Not sure how true, but I read on another site that Kelly said Ebonite didnt even offer her a new contract....that's crazy if it's true. And if it's true I dont blame her one bit for jumping ship.
Add to that I hear that Tommy Jones is jumping to Hammer, so looks like Ebonite will have no one on exclusive staff for that brand....
I believe it was mentioned by the BowlTV guys when they were doing her Team event at the USBC Open that Stef Nation had recently signed exclusively to Ebonite.
With a lot of bowlers heading over to Storm, all of the other PBA-signed ball companies need all of the help they can get, so it would seem awkward to me if they would offer a contract to one and not another. So with that, I'm trying to think of who is where:
Ebonite: Monacelli, Nation, Wodka, Blanchard?
Hammer: O'Neill, Jones, Pluhowsky.
Columbia: Barnes, Barnes, MacPherson
Track: Mika, MacLelland, Buss
Anyone I miss?
Congratulations to Kelly, a step up for sure, not only equipment but with that all important staff support, Del and company.
Plus she'll help Storm sell equipment to the female side of the sport.
Any more than Liz, Leanne, Carolyn, Diandra, Tammy, Lindsay, Jodi, or Tish? Granted, star power is star power, but they have a lot of ladies on staff there that people recognize by one name.
EDIT: Forgot some. Terrell-Kearney is still with Ebonite, and I believe McCune is still with Hammer.
What I think may be happening is that Ebonite may assume more of an International brand, leaving its other brands to have influence in the US. That, or they expanded too much when they first bought Hammer, then Columbia, then Track, while the others stayed where they were at and fortified.
I don't know.. What I do know is that this will be a very different landscape come this fall season.
BL.
