Before Tim Mack became a professional bowler, he played football at Penn State. Nothing, he said, compares to the rush of running out of a tunnel amid the cheers of 100,000 fans.
Even so, in travels to 50 different countries, the three-time World Bowler of the Year said he has experienced “some crazy bowling venues. But this environment in Portland ranks right up there with one of the all-time sports environments that I’ve seen.”
MAINE EVENT TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
Noon: Quarterfinal Match One: Silver Lake Atom Splitters vs. New York City KingPins
Quarterfinal Match Two: Philadelphia Hitmen vs. Portland Lumberjacks
ESPN telecast: Sunday, April 17, 1 p.m.
3:30 p.m.: Quarterfinal Match Three: L.A. X vs. Motown Muscle
Quarterfinal Match Four: Brooklyn Styles vs. Dallas Strikers ESPN telecast: Sunday, April 24, 1 p.m.
SUNDAY
Noon: Semifinal Matches One and Two ESPN telecast: Sunday, May 1, 1 p.m.
3:30 p.m.: Elias Cup Finals ESPN telecast: Sunday, May 8, 1 p.m.
MAINE SHOOTOUT
April 4
6:30 p.m.: Match Play Draw Party (to determine Maine Shootout bracket positions)
April 5
9 a.m.: Round of 64 matches begins
6 p.m.: Round of 32 matches begins
April 6
10 a.m.: Round of 16 matches begins
2 p.m.: Round of 8 matches begins
6 p.m.: Semifinal round begins
7:30 p.m.: Championship match
For the second straight year, Bayside Bowl, a 12-lane alley in Portland, will host the world’s top bowlers for a pair of two-day Professional Bowlers Association Tour events beginning Saturday. The Maine Event includes the Elias Cup, an eight-team weekend tournament to be televised on ESPN, and the Maine Shootout, an elimination tournament in which association stars compete against other bowlers who post a $500 entry fee.
Last year’s Elias Cup was sold out, and local bowlers snapped up all 200 tickets for this year’s weekend matches as soon as they were printed. In such an intimate setting, with fans cheering, chanting, heckling (in good-natured fashion), waving signs and intermingling with the pros, the atmosphere was electric, Mack said.
“The people embraced us,” he said, “and the bowlers embraced the people back.”
Television ratings for the 2015 Elias Cup finals – which ESPN once again will air on four consecutive Sunday afternoons – were the highest in the competition’s three-year history, reaching more than 670,000 viewers. The ratings were up 66 percent over the previous year, when the event was held in New Jersey, and 22 percent over the first Elias Cup finals held in 2013 in Indiana.
“As great as it was on TV,” Mack said by phone from Indiana, “it doesn’t do justice to the environment. The crowd is passionate. They’re right on top of you.”
That crowd will be solidly behind Mack this year, because he is manager of the Portland Lumberjacks, a franchise purchased by Bayside Bowl owner-operator Charlie Mitchell that competes only in the Elias Cup. Returning teams, all of which consist of five pro bowlers, are the defending champion Silver Lake Atom Splitters, Philadelphia Hitmen, L.A. X, New York City KingPins, Dallas Strikers, Motown Muscle and Brooklyn Styles.
The Lumberjacks include Liz Johnson, one of two women competing in the Elias Cup. Considering Bayside’s bowling leagues are all co-ed, Johnson’s presence gives the hometown fans one more reason to celebrate. Tailgating outside Bayside Bowl is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Saturday.
“There’s no doubt it will be a very pro-Lumberjack crowd,” said Matt Bates, a regular in the Bowl Portland league who bought his tickets in October and plans to wear green plaid to support the home team. “There’s going to be a sea of green plaid for the Portland Lumberjacks Saturday.”
Bates said Bayside attracts a younger crowd than traditional alleys. League bowlers all go by nicknames – he is known as Space Farmer – and it is more of a social community that bowls than a bunch of bowlers who socialize.
“It is a loud and happening place, unlike any other lanes I’ve ever been to,” he said. “The pro bowlers, I think, were expecting a normal venue. And they did not get that. They got a very loud and rowdy crowd that I think they were ultimately energized by.”
During last year’s Elias Cup, a few local teams bowled exhibition matches against the pros. Brian Owoc, a Portland glass artist, was the final bowler on the only local team to beat a pro team – he rolled a strike.
“It was epic,” said Owoc, who goes by Jamaican Jerk at Bayside and who was also on the team that won the pro-am tournament. “It was probably one of the best weeks of my life.”
Owoc is one of at least eight Mainers who will take part in the 64-bowler Maine Shootout, which starts next Tuesday. Last year, two Mainers won matches: Terry Robinson of Gray knocked off PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. in the first round and Scott Moore of Lewiston won two matches before being eliminated.
In one of last year’s exhibition games between local and pro teams to warm up the crowd before Elias Cup matches, Chris Ogden of Portland was approached by Jason Belmonte, a two-handed bowler from Australia and three-time defending Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year.
“Right before I threw my ball he came up to me and said, ‘I’ll make a bet. If you beat me, you can have my ball,’ ” Ogden said. “I threw a strike. He threw an eight. He came over and handed me his ball.”
Whether this year’s event can replicate the success of the inaugural Maine Event remains to be seen. Mack, the Lumberjacks manager, plans to bring his wife this year. Other pros have said they, too, will bring family to show them what all the fuss was about.
“I can’t wait to get there,” Mack said. “This is one of the most anticipated events on the (tour) calendar.”
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