Five-time champion Eric Forkel continues to recover from injuries suffered as a result of an accident at his home in Northridge, Calif.
On Monday, April 10, Forkel and Barry Gurney, a champion on the PBA Senior Tour, were working on the roof of Forkel's house, when Forkel fell through the skylight onto the living room floor below.
Forkel was taken to Northridge Hospital and, according to wife Tritia, has two broken vertebrae and is wearing a back brace, but does have motion in all his extremities and was able to walk a little bit on Thursday, April 20. His wife also added Eric suffered "major" bruising to the brain and still has some bleeding on the brain. He has been experiencing severe headaches, but is no longer in ICU and is (and has been) conscious and conversant with visitors.
He was scheduled for another MRI April 20 and Tritia said doctors are waiting to make a long-term prognosis until they have more information and can run more tests.
The 39-year-old has been a PBA member since 1982 and has been a full-time Touring Pro since 1992. Included in his five victories are wins at the prestigious PBA National Championship (1992) and the Brunswick Memorial World Open (1994). He ranks 36th on the Tour's all-time earnings list with more than $800,000.
Cards, notes and flowers may be sent to: Eric Forkel, c/o Northridge Hospital, 18300 Roscoe Blvd., Northridge, CA, 91328.
Both the PBA National and Senior Tours continue to be on hiatus. The senior circuit rolls back into competition May 13-18 with the inaugural Central Pennsylvania Senior Open (non-televised) at Colonial Hills Bowl in Reading, Pa. The National Tour's next event is the American Bowling Congress (ABC) Masters in Albuquerque, N.M., June 11-17, with the finals televised by Fox Sports Net.
AKRON, Ohio -- The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Fall Tour schedule for 2000 features seven events all to be televised by ESPN. Six of those events are scheduled to be televised live on consecutive Tuesday evenings beginning October 10.
The final Fall Tour event is set for Saturday, Nov. 25, and will be taped earlier that week.
The first five events are scheduled to air from 8-9:30 p.m. (ET). The sixth event (Nov. 14) is scheduled to be broadcast from 9:30-11 p.m. (ET) and the final event (Nov. 25) is set to be televised from 4-5:30 p.m. (ET). Each tournament is expected to feature the eight-man championship round format.
The PBA Tour begins the fall with a return trip to Roseland Bowl in Canandaigua, N.Y., for the Track Canandaigua Open, Oct. 7-10. It marks the second consecutive year Roseland Bowl will host the pros (and the fourth overall after hosting the 1992 and 1993 BPAA U.S. Opens) and the second year for Track as a sponsor of the event. Reigning PBA Player of the Year Parker Bohn III is the defending champion.
The Tour then heads to Brunswick Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick, N.J., for the Brunswick Johnny Petraglia Open, Oct. 14-17. Brunswick Carolier Lanes has hosted the event named after the PBA Hall of Famer each year since 1991. Doug Kent will look to successfully defend the title he won in April of last year.
Stop No. 3 on the Fall Tour is in Erie, Pa., at Eastway Lanes for the Flagship Open, Oct. 21-24. Like Brunswick Carolier Lanes, Eastway Lanes will be celebrating its10th anniversary of hosting the PBA Tour. Former PBA Rookie of the Year Chris Barnes returns to the site of his first championship to defend his title.
The Tour then moves from Pennsylvania to Indiana and Woodland Bowl for the Indianapolis Open, Oct. 28-31. The center has hosted the pros each year since 1979 (with the exception of 1989), including the BPAA U.S. Open in 1990-91 and the Touring Players Championship in 1992-94. Randy Pedersen, who broke a four-year winless streak in Indy last year, is the defending champion.
The Tour's final "major" of 2000 and its most prestigious event is next on the fall schedule. The Brunswick World Tournament of Champions returns to Brunswick Zone-Deer Park (formerly Brunswick Deer Park Lanes) in Lake Zurich, Ill. (suburban Chicago), Nov. 3-7. The Brunswick World T of C was contested here in 1995 and 1996. Jason Couch will try to defend the title he won last year in Overland Park, Kansas.
From there the pros head to Highland Lanes in Austin, Texas, for the Columbia 300 Open, Nov. 11-14. Highland Lanes will host a PBA Tour event for the 17th time and Columbia 300 will sponsor a tour event for the 24th time. This tournament was one of five wins for Bohn in 1999 and the event features a 9:30 p.m. (ET) starting time.
The final event of the 2000 PBA Fall Tour schedule is still being finalized, but will be televised by ESPN Saturday, Nov. 25, at 4 p.m. (ET).
2000 PBA TOUR FALL SCHEDULE
(All events televised live by ESPN unless otherwise noted)
Oct. 7-10 Track Canandaigua Open Tuesday, Oct. 10 Roseland Bowl, Canandaigua, N.Y. (8-9:30 p.m. ET)
Oct. 14-17 Brunswick Johnny Petraglia Open Tuesday, Oct. 17 Brunswick Carolier Lanes, North Brunswick, N.J. (8-9:30 p.m. ET)
Oct. 21-24 Flagship Open Tuesday, Oct. 24 Eastway Lanes, Erie, Pa. (8-9:30 p.m. ET)
Oct. 28-31 Indianapolis Open Tuesday, Oct. 31 Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis (8-9:30 p.m. ET)
Nov. 3-7 Brunswick World Tournament of Champions Tuesday, Nov. 7 Brunswick Zone-Deer Park, Lake Zurich, Ill. (8-9:30 p.m. ET)
Nov. 11-14 Columbia 300 Open Tuesday, Nov. 14 Highland Lanes, Austin, Texas (9:30-11 p.m. ET)
*Nov. 18-21 TBD Saturday, Nov. 25 (4-5:30 p.m. ET)
*Tape delayed event
ROCKFORD, ILL- The Professional Women's Bowling Association and ESPN2 have teamed up for the year 2000 and are announcing the most vigorous television broadcast schedule in the history of women's bowling.
"ESPN2 will broadcast all 24 PWBA events, the air times are not final yet," said PWBA President, John Falzone, "but it looks like our first three events will air in a daytime slot and then move to prime time on Monday nights."
Throughout the 1999 PWBA Fall Tour ESPN2 experimented with slotting the PWBA finals during prime time on Monday nights and overall, were pleased with the results.
"Right now, we are very satisfied with the way things are working out," said Bob Yalen, ESPN Manager of Programming when asked how the show was fairing on Monday nights.
ESPN2, part of the ESPN sports cable network giant which recently celebrated its 20th year anniversary on September 7, 1999, made history itself when ESPN2 became the fastest network to reach over 65 million homes.
"As we start the new millennium, the future of the Professional Women's Bowling Association looks bright" added Falzone, "and with ESPN2 broadcasting our entire schedule, the industry will see more women's bowling on TV than ever before."
The Professional Women's Bowling Association, which was founded in 1981 as the Ladies Pro Bowler Tour, provides a highly professional tournament program for the most skilled women bowlers in the world. The PWBA's key corporate sponsors include Sam's Town Hotel, Gambling Hall & Bowling Center, the official presenting sponsor of the tour, and AMF Worldwide, the principal industry sponsor, and more than a dozen other bowling industry sponsors.
April 27, 2000
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