Bowling Articles

Coincidence or did the PBA finally take my advise?

Read my article below, The PBA, my worst nightmare, posted Dec. 1998,

at which time the PBA visited this site and we exchanged e-mails

(Read The E-mail from the PBA to ActionBowlers / Click Here)

The PBA, My Worst Nightmare

My name is AC butch, I'm from Brooklyn NY and I started bowling action in 1957 at the age of 13. These were the great days of bowling before the PBA came along and corrupted it. This site is dedicated to the truly greats of the game, the action bowlers.

The PBA screwed up right from day one; many of the bowlers that signed with them in the early years were great characters loaded with color and personality. The PBA, being the idiots that they are, not only didn't take advantage of the greatest show on earth, but chose to penalize and strip these people of their natural gamesmanship and emotion. Tennis became so popular because of the bad boys of the game; bowlings bad boys could have made everyone else look like wanna bees. Instead of highlighting what people love to see the most, it was wrongfully taken away from all of us. The greatness of any head to head competition is the unmonitored emotion that goes with it; the PBA turned potential super stars into robots. Bowling always received good ratings, If I were producing the show the ratings would have been spectacular. The guy who initiated the dress code for TV should of been put in jail for robbing the great personalities of the game of their identity, not to mention the huge amounts of additional income they could of earned along with the notoriety they would have received. Because of my love of the game, I watched bowling every Saturday for years, these were the same guys I bowled with and against in my early days, when I would see the Joe College make over the PBA did on them, I wanted to puke, and many times did. While I'm at it, I might as well also blast this organization for being piss poor contract negotiators, how in the world are golf and tennis pros making fortunes, when the most popular game of all is still in the dark ages of prize funds, they should be at the very least, ten times what they are. This site is not for the average bowling fan. It's for all the people that were involved with the great action bowling of the past, to my knowledge; it doesn't exist any more, at least not to the extent of what it was. I would like everyone that was, or is, part of the action scene, to share their memories, good or bad, with all the visitors to this site. At present I am working on a motion picture deal with Fine Line Cinema about my life story, the working title is ACTION. It's about the hay days of action bowling from the fifties through the seventies….

This is my opinion of the PBA organization, not the bowlers, who I think are the greatest.

Clifford Nordquist a.k.a. AC butch

Read what's being said about this at Ball Review.com

It only took 40 years and new ownership to change direction

the only problem is it might be to late...  butch

Brash, raunchy Weber is just what bowling needs

By Tom Clark, USA TODAY

He's excitable. He's talented.

Sometimes, he's raunchy.

He's completely off the leash, and he's leading a revolution of wildly expressive behavior by pro bowlers on the PBA Tour's ESPN finals.

He's P-D-W.

That's Pete Weber to the unitiated, and he's the greatest show in bowling. Or, depending on how you judge him, he's a giant black eye on a sport constantly searching for respect. Some despise his act, others crave it, but the bottom line is he's kicking butt and taking names. (He would use a more profane word than "butt".)

Winner of three tournaments on the "new" PBA Tour season, including this past Sunday's Columbia 300 Open in North Carolina, Weber has made good on his promise to show no mercy upon his return to the PBA after a year-long suspension for conduct unbecoming a professional. At 39 and already a Hall-of-Famer, he's dominating the Tour's new tournament format and raking in the increased prize money, winning $120,000 in his three wins alone.

The suspension that knocked him out of the year 2000 came under the previous PBA Tour regime. Today's "new" PBA Tour hasn't fined Weber for his behavior — they've reveled in the excitement and attention he's brought.

Weber bowling highlights have been on Sportscenter after all three of his wins this season (no other bowling highlights have made SportsCenter). He's been a guest on ESPN Radio with Dan Patrick. He's been on the ESPN sports talk show PTI with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon.

He's introduced trash talk to bowling on TV. He trash talks his opponent. Trash talks the pins. And he's given raucus attention to the fans, whipping them into a frenzy in bowling centers across the country. Just check some of his highlights (or lowlights, depending your perspective):

— Yelling in upstart pro Michael Haugen's face after icing a title match in December: "There's no way he's gonna get his first (title) against me. No way!"

— To classy, Hall-of-Fame bowler Parker Bohn III before a TV match: "You are going down!"

— Screaming after several big strikes on all his TV appearances, all accompanied with fist pumps: "What do you think about that one?!"

— Psyching himself up after nailing down a win against Jason Couch on Sunday, but with a few more frames to go in the match: "Bury him."

— After winning his first title of the year, he addressed the home audience directly: "I am P-D-W! And I am back!"

Weber's on-lane girations and taunts are inspired by the World Wrestling Federation. His self-proclaimed, initials-inspired nickname "P-D-W" was adapted from pro wrestler Rob Van Dam: "R-V-D."

In Sunday's title match, when Weber thrillingly converted the 3-4-6-7-10 split in the 10th frame to ice victory against Roger Bowker, the PBA's excitable boy celebrated by making a V sign toward his crotch in perhaps his most vulgar display to date.

"I love pro wresting," Weber said Monday from his car phone en route to Latham, N.Y., for the next PBA Tour stop. "Things come to a stop for me when wrestling is on. If I have TNN tonight I'll be watching it. I get all pay-per-views. I like the entertainment part of it, and the words to give to each other back and forth, even though I know it's fake."

Fun? Pathetic? Weber leaves it up to you to decide — just as long as you watch.

He is well aware of his actions on the bowling lanes, and knows they are questioned by some fans.

"I'm just doing my job," Weber says. "When I get on TV, I give people what I think they want to see. I guess there are 5-to-10 percent of people who don't like it. Well, too bad."

Weber says everything he does is unplanned. It just comes out from the natural reaction he has to his game. And he says anyone concerned about young bowling fans being exposed to his sometimes boorish behavior needs a wake-up call.

"Your kid will see worse in life and on TV than what I do when I'm bowling," Weber says.

Raw behavior isn't new in sports on TV, even in sports like bowling that are better known for proper, restrained behavior.

Tiger Woods dropped a huge "F" bomb when he pulled a drive into the Pacific Ocean at golf's 2000 U.S. Open. Tiger, while a strong role model for kids, would need his mouth washed out with soap after just about every round of golf I've watched him play in person.

Tennis' Jennifer Capriati nailed the chair umpire with some language you'd expect out of a grizzled sailor during the Australian Open final last month.

Who can forget John McEnroe's tantrums or Jimmy Connors' verbal assaults?

The closest bowling had come to demonstrative behavior on TV was Hall of Famer Marshall Holman, who once kicked the foul light in disgust, breaking it back in the '80s. Fellow Hall of Famer Ernie Schlegel was never shy on TV either, going through all kinds of contortions to influence the pins and freak out his opponent.

In their day, the PBA Tour had strict behavior rules, prohibiting, or at least stifling, much individualism. However, the "new" PBA that took over last year, spearheaded by ex-Nike marketers, encouraged personality from its players.

But the first couple weeks of the new PBA in September, everyone seemed tight. The bowlers couldn't adjust to difficult lane conditions, they were nervous going for more money than prior years, and it made for bad TV. Then "PDW" came along. He changed the landscape with a wildly emotional performance in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he bowled 299 en route to the title.

"When I'm on TV, it's about entertainment. The new PBA has told me to be animated, and I was already animated to begin with," Weber says. "The new PBA likes me, likes my antics. They think that's what's going to sell the PBA."

Ever since Weber's attention-grabbing attitude hit the screen, bad language has littered the TV show just about every week. The players are miked for sound, and their reactions are real. They do not hold back showing their emotion in ways that would have been wildly spontaneous in the past.

Medford Open champion Rickey Ward, in not so many words, told the pins that they were the illegitimate children of furry rodents.

Fan message boards on pba.com have debated the behavior of the players on the show every week, with a decided split decision on whether it is good for the game or over-the-top classlessness.

Bowling needs a marketable, identifiable face to connect with fans and take the sport to another level. Weber can be that bowler because he's the most naturally gifted player alive. Has the best instincts. Is the most exciting. And already is the best known. (Dad Dick Weber is the greatest ambassador bowling ever had.)

But Pete Weber, who sidetracked his career over the years with bouts with alcohol abuse and lack of self-control, is not his father, who exudes class. He isn't Earl Anthony, the winningest player and coolest competitor ever.

"I'm just Pete being Pete," Weber says. The jury is out on whether he's good for the game.

Me, I just like watching Weber bowl. He's the best there ever was. Not the most accomplished. Not the most consistent. Not the most admirable. Simply the greatest package of talent and excitement and competitiveness the game has ever known.

I like that he and the rest of the bowlers on the show communicate how much they want to win. I like that it is real, and I like that they aren't afraid to celebrate. I also like spirited match play banter.

I could do without Weber's blatant unsportsmanlike behavior at times. I can certainly do without the ridiculous, profane "crotch chop."

Despite my distaste for those actions, who do I hope makes the telecast this Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (ET) for the optimum PBA Tour bowling experience on ESPN?

That's right, brother. It's P-D-W.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bowling/clark/2002-02-12-clark.htm

Hey, PBA: Be cool, embrace 'gambling'

When I bowled as a competitive amateur back in the 1980s, I had to battle for respect. It was difficult to be proud of my accomplishments, because people didn't appreciate bowling as a sport. They didn't think it was cool.

I had two things working in my favor.

1) Chris Schenkel. Pro bowling was on network TV and Schenkel, one of the most identifiable and talented sports broadcasters of all time, enjoyed covering it, despite lacking a deep knowledge of the game. Schenkel was cool, had a passion for presenting the game and brought an aura of importance and legitimacy to the sport.

2) I won money. Bowling is a rare sport that has many "amateur" tournaments with cash prizes, so telling someone ignorant to the virtues of the game that you won $5,000 at a weekend event piqued interest. Even better, that you regularly would take on a bunch of guys late at night at a neighboring bowling center during "pot games" or "action" bowling, made clear the gambling, high-stakes nature of the sport. It's cool to essentially bet on yourself in any endeavor and compete for money against others with the same mindset.

There are a lot of parallels between the respect I was pursuing then, and the respect that professional bowling is still searching for today.

This past weekend, the biggest pro event of the year, the U.S. Open, was decided. Both the men's and women's finals were stern tests of the modern bowler, providing fans with all the ingredients of good sports on TV: The best players in the world fighting for the most prestigious title under the most demanding conditions with record prize money at stake.

Kim Terrell, one of the most engaging athletes in pro sports, won the $55,000 first-place check on the women's side, while Finland's Mika Koivuniemi became the first foreign-born player to win the men's U.S. Open, cashing in for $100,000.

But there was barely a hint of national media attention on bowling's crown jewel, compared to U.S. Open championships in more "legitimate," "cool," or "accepted" sports — golf and tennis.

Being "cool" is the key building block to gaining the invaluable media exposure golf and tennis enjoy. Pro bowling is not that much different from those pro sports at its core. All three have touring professionals competing in individual sports that can be enjoyed recreationally by all ages and sizes for a lifetime. All three heavily depend on surface of play and equipment.

But golf's got Tiger and the beauty of the world's great golf courses. Tennis has strong pinnacle events in Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Both have the backing of corporate America due to their country club backgrounds, which means big money and big stars.

Bowling can secure a larger, prouder fan base and essential corporate sponsorships if it capitalizes on its own unique strengths.

The new PBA Tour has made several positive steps with those goals in mind, and we've given lots of ideas in this space during the year toward that end.

But the PBA should do two things as soon as possible:

1) Find a strong, entertaining, competent voice for bowling's ESPN broadcasts who actually wants to cover the PBA. Current play-by-play announcer Jim Kelly has had his chance and he is not the answer.

Kelly apparently would have much rather been at golf's U.S. Open Sunday than bowling's. At one point he said tournament finalist Patrick Healey Jr. was one of a long line of great golfers from Wichita State University. It was among three golf references made by Kelly Sunday, which may have been his low amount for the year. Kelly, familiar for his call of America's Cup sailing, PGA, LPGA and Senior Tour golf events and college sports, has an ease at the microphone that makes him a good announcer in general, but bowling is just not his game.

The idea of announcing the sport seems to throw him completely off. Either the TV crew lead him astray or he got every single lead-in to highlight reels of past bowling U.S. Opens wrong Sunday.

Kelly has absolutely zero, even rudimentary, knowledge of pro bowling. They don't let people with less than rudimentary knowledge of golf announce golf's U.S. Open. A lack of competent knowledge of the game can be overcome with keen interest, but Kelly has shown none of that. The fact he remains on PBA broadcasts questions the new ownership and management of the PBA's judgment on this important position.

2) Embrace the fact that bowlers are in effect betting on themselves out on the PBA Tour and publicize it. Make it real. Also, make available to fans ways they can "gamble" on the outcomes of pro events, through fantasy games and tournament brackets online.

Bowling and bowlers are intertwined with gambling. Many wager on other sports and activities, and Nevada has become the greatest hotbed of bowling action in the country. But most of all, good bowlers are constantly betting on themselves to win. Pro bowlers are practically betting their lives on succeeding on Tour, considering the still minuscule prize money in the grand scheme of sports.

The new Tour should illustrate the very real and very difficult quest to bowl for a living. Don't try to over-glamorize the life of a pro bowler, or utilize the snob appeal golf or tennis can have. Truth is, there are only a handful of pro bowlers living comfortably on PBA Tour earnings alone. Tell us how the majority of pros scratch and claw for everything they can get, inspired by a love for the game. Define that love, show the game they are playing with their minds, bodies and souls — plus the discipline it takes to succeed at it — and watch people gravitate.

Also cool and addictive for the modern sports fan is online fantasy leagues with prizes riding on the outcomes. The PBA Tour should start its own fantasy league, giving fans a chance to "buy" a handful of pros before every tournament, wheel and deal them throughout the season, accumulate points as the weeks go by based on the success of the players they "own." Fans' attention to events would increase as they match their knowledge with others.

Another connection with "gambling" that would keep fans glued to the results of the exciting match-play portion of the new PBA format is to put the full brackets from the round of 32 to the finals online. Then invite fans to predict the outcomes of the matches, compete against the rest of the online fan base and offer prizes.

Why do you think the NCAA basketball tournament has grown so rapidly? One reason is the brackets that you and all of your friends fill out on the eve of the tournament, as you predict all the way to the Final Four.

The new PBA Tour plays right into this strength. And it's cool.

Any questions or ideas about the PBA Tour, e-mail me and we'll explore them together in the new year. This will be the final "World of Tenpins" column of the year. Thanks for reading and happy holidays to you and yours.

(Tom Clark is golf and tennis editor at USA TODAY. His bowling column appears online every Tuesday through the PBA Tour season. Reach him at tclark@usatoday.com. Archived bowling columns can be read at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bowling/clark.htm.)

Read About Rudy Revs

The late fifties and sixties were the hay days of action bowling in the metropolitan area.