Geico PBA All-Star Shootout
Hosts: Randy Pedersen & Jeff Medders
*****
Chris Barnes & Mika Koivuniemi (Finn to Win) vs Tommy Jones & Wes Malott (Big & Rich)
The hosts start off talking about cool nicknames with Jeff claiming the names Doctor Death or Killer. Randy tells him the tour name for him is Shirley Temple. Yikes.
Interesting fact that Mika has won bowling tournaments in ten different countries.
Tommy misses a single pin pick-up in the first frame. Looks like the weather will be affecting the bowlers again this week.
A small crowd at six flags again. Some kids booed early when the pros were leaving a lot of wood on the lanes, something Barnes comments on later in the match. I'm not sure how many bowling fans are in attendance but Six Flags is getting a lot of promotion TV time for their sponsorship with commercials, lead-ins and the announcers talking about the various rides.
They start to get going in the third with a couple of strikes, Randy responds with a poor foreign accent pretending to be Mika.
Tommy misses the head pin in the fifth and they are down by 30. Looks like the sun is bothering him, it must be difficult to bowl in these conditions. Malott is picking up a lot of spare pins Tommy is leaving but it looks like they will need to strike quite a bit in the tenth to get back into it. Barnes leaves one pin in his attempt to strikes five times in a row.
Going for his first strike in the eighth Tommy leaves two pins, he tells the non-bowling crowd that yes, he does do this for a living. Not the best way to present pro bowling if one of your biggest young names can't hit a strike.
Tommy finally strikes in the ninth frame but Chris and Mika rack up an impressive run of strikes to take a 255-184 lead with an endless tenth for Tommy & Wes. They need eight straight strikes to win but Tommy leaves two standing in the first attempt to seal the loss.
Final score: Barnes/Koivuniemi 255 - Malorr/Jones 184
*****
An ad for the 2007 U.S. Women's Open airs followed by a Walter Ray Jr Denny's Commercial. Nice one-two advertising punch.
The second match is run as a separate show, complete with recap and opening graphics. More goofing by the hosts with Randy making faces while Jeff is talking about what an honor it is to be working with him.
*****
Danny Wiseman & Doug Kent (Fire & Ice) vs Jason Couch & Billy Oatman (Southside Playas)
Jeanette Lee interviews the Southside Playas about their team name. Jason tells an interesting story about getting to know Billy, he had him stay with him for a week to get to know each other better.
A 2-7 split by Danny in the first and a chance for Doug to get some bonus points if he can make it. He does. The camera unfortunately is behind Doug so we miss the pickup although they so show it on replay. So far there are a lot of spares as the pros struggle on the lanes. Billy is the first to strike in the second followed by another by Jason. It looks like Billy has lost some weight since his last TV appearance.
Billy leaves an ugly split in the fifth and Jason almost picks it up but winds up leaving two pins. The next throw by Billy has a wobbling eight pin that almost goes down but doesn't.. His response? A big smile. Billy is an incredible personality and seems to love the game so much his enjoyment is contagious.
A sitdown interview with Billy & Jason goes over the same information that their earlier interview did. Why did Jeanette bring the subject up if they had a pre-recorded interview that covered the same thing?
Doug picks up a difficult spare in the seventh before Danny knocks all ten down in the eighth. The strike has a pin standing upright in the gutter, something you do not see very often.
A bad split in the ninth with the 6-7-10 pins standing and Danny can't pick it up. Fire & Ice goes from +12 to -10 in the ninth due to the open frame and Jason striking. So far it has been a back and fourth game and very entertaining despite the below average bowling. Again, it's the weather not the bowlers.
Big rolls in the tenth sees Doug & Danny getting back to back strikes to start. They need a strike to get the endless bowling but the tenth is left standing. They are at 200 with a five point bonus from a split pick-up for a total of 205.
When Doug left the ten pin standing the microphones pick up Billy saying "First one locks them out". Unfortunately Billy throws a poor ball and leaves a nasty 2-4-7-10 split. Jason will need to spare and Billy to strike for them to get a chance at the endless tenth and a victory. He throws a great ball but cannot pick up the ten pin and they lose, Billy telling Jason "My Bad". After bowling 290 their first match they get 185 in their second.
Final score: Wiseman/Kent 205 - Couch/Oatman 185
*****
A very good recap of the split by Billy and the failed effort by Jason to convert with new footage to give a more personal view.
Jeanette interviews the winners and Danny apologies to his partner for leaving all the spares for him to pick up, a nice effort.
I'm not sure what the average TV viewer would take away from this weeks show with the empty stands and the appearance of poor bowling by the pros. There's a father somewhere telling his son that he bowls more strikes then the pros, not the best impression you want to give. You have to feel for the bowlers, many of whom are battling bugs while trying to bowl in 90+ degree heat outdoors.
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