Matt Cannizzaro blogs from Reno in '10
March 20, 2010
Things are continuing to pick up at the 2010 USBC Open Championships, and we are days away from what could be one of the highest-scoring weeks of the tournament. No promises, of course, but the amount of talent and experience headed to Reno by the end of the month is pretty exciting.
We recently did our first live stream from the National Bowling Stadium, and the numbers showed 2,000 unique viewers and as many as 315 at one time. I was a little worried at first, since I have no background in video or play-by-play, but I think people are just excited to see bowling and the Open Championships in a whole new way. That takes some of the pressure off.
Our next broadcast will be of four-time champion Jeff Richgels and his Turbo 2-N-1 teammates on March 26 at 8:30 p.m. Pacific. Richgels and crew have become regular fixtures in the top 10, and I believe I saw smoke coming out of the Web cams when they were taking the Regular Team lead last year. I also believe the stands were packed so tightly that someone fell out. Richgels owns four Open Championships titles, two with his current team. In 2005, he and Steve Richter won the Regular Doubles title, and they teamed up with Marc McDowell, Gail Myers Jr. and Mike Shady to win Team All-Events.
Two days after the Turbo folks make their run at championship glory, we'll show Linds Limited of Milwaukee, the defending Regular Team and Team All-Events champion, make a run at history. No team has ever repeated in the team event, and the last time a team won back-to-back Team All-Events titles was Lodge Lanes of Belleville, Mich., in 1997 and 1998. Together, the Linds bowlers have combined for 20 titles in 141 years of tournament experience.
The cool part is that with both teams in town at the same time, they'll likely be watching each other. It would be nice to hear what the Linds guys (Gus Yannaras, Ryan Lever, Gary Daroszewski, Lennie Boresch Jr. or Dale Traber) think about what's happening on the lanes and vice versa. I'm sure that while the Linds team is bowling, Richgels would be happy to offer some thoughts and insight (if he's still in town). We'll see what develops.
As far as the rest of the live streaming schedule, we'll check in with:
- 2004 Regular Singles and All-Events champion, John Janawicz, for singles on April 8
- Steve Fehr and his Browning Pontiac team that won Regular Team in 2006 and Team All-Events in 2007 on April 16
- Defending Regular All-Events champion, Ron Vokes, who won last year's title with a record 2,321 total (April 21)
- Defending Regular Singles champion, Bo Goergen, who won his crown with an 862 series, the highest set in Open Championships history (May 6)
- Nelson Silverstrim and Theodore Haefner, who will reach 60 and 50 years, respectively, on May 13
- The popular Colombian star Clara Guerrero, who won two gold medals at the 2009 WTBA World Women's Championships (May 28 or 29)
- The history-making Kelly Kulick, who recently became the first woman to win a Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour title when she won the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions (June 13)
- Brenda Edwards and Stephen Padilla, who took home the 2009 Regular Doubles title with a record score of 1,566 (June 27)
In other news, it was a pleasure to meet the Reno Bighorns basketball team and welcome the coach and four players to the Open Championships this week. I do believe they enjoyed being a part of something new and may spend some more time on the lanes after their season concludes.
Despite their athleticism, I think the players were surprised by how draining three game of intense bowling competition can be. I appreciate them taking the time to come out and see how things work at the tournament. Hopefully, before things wrap up for them across the street, I can check out their operation, too.
For now, I'm going to head out and watch some bowling. It's been an exciting day already. I got to watch Jason Schwartz shoot 300 in his tournament debut, and then I got to sit down and reminisce with Glenn Allison about his 59 years on the championship lanes. All in a day's work, I suppose.
That's the news for now. See you on the lanes.
We recently did our first live stream from the National Bowling Stadium, and the numbers showed 2,000 unique viewers and as many as 315 at one time. I was a little worried at first, since I have no background in video or play-by-play, but I think people are just excited to see bowling and the Open Championships in a whole new way. That takes some of the pressure off.
Our next broadcast will be of four-time champion Jeff Richgels and his Turbo 2-N-1 teammates on March 26 at 8:30 p.m. Pacific. Richgels and crew have become regular fixtures in the top 10, and I believe I saw smoke coming out of the Web cams when they were taking the Regular Team lead last year. I also believe the stands were packed so tightly that someone fell out. Richgels owns four Open Championships titles, two with his current team. In 2005, he and Steve Richter won the Regular Doubles title, and they teamed up with Marc McDowell, Gail Myers Jr. and Mike Shady to win Team All-Events.
Two days after the Turbo folks make their run at championship glory, we'll show Linds Limited of Milwaukee, the defending Regular Team and Team All-Events champion, make a run at history. No team has ever repeated in the team event, and the last time a team won back-to-back Team All-Events titles was Lodge Lanes of Belleville, Mich., in 1997 and 1998. Together, the Linds bowlers have combined for 20 titles in 141 years of tournament experience.
The cool part is that with both teams in town at the same time, they'll likely be watching each other. It would be nice to hear what the Linds guys (Gus Yannaras, Ryan Lever, Gary Daroszewski, Lennie Boresch Jr. or Dale Traber) think about what's happening on the lanes and vice versa. I'm sure that while the Linds team is bowling, Richgels would be happy to offer some thoughts and insight (if he's still in town). We'll see what develops.
As far as the rest of the live streaming schedule, we'll check in with:
- 2004 Regular Singles and All-Events champion, John Janawicz, for singles on April 8
- Steve Fehr and his Browning Pontiac team that won Regular Team in 2006 and Team All-Events in 2007 on April 16
- Defending Regular All-Events champion, Ron Vokes, who won last year's title with a record 2,321 total (April 21)
- Defending Regular Singles champion, Bo Goergen, who won his crown with an 862 series, the highest set in Open Championships history (May 6)
- Nelson Silverstrim and Theodore Haefner, who will reach 60 and 50 years, respectively, on May 13
- The popular Colombian star Clara Guerrero, who won two gold medals at the 2009 WTBA World Women's Championships (May 28 or 29)
- The history-making Kelly Kulick, who recently became the first woman to win a Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour title when she won the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions (June 13)
- Brenda Edwards and Stephen Padilla, who took home the 2009 Regular Doubles title with a record score of 1,566 (June 27)
In other news, it was a pleasure to meet the Reno Bighorns basketball team and welcome the coach and four players to the Open Championships this week. I do believe they enjoyed being a part of something new and may spend some more time on the lanes after their season concludes.
Despite their athleticism, I think the players were surprised by how draining three game of intense bowling competition can be. I appreciate them taking the time to come out and see how things work at the tournament. Hopefully, before things wrap up for them across the street, I can check out their operation, too.
For now, I'm going to head out and watch some bowling. It's been an exciting day already. I got to watch Jason Schwartz shoot 300 in his tournament debut, and then I got to sit down and reminisce with Glenn Allison about his 59 years on the championship lanes. All in a day's work, I suppose.
That's the news for now. See you on the lanes.