommy Delutz Jr. def. Chris Warren, 4-1; Mika Koivuniemi def. Dave D’Entremont, 4-2; Walter Ray Williams Jr. def. Doug Kent, 4-0; Eugene McCune def. Joe Ciccone, 4-2; Sean Rash def. Mitch Beasley, 4-1; Riga Kalfas def. Michael Fagan, 4-2; Edward VanDaniker Jr. def. P.J. Haggerty, 4-3; Chris Barnes def. Brad Angelo, 4-2; D.J. Archer def. Jason Wojnar, 4-2; Rhino Page def. Michael Machuga, 4-0; Mike DeVaney def. Chris Loschetter, 41; Robert Smith def. Ken Simard, 41; Tom Baker def. Bill O’Neill, 4-1; Brian Kretzer def. Brian Himmler, 4-1; Ryan Shafer def. Pete Weber, 4-2; Tommy Jones def. Mike Edwards, 4-3. Lane Pattern: Shark. 14-Game Cut Score (32nd Place): 2893. Leading Qualiﬁer: Chris Warren, 3206. Advanced from Tour Qualifying Round: P.J. Haggerty, D.J. Archer, Lee Vanderhoef, Edward VanDaniker Jr., George Gaucin, Gregory Thompson Jr., Humberto Vasquez, Edward Rede, Rhino Page, Corey Husted, Ryan Ciminelli, Tom Daugherty and Bobby Stives (amateur). Chris Barnes took a big step forward in the '08 Player of the Year sweeps by looking back. He recalled Del Ballard Jr. winning a Tour event after a costly gutter ball. came back for a Tour victory in his next event. So when Barnes won the Bayer Classic, he said he was just following the examples of others. "Having a week off helped. I had a little time to shake off [the ToC disaster], clear my head and go back out and attack the pins again." And attack them he did. Barnes slugged a 240 to offset Mika Koivuniemi's 198 in the opening match, then clinched the $25,000 title by ﬁring 30 bowlers journal international APRIL 2008 a 241 at Tommy Jones, who struggled for a 158. The highest non-Barnes score in the championship round was 215. "I knew they weren't easy," he said of the TV lane conditions. "The left lane was really, really tight, so I moved farther outside." Color analyst Randy Pedersen "called" the move to the outside by Barnes, and predicted a "shootout" if T.J. made the move as well. He didn't. So Barnes had his own shootout, ripping off a 7-bagger that more than made up for a 2-10 split in the second frame. The climactic match looked like a veritable mismatch. The TV records of Barnes and Jones were "polar opposites," so much so that oddmakers would've lost their home mortgages if they had booked action on the pairing. After all, Jones came in with a record .811 TV winning percentage (30-7), and an incredible 11-2 title match mark, while Barnes had an 8-18 record with a title on the line. Was Barnes shaking in his bowling shoes? Hardly. "Tommy’s been fantastic on TV," admitted Barnes, "but ironically, two of my titles have come against Tommy in the ﬁnals." So who had the better comeback — Michael Haugen in the ToC, or Chris Barnes? "Maybe if I was younger, and my pride was more in the way, it might’ve been a bit harder," said the nine-time PBA titlist. "It helped that there’s a lot more balance in my life. It used to be that everything was wrapped up in bowling. With that [ToC] coming down the way that it did, it would’ve been pretty ugly if I had been 25. Too much self-conﬁdence, self-worth, and everything else wrapped up in what I did on the lanes from week to week. "I’m a lot more centered on other things today, and realize that bowling is not who I am. It’s what I do." In El Paso, he did it very, very well. In the process, he took over the points lead in the Player of the Year race. If that isn't a great way to come back from disaster, we don't know what is. BALL CHECK BARNES: Columbia 300 Momentum and Resurgence. JONES: Ebonite Complete NV. KOIVUNIEMI: Brunswick Total Inferno, Avalanche Solid and Fury. DeVANEY: Storm Fired Up and T-Road Pearl, and Ebonite Total NV.

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

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