<div id="subtitle">Bowling tourney draws average Joes with interesting stories</div><div><p> According to the official United States Bowling Congress Open Championships news release that went out Tuesday, “There is no news from the tournament site today.”</p><p>This is another reason why bowling is a great sport. When there’s no news, they don’t pretend there is. If only the publicists at the Strip hotels were like that.</p><p>On Wednesday, there might be news. Retired ballplayers John Burkett (12 perfect games — in bowling, not baseball) and Jeff Russell were out at Cashman Center, rolling strikes and spares in the 106th installment of the world’s biggest amateur bowling tournament.</p><p>How big? It started on Feb. 21 and won’t end until July 24.</p><p>But on Day 60 of 154, nobody was reunited with his birth mother more than 50 years after being adopted and met the four siblings he never knew he had, which is what happened to Lynn Rowland of Springfield, Ohio, on Day 50.</p><p>Nobody was marking his 60th year of rolling strikes and spares at the Open, which is what happened on Day 57 when Anthony Malone of Erie, Pa., became the 12th bowler to reach that milestone.</p><p>Nobody got married, which is what happened to Blair and Daniel Hamilton of La Grange, N.C., on Day 13 (uh-oh).</p><p>Nobody rolled a 300 game, which is what Vincent Yoder of Wooster, Ohio, did on Day 41.</p><p>Or even a 299, which is what James Craft of Indianapolis did on Day 55.</p><p>Nobody who has driven 300 or 299 mph in a race car rolled strikes and spares, which is what 15 NHRA drag racers and crew members did on Day 41.</p><p>It was just one of those days.</p><p>Not even anybody who resembles somebody rolled strikes and spares, which is what happened on Day 8. (Or was it 9?)</p><p>“We got a phone call that Richard Petty was coming,” said Matt Cannizzaro, the USBC publicity guy, who spends more time in bowling alleys than Walter Ray Williams and Ralph Kramden combined. “It wasn’t Richard Petty. It was just a guy wearing a Richard Petty Driving Experience shirt.”</p><p>On Day 60 of the USBC tournament, I didn’t see anybody who resembled Richard Petty or even Ralph Kramden. But I did see a bald guy wearing a bowling shirt that said “Rollie’s Barber Shop” on the back.</p><p>Ron Kantowski can be reached at 259-4088 or at ron@lasvegassun.com.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=48865066&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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