ZIKES, ROMEO TO BE HONORED AT BWAA JUNE CONVENTION

Lyle Zikes and Joan Romeo will be honored June 24 at the Columbia/BPAA writers’ dinner in Orlando, Fla. Zikes earned a place in the Bowling Writers Association of America Hall of Fame while Romeo received her accolades as the winner of the prestigious BWAA Meritorious Service Award.

Zikes sometimes gets confused with his Hall of Fame father because of their first names--Les and Lyle--and the fact they are both longtime members of the Professional Bowlers Association. Now there is another reason to get confused--Lyle will be inducted into the Bowling Writers Association of America's Hall of Fame during ceremonies June 24 in Orlando.

That will make Les and Lyle the second father-son USBC/BWAA Hall of Fame combination, the first as a bowler (Les) and second (Lyle) as a writer.

It's a cliche to say that someone is a jack-of-all-trades, but Lyle certainly is a jack-of-all-journalist trades. Two years before graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1978, Lyle had his first byline story printed in the Bowlers Journal. In 1979, he was named press director for the PBA. He toured with the pros writing stories about their accomplishments and sometimes on off days practicing with them.

His journalistic career took a different turn in 1982 when he returned to Akron as the PBA Director of Operations from 1986-89. Lyle's vast bowling background--the Zikes own a bowling center in Palatine, Ill.--made him a natural for writing prize-winning technical and human interest articles for all of the nation's bowling magazines over the past 25 years. One of the first was a major story on the technical developments in the manufacturing bowling balls for Bowling Magazine. He also was the bowling correspondent for the Chicago Daily Herald, the third largest daily newspaper in Illinois with most of its circulation in Chicago's North and West suburbs.

Romeo of Van Nuys, Calif. will receive the award, which is presented to an individual or organization for outstanding long-term accomplishments in and for the sport of bowling.

Romeo, who has marketed and promoted bowling for more than 30 years, has been instrumental in publicizing pro-ams and working with and promoting numerous amateur and professional bowling organizations, including Team USA; the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ); the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour; the Classic Tour, a professional women's group in California, and the California Bowling Writers, for which she currently serves as a southern director.

She has been involved with many bowling fund-raisers, including ones for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and for victims of the Los Angeles fires. She also has received the BWAA President's Award for her endeavors in raising money for its scholarship program and Hall of Fame.

(03-22-2008)

BWAA CONVENTION, EXPO PACKAGE MAILED

BWAA members, make sure you fill out the convention form to attend the 2008 annual convention and Bowl Expo activities. The Expo packet was mailed to you recently.

BPAA has provided a free registration for BWAA members. If you wish to attend the Salute to Champions or the final night party, there is an additional cost. And if you wish to have your spouse take part in the Expo activities, there is an $89 fee is you pay soon.

You are required to pay the $25 BWAA convention registration fee, and that must be sent to BWAA, 8501 N. Manor Lane, Fox Point, Wis. 53217. Expo fees are to be mailed to BPAA, attention Cary Richmond at PO Box 5802, Arlington, Texas 76005..

This is a great opportunity to meet and greet fellow BWAA members and also enjoy the great opportunities afforded you by BPAA at the Expo. Make sure you reserve your hotel room soon while rooms are available.

(03-22-2008)

Oldest Center Re-discovered in New Jersey

The dramatic revival of the nation’s oldest known operational bowling center has been jointly announced by the Brunswick Foundation and Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J.

BWAA life member Chuck Pezzano helped confirm the historical importance of the bowling alley built by the Brunswick Balke-Collender Co. in 1899. It has laid dormant for many decades and its existence virtually unknown to the outside world.

Georgian Court University reached out to the Brunswick Foundation for help in restoration, which has an irreplaceable piece of bowling history that needed to be preserved.

“It’s like walking through a door back into bowling’s past of more than 100 years and finding it part of the ‘Gilded Age,’ Pezzano said. “This is a rare opportunity to link the past, present and future of bowling.”

Bowling was a sport of the social elite during the end of the 19th century. With its 108 year history, and the formation of ABC in 1895, playing rules and equipment specifications were standardized so the lanes have the same measurements as today.

Pezzano said that too often, bowling has been portrayed as a back-of-the-bar activity for men only in a smoke-filled atmosphere of drinking and gambling. “The alley at Georgian Court does much to debunk such thinking because it was used in the late 1800s and through the early 1900s by the family and guests of George Jay Gould, son of railroad tycoon and famed financier Jay Gould, and included industry leaders of the world plus leaders of society, the arts and other professions.”

The clip-clop of the hoofs of precisely trained polo ponies and the rallying calls of their goal-seeking riders are distant but treasured memories of the Casino at Georgian Court University. The hub building of one of the most lavish private sports facilities for its time still echoes through the structure. The building housed indoor polo, court tennis and similar games, a swimming pool and three Brunswick bowling lanes.

The three lanes will be almost exactly as they were when built in 1899. In addition to putting the lanes back into use and resurfacing them, other restorations include repairing the ball returns and installing new bowling pins, restoring gold-finished pendant lighting fixtures, repairing the ceiling and renewing power sources.

Posts containing chalk to dry the hands, and rings with towels were part of the original setting, along with slate scoreboards, which will be refurbished. The Georgian Court restoration also will feature pictures of the past, artifact displays and wooden bowling balls to create a feeling of a miniature bowling museum. Official dedication will take place this spring.

Georgian Court University is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and has been designated a National Historic Landmark possessing architectural, social and cultural significance.

Though the sounds of the polo ponies and other sounds of a past century may never return, the sound of bowling balls crashing against pins and the cheers of college student bowlers will fill the air around the Casino.

“Bowling has never been in such exalted company and surroundings,” the noted bowling historian Pezzano said. “And with that historic past, there is the current bubbling energy of a highly respected university whose students and community will be re-introduced to the bowling treasure in their midst.”

(02-28-2008)

ASBATY, PAGE NAMED 2007 BWAA AMATEURS OF THE YEAR

Team USA members Diandra Asbaty and Rhino Page have been selected as the 2007 Amateur Bowlers of the Year by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Asbaty, a Dyer, Ind., native residing in Chicago, was a unanimous selection while Page, a San Diego native living in Topeka, Kan., came one vote short of unanimous in the balloting of the BWAA Amateur Bowler of the Year committee. Another Team USA member, Bill Hoffman of Columbus, Ohio, earned the other male first-place vote.

Asbaty started her 2007 in January with a fourth-place finish in the USBC Team USA Trials in Reno, Nev. She earned her first major 2007 victory in May with the World Ranking Masters women's title in Lake Wales, Fla. That came just five days after finishing second in the USBC Queens in Charlotte, N.C.

In July, Asbaty collected the women's doubles gold medal at the Pan American Games in Brazil. Then in late August and early September, she earned a gold medal in Masters and silver in the team event in the World Tenpin Bowling Association Women's World Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. She capped the year in December by winning the final event in the Professional Bowlers Association Women's Series at Wyoming, Mich.

Page's year also began well with a runner-up finish at the USBC Team USA Trials. He earned gold medals in singles and doubles at the Pan American Games and gold medals in team and Masters and bronze in all-events at the WTBA Men’s American Zone Championships in late June and early July.

For his efforts, Page was named United States Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year for Bowling and Bowlers Journal International Amateur of the Year.

Hoffman and Derek Eoff, Greenfield, Wis., tied for second place in the men's Amateur of the Year voting. Shannon O'Keefe, Brookfield, Wis., was runner-up behind Asbaty for the women.

(02-27-2008)

Baker Voted BWAA Top Senior

Tom Baker of King, N.C. continued his domination of the Bowling Writers Association of America Senior Bowler of the Year for 2007. Baker earned his previous honors in 2006 and 2005. Bob Glass, Lawrence, Kansas, owns the record with five senior honors starting in 2000.

The 53-year-old, who was originally from New York State, won the USBC Senior Masters, Northern California Open and Dick Weber Open titles and finished third in the Senior Open. He finished second in PBA senior tour points and average and had five top five finishes while earning $53,150.

On the PBA regular tour, he bowled in 20 events, made the top 32 eight times with his highest finish 11th. He earned $38,400 on that tour.

Runner-up was another strong senior, David Ozio of Beaumont, Texas. He won one senior title, finished second in the Senior Open and 34th in the Masters. The 53-year-old was first in points and average on the PBA tour and earned $45,695. On the Generations Bowling Tour (Baker did not compete in those events), Ozio was first in average with one title and six top two finishes in eight events, earning $27,300.

For the second straight year there was no senior woman bowler of the year selected.

(02-19-2008)

BWAA Offers Help to All Writers

All BWAA members who wish to have stories or releases examined by a member of the organization’s Critique committee need only to send chairman Steve James a copy of the written item.

The purpose of the committee is to help new or even experienced non-professional writers improve. BWAA has many talented editors who are happy to make all our members better that their avocation. It is important to understand that in all likelihood, there will be suggestions made for improvement. Don’t be thin-skinned. The assessment is only to help you improve.

The written item either will be critiqued by the chairman or one of the committee members.

If you would like some personal assistance with your writing, contact James at 8501 N. Manor Lane, Fox Point, Wis. 53217 or e-mail to sjames2652@wi.rr.com.

(02-19-2008)

Allen, Johnson Earn Second BWAA Bowler of Year Honors

To be named Bowler of the Year is the highest and most sought-after annual award offered to the sport's top athletes. To win it twice in a three-year span is an exceptionally more remarkable accomplishment.

Duplicating their efforts of 2005, Patrick Allen and Liz Johnson have been voted the nation’s top male and female bowlers of 2007 by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Allen of Wesley Chapel, Fla. began 2007 by breaking out of a serious slump, winning the H & R Block Classic in Reno, Nev., the first week of January. Further victories in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Baltimore made the 37-year-old lefthander the most titled player on the Denny’s PBA Tour during the calendar year. In all, he qualified for the championship (TV) round in seven events, helping provide the statistical firepower Allen needed to outpoll some of the most prominent names on the pro tour.

Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y. prevailed in the 2007 USBC Women’s U.S. Open as well as the PBA’s Ladies & Legends tournament. She finished no lower than fifth during the four-event Women’s Series on the PBA Tour and rolled an 843 three-game set during match play of the Masters tournament. Johnson’s 14th place finish represented the highest finish by a woman in the history of the Masters.

Allen received 43 first place votes, 19 seconds and 16 thirds for 269 points. Walter Ray Williams Jr. was runner-up with 24 first place votes and 208 points. Others receiving votes were Sean Rash (12-134); Chris Barnes (15-114), and Pete Weber (6-60).

Johnson earned 46 first place votes along with 26 seconds and 10 thirds for 292 points. Diandra Asbaty was next with 20 firsts and 173 points. Others receiving votes were Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (17-156); Kelly Kulick (13-132), and Wendy MacPherson (3-28).

The BWAA has named the country’s top male bowler on a calendar year basis since 1941 and the leading female bowler every year beginning in 1948.

(02-01-2008)

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BWAA WRITING COMPETITION

This writing competition is designed for members who are not paid for their stories. A BWAA committee will determine the winners.

2007 BWAA WRITING COMPETITION RULES

1. Postmark deadline for entering the 2007 BWAA Writing Competition is March 1, 2008.
2. Editorial, Feature, and Event Coverage submissions must have been published or broadcast between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2007. Entries must be original clippings from the respective publication; printouts from materials published on Internet Web sites, and/or tape or CD of materials from radio or television.
3. Entry guidelines for the three BWAA categories are:
a. FEATURE--A non-fiction story concerning tenpin bowling.
b. EDITORIAL--Any opinion expressed in the media concerning a tenpin bowling related subject.
c. EVENT COVERAGE--Any article that took place within 14 days of the event.
4. Certificates will be awarded to the best three articles in each division and will be presented at the USBC convention. First place stories will be printed in BWAA's E-Letter.
5. Entries should be unmounted, clearly identified as to author as well as name and date of publication. Author's name and mailing address must be included with the entry. Entries will not be returned.
6. Entries are limited to two per author in each division.
7. Mail entries to: BWAA, 8501 N. Manor Lane, Fox Point, Wis. 53217.

(12-21-2007)
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