DECEMBER 2012 -
www.bowlingworld.com
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PBA Announces 2013 PBA50 Tour Schedule
New stops, ESPN-televised finale part of new PBA50 Tour season
SEATTLE – A new name, new venues, a season-long points competition leading to an ESPN-
televised finale and a crop of new star players will highlight the 2013 PBA50 Tour season, the Profes-
sional Bowlers Association announced today.
The 2013 PBA50 Tour (formerly PBA Senior Tour) schedule will consist of 11 tournaments with new
stops in Welch, Minn., Tampa, Fla. (tentative), and Trussville, Ala.
The season-long point competition will qualify the top three players for the ESPN-televised PBA50
Tour Finals which will be a stepladder event conducted during the 2013 PBA World Series of Bowling V
next November. Also, selected PBA50 Tour events will be webcast live on pba.com's Online Bowling
Channel Xtra Frame. Details regarding the televised finals and Xtra Frame schedule will be announced
later.
"
We are thrilled to be bringing a PBA50 final back to TV,” said PBA Commissioner Tom Clark. “A
national audience will see first-hand that the competition on the PBA50 Tour is intense, important and
the crop of players eligible will excite all bowling fans. The PBA is committed to its over-50 membership
and proud to be bringing the best of the best to a national television audience."
The PBA50 Tour will also include other changes including a revised format advancing more players
to match play in selected events that attract 120 or more entries.
The Super Senior prize fund – for the age 60-and-older players who finish out of the regular prize list
–
will also be revised. In previous years, Super Senior cash spots were awarded based on total entries.
For 2013, cash spots will be awarded at a ratio of 1:6 Super Senior entries, with a minimum of eight and
a maximum of 10 cashing in each tournament.
Las Vegas will continue to host the PBA50 Tour‟s two major championships with the Suncoast Hotel,
Casino and Bowling Center hosting the Suncoast Senior U.S. Open presented by Storm June 2-7 fol-
lowed by the United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters at the South Point Hotel, Casino and
Bowling Center June 9-14.
The 2013 PBA50 season will again see a new crop of top-level players from the PBA Tour eligible to
compete, including PBA Hall of Famers Pete Weber, Parker Bohn III and ESPN PBA Tour analyst
Randy Pedersen. Also on the list of those becoming eligible at age 50 in the months ahead will be PBA
Tour champions Jack Jurek, Chris Warren and David Traber.
2013
PBA50 TOUR SCHEDULE
April 14-17 – Tampa, Fla. (tentative)
April 20-23 – PBA50 Sun Bowl In The Villages presented by Hammer, Spanish Springs Lanes, The
Villages, Fla.
April 28-May 1 – PBA50 Greater Birmingham Open presented by Ebonite, Lightning Strikes Lanes,
Trussville, Ala.
May 5-8 – PBA50 Miller High Life Classic presented by Columbia 300, George Pappas Victory Lanes,
Mooresville, N.C.
May 13-16 – PBA50 Dayton Classic presented by Roto Grip, Capri Lanes, Kettering, Ohio
June 2-7 – Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Storm, Suncoast Bowling Center, Las
Vegas
June 9-14 – United States Bowling Congress Senior Masters, South Point Bowling Center, Las Ve-
gas
June 16-19 – PBA50 Northern California Classic presented by Track, Harvest Park Bowl, Brentwood,
Calif.
Aug. 5-8 – PBA50 South Shore Open presented by DV8, Olympia Lanes, Hammond, Ind.
Aug. 10-13 – PBA50 Decatur Open presented by Brunswick, Spare Time Lanes, Decatur, Ill.
Aug. 18-21 – PBA50 Treasure Island Resort & Casino Open presented by MOTIV, Island Xtreme
Bowl, Welch, Minn.
PBA Regional Players Invitational Winners
To Bowl For Tournament Of Champions
Berth On ESPN
PBA adds new incentives to end-of-season “regional major championship” tournaments
SEATTLE – The Professional Bowlers Association has added new incentives to its inaugu-
ral Regional Players Invitational program, including a special ESPN telecast for the six RPI
champions and a berth in the 2014 PBA Tournament of Champions.
The new RPI program, which will introduce affordable, closer-to-home regional “major”
championship events to the PBA‟s East, South, Central, Midwest, Southwest and West/
Northwest combined regions at the conclusion of the 2012-13 season, will provide six regional
champions with $6,000 guaranteed first prize checks, paid entries into PBA World Series of
Bowling V in the fall of 2013, and a chance to bowl in front of a national television audience on
a special ESPN telecast. The winner of the ESPN telecast will earn a berth in the Tournament
of Champions.
Each RPI will offer a $25,000 prize fund based on 48 entries, a 1:2 payoff ratio, a Friday pro-
am and two six-game qualifying rounds on Saturday with the top 16 qualifiers advancing to five
rounds of elimination matches on Sunday. Each of the six RPIs also will be webcast live, exclu-
sively on PBA‟s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.
"
This is one of the most exciting initiatives for the PBA Regional program ever and shows
the PBA's commitment to developing great players on the regional level,” said PBA Commis-
sioner Tom Clark. “It makes the races for the RPI spots in each region even more compelling
and the resulting Xtra Frame and TV exposure for the regional program will shed more light on
one of the most important foundations of the PBA."
The 2012-13 RPI program is based upon competition points earned by players within each
region between Sept. 1, 2012, and July 15, 2013. A total of 48 players within each of the six
regions (including the combined West and Northwest Regions) will be eligible for the RPI finals,
with preferred entry status awarded to the points leaders in each area.
For complete format, schedule and entry information, visit pba.com.
The newly-announced ESPN-TOC incentives add another dimension to the program. The
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Page Is First Pick As Franchise Players
Select Teams For PBA League Rosters
Eight team rosters set for inaugural team competition in Detroit in January
LAS VEGAS – Left-hander Rhino Page of Dade City, Fla., the Professional Bowlers Asso-
ciation‟s 2008-09 Rookie of Year, was the top selection in the inaugural PBA League Draft held
Friday at South Point Bowling Center. The historic PBA League, consisting of eight five-player
teams of PBA stars, will make its debut Jan. 19-27 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
Page, a three-time PBA Tour titlist and a finalist in the 2012 PBA World Championship, was
selected by PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke, one of the eight Franchise Players who will head
the PBAL teams. The Franchise Players were the top players in competition points during the
2011-12
PBA Tour season. Duke won the first pick in a PBA Draft Lottery held earlier during
the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling.
“
I‟m really happy,” Duke said. “I had been studying the list even before I got to Las Vegas,
and I got everyone I wanted. You have to realize after I picked Rhino, I wasn‟t going to have
access to some of the other high-profile guys, but I got five bulldogs and I‟m elated.”
The draft was conducted in a serpentine fashion, whereby once the eight players selected
their first picks, the draft order was reversed for each subsequent round. For example,
Finland‟s Osku Palermaa, who picked eighth in the first round, then picked first in the second
round. Each team consists of five players plus a supplemental pick who will only enter the
competition if a roster player is unable to perform.
PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann., Mo., drafted second, and his first pick was 13-
time PBA Tour titlist Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C.
“
My first pick wasn‟t going to be anyone else,” Weber said, “and after that, Tommy and I
together talked over the guys we wanted to pick. Our sleeper is (former Wichita State Univer-
sity star John) Szczerbinski (of North Tonawanda, N.Y.), but he‟ll be all right. I‟m just looking
forward to seeing my team on TV.”
Bill O‟Neill of Langhorne, Pa., picked third.
“
I‟m very happy,” O‟Neill said. “There were a few guys I had high on my list who I didn‟t think
would be there, but there they were.”
Australia‟s Jason Belmonte was No. 4 in the draft order.
“
I have a really well-balanced team. Everyone has TV experience, everyone has big-time
tournament experience,” he said. “Walking into (Thunderbowl), I know everyone is going to be
prepared. I‟m really happy with my third pick, Parker Bohn III. He‟s a proven champion. He‟s
going to give 110 percent, and I know he has something to prove.”
Mike Fagan of Dallas followed Belmonte.
“
I feel really good about our team. We don‟t have any weak links,” Fagan said. “I wasn‟t too
concerned about having one superstar; I was looking more at the composite of our group.”
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First PBA League Team Owners
NBA All-Star Chris Paul, NFL Greats Jerome Bettis And Terrell Owens,
Actor/Comedian Kevin Hart
Inaugural season for Professional Bowling Association League to debut in Detroit in January
SEATTLE – Los Angeles Clippers all-star point guard Chris Paul, former Super Bowl champion Pitts-
burgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, NFL all-star receiver Terrell Owens and actor/comedian
Kevin Hart are the first celebrity owners in the inaugural season of the Professional Bowlers Associa-
tion‟s PBA League (PBAL).
The League, which will feature eight teams of five PBA players each, will make its debut at Detroit's
Thunderbowl Lanes in January. ESPN will televise five weeks of PBA League competition beginning
Sunday, Jan. 27, plus the PBA League Elias Cup finals in April. The celebrity owners will not compete
on the lanes as part of official PBA League competition.
The teams will be made up solely from the world's best bowlers, PBA members chosen through a
league draft which will be held Friday at 10 a.m. PT at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas, site of
the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV. The PBAL draft will be webcast live on the PBA's online
bowling channel, Xtra Frame, on pba.com.
Paul, who won a basketball gold medal in the London Olympic Games with Team USA and recently
was featured on the cover of GQ magazine, has hosted the Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational charity
bowling event on ESPN the past four years benefitting his CP3 Foundation. He said the new PBA
League will bring added interest to professional bowling.
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