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Bowling News USA - October 12, 2009 Randy and Rob Ready to Roll...

The veteran announce team of play-by-play commentator Rob Stone and color analyst Randy Pedersen will provide fans with increased insight into coverage of Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour events this season, thanks to some enhanced features developed by the PBA and ESPN.

The Tour telecast season begins on ESPN Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. ET with the final matches of the PBA Senior World Championship, PBA Women’s World Championship and the PBA Trick Shot Invitational featuring Hall of Famers Parker Bohn III, Norm Duke and Brian Voss plus additional Tour stars, Chris Barnes, Sean Rash and two-handed specialist Osku Palermaa.

The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour telecasts begin Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. ET with the finals of the Motor City Open.

Stone and Pedersen will have the ability to talk with players during competition using earpiece/microphone technology that was introduced for the first time during last summer’s GEICO PBA Team Shootout hosted by Six Flags. Viewers will hear directly from the bowlers about their equipment choices, strategies and adjustments they will employ during the matches.

“For the first time ever the viewing audience will be able to get inside the minds of the greatest players on the planet,” said Pedersen, a 13-time Tour titlist and ranked 35th on the list of greatest players in PBA history. “You will hear the player’s unique insights, strategies, adjustments, and much more. Add that to the CATS information and you have the perfect mix for new fans as well as the hardcore bowling fanatics.”

Pedersen is a member of the Storm staff of Champions.

PBA and ESPN will use the Computer-Aided Tracking System (CATS) for all World Series of Bowling telecasts this season. The CATS technology measures ball speed, trajectory and the number of ball revolutions.

Another innovation will be coverage of the Cheetah Championship in reality-style which will give bowling fans a behind-the-scenes look of an entire PBA Tour event. The Cheetah Championship will be aired on ESPN Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. ET.

Each World Series of Bowling show will also feature Pedersen’s “Quick Tip” segment and Stone will host special World Series of Bowling features from Detroit’s historic Thunderbowl Lanes arena.

During his career, Stone has also worked World Cup Soccer and college football, including numerous bowl games.

“I’ve been fortunate to work a lot of great sports events and I can tell you that working with Randy as part of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour telecasts is as rewarding as anything I’ve done,” Stone said. “It seems like the PBA and ESPN are always bringing something new to Tour telecasts which makes it especially enjoyable to call the action for what is one of the nation’s most popular sports.”

The preliminary rounds of several Tour and PBA Women’s Series presented by BOWL.COM events were conducted at Thunderbowl Lanes in August with the final rounds taped for airing on ESPN this fall. Following each of the Tour telecasts, the tournament champions will appear in a “post-event” interview show that will air exclusively on pba.com’s Xtra Frame.

The Tour picks up its traditional live schedule beginning Jan. 4-10 with the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles at Lava Lanes in Medford, Ore.

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