This week I would like to discuss the Carmen Salvino Classic.  The top four seeds this week in the eliminator format were Wes Malott, Ronnie Russell, Andres Gomez, and Jason Belmonte.  The Carmen Salvino Classic is one of the many tournaments involved in the World Series of Bowling(WSOB).  The Tournament was named after the late and great Carmen Salvino who accumulated 17 PBA titles and 1 major in his career.

I have criticized the eliminator format in the past because usually the best bowler of the tournament doesn’t actually win.  In this case they proved me wrong.  In the first match of the eliminator format Ronnie Russell was eliminated with a quality score of 215.  Jason Belmonte was eliminated in match two of the eliminator with a 162.  The final match came down to Wes Malott who went 250, 227 against Andres Gomez who went 253,189.  Gomez spared the first frame and then ran off 6 strikes in a row, while Malott threw continuous pocket shots, but didn’t seem to carry as well having 9,spare  4 out of his first 6 frames.  The hole was too big for Malott to come back and Gomez won his 1st PBA title 246 to 207.  Gomez actually bowled a better series than Malott for the 3 games winning the tournament 688 to 684 proving me wrong for the first time that the best bowler actually won in the eliminator format.

If there’s one thing we can take away from this week’s telecast it’s that if you keep working hard good things are going to happen.  Two of the four finalists had not won a PBA tour title yet(Gomez, Russell).  Andres Gomez has been on and off the tour for the past 7 years , and Ronnie Russell has been on the tour for 9 years.  Also with guys like PDW, and Duke still performing at a high level it’s never too late to make a run at a career in the PBA.  I strongly encourage you if you’re reading this to keep working hard and good things will happen to you.  Also remember that you don’t have to be at the lanes to keep working hard.  Talk to coaches about things you think you need to work on. Study the best bowlers in the world, and with hard work and determination, you too can win a local, state, regional, or even PBA title.

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Until next time, Shred that Rack!

Sincerely,

The Messenger