Is Pete Weber a Bad Boy?

After his latest outburst on TV, I'm more convinced than ever that Pete Weber has no class. His outbursts do nothing but hurt the image of bowling.
--Myra Crosby

Unless you have bowled in a tournament named after your late father and had someone distract you during a shot, I don't care what you think.
--Robert S.

Well I agree that PDW should have said something, but what I don't agree with is how he said it. All I know is that his father would have never acted like that. He would have said something like please could you not take any pictures while I am shooting.
--Brett

wtf? A guy can't go off anymore? You guys who are trying to turn professional bowlers into professional role models are the ones who need to lay off.
--Howard

In my previous entry, I said that my next post would recap highlights from last week's Xtra Frame coverage of the Dick Weber Open. However, something of a controversy has arisen that I'd like to address today. It concerns Pete Weber's angry scolding of a photographer during his televised match Sunday with Bill O'Neill. He claimed that the photographer distracted him in mid-approach by taking photos of him. He pointed at the photographer and yelled: "Do not flash the camera in my approach! I'm telling you, don't do it! If she flashes that camera again on my approach...I HEAR it!"

There's been quite a discussion of this on the PBA website (click here to follow it). Some have called Weber a "crybaby and a "jerk" who was showing his "true colors" and "just looking to blame someone other than himself" for the fact that he didn't strike. Others defend him for speaking up against photographers who defy the rules and distract the players trying to earn their livelihood in a sport that demands deep and unflinching concentration. Some maintain that professional bowlers are "ambassadors" of the sport and need to act in a dignified manner on the lanes at all times no matter what. Others argue that bowlers don't get paid enough or have enough security to be held to the highest standards of conduct when they're provoked by photographers and fans not following the rules.

Now there's some question about what exactly happened and whether any rules were violated. Weber first complained about the flashing of the camera but later referred to the sound of it. Several commented that they attended the televised finals and that what actually happened was that a photographer working for ESPN, the PBA, or the USBC was on the side taking non-flash photos with a high speed camera, and that Pete was reacting to the rapid clicking of the camera as it reeled off approximately five photo shots while he was approaching the foul line.

One person commented that the photographer was following PBA rules which state: "PBA rules require all photos and video during competition be taken from behind the competitors and with available light (no flash photography or camera lights) EXECPT DURING THE TELEVISED FINALS WHEN PHOTOGRAPHERS WILL BE ABLE TO USE A DOWN-LANE PHOTO BLIND USING TELEVISION LIGHTING." This person went on to conclude, "Therefore, the photographer who was doing her job, was in the correct spot and in the right to do whatever she needed to do for her assignment that day."

I wasn't there. I don't know exactly what happened. But this is the comment I posted yesterday to the discussion:

I think photographers should honor the rules governing their conduct at these events, and the bowlers should be held to high standards of conduct as representatives of the PBA. I think that Pete Weber had reason to be angry, but I don't think he handled the situation as well as he should have. But he's not the monster some make him out to be. He's a supremely gifted and intensely competitive bowler who sometimes lets his emotions on the lanes get the best of him. Yet, from what I understand, he's a rather nice person off the lanes and not at all the unbridled jerk I used to think he was before I saw "A League of Ordinary Gentlemen" and became more familiar with him not just as his "PDW" persona but as a living, breathing human being who, like all of us, has his character strengths and weaknesses.

Having said that, I think the PBA should make sure that its thirst for publicity doesn't overpower its professional integrity and allow "bad boys" to throw temper tantrums on center stage."

In retrospect, after reviewing the video, reading all the comments thus far, and giving the matter more thought, I still think Weber overreacted to what may very well have been a big distraction, but that he didn't behave as badly as I first thought, nor did the photographer necessarily do anything wrong so far as the rules in place at the time were concerned. In another forum, I suggested that Pete be fined for his conduct. I no longer believe that he deserves to be fined.

However, I do believe that PBA bowlers ARE professionals who SHOULD represent their profession in an honorable light and that the powers-that-be within the PBA should make this very clear to the players. As far as I'm concerned, bowling needs to improve its image by presenting itself as a complex, albeit exciting, sport of refinement and class, and not have players engaging in John McEnroe-like outbursts on center stage, not that PDW's conduct Sunday sunk to that level.

I further believe that all of us need to become less confrontational and more respectful and civil to one another. But I also believe that if photographers unduly distract the players even when they follow the rules laid down for them, those rules need to be modified so that players can compete at their very best and have the best chance possible to earn the living on which they and their families depend. Let's hope that there are no more incidents like what we saw last Sunday for everyone's sake.