Earl Anthony Memorial Classic PBA Tournament

It had been over ten years since the PBA held an event in Northern California. January 2010 was going to put Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl back on the map. The concourse was buzzing with conversation from the fans sitting in the bleachers to watch the women's final qualifying round on Thursday, January 14. Courtesy of Ted Hoffman, owner, I was in the stands to enjoy the competition.

From my vantage point in the front row, all the great women bowlers would dance before me as they moved from pair to pair in this their final chance to qualify for the ESPN show on Sunday, January 17. First to appear was Liz Johnson, who was doing the best she could on the difficult "Earl Anthony" lane pattern which was special for this tournament. As Randy Pederson would describe it later and obvious from the low scores, the pattern is one of the most challenging.

As it turned out, California born Lynda Barnes would end up the top qualifier and in second spot was Stefanie Nation. Barnes and Nation would battle it out on Sunday. The headline could read "Barnes strikes gold in California". While she bowled well to qualify, she would not strike gold as the lane condition would reward Nation instead.

The show on Sunday was sold out - even the rain would not stop bowlers in northern California from seeing a good show. The live audience watched as Anthony LaCaze prevailed over first Mike Wolfe, then Mike Machuga (who had beaten Sean Rash in the opening match). It was great fun and good to hear that the PBA would be back in 2011.

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