I am honored that the good folks in Arlington have asked me to contribute a weekly blog to the exciting new Bowl TV offerings. If we can bring a few of the back stories and add a little history to the mix, then we might help make it a bit more interesting. We will do our best.
We will be looking at some live events and some from the archives that may add flavor to the incredible videos and amazing talent that we saw yesterday and we continue to see today.
This week's release from THE VAULT features one of the greatest bowlers we have ever seen . . . Lynda Barnes. She was Lynda Norry when she won the 1998 WIBC/USBC Queens.
Lynda is one of the few players in the world who owns a Hall of Fame career mostly built on the amateur side of the sport, which is why she deserves to be in both the USBC and World Bowling Writers Halls of Fame. Barnes also won the 1999 PWBA Track Doubles with her good friend, Kim Kearney.
The Queens in '98 also stood out because it was the first one staged under the new 'PWBA' logo. From 1981-1997, the women's tour was known as the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour (LPBT). In '97, a historic new sponsorship deal was made with Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas and the tour was re-branded as the Professional Women's Bowling Association.
In the title match against top seed Norry, Texan Karen Stroud finds a glimmer of a shot and wins the first game . . . but hold the phone - this was the old-style double-elimination format which required two losses to be eliminated.
Prior to the final game, Norry gets some priceless advice from her bowling ball rep and switches to her bright green Storm Bolt. That rep was Pat Duggan, husband of Anne Marie. You will see both sitting behind the lanes on the show. That good decision did the trick.
"Pat and Anne Marie were great," said Lynda. "I loved that ball, and he knew it would work that day if I threw good shots. I still have that ball in my garage today. Unlike Chris, I only keep the special ones."
Norry was elated with the win, and the $20,000 prize also came in very handy to pay some of the expenses of her move that year from California to Wichita, Kansas. The following year, she married her fianc‚, Chris, and the Barnes bowling duo was born. From there, they started a new life in Texas, and her life really got even more interesting with the arrival of twins Troy and Ryan in 2002.
Lynda's first love is and has always been team bowling, and she cherished every day of her 12 seasons on Team USA. "When you win on tour, you are the only one who is happy that week. I was never very good at that," she said. "For me, it was nice, but it was also a lonely feeling. I guess that is why I loved the doubles and team events so much more."
In 2008, Lynda won the Queens for a second time, and scored a win in the USBC Clash . . . $80,000 in two weeks!
"Now that was really a lot of fun," she recalled.
Jim
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