Old Master of the Masters

"It's deja vu all over again."
--Yogi Berra

Walter Ray Williams last bowled in the title match of the USBC Masters Championship in 2004. It was at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. He was seeded second to his opponent Chris Barnes. He defeated Barnes that day 268-239 for his first Masters title.

Yesterday, the finals of the 2010 Masters Championship took place. For the first time since 2004, it was held at Reno's National Bowling Stadium. And, once again, Walter Ray Williams was seeded second to Chris Barnes.

Williams bowled well all week and steamrolled over his opponents in match play until he ran into a razor sharp Barnes in the final winners bracket match and was dominated by a hundred pins by the widely acknowledged best bowler on tour, prompting both Xtra Frame's "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark and ESPN's analyst Randy Pedersen to unequivocally predict a Barnes victory.

Nevertheless, Walter Ray came out firing on all cylinders yesterday against young lion Ryan Ciminelli in the semi-final match and, playing his patented outside line, convincingly dispatched him 258-224 on the way to his showdown with Barnes. But his first ball against Barnes came up high, and a surprised Williams was lucky to leave only a 7 pin instead of a disastrous split. Yet, this was the last time Williams failed to strike as he blasted eleven strikes, most of them "high flush," in a row after that to crush Barnes 290-217 and earn his second Masters title and a $50,000 paycheck, his 8th major title, tying him with Mike Aulby and Pete Weber for second place behind Earl Anthony's ten on the all time list, increase his career national title record to 47, and vault the 50-year-old bowling wonder to the top of the Bowler of the Year points race.

"This is just another little feather, it's just awesome," said a jubilant Williams, who was reported to be leaving afterward for Stockton, CA to celebrate his mother's 75th birthday. When asked about his future bowling plans, Williams replied: "I'm going to go out there and plug along as good as I can, and the year that I'm no longer exempt out here, that's when I will have had enough.

I'm sure both the regular touring players and the bowlers on the senior tour are overjoyed to hear that.