Super Bowl Week is perhaps the most exciting and anticipated time in all sports. The annual football extravaganza is the single-most ballyhooed sports event in America. Inasmuch as the Super Bowl Championship consists of only one game, it surpasses all other sports in TV ratings. Commercial costs on this event are astronomical, far exceeding most TV ads.
Bowling megabuck promoters have jumped on the bandwagon of football's greatest show. In addition to record-shattering football wagering at Las Vegas sports books, the world's preeminent gambling mecca has become the most active and lucrative bowling spot on the planet.
During this eventful week, diehard tournament bowlers will be presented with a bowling smorgasbord in Las Vegas, the buffet capital of the world. Hardcore tournament bowlers will have the opportunity to compete in two of the world's greatest amateur tournaments—the High Roller at Sam's Town and the Mini Eliminator at the Orleans Bowling Center.
During the past years, megabuck tournaments were restricted to amateurs and non-titled professionals. Oddly, a great majority of current PBA exempt players honed their skills in megabuck tournaments prior to casting their lots with the PBA Tour. The list includes: Patrick Allen, Ritchie Allen, Brad Angelo, D.J. Archer, Chris Barnes, Blaise Bedolla, Dino Castillo, Joe Ciccone, Tom Daugherty, Mike Devaney, Michael Fagan, Paul Fleming, Patrick Healey Jr., Brian Himmler, Jason Hurd, Chris Johnson, Tommy Jones, Rudy Kasimakis, Mika Koivuenimi, Brian Kretzer, Mike Machuga, Wes Malott, Bill O'Neill, Robert Smith, and Mike Wolfe.
Incidentally, Chris Barnes won the International Eliminator $30,000 first-place check in 1995. However, Brian Kretzer performed the almost unthinkable fete in megabuck competition, twice capturing the $100,000 first-prize check at the International Eliminator when it was held at Sam's Town.
In 1998, Sanders moved his Mini Eliminator to the newer and larger 70-lane Orleans Bowling Center. The 2006 Super Bowl Mini Eliminator, running between February 6-12, will feature a $50,000 top prize in the all new Open Division, which, for the first time, will allow all former PWBA champions and members, Senior PBA champions, and all non-exempt PBA pros, except multi-time title holders since 1995.
With numerous megabucks players opting for the PBA, plus a shrinking megabuck bowler market, Steve Sanders decided to open the event to these players who were ineligible in the past.
They will have their own division in the event, separate from amateur groups, who compete in age division, and those in the 205-and-under average group. All "professional amateurs," such as current national team members, and former megabuck champions will also be in the Open Division.
Another event offered to professionals is the MoRich Mixed Doubles National Championship. This is open to all male and female bowlers except PBA exempt players and those who have not won more than one PBA national tour title since 1995. All women are eligible, including PBA members and former PWBA members and champions. The only restriction is that two national pro champions cannot bowl together on the same team.
The Mini Eliminator has become an annual event for foreign players. Last year, more than 150 players from 13 different countries competed in the 2005 Super Bowl Mini. In 2004, Lasse Lintilla, one of a number of world-class players from Finland, won the event.
The Mini Eliminator will not lack press coverage. In addition to myself, Dick Evans, Joe Lyou, Pearl Keller, award-winning cartoonist Walt Steinsiek, Stars and Strikes editor Jim Goodwin, Tenpin Alley publisher Frenchy Latourneau, plan to attend, and Jim Wycoff, Chuck Pezzano, and Canadian Hazel McLeary are posssibilities.
Further adding international flavor to the Mini Eliminator will be the appearance of Herbert Bickel, designer of Bowlingdigital.com, Bickel's European-based company, the world's most popular bowling Web site, featured visitors from 111 countries in 2005. Today, it is recognized as a leading global Web site providing English language information and news, "live" coverage of events, live chats, extensive statistics, amateur and professional profiles, and valuable background information.
This past year, I was privileged to attend two tournaments Mr. Bickel was covering, the World Ranking Masters at the Kegel facility in Lake Wales, Fla., and the Columbia 300 Vienna Open in Austria. I can unequivocally state that Herbert Bickel is the most dedicated, most diligent, and most thorough media person I have ever seen at any bowling tournament.
Herbert Bickel's appearance will surely enhance and add spice to the Mini Eliminator.