North American Bowling News
Tidbits
BOHN, AULBY PARTICIPATE IN JEFF GORDON CHARITY EVENT
PBA Hall of Famers Parker Bohn III and Mike Aulby were participants in the annual Jeff Gordon celebrity bowling fund-raiser at Western Bowl in Indianapolis on July 22 as part of NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 week. The annual event, which raised more than $300,000, benefits the Jeff Gordon Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Gordon, Sam Hornish Jr. and Sarah Fisher were among the race car drivers who attended.
WALTER RAY MEETS HIS MATCH IN ILLINOIS HORSESHOE COMPETITION
Walter Ray Williams Jr. predicted it would happen, and it did: he finished second in the Danville (Ill.) Open Horseshoe Tournament on July 11 to 15-time World Horseshoe Pitching Champion Alan Francis of Defiance, Ohio. Williams was seeded second in the event and finished his competition with an 8-3 match record. Francis was 11-0, winning his matches by a 41-5 average score.
“He’s way better than anyone else,” Williams, a six-time world horseshoe champion himself, said.
PBA HALL OF FAMER DEL BALLARD JR. SUCCESSFULLY BATTLING TONSIL CANCER
Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Del Ballard Jr. of Keller, Texas, is undergoing treatment for tonsil cancer with expectations of a full and complete recovery.
Ballard, a 12-time PBA Tour champion and winner of four major titles, is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments at Texas Oncology, an affiliate of Baylor University. According to Ballard’s wife, PBA Women’s Series champion and USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, the rare form of cancer affected only the soft tissue at the back of his throat, but not his throat itself. “A big, big difference,” she said.
The 47-year-old Ballard was diagnosed after returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia in May with a sore throat that wouldn’t go away. When antibiotic treatments failed, a biopsy revealed the cancer.
“It’s a non-aggressive form of cancer and it was contained,” Carolyn said. “Del only has two chemotherapy and 10 radiation treatments left, and the cancer has almost completely dissipated. If it isn’t completely gone by the time his treatments are finished, the doctors will do a non-invasive surgery to remove whatever remains. So the prognosis is very good and his doctors are thrilled with the way his body has accepted his treatments.”
ANOTHER BOHN IN CONTENTION?
Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., finished third in the PBA East Region’s Howell (N.J.) Lanes Open – won by Brian LeClair – on Sunday, June 20, but it was another player named “Andrew Bohn” who attracted special attention.
The answer is, yes, the Bohns are related. Andrew, a 19-year-old right-hander, is the son of Parker’s uncle, Eddie Bohn of Freehold, N.J. Andrew, bowling as a guest, finished 38th and cashed for $400.
“Andrew is the youngest of my uncle’s three sons,” Parker said. “Most of my family grew up around auto racing in the Charlotte, N.C., area where my uncle and his two oldest sons worked for Evenham Motor Sports. Andrew loves racing as well as bowling, but it looks like bowling may be taking the lead.
“He really needs to bowl more events and gain confidence,” Parker said of his cousin. “He has been bowling for a number of years, but this is his first real year bowling as an adult. He’s a great young man with an even temperament on the lanes.”