Becomes the first woman athlete in history to earn a berth on a male tour
Like the old bowling movie, Kelly Kulick (right) was a dreamer who made her dreams come true and will have 'Someone to Look After Me' on the 2006-07 PBA Tour. Read Fred Schreyer's words on her bowling feat and her words about her first 300-game as a pro. By Dick Evans.
Republished courtesy of Miami Hreald (May 28, 2006)
Steve Wilson, the best bowler to start his career in Broward County, started bowling when he was 5, joined an adult league at age 16 and became a member of the Professional Bowlers Association when he turned 18. Now -- 345 events, four national titles, 17 regional titles and over $800,000 later -- the thin, 5-10 right-hander has called it a career after failing to make the exempt list for the 2006-07 tour season.
PBA Commissioner/CEO Fred Schreyer (left) talks to Dick Evans (right) about possibility of making some drastic changes in PBA Tour from larger fields, to reduced prize funds to new TV format to proprietors involvement. During the question-and-answer session you will find Fred Schreyer asking some tough questions, and answering them sincerely.
Republished courtesy of Lawrence Journal-World (April 18, 2006)
Eight years ago at the age of 50, Bob Glass pursued his dream of becoming a professional bowler by joining the PBA Senior Tour. Glass made a lasting impact on that circuit, too, earning thousands of dollars and three Player of the Year awards. But Glass will not target to win his record-breaking fourth Player of the Year award this season. Chuck Woodling of the Lawrence Journal-World tells you why.
Chris Barnes has 100,000 reasons for loving the 2006 Dexter Tournament of Champions, the final stop on the 2005-06 Professional Bowlers Association tour. The 90-minute ESPN telecast Sunday was good, but not nearly as good as the exciting matches Friday and Saturday that decided the final four. If there was some way for ESPN to televise the entire four-day package it would have left TV viewers sitting on the edge of their chairs in anticipation of the next shot.
"I have something inspirational", writes our friend Dick Evans from Florida, "that I want you to pass on to 10 of your friends within the next 24 hours. I'm not promising that good things will happen to you but I will promise that good things will happen to the Professional Bowlers Association and Sunday's ESPN telecast of the Dexter Tournament of Champions from the Mohegan Sun."
I don't want to create a controversy nor do I want to say someone is right and someone is wrong, but there is definitely something wrong with bowling records in my mind. Long ago the PBA made a terrible mistake. The PBA decided to include a PBA bowler's earnings in an ABC Masters Tournament into his season and career highlights but for some strange reason the PBA refused to give the Masters champion a PBA title.
Our columnist John Jowdy is personally very upset that Del Ballard was passed over by the USBC Hall of Fame voters. "Ballard's bowling record is among the greatest in the game. His absence from the PBA Hall of Fame is partially understandable. But how could Ballard have possibly missed being elected to the USBC Hall of Fame in 2006? What were the voters thinking about?"
Jackson Hewitt, the second largest tax preparation company in the United States, a happy four-year association with the Professional Bowlers Association, writes Dick Evans. Now there is news coming out of the PBA's home office in Seattle that Jackson Hewitt will sponsor the $1 Million Challenge...and I am willing to bet that you can take that $1 million promise to the bank.
This past year has been one of the most doleful eras in bowling history. In addition to the losses of personal friends and relatives of many bowling individuals, our game, especially the Professional Bowlers Association, lost three of its most influential personalities, Dick Weber, Chris Schenkel, and Bud Fisher.
It is with a heavy heart that I write this obit about the wonderful life and unfortunate death of Saturday morning of E.A. (Bud) Fisher, a true bowling legend. Chuck Pezzano called a few minutes ago and informed me that Mary, Bud's wife, called from Indianapolis to say that Bud had passed away.
'Winning isn't everything, it's the ONLY thing.' These are the words uttered by Vince Lombardi, arguably the greatest football coach ever. "And so it is, particularly in sports", writes renowned bowling coach John Jowdy. "Rarely are contestants, other than winners, remembered. Bowling is no different. Nonetheless, in my humble opinion, a number of winless PBA bowlers have skills equal to most of the top stars."
Columbia's Bill Supper endorses Kegel's John Forst's idea and would sponsor elite American women bowlers if they wanted to take shot on European Bowling Tour next year. "I honestly don't know why the PWBA champions don't go over to Europe and bowl most of the tournaments since they get eight pins per game handicap." Supper said.
John Jowdy's yearly All-Miss Team (Miserable In Spare Situations) was based on the old PBA match play format (24 players). With today's exempt field featuring 64 bowlers the statistics provided by the PBA have changed. Consequently, Jowdy's future teams will be transformed from All-Miss to All-Whiff (Worst Hurlers In Filling Frames). To read who's on the 2005 All-Whiff Team
It was a good news for the Professional Bowlers Association and the Vienna Open, but bad news for the Kingpin Challenge and its announced million-dollar check for the champion. Both the PBA and the Vienna Open in Austria will profit from the Tuesday Oct. 4 announcement that the Kingpin Million Dollar Challenge scheduled Oct. 22-30 in Reno had been postponed.
"Thankfully, Dick Weber's name won't disappear into the sunset following his death February 14. Weber was a living legend for most of his 75 years and now his accomplishments are proving larger than life", writes columnist Dick Evans. "Within the past seven days I have come across the name of Dick Weber in four different ways."
"CBS' National Football Preview show gave the announcement only about a 15-second mention Sunday afternoon basically saying the sad news was that Chris Schenkel had died. One of the sportscasters who helped make CBS great before joining ABC, Chris Schenkel deserved more recognition ... and hopefully it will come later", writes Dick Evans. "In my book, the death of Chris Schenkel ranks right behind the death of legendary bowler Dick Weber Feb. 14."
In 1975 the Professional Bowlers Association held its first Hall of Fame ceremony at the swank Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Thursday night the new PBA held its first Hall of Fame ceremony in four years at the glitzy Mohegan Sun Hotel/Casino. "Wow, how life on tour has changed," Writes Dick Evans, who covers the PBA Tour from the very first year. "In the early days, most of the bowlers were pretty good drinkers ... he players today consider themselves athletes and businessmen".
"Steve Miller, whose ingenuity helped save the Professional Bowlers Association from oblivion in 2000, may be entering the home stretch of his run with the PBA. It's only an educated guess, writes our columnist Dick Evans, "but I think Miller - the most dynamic figure in bowling history - may be nearing his personal finish line."
"Once again, the 2005 PBA Tour Trials at Merrillville, Indiana were gut-wrenching, spelling the end of some veteran's careers and heralding the beginning of others during five days of intense competition", writes John Jowdy (pictured). "The Tour Trials vividly illustrate that it is a whole new ball game on the PBA tour. There are no second chances."
Like the old bowling movie, Kelly Kulick (right) was a dreamer who made her dreams come true and will have 'Someone to Look After Me' on the 2006-07 PBA Tour. Read Fred Schreyer's words on her bowling feat and her words about her first 300-game as a pro. By Dick Evans.
PBA Commissioner/CEO Fred Schreyer (left) talks to Dick Evans (right) about possibility of making some drastic changes in PBA Tour from larger fields, to reduced prize funds to new TV format to proprietors involvement. During the question-and-answer session you will find Fred Schreyer asking some tough questions, and answering them sincerely.
Eight years ago at the age of 50, Bob Glass pursued his dream of becoming a professional bowler by joining the PBA Senior Tour. Glass made a lasting impact on that circuit, too, earning thousands of dollars and three Player of the Year awards. But Glass will not target to win his record-breaking fourth Player of the Year award this season. Chuck Woodling of the Lawrence Journal-World tells you why. 
"I have something inspirational", writes our friend Dick Evans from Florida, "that I want you to pass on to 10 of your friends within the next 24 hours. I'm not promising that good things will happen to you but I will promise that good things will happen to the Professional Bowlers Association and Sunday's ESPN telecast of the Dexter Tournament of Champions from the Mohegan Sun." 
Our columnist John Jowdy is personally very upset that Del Ballard was passed over by the USBC Hall of Fame voters. "Ballard's bowling record is among the greatest in the game. His absence from the PBA Hall of Fame is partially understandable. But how could Ballard have possibly missed being elected to the USBC Hall of Fame in 2006? What were the voters thinking about?" 