Hard-working Mazurek finally rolls 700 series
It is said that if you really want to be good at something, you have to study it from the roots on up. That is obviously how Lisa Mazurek learned the game of bowling. I sort of picked up on her quite by accident many years ago when I ran into her at a Ladies Tournament. It was obvious from the first ball I saw her throw that she was an immense talent out on the lane. You can’t help but want to just stand back and watch her.
Over the ensuing years, I have had a bazillion conversations with her about the game of bowling, and during one of those conversations, I found out that as a young lady, she was a pinsetter at Fairbank. How is that for learning the game from the bottom up?
Being a pinsetter would be an interesting but also dangerous job. You are on one end of the lane, and on the other end is some guy throwing a 16-pound bowling ball at you.
I recall a story about an Asian-American fellow who was setting pins in a bowling house in Cleveland. According to the report, he was telling a tale to one of his buddies sitting in the back when the ball came down the lane, hit the pins, and somehow managed to send one of them back and through the air and straight into his noggin. Boom! He was out like a light.
Of course I asked Lisa if she had ever had an incident happen to her like that. And in her usually quiet manner, she said no. But then, she said there was one time she had a little disagreement with a fellow who was bowling. Seems he was throwing harder than normal and he was also louder than normal. Eventually it reached the stage where he had become really abrasive, so the normally shy young Lisa, who like everyone else in the house had finally had her fill of him, came out from behind the lanes and threw a bowling pin at him. It seems the fellow took one look at her, probably realized that she still had more ammo than he did, and left without a word.
So, I guess, depending on how you look at it, being a pinsetter can be a dangerous thing for the setter and also for the bowler.
Yet the story does give an insight into the determination that Lisa has. That same determination also has driven her over the years to build her average from 170 to 180 and then to 190. And, best of all, she has honed her skills at Fairbank, Gudac’s, and finally, from my insistence, Manor Lanes. She ended this past season with a 197 average.
But, there has always been one significant piece of the bowling puzzle missing: she had never had a 700 series. I saw her throw 697 and 694. And I know she has been extremely close on many other occasions, but, as the saying goes-no cigar.
Until now that is. I am happy to report that Lisa lit up Manor Lanes this past Tuesday night with games of 233, 222, and 248 for a 703 series. Finally, there it is. And, as they say in this sport, once you get your first 700, others will follow.
I thought about buying her a bowling pin and painting 703 on it to commemorate the occasion. But, I figured she would just throw it at me.
Congratulations, Lisa. That is great bowling.
Interesting format
The PBA and Six Flags recently announced details of the “PBA Team Shootout Hosted by Six Flags Great America”. This is the second consecutive summer the two have teamed up for a special event featuring some of the top stars of the Denny’s PBA Tour.
A total of 18 bowlers will compete in the made-for-TV team event, which will air throughout the summer on ESPN. The 18 players include the 16 champions from the 2007-08 Denny’s PBA Tour along with one additional player designated by the PBA, which would be Hall of Famer Pete Weber, and another player designated by the USBC, which is World Bowler of the Year Jason Belmonte from Australia.
I think it is interesting that the 18 bowlers will be divided into three teams with team members being selected by three captains: PBA Hall of Famers Mark Roth, Carmen Salvino and Brian Voss. The captains will draft their players during an official ceremony on Thursday, June 5, following a practice session.
Starting Friday, June 6, the three teams began competing in round robin, Baker style match play with a total of 12 matches taking place. Each team will bowl four matches against the other two teams, with each match taking place on a different PBA oil pattern: Shark, Chameleon, Scorpion, and Viper. The Cheetah pattern will be used in the championship round.
What caught my eye about this concept is that these are 5-man teams, yet each captain has six bowlers. That means one player will sit out each game for the Baker style matches. The team captains will have the chore of designating which PBA Star will sit out each match. I wouldn’t want the job.
After the 12 matches are complete, the top two teams based on their match play record will advance to the championship round on Saturday, June 7. And, in continuing with the uniqueness of the whole affair, the championship round will consist of one singles match, one doubles match, and one Baker-style match, with, once again, the captains choosing the participants.
Points will be awarded during the championship round and should the two teams just happen to tie, one player from each team-who will be determined prior to the start of the competition by the team captains- will participate in a one-ball sudden death roll-off.
The winning team will split $100,000.
Personally, I think this is an incredible concept, and we should try to do something like this in Fayette County. My suggestion would be to allow the proprietors of each of the bowling houses in the area pick 6 of their most outstanding bowlers-male or female. This would give us teams from City Lanes, Yough Lanes, Mt. Vernon, Klondike, Manor Lanes and even Tan-O-Bell and Yanak Lanes if they so choose. That could mean six houses in a home/home round robin event.
I feel certain a corporate sponsor would jump on board for such an event, and I know it would be a crowd pleaser. It would also provide a unique event for our area bowlers and their fans. What do you think?
Bowling News
Uniontown resident Gary George writes a weekly bowling column for the Herald-Standard. If you have any bowling news, contact George, a member of the Professional Bowlers Association since 1997, via email at begin probowler48@aol.com probowler48@aol.com end
or fax at 724-438-7290. Information is welcome from all area bowling establishments. Leagues that submit their scores directly to the Herald-Standard may continue to do so.