Michael Cousins Bowling Blog
My Top 3 Favorite PBA Shows To Watch
Some of my Favorite PBA Telecasts To Watch Growing Up
As a kid — like I’m sure most of you — I watched PBA telecasts religiously. I watched them live every Sunday. I taped them. And then I watched them back roughly 10-15 times a week leading up to the next live show.
I knew these shows like the back of my hand, I could call out every shot before it was thrown, I knew every single result, but, nevertheless, I watched with interest.
And it wasn’t necessarily that I had nothing else to do; I wasn’t bored. I was just that interested.
And to this day, many of these shows have left a lasting impression on me. And, still to this day, I can remember shows like I was just watching them yesterday — though it has been many, many years, in actuality.
For this article, I’m just going to talk about the primary three that stand out to me the most. And then I want to hear which three you remember the most.
These shows weren’t necessarily all iconic, memorable shows, so to speak. More or less, they’re just the ones I seemed to have watched the most over the years — for some reason or another.
So, without further wait, lets begin!
2005 PBA World Championship
It was Chris Loschetter’s first show. Watching someone I grew up watching and idolizing — I grew up bowling his parent’s youth events — make it to the grandest stage in bowling was surreal. It was the first time I seen someone I personally knew have success on tour, and it was one of my favorite adolescent memories.
2004 PBA Medford Open
As a kid, one of my favorite bowlers to watch — especially early on — was Lonnie Waliczek. He was a technician on the lane. I admired his methodical approach and his versatility. So that is why it is probably so memorable to me, honestly. But it wasn’t just the bowler on the show that was memorable. In this case, the circumstances were, as well. The week previous, Lonnie had fell apart late in the game to lose the title. Then, the following week, at the PBA Medford Open, Lonnie made the show again, and had the title in hand, needing just 9 pins on his first ball in the tenth to win. And he washed out, handing Pete Weber the title sitting on the bench.
2010 Tournament of Champions
This tournament should be on anyone’s list that seen it, honestly. One of the most memorable moments of my lifetime — no doubt. Growing up, there was no bowler I admired or appreciated more than Chris Barnes. He was the ultimate bowler, in many cases, and I always rooted for him heavily. So when he made the show, obviously I was rooting for him, but that all changed in the title match. Up to this point, I can’t remember ever rooting for anyone over Barnes. That was until Kelly Kulick made the finals. In her first match, Kulick took out Mika, setting up a final vs Barnes. A final that would go down in history — Kulick became the first woman to ever win a PBA Tour title, by winning the Tournament of Champions.
Do you remember any of these telecasts? What are your strongest memories of the PBA Tour? What shows do you remember most vividly? Let us know below!
