Here's the latest article from the Bowling site at BellaOnline.com.

Interesting Details To Know Again
Following on the heels of my article about small details to remember about your bowling game, here's a "Choc-List" of four more of these "minor" details:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art171326.asp

Contact: Bill Vint | PBA Media Relations
Professional Bowlers Association | 719 Second Avenue, Suite 701 | Seattle, WA 98104


Professional Bowlers Association star Chris Barnes to fulfill Make-A-Wish
dream for Milwaukee child in Indianapolis on Saturday, April 16

Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, a 13-time Professional Bowlers Association champion and one of three finalists in the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs which will be conducted on Sunday, April 17, at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, will fulfill the Make-A-Wish dream of six-year-old David Richards Jr. of Milwaukee by bowling a game with Richards at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 16 at Woodland Bowl.

Richards is six years old and has Acute Lymphatic Leukemia and Brachioplexus. His Make A Wish dream is to meet Barnes at a PBA tournament and get a private lesson. The PBA has completed arrangements with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Barnes, Woodland Bowl and the Richards family to make David’s dream come true.

The PBA Playoffs is the final event of the 2010-11 season for the Professional Bowlers Association.

The PBA invites the news media to attend the special Make-A-Wish session at 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, April 16 when Barnes will bowl a game with David and give him a lesson. The PBA has then made arrangements for the Richards family to attend the Sunday 1 p.m. finals of the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs when Barnes will bowl against Dick Allen and Randy Weiss, both of Columbia, S.C., in the live ESPN finals of the PBA Playoffs.

Accompanying David will be his father, David Richards Sr.; mother Maria Richards; brothers Kyle Juczczak (age 15), Daniel Richards (age 4) and Derek Richards (age 4); and a Make-A-Wish escort. Make-A-Wish is making arrangements to fly the Richards family to Indianapolis for this special event.

Basic background information:

Chris Barnes is widely regarded as one of the top players in professional bowling. Earlier this season, he won the PBA World Championships to become only the sixth player in PBA history to complete the Triple Crown (PBA World Championship, U.S. Open and PBA Tournament of Champions).

Barnes also is actively involved in other humanitarian projects. Barnes and his wife Lynda are extremely active in Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fund-raising in the wake of learning that one of his 10–year-old twin sons, Troy, has the disease. Barnes also conducts a successful youth scholarship bowling tournament over Thanksgiving weekend in the Dallas area.

RPC, RPI Champions Among 2010-11 PBA Regional Award Winners

SEATTLE, Wash. (April 8, 2011) - The Professional Bowlers Association has announced the season-ending award winners for its 2010-11 regional program. Each of the PBA’s seven geographical regions annually recognizes a Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Patterson Award winner. Four regions that ran at least three Senior regional tournaments also recognized Senior Regional Players of the Year.

Among the Regional Players of the Year are 2010 PBA Regional Players Champion Riga Kalfas of Florence, Ky., in the PBA Central Region and PBA Regional Players Invitational winner Bryon Smith of Roseburg, Ore., in the PBA Northwest Region. The RPC, held in Allen Park, Mich., and the RPI, held in Reno, Nev., are the regional program’s two “major” championship events.

Regional Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards are voted on by the regional managers and John Weber, Director of the Senior and Regional Tours. The Pat Patterson Awards, recognizing individual contributions to the regional program, are selected by the respective regional managers.

The PBA Regional competition season begins on April 1 and ends on March 31 of the following year.

PBA EAST REGION
The Professional Bowlers Association East Region has crowned Tommy Gollick of Oberlin, Pa., as its 2010-11 Player of the Year. Gollick bowled in 17 regional tournaments, winning one, finishing second once and third twice. He cashed in 13 events while posting a 216.66 average and earning $11,265.

With five cashes in nine events, a best finish of sixth and two match play appearances, Jeremy Elder of Claymont, Del., earned Rookie of the Year honors. Gary Shultis of Levittown, N.Y., with two titles and four top-five finishes, in eight events, earned his first East Region Senior Player of the Year award.

Larry Woomer of State College, Pa., received the East Region’s Pat Patterson award. Woomer is a familiar face at most PBA East Region tournaments, serving as Regional Manager Russ Mills’ right-hand volunteer in a variety of capacities.

PBA SOUTH REGION
Former PBA Tour exempt player and one-time Tour titlist Chris Collins of Savannah, Ga., made it back-to-back PBA South Region Player of the Year honors an impressive three victories, three runner-up finishes and 13 top-five finishes in 16 events. Collins averaged 226.25, earned $15,000 in PBA South Region competition and finished second in the PBA Regional Players Championship in Allen Park, Mich., during the 2010-11 season.

Rusty Minar of Atlanta was Rookie of the Year, cashing in nine of 12 events with a best finish of third place. Two-time PBA Tour title winner Jeff Bellinger of Columbia, S.C., won South Region Senior Player of the Year honors with a pair of titles and four top five finishes in the eight events he entered.

South Region tournament host Joey Cruz, general manager of Lightning Lanes in Marion, N.C., was the South Region’s Pat Patterson Award winner.

PBA CENTRAL REGION
Riga Kalfas of Florence, Ky., was selected as PBA Central Region Player of the Year for the second year in a row, and third time in the past six years, after winning a pair of titles and cashing in nine of 16 events during the 2010-11 season. Kalfas, who also won the 2010 PBA Regional Players Championship in Allen Park, Mich., earned $14,200 in regional competition and averaged 213.60.

Kenny Parks of Hammond, Ind., won three Central Region Senior titles and added another second place finish on his way to winning the region’s Senior Player of the Year title for the first time. The Dan Ottman Rookie of the Year award was not awarded for 2010-11.

Jim Dilyard of Burbank, Ohio, who hosts the Central Region’s Wooster, Ohio, tournament at Wayne Lanes, was the recipient of the Central Region’s Pat Patterson Award.

PBA MIDWEST REGION
Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa, who had a break-through season with a PBA Tour “major” title along with two Midwest Region victories, was selected as PBA Midwest Region Player of the Year for 2010-11. Hess, who won the Bayer USBC Masters for his first national title, won had five top-five finishes in the Midwest Region while earning $16,595 and averaging 215.00. Hess also finished second in the PBA Regional Players Invitational in Reno, Nev.

Dale Traber of Cedarburg, Wis., won his third Midwest Region Senior Player of the Year honor with two titles and five top-five finishes in nine Senior events. Ricky Beck of Box Elder, S.D. – home of Ellsworth Air Force Base – won PBA Midwest Rookie of the Year honors after cashing in five of eight events and finishing second once.

John Slavich IV of Schaumburg, Ill., who has helped organize sponsorships for several tournaments, was the Midwest Region’s Pat Patterson Award recipient.

PBA SOUTHWEST REGION
Chris Hibbitts II of Fort Worth, Texas, won a tie-breaker over David Anthony of Austin, Texas, to win PBA Southwest Region Player of the Year honors for 2010-11. Hibbitts, the region’s 2007-08 Rookie of the Year, didn’t win a title in the region, but finished in the top five six times in 22 events with a pair of runner-up finishes. He edged Anthony for Player of the Year on the basis of winning the region’s competition points race and topping Anthony in earnings ($14,335).

Rookie of the Year honors went to Charles Vaughan of Pasadena, Texas, who cashed in three of seven events with a seventh-place best finish.

Dr. Paul Freudigman of Dallas was the winner of the Pat Patterson award in the Southwest Region. Freudigman, a long-time Southwest Region competitor, has sponsored regional events in three different Dallas centers over the past six years. Health problems have kept him from competing recently.

PBA WEST REGION
Former Phoenix resident Steven Black, now living in Anaheim, Calif., dominated the PBA West Region on his way to winning 2010-11 Player of the Year honors. Black won four titles and finished in the top five eight times in 19 attempts, posting a 213.03 season average and earning $15,880 in regional competition.

Former Team USA member David Haynes of Las Vegas was selected as West Region Rookie of the Year. Haynes won his first PBA regional title and advanced to match play in four of the six tournaments he entered.

Former PBA Tour exempt player Dave Leverage of Peoria, Ariz., earned the region’s Pat Patterson Award. Leverage organized a West Regional event that has now been running for five years and he helped the PBA add senior events in the same center where his regional runs.

PBA NORTHWEST REGION
In the Northwest Region, former PBA Tour exempt player Bryon Smith of Roseburg, Ore., was selected as Northwest Player of the Year after winning two titles and posting eight top-five finishes in 13 events. The 2010 PBA Regional Players Invitational champion also earned $14,450 while posting a 216.92 average.

Northwest Region Rookie of the Year honors went to Eric McIver of Des Moines, Wash., who had a runner-up finish and three cashes in six events.

Richard Brown of Vancouver, Wash., was the Pat Patterson Award recipient. Brown, who has CPR training, is credited with keeping Northwest Region lane man Steve Stevens alive until medical personnel arrived after Stevens suffered a heart attack while conditioning the lanes in Reno for a regional event. Brown then stepped in and did the lanes to finish the event.

About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,800 of the best bowlers from 13 countries who compete in Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, Regional and Senior Tour events. Nearly one million ESPN viewers watch PBA Tour on Sundays during the tour season and thousands watch PBA activities online by using PBA’s video streaming service, Xtra Frame. PBA sponsors include Bayer, Brunswick, Budweiser, GEICO, Golden Corral, Go RVing, Lumber Liquidators, One A Day Men’s 50+ Multivitamin, Pepsi-Cola, Storm Products and the United States Bowling Congress, among others. For more information, log on to the PBA website.

Please visit Bowling.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Bowling.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Bowling located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=145

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Clyde Higa, Bowling Editor
http://Bowling.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com