Kelly Kulick is a great bowler, of course.  She's good enough to be an exempt PBA member, and she's good enough to have made a telecast, which was in fact a major.  As an icon in the bowling world, she serves to remind that women's bowling is still alive, and that occassionally some of those bowlers can compete on the PBA tour.  In fact, Kelly is considered by many to be one of the Great Bowlers of Our Time (tm).  Bear this in mind when I say the following:

Kelly Kulick is extremely overrated.

Now, to explain why I bother posting this.

At times, it seems every flippin' person on the entire doggone planet has lost their sense of perspective when it comes to Kelly.  When I talk bowling with someone (especially casual bowling fans), something along the lines of "Kelly Kulick is the greatest!" always seems to come up (and don't get me started on YouTube!).  All the time.  It boggles my mind.  When I ask why she is so great, the response is always 1) SHE WON THE ToC AND SHE'S A WOMAN PROVING WOMEN AND MEN ARE EQUAL!!!!! (disregarding that if you honestly believed we were completely equal, this would be much less of a big deal to you), or 2) Kelly is the most dominant female bowler in the last several years.  Granted, she's been curb-stomping everyone in the women's majors, and I have no problem considering her the greatest FEMALE bowler.  But that's just it.  Using a qualification won against a field completely (with one or two exceptions) comprised of bowlers who either can't or won't shoe up on the PBA tour means absolutely squat when comparing against other PBA champions.  As for the Tournament of Champions...her victory at the ToC a few years ago did not end the debate concerning the athletic equality of men and women.  Neither did it establish an everlasting dynasty of dominance over the PBA tour.  It was a single tv appearance.  Her only singles PBA tv appearance.

Anybody remember who John Nolen is?  That's what I thought.  But, for some reason, Kelly is elevated above and beyond what she has achieved.

Kelly is far from the greatest.  If she were great, as an exempt touring PBA player she would be making multiple shows a season.  Heck, even one show a season, assuming a poor WSOB showing.  And most importantly, if she were great she would be a threat for a title each week.

Kelly Kulick achieved something great.  Let's call a spade a spade and just leave it at that.  She's pro, for sure, but come on.

A dose of reality for the road: Wayne Garber has more singles telecast appearances on the PBA tour than Kelly Kulick.  Since Kelly's ToC victory, they both only have one (you read that right, ONE) match play appearance, according to PBA.com.

Some people think KK is over rated because she is a female. Same for other women such as DP in racing and ect.

Kelly is a great bowler. Obviously by her career she has nothing to prove. Fan/general population ignorance on a subject means nothing. If you can learn not to pay attention to what a lot of people perceive to be true and focus on facts you will have a lower chance of being found dead at your keyboard from an aneurysm.

If I might interject now that we're talking bowling again...8 of the worlds best had a chance to pick her for the PBA League.  8 players that know the game better than almost anyone.  She was barely even picked.  As I recall, they had already started picking up regional players by the time she came up...AND she was involved in the only player trade (as an alternate to boot).  I'm so convinced the very best consider her at their level.  Her career with the PBA speaks for itself. 

Personally, I think the team format would have been much more entertaining if it had been mixed. I would require each team to have a minimum of two females, and at least one of them bowling every game.

what was his injury?

I believe he was coming off knee surgery. He wasn't fully recovered when they had the draft, but was 100% by the time the WSOB came around. Again this is just coming from memory and may not be 100% accurate.
 
I have tried to stay out of this, but since I am posting, I will address the OP. Is Kelly Kulick overrated, not a chance in hell. She is one of the best female bowlers of all time. She has shown that when the shot is tough and RPM's don't give someone an added advantage, she can and has competed equally with the men. Whether by design or by accident, a lot of the PBA patterns play towards the hands of those with more RPM's. The only person who has shown they can overcome this is Pete Weber because of his ungodly side rotation which gets the ball down the lane and creates angles similar to the power players of today. Did we see Norm Duke on TV this season, WRW Jr? Not like in the past. That is because of the advantages the high RPM players have. Kelly is not having the success she once did because of this as well. Add to the fact that there are now also more talented people overall on tour, with the addition of the foreign players who have come over. Her lack of success on the recent tour does degrade her skill level or her place in history one bit. And to think she is overrated is a disservice to her and to bowling in general.

Fool?? Heck at least I know the man's name!

Personally, I think the team format would have been much more entertaining if it had been mixed. I would require each team to have a minimum of two females, and at least one of them bowling every game.

A big +1 .....


I didn't really like the team format to begin with, but mixing in the top tier women would have made the shows fun to watch. As it was, there were times when it felt like watching paint dry.