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Bowling News USA - November 13, 2009 The Schlemer Report (2009 Cheetah Championship)

Welcome to Week 2 of The Schlemer Report.

This past week we saw our first and only documentary style telecast of the season, the Cheetah Championship. To my knowledge the show seemed to get mixed reviews. Some loved it, others hated it. I personally liked the idea from the start. I think showing more footage on what the bowlers have to go through in order to make a show helps those at home appreciate what that individual has done in order to get to the televised finals. Not every bowling fan at home gets the chance to visit a PBA event in person and watch how it all unravels on the lanes. This documentary format showed footage throughout the entire week and showed the ups & downs and ins & outs of the entire event. It was all the same stuff you see from a normal PGA event only the PBA had to squeeze it all into an hour and a half show. Since a lot of bowling fans are also golf fans, many of you know that each and every week you can tune in and watch your favorite golfer qualify on Thursday and Friday. Then if your favorite makes the cut to the weekend, you get to watch again on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, bowling isn’t quite that far along yet. We still only have our hour and a half telecast on Sunday afternoon. Who knows, maybe someday you will get to watch PBA events from start to finish on TV just like PGA events! You never know, it could happen, eventually, well someday, maybe when bowlers earn 1 million a year... Hey a guy can dream can’t he?!

If you tuned in and watch the documentary unfold you probably noticed Norm Duke used only a few balls throughout the entire event. This is typical for some players who go on to make TV, while others may use every ball in their bag and drill another six during the week. Every week is a new adventure. So on this particular Norm Duke adventure, which ended triumphantly with yet another victory; he used only four balls the entire event. He had 2 different Hy-Roads: one pin up, CG out and a hole on axis and the other pin down, CG out, with a hole down. He also had 2 different 2nd Dimensions: one pin down, CG out, with a hole on his axis and the other one pin under the ring stacked with a hole on his axis. The two Hy-Roads and the pin down, CG out 2nd Dimension were left over from last season’s arsenal. We drilled the stacked 2nd Dimension that week, which he used almost the entire title match except for a few shots here and there.

Now I’m sure most of you noticed that Ryan Ciminelli used a Natural almost the entire match before having to switch balls to try and carry the pesky 7 pins he kept leaving. The answer to your question is,”Yes, the lanes were curving that much”. Balls with the least change of direction were ideal because of the combination of the short Cheetah pattern mixed with the high friction lane surface. This is why Duke had a good look with three balls that he used almost all of last season. Meaning they were full of oil and were less reactive to the high amount of friction on the lane. So in order to achieve the same type reaction with the new 2nd Dimension we drilled I had to sand down the cover and work my magic to make the ball less aggressive. With the power of Abralon®, lane oil and extra shine I was able to make the cover less tacky and made it more controllable for Norm. And many of you have watched Norm bowl long enough to know that controllable is his “A” game.

It was by no means an easy victory for Norm. Ciminelli gave him all he could handle for sure. But before he even got to the show, Norm had to bowl his way past some pretty strong competition. Since PBA finally decide to give high qualifiers something to shoot for, Duke earned a first round bye by qualifying 3rd (the top qualifiers each earned first round byes in all the events.) So after his first round bye, Duke had to square off with undoubtedly the greatest of all time - Walter Ray Williams Jr. in the round of 16. It was definitely a heavyweight battle for the ages. It took Norm 7 games, but he managed to fend off the living legend. Norm then advanced to the round of 8 where he found himself matched against none other than Chris Barnes. This was no matter to Norm as he walked away in a 4 game sweep. Then it was onto the round of 4 against Stevie Weber, who fell victim in only 5 games. As you witnessed on the show all this was prelude to the title match against up new comer, Ryan Ciminelli (who by the way will be back on your TV again next week using a Natural). Like I mentioned before, Duke used only 4 balls the entire week and that seemed to be all he needed to do the job. He bowled his way through a Hall of Famer, a future Hall of Famer and a rookie sensation who gave him a decent fight. I guess the only way he could have done better, would have been to sweep each match. A let me tell ya, that doesn’t happen very often, even at the highest level.

All in all, it was a good win for the Duke-ster and yet another good showing for the Storm Nation. I honestly think it was a good viewing for the PBA as well. It shows that they are willing to step outside the box and create a new angle in which to view our sport. Like I said, who knows if we will ever see this type of documentary style show again? All I know is that it was worth a shot.

Be sure to tune in next week to ESPN on Sunday to watch Rhino Page, Liz Johnson and rookie sensation Ryan Ciminelli try to bring home another title for the Storm Nation. I promise you won’t be disappointed!





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