Page 7 - Bowling World Newspaper March 2013
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MARCH 2013 -
7
SERVING THE BOWLING INDUSTRY SINCE 1967
Special Olympics And
USBC Open
Share Stage
By:
USBC Communications
RENO, Nev. - While many of the athletes at the
Special Olympics National Unified Tournament
take to the lanes to show off their skills and cap-
ture gold medals, a group from Mobile, Ala., not
only looks to compete, but also is there to pay
tribute to a fallen friend.
Cindy's Unified Bowling Buddies was formed in honor of Cindy Brannum, a bowler who suffered
from down syndrome and died from a heart attack in 2010. To show their support at home in Mobile,
bowlers wear patches in Brannum's honor. The patches feature two blue butterflies surrounding a
bowling pin.
"Cindy was a bowler and a square dancer," said Robert McGhee, who competed as a unified
partner on one of two teams from the Mobile
area this year at the National Bowling Stadium
in Reno, Nev. "Even if she just knocked down a
few pins, she was so proud of it. As long as she
was out there and able to bowl, that's what she
enjoyed. This is the third year we've made it to
this event, and we always have the patch on
our shirts in her memory."
This week, McGhee and his teammates
helped celebrate the National Unified Tourna-
ment's 23rd-consecutive year as part of the
opening-week festivities at the United States
Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Nearly 350 bowlers from 14 states made the
trip to Reno to compete in this year's tournament, an event that has shared the stage with the USBC
Open Championships since 1991. Competitors were divided into four-player teams Wednesday and
returned for doubles Thursday.
In all, there were 48 divisions, so no bowler went home without an award. Each team included two
Special Olympians and their unified partners, which helps carry the message of friendship and ca-
maraderie from year to year.
"It's very fulfilling to see the development of the partnership between the Special Olympics and
USBC," said Special Olympics National Unified Tournament Director Marty Allen. "We get to come
here every year to the championships and have a tournament held at some of the finest facilities in
the world. For many of the athletes, it's a dream to come to a national tournament and participate as
full-fledged members of the USBC
and Special Olympics."
The first National Unified Tourna-
ment was held alongside the 1991
Open Championships in Toledo,
Ohio, thanks to then Open Cham-
pionships director Hal Kaminski
and Bowling Ambassador for the
Special Olympics, Jimmy Schroe-
der, a USBC Hall of Famer who
will be making his 65th-
consecutive Open Championships appearance on May 18. Schroeder remains a part of the event
and was joined at NBS this week by fellow hall of famer Bob Hart.
"The Special Olympics and USBC continue to grow as partners, and this event serves as a show-
case," said Eric Kearney, USBC Managing Director of Operations and Administration. "We are ex-
cited to bring the athletes and coaches together on one of the biggest stages in bowling. We hope to
continue this tradition and partnership for many years to come."
As the National Unified Tournament finishes up, the first of more than 10,500 teams will make
their way to Reno, excited for the 2013 Open Championships to begin its 125-day run at the NBS.
The event will run from March 1 until July 7.
The 2013 USBC Women's Championships also will be in town from April 12-July 1, marking the
first time both tournaments have been held in the same host city. The Women's Championships will
be contested on 44 specially-constructed lanes inside the Reno-Sparks Convention Center.
Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldo-
rado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.
Lipton Iced Tea Named Title Sponsor
Of Historic Bowling’s U.S. Open
Title Sponsorship of Preeminent Bowling Tournament will Include In-Event Branding, Promi-
nent Brand Exposure During Tournament and On-Site Sampling
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA), the bowl-
ing industry's premier trade organization, today revealed the official title sponsor of this year's
highly anticipated Bowling's U.S. Open tournament Lipton Iced Tea. For the second year in
row, the bowling industry has teamed up with the brand's ready-to-drink portfolio for a princi-
pal sponsorship deal to lead the industry's preeminent bowling tournament. The 2013 Bowl-
ing's U.S. Open will be held in Columbus, OH, beginning July 20, and will combine the Men's,
Women's and Senior Women's tournaments.
The sponsorship deal with Lipton Iced Tea marks the first time a title sponsor has ever
been named for Bowling's U.S. Open. The multi-layered sponsorship program includes an
integrated mix of branding, experiential and digital/social media that will target bowling fans
and enthusiasts throughout the U.S. as well as robust on-site activations at each of the host
centers and at the Open final.
"We're so pleased to once again partner with PepsiCo and welcome back Lipton Iced Tea
as the title sponsor of Bowling's U.S. Open. In addition to being an iconic brand, Lipton Iced
Tea is a fantastic product that is a favorite of pro bowlers as well as our fans and enthusi-
asts," said Steve Johnson, executive director of BPAA. "Lipton leads a great class of spon-
sors that have already signed on for this year's Open, a testament to the strength of the
event."
With more than 100 years of experience, Lipton is one of the world's great refreshment
brands, with a portfolio of ready-to-drink iced teas for every occasion, including Lipton Iced
Tea, Pure Leaf Iced Tea and Brisk Iced Tea.
To support this first-of-a-kind groundbreaking event, additional sponsors committed to date
include: Jani-King, Storm Bowling Products, Ebonite, Brunswick Bowling & Billiards, Colum-
bia 300, Roto Grip, Turbo, Dexter, and Bowling Music Network.
The Men's and Women's U.S. Open competition will take place simultaneously, beginning
Saturday, July 20, at three host centers - Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl, Columbus Western
Bowl and Holiday Lanes. The event will conclude with the top four men and top four women
bowlers earning a spot in the finals, on Saturday, July 27, at Columbus Western Bowl. The
U.S. Open Finals will be telecast live in a two-hour event on ESPN at noon EST that Satur-
day, where the winner of the Men's and the winner of the Women's U.S. Open will be
crowned.
Len Nicholson To Be Bowling
Writers Keynote
The California Bowling Writers Annual Media and Publicity lunch-
eon being held on June 8, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Ontario Air-
port promises to be another outstanding CBW event with keynote
speaker Len Nicholson. Beside his outstanding resume his sense of
humor will add to his presentation.
Nicholson’s career was devoted to the science of bowling lane
maintenance and for more than 20 years the Tucson, Arizona (recently relocated to Sacra-
mento, CA) resident was the PBA Tour’s lane maintenance director. Nicholson has gained
worldwide industry recognition as one of the foremost experts on the subject of lane mainte-
nance. He was instrumental in developing the PBA Lane Maintenance Program in 1971 which
is still referred to today. He was a founding member of the Bowling Foundation which was
created to finding solutions to scoring issues in bowling. An author of several bowling publica-
tions and host of the popular Phantom bowling Internet radio program, he also has served on
the technical committee of the World Tenpin Bowling Association. He was a recipient of the
bowling industry’s Flowers for the Living Award, the John Davis Award in recognition for his
contributions to the sport, and a 2011 inductee into the Professional Bowlers Association Hall
of Fame for Meritorious Service. He recently moved to the Sacramento area.
Additional luncheon information will appear on the CBW website at
