***OFFICIAL PBA Tournament of Champions THREAD***

[Necromancer]

First of all, one of my favorites is back on the roster... ROBERT SMITH! Let's see what he has done in his time off.  Hopefully we can see some great players on the telecast this Sunday (they are all great, but you know what I mean).  Also, it is the longest pattern of the year - 50 feet.  It almost looks like the US Open pattern but just 10 feet long on the backend.  I know I couldn't do well on it.


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Current Arsenal
Storm X-Factor Vertigo
Hammer Black Widow
Lane #1 Cobalt Bomb Solid
Storm Trauma ER
Storm Recharge
Ebonite Vortex Afterburner
Columbia 300 Messenger Ti
Storm Hit Blue Pearl
Ebonite 14 Fun Ball
Total Season Average: 205.642
2007 Year Average: 212.861
2007 Tournament Average: 161.500
The Vertigo is the best ball Storm ever made.  Find one if you can.
I might have the strongest drilled Black Widow in history.

[Fluff E Bunnie]

quote:wow...Healey Jr. comes out with two straight opens against Barnes in game five...not looking too good for him at the moment.

No...  I was really hoping he could win but I figured Barnes would do the math.
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Thunderstruck $olid

[fins4ever88]

Looks like Richie Allen found his line. Threw a couple of sub-200 games and then threw 2 big games (WRW beat one of them).

I wish Duke and Monacelli faced off on TV.

My vote is for Duke to win this thing!
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---Ryan

[JoCo]

Duke wins 4-2. Go Norm.

[Borincano]

My picks for the final four are and champion:

Robert Smith      
Tony Reyes
               Robert Smith

Mike Wolfe
Parker Bohn                         WINNER and CHAMPION = ROBERT SMITH
               Mike Wolfe

Robert Smith is finally healthy and his game is back.

[Matt Fortney]

my guess on the top four:
Duke
Reyes (yes over WRW)
Barnes
Jones

and the winner will be..........NORM DUKE!! JMO

Matt

[ShermDawg]

Great Show = Robert vs. Tony
and          Barnes vs. Jones


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Mason Sherman
Hammer Amateur Staff
Turbo 2-In-1 Grips Staff
"Nothing Hits Like A Hammer."

[Necromancer]

This show has the potential to be legendary:

Smith vs. WRW (new school vs. old school)
Barnes vs. Jones (straight vs. power)

Let's hope this comes true!
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Current Arsenal
Storm X-Factor Vertigo
Hammer Black Widow
Lane #1 Cobalt Bomb Solid
Storm Trauma ER
Storm Recharge
Ebonite Vortex Afterburner
Columbia 300 Messenger Ti
Storm Hit Blue Pearl
Ebonite 14 Fun Ball
Total Season Average: 206.774
2007 Year Average: 214.744
2007 Tournament Average: 161.500
Black Widow Average: 248.571
The Vertigo is the best ball Storm ever made.  Find one if you can.
I might have the strongest drilled Black Widow in history.

[ShermDawg]

PBA.com just posted the story about the round of 8... and only mentioned Walter Ray and Barnes and how Barnes is searching to go back to back... how bout mentioning how Tony Reyes might be making back to back Major Shows... or how Robert Smith just back from injury is in the hunt for the show or how Duke is looking for his 4th title and Player of the Year... i think they should have written a bit more in the article and discussed more of the top 8... because focusing on 2 of 8 doesn't seem fair in my eyes, when there is plenty more good stuff to write about as well....

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Mason Sherman
Hammer Amateur Staff
Turbo 2-In-1 Grips Staff
"Nothing Hits Like A Hammer."

[shelley]

quote:Barnes vs. Jones (straight vs. power)

I wouldn't call Barnes a straight, non-power player by any stretch.  Ricky Revs, maybe, but Revs lost in seven games.

SH

[DON DRAPER]

i too am not crazy about the format of this tournament. a better format would be the "old" tournament of champions format----24 games of qualifying and then 24 games of matchplay. players would play each opponent in matchplay.

one positive note from this tournament: walter ray williams, jr., crushed pete weber by an average of 67 pins per game in winning 4 games to 1.

[shelley]

quote:i too am not crazy about the format of this tournament. a better format would be the "old" tournament of champions format----24 games of qualifying and then 24 games of matchplay. players would play each opponent in matchplay.

That'd be difficult to pull off with only 32 bowlers.  24 games to cut eight guys?  You could argue that the ToC roster could be expanded further back in time, but that gives people who don't necessarily compete full time (or, like Goebel last year, really at all) the opportunity to come from out of nowhere to win and be exempt.  If that's not a crapshoot, I don't know what is.

Of course, those guys would most likely finish lower in the standings than the current exempt field and it wouldn't matter anyway.  It would, however, cost a lot more to have a larger field.

If you gotta have RR match play, just do 32 games for the current 32-man field.  No one goes home early, no one is eliminated by a guy who hasn't been on tour for four years, and you get that "cream rises to the top" thing that everyone loves about RR.

SH

[mainzer]

go Robert Smith!!!!!
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Mainzerpower

[boondoggle]

I have to agree with the idea that RR allows more of the better players to get to later rounds, but I think best of 7 matches are long enough to keep most freakish upsets from happening.  

Looking at the final 8, I don't see a single player I wouldn't enjoy seeing on TV.

[c-hop]

Round of 8

Robert Smith Vs Norm Duke (SICK MATCH)
Tony Reyes Vs Walter Ray
Chris Barnes Vs Mike Wolfe
PB3 Vs Tommy Jones ( LETS GO TOMMY)

MY DREAM SHOW
Robert Smith ( He is awsome really pullin for him)
Tony Reyes
Mike Wolfe ( I Hate Chris Barnes)
Tommy Jones ( I need to see a TJ Vs Robert Smith MATCH!!!!)

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Chris

[ShermDawg]

TJ vs. Robert Smith final would be show of the year in my opinion
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Mason Sherman
Hammer Amateur Staff
Turbo 2-In-1 Grips Staff
"Nothing Hits Like A Hammer."