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. A lot of first time winners, some of which garnered quite a bit of media attention for the PBA. 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.

 

# 10 - Osku's chair shot

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of the trick shot contest. Don't get me wrong, some of the shots are very difficult and do help to showcase the talent that each of these bowlers possess.

But the shot that Osku Palermaa, Finland, made over the concourse chair was absolutely amazing! Not only did he clear the taller-than-normal chair that was at the arrows, he flushed ten in the pit while doing so.

I'm sure that most people who would dare attempt that would soon after end up having to replace the chair. It was definitely one of those things that just make your jaw drop, almost as cool as watching Michael Jordan dunk from the foul line back in the late '80's.

As a spectator, the final game of match play at any tournament has always been the best part of the tournament. With the inclusion of some different qualifying formats in recent years, some of that drama was limited to a highly contested best of 7 match. At this years U.S. Open, you had five players vying for the final spot on Sunday's telecast in Jason Belmonte, Pete Weber, Walter Ray Williams Jr, Norm Duke and Jason Couch.

Jason Belmonte, Australia, held on to the fourth and final spot heading into the position round game, but was nursing a hamstring injury after putting on an impressive performance in the earlier rounds and leading the tournament for most of the week. He had a chance to eliminate everyone else with a good game, but literally limped to a 190 finish.

Norm Duke overcame a couple of splits, including a bizarre 5-7-10, to finish his game with a closing 5-bagger for 201 which put him ahead of Belmo. Pete Weber only had an outside chance and needed to put up a big score but struggled early and was eliminated from contention.

Jason Couch then needed to double to get past Duke, with the assumption that Duke was going to win his match and get his 30 bonus pins. Couch came through with a clutch double and knocked Norm out of contention for that final spot.

Which leaves us with Walter Ray Williams Jr. (you know, the guy who's won 47 times on tour) needing a double and seven pins to get on the show. He was also looking to back up his USBC Masters win a few weeks earlier and solidify his position atop the PBA Player of the Year race.

As one would expect, WRW got up and buried the two strikes. Then in a shocking twist, Walter Ray got a little soft on the fill and ended up going through the nose for a six-count that left him tied with Duke and only getting 15 bonus pins for the tie and not the 30 for the win. After all the math was done, Couch was the last man standing.

Just another reason for everyone to sign up for Xtra Frame!

The title match on Sunday came down to the 2009 U.S. Open champion Mike Scroggins (r.) and a young player looking for his first major victory in Bill O'Neill (left and above). Scroggins surely deserves plenty of recognition for his season, and the fact that he even had a chance to bowl for consecutive U.S. Open titles is astounding.

However, the "Real Deal" had something to say about that and bowled one of the best games I've ever seen in throwing the last 10 strikes to put the match out of reach and win his first major title and his second victory of both his career and the season.

Both gentleman had fantastic seasons (they both actually tied with Walter Ray in the Player of the Year point race, only to fall short via the standard point list tiebreaker) and I'm certain we'll see plenty of them both next season.

 

#8 - Anthony LaCaze's first win at the Earl Anthony Memorial Classic

On what was a pretty difficult lane condition, Anthony LaCaze ended up as the top seed at the Earl Anthony Memorial Classic after the qualifying rounds had been completed. After qualifying for TV by defeating three tough opponents (including two former POYs Patrick Allen and Tommy Jones) his first televised match with Mike Wolfe didn't generate too much excitement with a final score of 190-158, but LaCaze stayed out of trouble for the most part and earned the W.

Michael Machuga was the recipient of a few breaks due to some missed single pin spares by Sean Rash (more on that later) during their semifinal match, winning 188-183.

In the title match both players made some big moves to the left and worked hard to stay clean throughout the match. Machuga seemed to have the advantage after several frames of strike or nine and keeping clean.

Neither player, however, was able to muster up more than a double heading into the 9th and 10th frames. LaCaze stepped up in the 9th and 10th and had a chance to at least guarantee a tie if he struck out. He managed to throw 3 strikes and threw an 8 count on the fill to put up a 214 score, meaning that Chuges had to get a double and nine pins to win. He buried his first shot but rang a 10-pin on the next, giving LaCaze his first tour victory and a trip to the following week's Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas.

 

#7 - Mike Fagan finally gets his first singles win

After two consecutive weeks of great telecasts with the Earl Anthony Memorial Classic and the Tournament of Champions, we had the One-A-Day Dick Weber Open. Another strong TV finals with 5 players who are either potential or current PBA Hall of Famers, and yet another loss to Walter Ray by PDW, it came down to the young gun Fagan and the greatest player in PBA history.

Mike Fagan came out of the gates with a 4-bagger (Rob Stone can hold on to his use of hambone), but the old lion kept the match close until the 8th frame. Fagan clearly had the better ball reaction and finished off the great Walter Ray by throwing 3 strikes in the last 2 frames to shut his opponent out and win his long anticipated first singles title.

 

#6 - Sean Rash's TV struggles

When Sean Rash made his first TV appearance, I was of the opinion that we were seeing the arrival of a young man who had the potential to become a dominate force on tour. He didn't disappoint winning his first title after qualifying via the TQR, and won his first seven matches on TV on his way to winning four titles. Clutch spare conversions, quality shots, an invincible air, it was just amazing to watch him on the show.

Then similar to the movie Space Jam, where aliens came and stole Michael Jordan and his NBA friends' basketball skills, Rash began to struggle on TV. After such a promising start, it was surely a surprise to see him missing single pin spares and such on TV. Sure there were some bad breaks, but there is no excuse for missing gimme spares.

I, for one, hope that Sean returns to his previous TV dominance. Similar to PDW, I think Rash should embrace the brash persona he had when he was winning. Confidence is a big deal when you're throwing the ball, and he seemed to have all he would ever need (ad still seems to have it during the week, given his solid 09-10 season).

I hope to see him back in the winners' circle sooner than later. Sean gets it done during the week and is still one of the elite players in the world, but I'd like to see the lights-out version of Sean Rash return to TV.

 

#5 - Jack Jurek breaks his title drought at the Shark Championship during the World Series of Bowling

It had been a long time since Jack Jurek won his first PBA title. Matter of fact, it had been 14 years and 175 days when he made the TV finals for the Shark Championship at the World Series of Bowling.

Jurek first had the tough task of eliminating the King of Bowling and reigning Player of the Year Wes Malott. He did so in convincing fashion by beating Big Wes 255-213 to move on to face Mike Fagan, who had disposed of Jason Couch in his semifinal match.

It was obvious watching the two semifinal matches that Jurek had the carry advantage over Fagan. Fagan was trailing most of the match, as Jurek opened with a double, followed by a spare, and another double. A big four split left an open for Jurek in the sixth frame, which kept the match close as Fagan's nemesis this day was the 10 pin (he left five in the match).

Jurek was on a double going into the 10th and could strike out for 231, while Fagan could only go sheet for 219. Jurek threw the first strike but left the 3-6-10 on his next shot. After making the spare Double J posted a score of 218, leaving Fagan the opportunity to step up and throw all three in the tenth to win his first singles title.

Fagan delivered two of those strikes but that pesky 10-pin stood on his fill ball (despite being wobbled by a messenger) leaving the match tied. Jurek was first to throw his shot in the sudden death rolloff and struck. Fagan leaked his shot right of the headpin and failed to strike, giving Jack Jurek the win and ending his record-long drought between titles.


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#4 - PDW returns to the winners circle; and "That wasn't a Brooklyn strike!"

In the final tour stop of the season, we had a lot of drama and storylines heading into the finals of the Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open.

Mike Scroggins had a chance to bowl his way to his first Chris Schenkel Player of the Year. You had yet another drama-filled final game to determine the last participant on the show, with Big Wes and Walter Ray Williams, Jr. battling for the fifth and final spot (yet again another reason you're missing out by not subscribing to Xtra Frame). Then you had PDW in that same last game shoot 300 to move up into the second qualifying position.

After defeating Malott, Brad Angelo (pictured left) moved on to face Chris Barnes. As the match progressed Angelo was having a little trouble with a hook spot that had developed on the right lane and his effort in the fifth frame crossed over for a Brooklyn strike which prompted Brad to playfully raise his hands in getting a big break.

You could tell from the look on Chris' face that he was NOT pleased with that. After changing soles to help deal with the approaches better, Barnes got up and threw a strike and came off the approach throwing the "real strikes" jab at Angelo.

Rob and Randy then decided to ask Barnes a question where he then again tried to throw a little fuel on the fire and made a comment regarding Brad's fifth frame shot. Showing his Italian Stallion fire and his New York action roots, Angelo then got up and threw arguably his best shot of the day and fired back at Barnes with "That wasn't a Brooklyn strike!" and then proceeded to duplicate another one on the left lane, exclaiming, "That one wasn't either!" Angelo moved on to take the win over Barnes, 256-227.

Brad then moved on to face my personal all-time favorite bowler, Pete Weber (right). PDW hadn't won since his 2007 U.S. Open victory, and hadn't seemed to be himself on television in his appearances since then. There were some nay-sayers suggesting he just didn't have it anymore.

PDW came out throwing the ball as well as we've seen in recent memory, and even an open frame in the fourth couldn't stop PDW from the opportunity to play spoiler to Mike Scroggins' chances at becoming Player of the Year as he defeated Brad Angelo 233-212.

After taking a step to the left and making a ball change, PDW had an unrivaled look and took advantage of the area that had been created for him in the previous matches while Scroggy struggled in the early frames to find the right look to keep up. There was no question of who was going to come out on top, even though Scroggins kept fighting and had a chance to keep things interesting later in the match.

He couldn't keep it going, ultimately falling to PDW 268-224. Pete showed a lot of emotion, showed the humility and respect that his late, great father Dick had taught him and proved to all that he is still PDW. I hope that momentum follows him to next season as he is not only a legend in the sport, but also the most entertaining player ever on TV.

 

#3 - Tom Smallwood's World Championship victory

You all know this story by now. Former GM employee gets laid-off, decides to pursue his dream at Tour Trials, and becomes exempt via those Trials. Now it's not as if Tom Smallwood was an unknown in the bowling world, as he was near the cut line when the PBA first went to the all exempt field and had a large amount of success at high level scratch tournaments through the U.S.

Fast forward to December 2009, and Smallwood is part of a telecast that included 2008-2009 Player of the Year Wes Malott, Rhino Page, and Bill O'Neill. You could tell that there was a bit of rust for some of the guys to shake off after the layoff between the end of the World Series of Bowling and the TV finals for the World Championship.

Smallwood was able to make easy work in disposing of Bill O'Neill in his semifinal match 211-159. The match between Big Wes and Rhino was a little tighter. After the Big Nasty had back to back open frames following his opening 4-bagger, it allowed Rhino Page who was clean at that point to get back into the match and take a small lead.

Rhino returned the favor with a poorly timed open frame in the 9th, and Malott moved on to face Smallwood for both players' first chance at a major win.

The match was relatively even from the start with Malott opening with another 4-bagger, but Smallwood kept pace with a strike, spare, and his own 4-bagger. A 4-6-7 split for Smallwood opened the door for Big Wes to put the hammer down, but destiny had other things in mind as Wes was unable to put together another string of strikes while Smallwood strung four more strikes to finish with the victory 244-228.

Smallwood then went on a whirlwind media tour, appearing on several TV networks and having articles written in many more news publications, including a three-page spread in Sports Illustrated.

 

#2 - Walter Ray wins 7th Chris Schenkel Player of the Year

You would think that a guy who turned 50 years old would start to fall behind and not keep up with the new breed of young guns coming up the ranks. Walter Ray Williams Jr. made a huge statement to start the season in winning the very first tournament at the WSOB Motor City Open. He then also won yet another major by defeating Chris Barnes for the USBC Masters win.

Although he was on the bench for the final TV show and Scroggins had the chance to take the PoY at the Marathon Open, one could make the argument that Walter Ray would've deserved this award regardless of what the Player of the Year points race said.

Williams led EVERY statistical category (Earnings, Average, Match Play Appearances, etc), won as many titles as both Scroggy and Bill O'Neill heading into the final show, and all of this at 50 years old?

Walter Ray not only proved that age is only a number, but that he is legitimately the greatest player ever in the history of the PBA. He shows no signs of slowing anytime soon, and not only do I think that 50 titles is well within his reach, I would go out on a limb to say he COULD win his 60th title by the age of 60. Hey, don't bet against it.

 

#1 - Kelly Kulick's historic win at the Tournament of Champions

It's hard to say anything that hasn't already been said about this historic moment in sports history. Although there was some "disappointment" that Kelly Kulick was able to participate in the Tournament of Champions without having won a title on the PBA Tour (she qualified by winning the Women's Series World Championship), there should be no question in anyone's mind that she truly earned her victory at this event.

Kelly had the second high average of any player in the field and knocked down more pins than any right handed player in the field, with Rhino Page holding high average during the qualifying rounds.

Kelly bowled two great games on TV on her way to victory, and her 265 game put any doubt to the question of whether or not she could play with the big boys handily to rest. She defeated a player who is regarded generally as the best bowler in the world in Chris Barnes, and another former Player of the Year in Mika Koivuniemi.

I think it will be great that Kelly is exempt (again), and I hope she can be a standout on the exempt tour as well as in Women's events. Her accomplishment is truly monumental, and she earned every bit of the media attention that her victory garnered.

 

All in all, 2009-2010 was one of the most memorable years in PBA history. We can only hope that as the economy recovers and the PBA continues to do a great job of putting together a product that is exciting to watch, more corporate sponsors will see (like great companies like Lumber Liquidators, GEICO and Go RVing have seen) what true bowling fans all over have understood all along...that bowling is one of the most exciting sports in the world!