I know I haven't been updating as much as I should have. I think Draw Something took over my life for a while. But, I'm back! What a week in Vegas we had! Sean bowled incredibly well all week. He led the Elite Qualifying Round after 20 games, averaging 242.25. Unfortunately, those pins didn't carry over since a new field of players that had earned a title in the 2011-2012 season began bowling in the Round of 36. Advancing into the Round of 36, and after 18 games, Sean qualified in the 5th position into Round Robin Match Play. The top 18 players bowled another 18 games of match play to determine the 4 television finalists. Sean's match play record consisted of 12 wins, 4 losses, and 2 ties. In the position round, Sean struck out in the 10th to tie Belmonte at 222 a piece and claim the #1 seed. He worked extremely hard to get to that championship match, and I am so very proud of him! From the start of the tournament to the day of the show, numerous people told me that they believed it was Sean's tournament to win... Well they were right!!! Ryan Ciminelli came off a great game into the Championship Match, and looked like he would be hard to beat, but an early missed spare by Ciminelli gave Sean the motivation to take advantage of his mistake. I was a nervous wreck sitting there watching because I knew how badly he wanted to win this event and close out the season on a high note. I just hoped that he would continue doing what he did all week through qualifying and match play and that was focus on his tempo. When he threw the first shot in the tenth a feeling of relief, excitement, and happiness all rolled into one brought on the tears of joy as you all saw on the telecast. He did it!!! He bowled a great game with the exception of the shot in the 9th frame, leaving the 3-6-9-10, but he trusted in himself and made the spare.
The voting has started for Player of the Year and most everyone knows that there are really 3 front-runners for the award, and you may say that I'm biased, but I believe Sean is the most deserving of the award. He led the Tour in points, average, and earnings. He dominated the WSOB, although titles eluded him, he worked hard at his game through the rest of the season and came away with one of the most prestigious titles, the Tournament of Champions. His season was a journey, almost every week fans tuned in to watch him, whether they knew the results or not because his story this season was very compelling. Excitement for a record breaking 5 consecutive TV shows at the WSOB, disappointment in not coming home with a title, inspiration from two young men (Dan McCarty and Benjamin Doyle), and finally a victory at the end (and a major to boot). Sean won twice in the 2006-07 season, but considers this season his most successful in his career even though he only won 1 title. It's not about the number of titles won in a single season that defines POY, it's about the overall success a player has throughout the entire season. A player doesn't lead 3 statistical categories without having an incredible season.
The top 3 vote-getters in the race for POY will be announced May 16th and the winner will be announced on May 28, live on Xtra Frame, during the PBA Summer Shootout at 10 Pin Lounge in Chicago. Let's hope for the best!
And I would like to thank Jeff Richgels for his support in writing this article Why I'm Voting for Sean Rash for PBA Player of the Year.
Brunswick also released this Sean Rash Makes A Strong Case For POY
