Every Sunday throughout the season, nearly 1 million fans tune into ESPN for Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour coverage.
The series features stars like the ones showcased in the video above: Chris Barnes, Sean Rash, Wes Malott, Pete Weber, Andres Gomez, Jason Belmonte, Josh Blanchard, Stuart Williams, Ryan Shafer and Norm Duke.
Hall of Famer and 35-time tour titlist Weber is the bowler in the green shirt whose exuberance helps make the sport a great watch.
This Sunday at 1 p.m., ESPN will televise the 52nd PBA World Championship Finals.
Divisional winners and World Championship contenders Belmonte, Rash, Shafer and Osku Palermaa will vie for the Tour title. The event was recorded in November at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. The commentator team will be play-by-play announcer Rob Stone and analyst Randy Pedersen.
However, Gary Thorne will replace Stone as ESPN’s play-by-play voice for three Live PBA Tour telecasts this season.
Thorne is known to many ESPN fans currently as a play-by-play announcer for its Major League Baseball and college football coverage. Thorne also was heralded for his work on ESPN’s NHL telecasts.
Covering the PBA is within his wheelhouse.
“I’ve actually bowled most of my life and have also done bowling telecasts before,” said Thorne. “It’s an assignment I’m looking forward to because it is such a great pastime that also has a great tradition.”
According to the PBA, Thorne’s first play-by-play assignment will be at the Alka-Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels United States Bowling Congress Masters later this month in Las Vegas.
Stone will appear as the play-by-play commentator for the remaining ESPN-taped telecasts this season.
