Professional Bowlers Association charter member Bill Bunetta, one
of bowling's most respected instructors as well as a talented
competitor on the lanes, died March 21 in Fresno, Calif., of heart
failure. He was 90. Bunetta, who won his only PBA Tour title in Fairless Hills, Pa., in
1960, was a member of the E&B, and Pfeiffers of Detroit, and
Munsingwear of Chicago teams that contributed to his five American
Bowling Congress Championships (now USBC Open Championships) titles
between 1949 and 1955. He was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame in
1968.
The Professional Bowlers Association has entered into a partnership agreement with NeuLion, Inc., which will dramatically improve video quality, ease of viewing and provide numerous other improvements to the PBA's Xtra Frame online video streaming service when it debuts in September. As part of its ongoing goal to make Xtra Frame the world leader in online bowling content, the PBA has entered into a partnership with the world leader in providing live and on-demand sports and variety programming delivered via broadband to the international Internet community.
Kim Yioulos (pictured), a junior at Pikeville (Ky.) College and a member of Junior Team USA, has been named the recipient of the 2010 Billy Welu Scholarship by the Professional Bowlers Association. The $1,000 scholarship recognizes exemplary qualities in college students who compete in the sport of bowling. A PBA Charter Member, the late Billy Welu won the BPAA All Star in 1959
before winning the 1964 and '65 USBC Masters events. Welu was
inducted into both the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame in 1975. 
PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. (pictured left), who earned a record seventh PBA Player of the Year honor in the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, matched that accomplishment by receiving a seventh ESPN "Best Bowler" ESPY award Wednesday. The 2010 ESPY winners were announced during the 18th annual event, televised Wednesday on ESPN from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. ESPN announced ESPY winners in 38 sports categories which were determined through fan voting on espn.com.
Professional Bowlers Association veteran Ritchie Allen (pictured left) of Columbia, S.C., and 2009-10 rookie Stuart Williams (right) of England will join five PBA Hall of Famers and 11 players selected among the "50 best players in PBA history," rounding out the 52-player exempt field for the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season. The 2010-11 exempt group includes5 PBA Hall of Famers and 11 of the "50 greatest players in PBA history". 
PBA Tournament of Champions winner Kelly Kulick (pictured left) of Union, N.J.; U.S. Open champion Bill O'Neill (right) of Southampton, Pa., and 2009-10 PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., have been nominated for ESPN's "Best Bowler ESPY" for 2010. ESPN announced nominees in a wide variety of categories Thursday. Fan voting is underway now through 11:59 p.m. Eastern on July 10 at espn.com/espys.
The Professional Bowlers Association has announced Anthony LaCaze of Melrose Park, Ill., as the 2009-10 Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year. As a non-exempt player, the 27-year-old LaCaze had to compete in Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour qualifying rounds for most of the events last season to earn his way into tournament fields. In the ninth tournament of the season, he won the PBA Earl Anthony Memorial Classic to earn an exemption for the 2010-11 season.
South Point Hotel, Casino and Bowling Center on the south side of Las Vegas will host the 2010 edition of the Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling, a 14-day extravaganza that will award six PBA Tour titles and pay $625,000 in prize money by the time it's over. The event, which will be open to PBA members from across America and around the world, begins Sunday, Oct. 24, and culminates with the taping of six television programs over two days Nov. 5-6. The shows will air on ESPN starting Sunday, Nov. 28.
Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Andy Marzich of Torrance, Calif., died Tuesday (May 18) after a battle with cancer. He was 74. Inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1990, Marzich was a six-time PBA Tour titlist who won all six of his titles between 1962 and '64 with three titles coming in 1963 and two in 1964. Also a member of the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame, Marzich won three USBC Open Championships (formerly American Bowling Congress Tournament) titles.
Twelve-year-old Kamron Doyle (l.) of Brentwood, Tenn., finished 30th in the PBA Canton (Ga.) Open Regional Sunday becoming the youngest bowler ever to cash in a PBA event. He earned $400 which will be deposited into a scholarship account. Bowling as a non-PBA member, Doyle had a 2,797 13-game pinfall total (215.1 average) bowling against a 94-player field which included some of the top regional and national tour professional players from the organization's South region and was won by 2009-10 PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. (r.). 
After finishing second in the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Trials in Allen Park, Mich., last May, native Canadian George Lambert IV expressed his desire to become the first bowler from his home country to win a PBA Tour title. He is now the owner of one of the PBA's most prestigious honors, but it isn't the one he had in mind. Lambert, has been selected by his fellow exempt tour players as winner of the Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award. He is the first international player to win the award in its 44-year history.
Concrete Software, Inc., a leader in innovative mobile content, has released PBA Bowling 2 for the Apple iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone. Concrete Software and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) have partnered to create a 3D bowling game now available in the App Store. One of the most notable features included in the game is online leader boards, which allow users to view scores of other players worldwide. 
Each season surely has its memorable moments, but there were an abundance of stories spread across this year's Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season. I'm sure that everyone has different ideas as to what their top 10 moments are, but I want to take the time to put my own "spin" on it. To me, this was one of the most exciting seasons in quite some time. I'm already looking forward to what next season has in store for us, but before I get ahead of myself, let's move on to what I think were the top 10 moments this season.
PBA.com's subscription video service Xtra Frame hits the road again later this month to give bowling fans first-ever comprehensive coverage of several PBA Senior Tour and PBA regional events. Xtra Frame co-host and expert analyst "The Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark will be traveling the country and calling the action for the final rounds of at least eight tournament stops beginning with the PBA Senior Dayton Classic April 20. 
For the second consecutive year, the PBA Chris Schenkel Player of the Year race came down to the final game and the eventual winner had to watch from the sidelines to await his fate. When it was over, Walter Ray Williams Jr. (pictured) won a record seventh Player of the Year honor at the conclusion of the season-ending Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open in Baltimore April 4, after going into the event tied in the points race with Bill O'Neill. Mike Scroggins was third, a longshot, but still in the mix until he lost in the title match to Pete Weber.
Chris Barnes (l.) had his hands full once again but managed to defeat 21-year-old Anthony Pepe (r.) of Queens, N.Y., in the fifth and final Chris Barnes Challenge presented by Columbia 300 of the 2009-10 season Saturday evening at AMF Babylon Lanes. Barnes, the 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year, defeated Pepe, 681-649, in the three-game total pins match to win the $10,000 pot. The match was conducted on PBA’s Shark pattern. 
Challenger Alex Aguiar (pictured left) of Dartmouth, Mass., defeated Chris Barnes (right), 626-524, to win Chris Barnes Challenge IV presented by Columbia 300 at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center Saturday night. Aguiar, who had posted the high bid of $1,500 to take on Barnes in the three-game, total pinfall contest, took home a $3,000 jackpot. Barnes is now 2-2 in his four head-to-head challenge matches. 