This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Up Front


RILED UP: The legendarily lively patrons of Bayside Bowl do not need any help getting riled up, and Koivuniemi’s incredible split conversion nearly sent the audi- ence into the stratosphere.


EVERYTHING BOWLING, ALL THE TIME


TOUCH FOR


VIDEO


MAJOR MIKA’S MAJOR PICK-UP


MIKA KOIVUNIEMI PROVING JUST AS LEGENDARY A SPARE- CONVERSION ARTIST AS HE IS A WINNER OF MAJOR TITLES.


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// The riotous crowd that made the


Professional Bowlers Association’s recent PBA League Elias Cup playoffs shows on ESPN some of the most engaging telecasts in recent PBA memory did not need any prodding. Bayside


TOUCH FOR


VIDEO


Bowl’s proprietor, Charlie Mitchell, runs the place like Mardi Gras under a roof. Their legendary Bowl Portland scratch league culminates each year in a “Bowling Ball” — a cham- pionship and costume bash that this year had a theme of


MOMENT OF TRUTH: Mika Koivuniemi is no stranger to spectacular split conversions in big moments. Needing to slip past Mike Machuga to nudge his way onto the 2013 USBC Masters TV finals, Koivuniemi faced the ultimate nemesis in bowling — the 7-10 split. What happened next helped him make the telecast at Machuga’s expense by just 12 pins.


“space” and featured bowlers costumed as aliens and astronauts. They take their bowling as seriously as they take their partying. As the writhing crowd showered ev-


ery shot on those TV shows in the wild- est enthusiasm they could muster, they nearly rivaled the bowlers themselves for attention. Mika Koivuniemi’s 2-8-10 split in the first match between his 2015 Elias Cup-champion Bass Pro Shops Sil- ver Lake Atom Splitters and the High 5 Gear Philadelphia Hitmen seemed for a moment like it might defuse that elec- trifying energy. Then he did the kind


of thing a 14-time PBA titlist does: He converted the spare. And he, and the crowd, went absolutely bonkers. It was the stuff “must-see TV” is made of. How tough is it to try converting the 2-8-10? PBA color commentator, Randy Pedersen, said, “It’s like trying to read a Russian newspaper upside-down.” The Hall of Famer also said he himself had converted the spare only once in his life. As for Koivuniemi, the unflinching Finn told the PBA afterwards, “I make the 2-8-10 a few times a year.” And that, friends, is why they call him


“Major Mika.”


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////// June 2015 6


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36