POCKET 7-10 BUG BITES CHRIS BARNES IN DICK WEBER PBA PLAYOFFS FINALS
April 20, 2011
Indianapolis – Columbia 300 star Chris Barnes fought back a tear that was creeping into the corner of his eye after his painful loss to Ebonite’s Dick Allen in the title match of the inaugural Dick Weber PBA Playoffs at Woodland Bowl on Sunday, April 17.
It wasn’t because he left a “big four” split in the first game of the “best-of-two-game” title match, or because he back-to-back pocket 7-10 splits turned the second game around. It wasn’t because Allen walked away with the $50,000 first prize - $25,000 more than Barnes earned – or because Allen denied him his 14th career title.
No, Barnes was brought to his emotional edge because a six-year-old from Milwaukee, Wis., realized Barnes had lost and sat sobbing on his mother’s lap in the bleacher section.
“I’ve lost before,” Barnes choked out, “but seeing David (Richards Jr.) crying – and my son Ryan sitting in front of him, also crying – man, that was tough.”
The story-behind-the-story was about a six-year-old from Milwaukee who loves bowling, and loves Chris Barnes. And he has suffers from Acute Lymphatic Leukemia and Brachioplexus, a condition that has left David’s right arm shriveled. He was in the audience because the Make A Wish Foundation flew him, his mother and younger twin brothers to Indianapolis is to meet his idol.
Barnes brought his own nine-year-old son, Ryan (the twin who has Juvenile Diabetes), to Indy to meet David, and to share in a special two-hour bowling experience on Saturday that helped make David’s dream come true. During that session, Barnes promised David he’d let him help accept the PBA Playoffs trophy if he won. More about this part later…
On Sunday, it looked like Barnes was going to be unstoppable. He charged out of the gate with six strikes and coasted to a 245 opening game against Allen and Randy Weiss to easily advance to the championship game. Allen threw a key double late in his game, and took advantage of a missed “washout” by Weiss to win the second spot in the championship round, 209-200.
In the “best-of-two-game” finale, Barnes started with six strikes in his first seven frames to jump into an early lead. Only a missed 4-8 spare conversion in the fifth frame kept Allen within hailing distance. But then Barnes left a Big Four split in the seventh.
“I liked that shot,” Barnes said. “That’s why I went back and talked to (Ebonite International ball rep) Del (Ballard) about it. I was using a World Beater that was drilled to roll smooth and not over-react. Based on my previous shot on the right lane, I moved another half board left, but I knew when the ball was 30 feet down lane that the shot was in trouble. The ball just jumped. Off my hand and target and speed and amount of hand, that’s the shot I was trying to make.”
The 4-6-7-10 allowed Allen to get back into the game, and he seized the opportunity, closing with five strikes to defeat Barnes, 237-218.
But Barnes righted the ship heading into the second game, where a win would have forced a one-ball sudden-death roll-off to decide the inaugural PBA Playoffs title. Allen left a pair of splits early in game two, helping Barnes to a 25-pin advantage after five frames. But it wasn’t a comfortable advantage.
“I started with two World Beaters, but I wound up throwing the same ball on both lanes,” Barnes said. “I was slower and rolling the ball on the right lane, and firmer and tilting it on the left. It was kind of like throwing spare balls with your strike ball. There wasn’t much similarity in the way I was playing the two lanes, and that was my advantage for awhile. But eventually the lanes transitioned a little closer to what Ritchie likes and farther away for me.
“I started with the stronger one on the left lane, but as the front end broke down, the ball didn’t hook as well.”
“There had been a few pocket 7-10s on the left lane earlier in the tournament,” Barnes noted. “It’s just tighter down lane than the right lane. It hooks more overall, but it’s tighter down lane which means the ball tends to arrive DOA on a fairly regular basis. I kinda figured it out and was using different hand positions and things to get the ball through the pins, but after I left the Big Four, I went to the stronger ball because I was having trouble carrying.”
Despite taking all of the necessary precautions, Barnes left a 7-10 on the left lane on a light pocket hit. But on his next shot on the right lane, he left another one – and the second one proved fatal.
“Consecutive 7-10s pretty much took the wind out of my sails,” he said. “The first one wasn’t a huge surprise. But the second one was a stunner. I thought I threw the ball well.
“If you bowl long enough, there will be a lot of bad breaks over time, but no doubt that was a bad spot for it to happen.”
From that point, Allen took the match out of Barnes’ hands, put together another string of five strikes for a 221-193 victory and his third career title. He also denied Barnes, the 2011 PBA World Champion, the chance to become the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s only two-time winner during the 2010-11 season, making the current campaign the only season in PBA history without a multi-title winner. And that includes the PBA’s first season in 1959 when there were only three events – two won by Dick Weber.
When the PBA Playoffs title was settled and Dick Allen celebrated his victory with his first-born daughter Piper, his wife Sarah and his new legion of fans, Barnes had David Richard Jr.’s mother bring her sobbing son to the back corner of the settee area, where Barnes consoled him.
And in the happiest ending of all, Allen invited Barnes and David to join him for a trophy presentation photo. It was a special ending to a special event, all brought into focus by a six-year-old.
PHOTO:PBA LLC
— Columbia 300 Bowling Balls & Bowling Equipment - Based in Hopkinsville, Ky., Columbia 300 is a long-time power brand servicing the bowling world with quality and professional products. Its parent company, Ebonite International, Inc., is a privately-owned company that services bowling centers, distributors and retail outlets both domestically and internationally. The company’s other consumer product brands include Ebonite,Hammer,Track, Robby’s, and Powerhouse™; its commercial product brand is Ebonite Bowling Center Direct.
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