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The Lanes Are Different
The reasoning(s) stemmed from "conspiracy theories" to changing oil patterns to oiling machines being out of adjustment to the lanes getting worse and worse every year.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (REVISED)
Bill Vint | PBA Media Relations
Professional Bowlers Association | 719 Second Avenue, Suite 701 | Seattle, WA 98104

Dick Weber PBA Playoffs to Conclude Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Season
Season-long points competitions will qualify 180 players for dramatic final event in Indianapolis

SEATTLE, Wash. (Sept. 10, 2010) – The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour will reward 180 PBA exempt players and PBA Regional competitors for their performances during the 2010-11 season with seeded positions into a new end-of-season Dick Weber PBA Playoffs, scheduled for March 8-13 at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.

The inaugural PBA Playoffs will feature five preliminary elimination rounds leading up to three “television elimination round” shows which will narrow the field to six players for the final telecast of the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season on Sunday, April 17, when the PBA Playoffs championship will be decided.

“The PBA staff, players, news media and other interested parties have talked a great deal over the past two or three years about the need for a special event to conclude our national tour season,” said PBA CEO and Commissioner Fred Schreyer. “After a great deal of discussion, we arrived at the PBA Playoffs concept. We think it’s going to become one of the most exciting and most anticipated events on tour.”

The PBA Playoffs, borrowing a chapter from end-of-season championship playoff series in virtually every other sport, will provide a showdown for 108 of the nation’s top regional players along with 72 players from the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour. The more points each player earns during the season in Regional or PBA Tour competition will determine his/her seeding position at Playoffs time.

The new PBA Playoffs format will include six unique elimination “pods.” Each pod will feature 18 top PBA Regional players based upon competition points accumulated between Oct. 1, 2009, and Nov. 30, 2010. The PBA’s East, South, Central, Southwest, Midwest and combined West/Northwest each will be assigned to a pod.

Each Regional pod also will include 72 PBA Tour players (12 per pod) seeded based upon their 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour competition points rankings. The higher-ranking Tour players will earn bye rounds based upon their standings on the points list. The seeding of PBA Tour players into the pods will be based exclusively on points, and will have no bearing on the region where they live. The seeded Tour players will be assigned to pods by random drawing at a later date.

The Dick Weber PBA Playoffs is named in honor of the PBA legend who was born and raised in Indianapolis.

DICK WEBER PBA PLAYOFFS
Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Ind., March 8-13 (April 17)

Tuesday, March 8
9 a.m. – Practice session (108 regional and 72 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour qualifiers)

Wednesday, March 9
8 a.m. – East, Central and South Pods, five qualifying games (18 regional and 9 PBA Tour players per pod)
11 a.m. – Midwest, Southwest and West/Northwest Pods, five qualifying games (18 regional and 9 PBA Tour players per pod)
4 p.m. - Midwest, Southwest and West/Northwest Pods, five qualifying games
7 p.m. - East, Central and South Pods, five qualifying games

Thursday, March 10
8 a.m. – Midwest, Southwest and West/Northwest Pods, five qualifying games
1 p.m. – East, Central and South Pods, five qualifying games
Top nine from each pod after Elimination Round One (15 games) advance
6 p.m. – Elimination Round Two (six pods including nine Round One survivors plus one PBA Tour player in 13-18 seeded group), six games
Bottom three from each pod after Round Two (6 games) eliminated

Friday, March 11
8 a.m. – Elimination Round Three (six pods including seven Round Two survivors plus one PBA Tour player in 7-12 seeded group), six games
Bottom three from each pod after Round Three (6 games) eliminated
1 p.m. – Elimination Round Four (six pods including five Round Three survivors plus one PBA Tour player in 1-6 seeded group), six games
Bottom two from each pod after Round Four (6 games) eliminated
6 p.m. – Elimination Round Five (six pods including four Round Four survivors), six games
Lowest score after Round Five (6 games) eliminated

Saturday, March 12
Pro-Am squads (times to be announced)

Sunday, March 13
Tape-delayed TV Elimination Round shows (three shows, two pods of three players per show; assignment of regional pods for TV rounds is tentative)

Show 1 – Top 3 from East Region pod and top 3 from Central Region pod, one game. Top score from each pod advances to finals
Show 2 – Top 3 from South Region pod and top 3 from Midwest Region pod, one game. Top score from each pod advances to finals
Show 3 – Top 3 from Southwest Region pod and top 3 from West/Northwest Region pod, one game. Top score from each pod advances to finals

Sunday, April 17
1 p.m. – Six pod winners, live television finals, Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis

Understanding the PBA Playoff Pods
Each of six pods will initially feature 18 PBA Regional qualifiers based upon 2010-11 points plus nine seeded Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players based upon their PBA World Points Ranking status following the U.S. Open. After each elimination round, additional “seeded” PBA Tour players will be added to each pod based upon their 2010-11 PBA World Ranking Points standing. Seeded Tour players will be assigned to each pod by random drawing at a later date.

About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,700 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, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, One A Day Men’s 50+ Multivitamin, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others.

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