Nearly everyone who becomes immersed in competitive or even social bowling for a long time ends up hearing about the “Varipapa 300.”

It was even mentioned on the telecast of the 2025 PBA Tour Finals.

A strike string at the end of one game and another at the beginning of the following game that add up to twelve total strikes: thats a "Varipapa 300."

Dig deeper into the eponym, and you may discover Glenn Gerstner’s biography “Andy Varipapa: Bowling’s First Superstar.”

You can find it at McFarlandbooks.com.

The first-ever biography on Varipapa involved plenty of digging for Gerstner, and brought to light information that Varipapa’s own family was not previously aware of.

Gerstner discusses the “Great Varipapa,” and the process of creating the biography in “One of One.”

Check out video of Andy Varipapa on Gerstner's YouTube channel: youtube.com/@AndyVaripapaBook

(Thank you to Gerstner and McFarland (McFarlandBooks.com) for providing a copy of "Andy Varipapa: Bowling’s First Superstar” ahead of this podcast)

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The Madison Area Scratch Tour (madisonareascratchtour.com) brings in bowlers from all over Wisconsin for its events.

And those who have competed for titles in the past few decades have likely run into Jeff Richgels, the tour’s career championship leader.

But it may not be that way going forward, as Richgels mentioned when i stopped at the year end event in April.

Jeff owns and runs 11thframe.com, which is a fantastic resource for news and information on our sport. Check it out and support Jeff’s work. #buytheblog

Having him on the show was also a great opportunity to discuss some of bowling’s interesting happenings, like string pinsetters in more areas of Wisconsin, what a TV schedule for the PBA could look like in 2026 and beyond and an incredible series at the USBC Open Championships for one of Jeff’s longtime teammates.

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When Jason Belmonte shoes up for the 2025 PBA Tour Finals this weekend, he’ll do so as the number three seed.

It’s the last national tour event he plans to bowl this season.

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Belmo while he was at home in Australia.

He discussed a noticeable change in his demeanor on television over the years, winning a title with Bill O’Neill and witnessing his PBA Hall of Fame induction, and the controversy at the Players Championship that spilled over onto social media.

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The 2025 PWBA Tour is off and running with three events in the rearview mirror and a crop of young stars emerging before our eyes.

A Wisconsin native is among those rising stars, and she's received a boost from Bowl Forward to help her along the way!

Kelly Whipple of Sheboygan was recently named Bowl Forward's Future Stars Award winner to the tune of $1,500, the richest prize of the three awarded in late April.

Whipple has plenty of other supporters along for the ride, too. One of them, that isn't typically linked to bowling, remains the talk among her friends and social media followers.

Kwik Trip Links:

Brand Ambassador Inquiry: https://www.kwiktrip.com/brand-ambass... NIL: https://kwiktrip.com/NIL

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In a part of New York that's a lot closer to Canada than it is to Manhattan, a teenage bowler often turns heads. The thing is, it's not just for what he does on the lanes, but back behind the masking units as well!

Joey Dayer, the fedora-wearing, Buffalo area YouTuber who has grown a huge following on his youtube.com/@Joethepro181 channel, doesn't just fix out-of-range calls and continuous cycles. He has disassembled and reassembled all 12 machines at the center where he started bowling, now known as Cloverbank Bowling.

When previous guest Yvonne Bennett took to Facebook and posted about a 97-year-old center that had not had working pinspotters in years, Joe The Pro was on the case. A few months later, bowlers were celebrating a big revival on the lanes, which are housed in a church. Dayer is who Bennett credits with making it possible.

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

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Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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After working in some of the highest profile positions in the bowling industry and having one of the most successful college careers as a bowler…ever, Roger Dalkin has taken his rightful places in the sport.

First, in the USBC hall of fame, and last month in the USBC Collegiate Hall of Fame.

You’ll hear me discuss a giveaway in this episode, which was only available to live viewers and won by fellow USBC Hall of Famer, Steve Kloempken.

But I like to think the content makes winners of us all, hey?

In Dalkin’s acceptance speech, he ended by giving advice on public speaking, saying "You stand up to be seen. You speak clearly to be understood, but most importantly, you sit down to be appreciated."

And that’s where the title of this episode, with its excellent conversation, comes from.

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

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Just before starting this interview at Wagner's Lanes in Eau Claire, WI, Payton Schwetz announced on his Instagram page that he has committed to UW-Whitewater.

The Eau Claire native and North High School senior goes on to thank his family, friends and others who have helped to get him this far in bowling.

Several of them were at Wagner's during the interview and put in their two cents about this big step in Payton's journey!

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

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Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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The latest of more than 2,200 videos to be uploaded to the Irishpogi YouTube channel was originally recorded in January 1982.

Despite not including the end of the championship match, it has a lot of traction, like many others on the channel.

At the time of this recording, it had north of 900 views.

That’s the kind of thing that keeps John McLaughlin of Staten Island, New York posting classic PBA Tour telecasts to his channel consistently.

He’s been called the King of Old PBA Tour shows, and he starts by discussing what led to his five-figure subscriber count in The Video Vault.

Irishpogi on YouTube: youtube.com/@irishpogi

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Bowling With The Fef! is brought to you by:

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Jerry’s Skor-mor Bowling Supply - The Eau Claire, WI area’s leader in bowling supplies, bowling ball drilling and more since 1988. Located inside Wagner’s Lanes. https://jerrysskormorbowlingsupply.com/ (715) 559-1822

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