2014 USBC Senior Masters Stepladder Finals

Bowling Video--Effusive Praise for Pete Weber

Bowling Video--Pete Weber Egomania Rap

Bowling Quote--When Does a PBA Player's Televised Conduct Become Inexcusable?

"I am tremendously impressed by Pete Weber's accomplishment in winning his record-breaking fifth U.S. Open title at the age of 49, and I don't have a major problem with his antics along the way and afterward. But for those of who say they were okay because they brought more attention to a sport dying from the lack of it, I wonder if there are limits to their 'ends justify the means' rationalization. That is, can they think of anything a player might say or do during a televised tournament that's beyond good taste or sportsmanship but falls short of felonious criminality of which they WOULDN'T approve, even if it brought more attention and money to professional bowling?


I guess I just have my reservations about this "anything that brings more attention to bowling" philosophy that I'm hearing from so many quarters in the wake of PDW's latest televised appearance. Why the next thing you know, PBA telecasts will feature scantily clad cheerleaders and blaring vevuzelas. Oh, wait...they already have." ~ Steve Curless

Why Bowling on the U.S. Open Pattern Is So Difficult

Sunday's stepladder finals of the PBA U.S. Open was, in my opinion, one of the finest televised finals of any PBA tournament I've ever seen. You may wonder why, since the highest score of the day was "only" 225, and a lot of people score or even average well over that at their local bowling center.

Well, they don't do it on a legitimate U.S. Open pattern. I've bowled on an approximation of this pattern in a PBA Experience league, and I can tell you from painful personal experience that you have to bowl exceedingly well just to shoot 180. Miss your target by a board right or left, be a little fast or slow with your ball speed, or vary your release even a tiny bit, and you can end up with a three count or even a gutterball or a badly missed spare.

This is a far, far cry from bowling on a typical house pattern where you can miss your target by five or ten boards on either side or fluctuate wildly in your ball speed or release and still crush the pocket for devastating strikes or convert single pin spares practically blindfolded.

Sunday's matches were so good because Ryan Shafer, Jason Belmonte, and, especially, Mike Fagan and Pete Weber executed terrifically well under incredible pressure on supremely demanding lane conditions. And this excellent video by bowling champion, coach, and self-described "bowling geek" Jason Doust masterfully explains why the U.S. Open pattern is such a challenge.

After you watch it, I hope you'll sign up for a PBA Experience league and gain a newfound appreciation for 225 games on demanding lane conditions and for just how superbly those guys bowled last Sunday afternoon.

Pete Weber Wins 69th PBA U.S. Open

"Dad, I know you were watching. I know you're proud, and I'm sorry I broke your record." ~ Pete Weber

Until Sunday, February 26, 2012, nobody owned more U.S. Open titles than the late, great Don Carter and Dick Weber. Then Dick Weber's Hall of Fame son Pete stepped onstage to defeat Ryan Shafer 223-191, Jason Belmonte 225-213, and Mike Fagan 215-214 in one of the best-bowled and most intense televised stepladder finals in TV bowling history en route to an unprecedented fifth U.S. Open, ninth major, and 36th tour title that had no less than bowling luminary and writer Jeff Richgels opining that PDW may well be the best bowler of all time.

And as much as raw statistics might still award that glittering honor to Walter Ray Williams Jr. or Earl Anthony, there's no avoiding the fact that, as Richgels writes, "Pete has been at the top of bowling through more eras than either Earl or Walter Ray, starting at the end of plastic through urethane to reactive resin...You simply can't deny that Pete has stayed on top through more changes in the game than any bowler in history. And look at how much his game has changed from when he was a teenager who arguably had the most powerful game in bowling to almost a finesse player who is little more than a tweener in the current era of two-handed ultra power players. What hasn't changed is his almost unreal competitiveness and will to win that has enabled him to rise to big occasions as much as any player in history."

Richgels writes that he's still not sure who's the greatest bowler ever but that Pete Weber's phenomenal performance Sunday at the age of 49 has "changed the debate" for him. I guess I'd have to say that the same goes for me. Bad boy that PDW has been over the years and was again on Sunday, there's no denying his stupendous bowling accomplishments that rise to the level that one of his opponents Sunday, the immensely talented Jason Belmonte, characterized as "inhuman." I'd call them superhuman.

I'll have more to say about all of this and about this year's PBA U.S. Open and Sunday telecast over a series of upcoming blogposts, but I want to end this entry with videos of yesterday's wonderful matches for you to savor. It's been a long time since bowling has received the respect it deserves, and, regrettably, Sunday's finals probably won't change that a whole lot.

But it should.

For a concise summary of the entire 2012 PBA U.S. Open, be sure to check out this article on Jef's Bowling Blog, and for a more detailed summary of the televised finals, you can read Bill Vint's wrap up on the PBA website. Finally, you can watch the videos below to behold what words cannot fully convey of all three matches.

Stories Abound at 69th PBA U.S. Open

"At the U.S. Open, it's all about hitting your target and making spares, and I did pretty good at that." ~ Missy Parkin

The PBA U.S. Open may not pay out the most money to its top finishers of all the big bowling tournaments in the world, but it is arguably the most prestigious tournament of them all, and it is conducted on what are surely among the most demanding lane conditions of all elite bowling tournaments, the flat 42-foot U.S. Open pattern.

In this year's U.S. Open, 394 of the finest professional and amateur bowlers from several continents gathered at the fabled 82-lane Brunswick Zone Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J. on Tuesday to loft and grind their way through three 6-game blocks over three consecutive days of qualifying before the field was winnowed down to the cashier's round of 98 for another 8 games of qualifying Friday morning prior to being cut to the top 24. Those top 24 will now bowl one 8-game block of round-robin match play on Friday evening and two blocks Saturday to determine the four stepladder finalists for Sunday's live ESPN telecast at 3 pm ET.

If you've been watching PBA Xtra Frame this week, you've seen some remarkable bowling, enjoyed expert coverage by Mike J. Laneside, Jason Thomas, and Jackie Bowling, heard some great guest commentary from the likes of PBA legend Mark Roth, Johnny Petraglia Jr., PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, and 14-year-old bowling phenom Kamron Doyle, and you've no doubt gained a huge appreciation for just how incredibly difficult it is to cash in the U.S. Open and how tremendously well someone has to bowl to make it to the top 24 on those lane conditions.

You would have also seen the aforementioned Kamron Doyle become the youngest bowler ever to make the cashier's round of the U.S. Open, finishing in 61st place, ahead of a panoply of big name bowlers including Walter Ray Williams Jr., Tommy Jones, Kelly Kulick, Amletto Monacelli, Tom Baker, and Dick Allen in the cashier's round and a plethora of other outstanding bowlers who didn't cash.

You would have seen 64-year-old bowling legend Johnny Petraglia remarkably make the cut and finish in a very respectable 78th place.

You would have seen USBC Queens winner Missy Parkin bowl phenomenally well against her male counterparts to average 210.84 and finish 9th in the cashier's round, setting her up for match play and a possible TV appearance on Sunday. No woman has ever made it into match play in the PBA U.S.Open before. She also finished higher in the recent USBC Masters than any woman ever has before when she ended up in 11th place.

You would have seen multiple PBA titlists Jason Belmonte and Osku Palerma two-hand their way into the top 24, while lesser known but no less exciting two-hander Brian Valenta lofted the ball 30 feet down the lane while standing on the approach of the adjacent lane to crush the pins repeatedly and impress even the hard-to-impress Mark Roth who was a guest commentator at the time.

You would have seen Sean Rash shoot a desperation 289 to leap from well down the field into the top 24 with two games to go and then flail his way out of the cut.

You would have seen 50-year-old Pete Weber bid for an unprecedented 5th U.S. Open title by finishing 10th in the cashier's round.

You would have seen P.J. Sonday using mostly one strike ball all week to finish the cashier's round in 5th place, while defending champion Norm Duke, Masters Champion Mike Fagan, and a bevy of other great bowlers including Chris Barnes, Bill O'Neill, Dan McLelland, Rhino Page, and Jason Couch did what great bowlers do and make it to the top 24 for match play of the U.S. Open.

And last but not least, you would have seen Ryan Shafer show why he has to be far and away the best player never to win a major title. He ran away and hid from the rest of the field by averaging a blistering 224 on impossible lane conditions and leading second place Mike Fagan by 170 pins.

If you don't get PBA Xtra Frame, it's not too late to sign up and catch the 24 games of match play and expert commentary today and tomorrow. In any case, be sure to tune into ESPN on Sunday to watch the televised finals of the greatest bowling tournament of them all. And you can get the official scores and major backstories at the PBA website.

Storm's Illustrious Staff's Advice on Increasing and Maintaining Rev Count

Do you want to increase the revolutions on your ball or, at least, be more consistent with the revs you do generate? If so, and it seems that almost everybody does, the staff at Storm have some suggestions that I gleaned from Storm's Facebook page. Here are some of the more notable ones:

 "Sounds to me like there are some timing issues, as well as some muscle in the swing that is causing the inconsistencies. It's tough to tell without physically seeing it, but the key is achieving effortless power." ~ Jeff Carter

"Go to the gym and work on your leg strength, flexibility, and your cardio. You should see a dramatic improvement after a few good workouts. I wanted to increase my rev rate this year so I intensified my routine at the gym and my rev rate went from 360 to 400." ~ Ryan Shafer

"I would try to use a few less revs. You should be able to be more consistent if you find a release that you can repeat." ~ Tom Hess

"Sounds like a timing issue. Make sure to get the slide foot to the foul line ahead of the ball." ~ Randy Pedersen

"It's not all about revs. Consistency is the key though, so you are right about that. Be sure to work on practicing your release. Make it as consistent as possible. One step drills and foul line drills can help with this." ~ Jason Belmonte

"It's tough to say without watching you bowl. I think it's key to make sure you have a consistent timing. Also practice hard on having the same hand position at the moment of release." ~ Andres Gomez

"Well, honestly I'm not sure. I'm not a big guy, so I won't tell you to work out more or pump iron. I'm considered a "tweener," and I would much rather be consistent in hitting my mark than the amount of revs I have on the ball." ~ Pete Weber

"Make sure to accelerate through the release area, not before." ~ Norm Duke

Southwest Region Wichita Open Draws Top Bowlers

"I could have had another weekend of golfing, but I felt like bowling was more important than golf."

--Pete Weber

If you're a garden variety PBA regional player with visions of winning this weekend's Southwest Region Wichita Open at Thunderbird Bowl, I hope you brought your A game and have some help from "upstairs." Because you're going to need both in spades to beat exempt players Chris Barnes, Pete Weber, Sean Rash, Lonnie Waliczek, and Nathan Bohr along with the rest of the kind of talented field you can rightly expect to encounter in Wichita if you're going to cash that winner's check at the end.

If I were a regional player looking to earn some money in this tournament, I don't know if I'd be thrilled to bowl against these guys and to measure my game against theirs, or cursing them for picking on us little guys.

Well, actually, I think it would be the former, at least at the outset. But if I didn't bowl well and they did, it might end up being the latter. I know one thing. Even though I wouldn't bowl this tournament, there's only one place I'd even think of being today if I lived in or anywhere near Wichita.

You can read more about the tournament and its stellar participants here.

Bowling Video of the Day--Dealing With Bowling's Cruel Nature

"I don't believe in bad luck or bad karma. I believe you just do what you can do and if the pins fall, the pins fall."

--Jason Belmonte

"I think it's one of the toughest sports to deal with mentally."

--Chris Loschetter

"It is how I make my living, it is how I pay my bills, but the bottom line is bowling IS just a game."

--Michael Haugen

"It took me a long time on tour to realize that you couldn't change the outcome of something and to let it go."

--Tommy Jones

"I think this is really the only sport in the whole world that you can throw your very, very best shot and still get nine."

--Pete Weber

The quotes above are from a great new PBA short video that asks, How do you deal with the cruel nature of bowling? The prevailing theme in player responses is, yes, bowling can be a cruel sport where you think you've thrown a great ball and you get an awful tap or you suddenly just fall apart, but you put it behind you, focus on applying your proven skill on the next shot, let 'er rip, and accept what happens. All easy to say but often much more difficult to put into practice. Yet it can be argued that the players in the video are as good as they are at least partly because they're able to apply this advice better than most. May we all learn to apply it better to our own games.

You can watch the video below.

Give Great Bowlers More Respect

During last week’s U.S. Open, two excellent bowler profile articles appeared in the New York Times that had more in common than I would like to think.

The first was about Walter Ray Williams Jr. It began with the words: “The man many consider the best bowler in history arrived at the United States Open virtually unnoticed.” Later, it described how he “parked his motor home in the lot, walked into the site of the United States Open--his favorite event and one he has won twice--and received roughly the same reception as everyone else in the building.” I also remember someone commenting on PBA Xtra Frame recently that there were very few people watching Walter Ray bowl qualifying.

How is it that this man, of whom Norm Duke is quoted as saying, “He’s the very best, I think, ever,” receives so little recognition outside or even inside his sport from sports and bowling fans?

The article attributes much of this to Walter Ray’s self-described “loner” personality. No doubt there’s some truth to this, along with the fact that Walter has never been a flashy player or personality like, say, Pete Weber. But does one of the greatest bowlers if not the greatest bowler of all time need to be a raging extrovert or a master of flamboyance to receive his due from no less than the bowling fans who flock to major tournaments such as the U.S. Open?

Can you think of any other sports where active all-time champions can walk amongst their biggest fans “virtually unnoticed”? I’m not a golf fan, but Jack Nicklaus never struck me as a particularly outgoing or flamboyant guy, and neither does Tiger Woods, yet neither had any trouble being noticed if not mobbed by adoring crowds. So, why not Walter Ray Williams Jr.?

Some might say it’s because bowling fans are too intelligent or classy for hero-worship. Oh, they respect what Walter Ray has accomplished, but they’re too cool to let it show. Too “cool” to even stand behind him and watch professional bowling’s all-time champion and seven time Player of the Year bowl in a big tournament?

The second New York Times article was about Kelly Kulick. It detailed her unbelievable season last year and how little recognition, beyond an initial flash of limited media attention, and financial reward she received from it all. “No endorsement offers. No big payday...No calls to appear with Oprah, Ellen, or Rachel Ray, which she really wanted. No lasting mainstream recognition. No new car,” says the article. And I’m guessing that she doesn’t receive much more notice from bowling fans at tournaments than does Walter Ray despite her miraculous accomplishments last year.

Why does bowling draw so little appreciation from even its own fans that even its biggest stars go “virtually unnoticed”? And how can bowling thrive at the professional or any level as long as this continues to be the case?

I’m glad America’s premiere newspaper featured articles about these two great bowlers last week. But if bowling fans themselves don’t start giving players like Walter Ray and Kelly Kulick more attention and respect, professional bowling's future doesn't look very bright.

Bowling Video of the Day--Hambone Mania

Bowling Quote of the Day--Pete Weber as Lost's Sawyer

"Lost's lovable bad bay was Sawyer, a rogue career con man who constantly vacillated between self-interest and genuine self-sacrificing heroism. PDW embodies the bad boy persona on the PBA Tour, with his take-no-prisoners mentality and numerous emotional outbursts out on the lanes. Sit down with Pete off the lanes, however, and you will find that he is one of the most down-to-earth, giving people you'll ever hope to meet."
--Jason Thomas

Crotch-Chopping in the PBA?

"Right here, right now!"
--Pete Weber

I think Pete Weber is a lot more popular with bowling fans than Chris Barnes is, but some don't like Pete either. This became very evident after a tournament earlier this year when Pete lashed out at a photographer who took photos of him during his approach. He stuck a 10 pin and then berated the female photographer for distracting him with the audible clicking of her camera and warned--some would say threatened--her not to do it again. I blogged about this in my entry Is Pete Weber a Bad Boy?

The dislike that some feel for Weber or, at least, for some of his antics on the lanes surfaced again after he won the Marathon Open last Sunday. I wrote that I thought he exhibited a new level of touching humility and impressive maturity during his exciting performance. But not everyone agreed with me, judging from comments on the PBA website. Here are some of the choicer ones:

"PDW is a great competitor but a horrible role model for young people tuning in to watch. There were other fierce competitors like Earl Anthony and Pete's father, Dick, who wanted to win so badly but had class Pete will never know."

"Just like every other sport, bowling is turning into all hype and no class. Pete Weber is nothing but drug head and has very little class. It's no wonder the professional tour is having such a hard time keeping its head above water."

"I agree with many of you posters that PDW offers some of the best and also the worst to the PBA. His talent is unquestionable, but his manners and attitude sometimes are. I watched him in person 2 weeks ago at the Long Island Open. He did not have a good qualifying session and finished somewhere around 82nd. His last 2 qualifying games were 171 & 156, after which he stormed off the lanes in a huff & screamed at people in his way to move so he could make a quick exit. It was not a very classy display, and unfortunately not unusual for PDW. When he's going well he's a totally different person than when he's not. I was happy to see him once again earn the winners circle, but a little more class and sportsmanship would be nice to see also. Crotch chops on TV? C'mon....."

"I like Pete, glad he won, but the telecast being on Easter Sunday made the crotch chops seem pretty shallow and insensitive in my opinion."

"The crotch chops make him seem like an uneducated fool to any casual observer."

"both the crotch-chop and the sunglasses are ridiculous looking for a member of the "professional" bowlers association."

"That is exactly what it means. It is a vulgar gesture, one of contempt, that essentially means "Right here!" (his crotch) and is comparable to means "Suck my d**k" or "B**w me." Even though he directs it toward the pins, not his competitors, it still has no place in the PBA and more than likely any other PBA member would have been fined and/or suspended. But he's a Weber."

"Pete is a great bowler. There will never be any doubt about that and he deserves respect and congrats on his victory. But with reactions like his crotch chop, as a person, he's a P-Pretty D-Disgusting W-Weasel! Just my opinion. Nothing personal."

What most of these comments refer to is a defiant gesture called the "crotch-chop" that Weber sometimes makes after he gets an important strike. He borrowed it from professional wrestling and it, along with his wearing sunglasses every time he competes, has become his trademark. If you've ever seen the wonderful bowling documentary film A League of Ordinary Gentlemen," you'll know that the PBA actively encouraged Pete to inject as much excitement as he could into the game by virtually any means he could, including the crotch-chop, and that he was plenty willing to oblige. Still, many people don't like it or him for doing it.

I used to be one of those people. I grew up watching the PBA Tour during the staid, at least in bowling circles, 60's and 70's, and you didn't see crotch-chops, shout-outs, and smack talking by the bowlers back then. The bowlers were generally quiet and very reserved and so was the audience. The atmosphere was one of respectful solemnity. Then guys like Marshall Holman and Pete Weber came along to blow the lid off traditional PBA telecast decorum. Though I admired their bowling, I thought they were jerks, and I usually rooted against them.

I think it was when I watched the aforementioned A League of Ordinary Gentlemen that I changed my opinion of Pete Weber. I came to see him not as a crotch-chopping, sunglass wearing caricature of a jerk who just happens to have a beautiful and devastatingly effective bowling style, but as a flawed but essentially decent human being struggling under great pressure to earn a respectable living doing what he loves and being grossly underpaid, like most of the other players on tour, for how well he's able to do it. And even though he's behaved in ways since then that I've found questionable at times, I continue to see the good person beneath the flamboyantly "bad boy" image he's cultivated, and I appreciate his bowling talent and skill more than ever.

Moreover, when he won Sunday, not only did I not feel put off by his trademark gestures, but I actually got swept up in the intensity they expressed. I was loving every incandescent moment of PDW's powerful performance. But now that the white hot intensity of Sunday's telecast has faded some and I've read the comments above and had time to give matters a little thought, I have mixed feelings about what went down in Sunday's telecast. On the one hand, I side with a commenter on pba.com who wrote:

"I have an overall opinion that covers all of the controversial issues when it comes to bowling as far as swearing on the air, crotch chops, smack-talk, etc. And that is that as long as it comes across as authentic from passion and intensity I am all for it. It if comes across as contrived or just being outrageous for the sake of being outrageous or on purpose for ratings, then I don't like it."

I thought Weber's antics at least appeared to be spontaneous expressions of his competitive intensity on the lanes, and I enjoyed them. Yet, on the other hand, when I more dispassionately consider what a crotch-chop actually signifies and ponder the growing incivility and vulgarity that seem to permeate our culture, I wonder if I really want the behavior of the most accomplished professionals of the sport I love most to represent that sport on the world stage the way Chris Barnes, Brad Angelo, and, especially, Pete Weber did at times last Sunday.

I don't have a quick and easy answer to the question except, at this point, to say that I wish Pete Weber would find a different way to express his competitive exuberance.

How do you feel about all of this?

Bowling Video of the Day--2010 Marathon Open

Some people missed all or part of yesterday's ESPN telecast of the Marathon Open. Others would no doubt like to see all or part of it again. You can do this anytime you want if you have PBA Xtra Frame, although you'll probably have to wait a few days for it to become available. But if you want to see it right now, it's available on YouTube in HD right now. Normally, I'd embed the videos below, but these videos have windows that are too big for that. So I'll provide links to all 12 parts instead.

Part 1 (Introduction)
Part 2 (Match 1: Wes Malott vs Brad Angelo, Frames 1-6 1/2)
Part 3 (Match 1, Frames 6 1/2 to end)
Part 4 (Match 2: Brad Angelo vs Chris Barnes, Frames 1-3)
Part 5 (Match 2, Frames 4-5 1/2)
Part 6 (Match 2, Frames 5 1/2 to end)
Part 7 (Match 3: Brad Angelo vs Pete Weber, Frames 1-5)
Part 8 (Match 3, Frames 6 to end)
Part 9 (Final Match: Pete Weber vs Mike Scroggins: Warm Up)
Part 10 (Final Match, Frames 1-4 1/2)
Part 11 (Final Match, Frames 4 1/2 to end)
Part 12 (Post game interview)

Why Do So Many Love to Hate Chris Barnes?

Why do so many people seem to dislike Chris Barnes and slam him every chance they get? Now I admit that I've been paying more attention to these things since I started writing this blog, but I don't recall such widespread animosity and ridicule toward Barnes prior to this year. While I don't remember him ever receiving the adulation accorded to such stellar contemporaries as PDW, Norm Duke, and Walter Ray, I also don't recall him being the butt of so much scorn and derision as he has been this year.

Here are some illustrative recent comments from the PBA website of what I'm talking about:

"I seen in Chris Barnes again why I cant stand the guy. It is a shame all that talent in one jerk. Your big mouth and bad attitude never fails."

"What a crybaby Chris. Your actions today degrade the sport since you are to be a role model and spokesperson for the PBA."

"Barnes is an a**hole."

"As for the display of arrogance from Chris Barnes in the Brad Angelo match, you are nothing short of a cry baby Chris. This is what is wrong with thePBA. There are so many guys out there like Parker, Scroggy, Walter Ray, Norm, Pete....and others that have so much class and make the PBA what it is. Your attitude only hurts a very frail organization."

"although i do appreciate and respect barnes ability to bowl, he certaintly does make it easy for one to root against him. especially knowing that he banked alot of coin with a couple of lucky brooklyns himself."

"You can't help but like the way they zoom in on Barnes' pouty face. They do it every time. It's hilarious."

Of course, these comments refer to the way Barnes reacted to a Brad Angelo crossover strike in their match yesterday. Angelo carried the strike and threw up his arms in mock pride and Barnes made some snide remarks about Brooklyns and "real strikes" afterward. But it's important to note that Barnes and Angelo amicably smiled at one another and shook hands afterward, and Barnes graciously congratulated his victor. And I seriously doubt that if PDW, Norm Duke, or Walter Ray reacted the way Barnes did to Angelo's lucky strike, they would receive the same almost universal condemnation that Barnes has. I suspect that most people would have praised Weber for his "smack talk." So, why do they blast Barnes for it?

Moreover, the ridicule I've seen leveled at Barnes this year seems to go well beyond what happened yesterday. It seems to me as though everything he does is criticized or worse. If he loses a match on TV or in one of his "Chris Barnes Challenges," it's because he "choked" or is "overrated." If he wins, it's because he "got lucky" or beat up on an inferior opponent. He can't win either way. Why is that?

It's tempting to say that people are simply jealous of a guy with so much obvious talent and skill, a guy whom those in the know have repeatedly called the best bowler on tour and in the world for the past several years. Yet, did people get jealous of PDW, Norm Duke, or Walter Ray when they received the same kind of praise? Guys like Randy Pedersen keep calling Walter Ray the best bowler who ever lived. Do people slam Walter the way they do Chris?

Another possible answer is that people get down on those who don't live up to their lofty reputation. Bowling experts keep saying how good Barnes is, but he keeps losing on TV. Never mind that he's run into some buzzsaws on TV lately--think Kelly Kulick's 265 in the TOC, Walter Ray's 290 in the Masters, and Angelo's 256 yesterday. This means that three of his most recent opponents on TV shot a combined series of 811 against him. No matter how good you are, it's pretty hard to beat that.

Granted, Barnes, despite the fact that he's bowled better on TV and in qualifying and match play than many seem willing to acknowledge, hasn't lived up to his reputation and challenged for Player of the Year this season the way he normally does. But the same can be said of Norm Duke and Wes Malott. They too have had what everyone would consider to be off seasons, but they aren't being lampooned and reviled the way Barnes is. Why is that?

I'm guessing that there's something about Barnes' personality that rubs a lot of people the wrong way. People perceive him as arrogant, smirky, and cold. So they slam him for every slip of the tongue, every misfire on the lanes, every expression of displeasure on his face, and every loss of a match that he "should" have won.

Now I don't suppose that Barnes feels all that bothered by any of this. He probably pays it no mind. He's not out there to be liked; he's out to win. But for some reason, I hate to see a guy as talented and skillful and Chris Barnes fail to receive his due for being as talented and skillful as he is. I hate to see a great player like Barnes not only not get the respect he deserves, but be slammed unfairly at every turn.

So, I'm paying him some respect here and not jumping on the Barnes Hate Train. I'm still saying that Chris Barnes is a great bowler, and, by every indication I've seen, a loving and devoted husband and father, and a true and honorable professional who's a credit to bowling and to the PBA. Furthermore, I predict that "HE'LL BE BACK" to silence his growing legion of naysayers. Well, maybe not "silence" all of them. You can't silence irrational animus. But you CAN hang in there and show your more reasonable detractors that you deserve your reputation for being one of the best bowlers of this or any era.

Bowling Video of the Day--Pete Weber vs Mike Scroggins

Here is video of an earlier meeting between Pete Weber and Mike Scroggins. This was at the Dick Weber Open in 2008.

Bowling Quote of the Day--4/4/10

"I'm glad he didn't choose the Cheetah pattern, because I'm no good on the Cheetah pattern."
--Pete Weber, referring to Mike Scroggins exercising his choice, as tournament leader, to have the players bowl on the Dick Weber pattern today

A New and Improved Pete Weber Wins His 35th Title and Gives Walter Ray an Easter Gift

"That's right...there you go, Rob."
--Pete Weber, shouting to ESPN bowling announcer Rob Stone while giving him a crotch-chopping hambone salute

“I feel like I just won my first title. I don’t know what to say. It’s been three years since I won. I thought I was never going to win again.”
--Pete Weber

This isn't the article I was expecting to write today. After watching Mike Scroggins run away from the rest of the pack yesterday, I was expecting him to win on the same Dick Weber oil pattern today that he dominated yesterday and for me to be grudgingly congratulating him not only on his title but also on winning Player of the Year. I say "grudgingly congratulating" because I really wanted Walter Ray Williams Jr., to win that seventh PoY award, but I was all but convinced that he had a proverbial snowball's chance in Hades of doing it.

And so, after Scroggins won the PoY award this afternoon, I was going to write that it really doesn't matter all that much who wins it. It's just a hollow and superfluous label pinned on someone determined by an imperfect scoring system to be worthy of it. It doesn't definitively tell us who the Player of the Year really is or that such a label is even meaningful except in cases where someone has performed vastly better than anyone else. And in that rare case, we don't need a points system and Player of the Year award to tell us who we already know the best performer of the year has been.

But now that Pete Weber is the newly minted Marathon Open champion and 35 time national titlist and Walter Ray Williams Jr. has been crowned this year's PBA Player of the Year, I have to change everything. I'm compelled to beamingly congratulate Walter Ray on winning his double record setting PoY award and Pete Weber for giving us a marvelous, lingering glimpse of the old Pete Weber, minus the overbearing obnoxiousness of the past, en route to winning his first national title in three, long years of drought in impressive fashion and being so touchingly open with his emotions and so pleasingly gracious in victory.

When Pete Weber is at the top of his game, I can't think of anyone more magnificent to watch on the lanes. That patented, gracefully swooping approach and follow-through, that marvelous slow, hooking ball to the pins that magically carries pocket hits of every variety is one of the bowling wonders of the world. And let me tell you, as good as he looks on TV, his style looks even more beautiful in person. Even when he's not scoring well, as he wasn't the last time I saw him in person in that right-handed debacle at Serra Bowl nine or ten years ago, he still looks great doing it. Go see him in person while and if you have the chance.

But something that stood out about Pete today aside from his always gorgeous style was his attitude. It was a perfect and joyful blend of swagger and humility, of laserlike determination to win and profound acceptance of the fact that he might not, of colorful crotch-chops and shout-outs and cordiality and respect for his opponents. And his exultant tears at the end and effusive words of gratitude to everyone who made his victory possible were genuine and moving. It seems that an older Pete Weber has lost none of his competitive fire, but that his fire has been transformed by trials and setbacks in the crucible of life experience to forge an emerging maturity and wisdom that lifts one of the most, if not the most, charismatic and exciting bowlers on the planet to new heights of greatness.

If this season of the PBA Lumber Liquidators Tour had to come to an end today, at least it ended on an exciting and very satisfying note. Congratulations, Pete. Congratulations Walter.