This season's PBA telecasts opened up with a couple of major announcements for the future of the sport at a couple of different levels. Denny's, the PBA and the USBC team up to provide a national high school $10,000 scholarship tournament in a unique format. The two-day tournament winds up on the following the TV finals which will be aired at a future date. States with current varsity level high school bowling programs (yes, Illinois is one of the 18) are eligible. Good idea? Of course it's a no-brainer. This gives high school bowlers first-hand exposure to the highest level of the sport while rewarding their hard work while reinforcing the despite the dings and knocks it takes, the PBA is still the major leagues of bowling. Interested bowlers and high school coaches can check pba.com to download nomination and application forms. The dates are March 24-25, 2007 at the site of the Denny's PBA World Championship in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Knowing the talent around Chicagoland, don't be surprised if one of our own jumps into that spotlight.

     Another announcement was the addition to the USBC Sport Bowling program called the PBA Experience. The oil patterns are based off the five current PBA patterns (Viper, Cheetah, Scorpion, Shark, and Chameleon) and feature a 3:1 oil pattern ratio verses 2:1 Sport Bowling ratio. Similar to what you might bowl upon in a PBA Pro-Am, you will be able to join a PBA Experience league and see how you can bowl on those patterns. If you have yet to bowl on flatter oil patterns, please do so. Do yourself a favor and roll a few on these patterns and see if you like it or not, especially the Cheetah pattern. Combine the pattern with your center's lane surface Sure, you have seen them on TV before, but until you roll a few balls and see the oil begin to move around to place you never thought possible, it makes you appreciate what the top bowlers in world bowl on week after week. One thing that has developed is certain styles of rolls on some patterns on some surfaces matchup better than others. In a few cases, way better. And in a few others, not at all. But that's the beauty of these patterns as you will see. Oh yeah, the Cheetah pattern. It's only 35 feet, but once you get the hang of it, you may want 35 weeks of it. Ask your local proprietor and read about the other four patterns at bowl.com.

     And now, the TV show. The last time there was a fuss about three men in the booth, the sports bar and sports talk radio crowd couldn't stop ripping Dennis Miller long enough to let the cheese dripping off the steak sandwich cool off. No matter what, it takes chemistry among personalities on both sides of the camera. Too many people on the viewfinder side like to try fitting a square peg in a round hole just to see if it gels, rather than trying personalities who actually fit together. The down side of that is some people don't gel in front of the camera are just fine off camera. Norm Duke is sounding like he has worked with Randy Pedersen and Dave Ryan for a number of years. In a way, he already has. One has to assume in preparing for the PBA Tour telecasts, Dave Ryan talked to the current color commentator Pedersen and a few others who have been on the tour for as long to provide some other insight. Duke does have a few other shows under his belt outside the PBA to his credit. He has an ease on camera and with his fellow announcers that many newcomers don't have right away. And he gets it. The first sign of this was the Japan Cup show when he announced the Japanese translation to Ryan's catch phrase "Sixty Feet to Success " to Ryan's surprise, no less. Off camera needling is one thing, but to do it on the first show as the third voice in the booth? Gutsy, indeed.

     Duke had more or less an on air audition the last few shows last season, but this is his first year as the third man. My believe is the producer wanted a different sound from the booth to help a slower pace of the shows the last few years. It's not the matches themselves, but the time between them. The 90-minute show had four matches for a lot of years, but now with only three matches most weeks plus the Skills Challenge on the three-match shows, something needed to be done. Just a theory here, mind you, the idea is to get the casual viewer to watch. Ryan is showing his professionalism while letting Duke add comments and interact with Pedersen. And guess what? It sounds good. Really good. Think they have a winner here. Most other times there are three voices in the booth, it turns out to be a train wreck. Remember anytime Howard Cosell was in the booth for football or baseball? On boxing, he was great, but in those other two, think again. Anyone older than 40 can remember some of the Monday Night Football games from the 70s and 80s with Frankeroo and Dandy Don. Talk about live national TV, but I digress. So far, these three sound comfortable and entertaining. Should be more fun shows coming up in the near future, so stay tuned.

     Coming up in the December JPA, the USBC comes knocking at my door and starts asking questions. Find out what was asked and how I answered.