Last night I bowled my sport league in the house in which Leanne and Gary Hulsenberg bowl league and have their pro shop. Given the fact that Leanne is seeded second in tonight's stepladder finals of the biggest women's bowling tournament in history, I kind of thought I might hear the place buzzing with excitement. After all, most of the people present at that time were pretty serious bowlers or solid bowling fans, and many of them knew Leanne and Gary well, were customers of theirs, or were even friends of theirs. Yet, I heard nary a word about Leanne most of the evening.
Finally, I said something about Leanne making the finals to a guy who, I think, helped Leanne and Gary get their pro shop up and running, and he responded with a very matter-of-fact and underwhelming, "Yeah, she bowled pretty well."
"Pretty well?" I said silently to myself. "She bowled fantastically well against some of the best freakin' female bowlers on the planet and is just two matches away from the biggest title in women's bowling, to be won on the grandest stage, Dallas Cowboys Stadium, in bowling history, and all you can say, in an indifferent monotone, is that she's bowled "pretty well""?
He then followed that up with a quip from a PBA star friend of his about the U.S. Women's Open shot this year being "Houseshot.com," thereby, if inadvertently, devaluing Leanne's accomplishment by suggesting that she performed it on easy conditions.
And so we have illustrated here what may be one of the biggest reasons why elite bowling and even bowling in general seem as though they may be in an inexorable death spiral: hardly anybody seems to give a sh*t. I say "seems to," because maybe, deep down, a lot of people are as excited as I am that Leanne is in the finals and about elite bowling in general, but, for some perverse reason, they don't dare let it show because it wouldn't look "cool."
Then again, maybe they really just don't give a damn, like the commentators on bowl.com who were ho-hum about a high school senior holding his own with the PBA's best in the recent Team USA tryouts for the upcoming Pan Am games. Or the scratch level junior bowlers in my "PBA Experience" league a few summers back who were too busy playing on their smartphones to watch Leanne Barrette when she threw the ball. Or the guys in my scratch league who don't know who won the PBA tournament of the week before or who's doing well on tour. Or the fans who virtually ignore Walter Ray Williams Jr. when he walks into a bowling center before a big tournament.
Am I being silly, or does bowling have a serious under-enthusiasm problem? ESPN's much maligned bowling announcer Rob Stone once sat in with the guys of PBA Xtra Frame and talked about how bowling fans need to get more solidly behind the players and show more enthusiasm, and how PBA telecasts need to rise above the somber occasions of yesteryear. I am now more and more convinced that he was right, just as I am equally convinced that his advice will continue to be ignored and even ridiculed by "bowling fans" throughout the land until the PBA has gone the way of the PWBA and all you'll be able to see in what few bowling centers remain open amidst a mass extinction of bowling centers far and wide is kiddie birthday parties and adolescent rock n' bowl.
In the meantime, I'll continue to unabashedly celebrate the sport of bowling here in this blog and brim with enthusiasm for tonight's U.S. Women's Open finals, even if I wont' be able to watch it live.
Many have criticized the PBA mercilessly over the past few years for everything from its comparatively meager prize funds and diminishing tour stops to ESPN announcer Rob Stone's sacrilegious "hambones" to recent telecasts featuring blaring rock bands, cheerleaders, smack-talking Dicks, and bleating vuvuzelas.
Critics complain that the PBA is demeaning professional bowling and selling out its base supporters who deeply love and respect the sport by resorting to crude marketing gimmicks to grab hold of younger, uninitiated fans with gnat-like attention spans, iPhones, Facebook, and a zillion-and-one increasingly gaudy, glitzy, and energetic entertainment alternatives vying for their attention and their dollars.
These complaints are especially prevalent in the PBA Forums of the PBA website. So, it's not surprising that Tom Clark, the Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the PBA, recently chose that very forum to meet his harshest critics head on. Challenging questions and thoughtful suggestions were submitted to him, and he responded with trademark forthrightness and wit.
Over the next few days, this blog will present and consider some of the highlights of Mr. Clark's responses and invite your comments.
Some Season Highlights
Yesterday, I quoted Mr. Clark's overview of the challenges the PBA and its players face in today's market and of the misperceptions he thinks a lot of the PBA's most vociferous critics have of the organization's struggles. These words followed a litany of what Mr Clark considers to have been some of the highlights of the 2010-2011 season. Some of the highlights he listed were:
~ The first PBA telecast on ABC-TV in 14 years and Nelson Burton Jr's participation in that telecast.
~ The TOC boasting the largest prize fund "in bowling history."
~ Extended live television coverage of some of the majors.
~ An unsung competitor from Korea winning a title by beating his Korean opponent in the final match of the PBA Scorpion Championship.
~ Bill O'Neill's masterful domination of "a WSOB qualifying marathon across five patterns and 60 games in one of the most demanding tests of bowling ever."
~ Widespread media coverage of Mika Koivuniemi's299-100 victory over Tom Daugherty in the TOC.
~ Unprecedented live match play round coverage of a major.
~ Norm Duke's "stone 8-pin" followed by Mika Koivuniemi's 10-pin miss to hand Duke the U.S. Open title.
Clark Criticizes Misreporting
Mr. Clark believes that the highlights he lists demonstrate that the 2010-2011 PBA season was a "super year." But he laments that the critics flooding the PBA message boards and other forums with unreasonable complaints and misinformation obscure this.
For instance, he tells of how he once joked on Facebook that the three "cheerleaders" working the crowd during the final telecast of the season were paid $7,000 (they were actually paid $50) each out of the "PBA player buffet budget," and a bowling webcast host who should have known better reported Mr. Clark's "facetious comments" as fact. This same host reported numerous other falsehoods as fact over the course of the season. Clark says:
"I share that story with you because it is just one small example of the type of incorrect information that somehow becomes accepted as “truth” or fact because of the lack of a filter on the burgeoning new social media on the internet. Unprofessional, unqualified, uninformed, often bitter, often frustrated, agenda-driven people suddenly have a voice, often an anonymous one like on this board, and too many spread lies, rumor and paint inaccurate portrayals that somehow shape public opinion and somehow in today’s world that is OK. It’s really sad, it’s unfortunate that it happens on serious issues that shape our lives and even here on this relatively trivial message board almost every single day."
Mr. Clark also writes about how commenters on Facebook's PBA page were criticizing the PBA for allegedly paying only 16 of 250 spots in the WSOB when, in fact, it had a "better than 1:3 payout ratio," and about how other commenters insisted that the "exempt tour model was keeping people from their dreams (when the reality is most events were open last year, none were completely closed, and some of the most compelling stories of the year came from players who were not exempt at the start of the season)."
Mr. Clark concludes the opening part of his response with the following:
"I understand the frustration people in and around bowling have. But they shouldn’t have to make things up or wildly exaggerate to make a point...Thankfully, for every negative person there are many positive voices being heard because of the new media, and greater opportunities for people to share them so I suppose it all works out in the end...I personally appreciate the passion most of you here have for this sport. But pro bowling needs your help, not your venom. Please redirect that passion by demanding the media give coverage and respect to our sport, by thanking sponsors with your letters and financial support, by making sure your local center promotes the pro game, by supporting the professionals you admire on the lanes. Don’t get me wrong, criticism is great. Complaining and pointing out what you don’t like or think is wrong is great. As long as it is based on reality. Merely proclaiming bowling is dead or rooting for the PBA’s demise, and dishing negative facts without any confirmation or characterizing things as “atrocious” and the like while not doing anything positive is just really lame and really you should just go away. But wow, I’ve beaten that point to death."
I agree with Mr. Clark that people should check their facts before criticizing the PBA for things it hasn't even done and that they should keep in mind the tremendous challenges the PBA faces in making its product appealing to sufficient numbers of fans and sponsors and do everything they can to support the PBA in its herculean efforts to live long and prosper. On the other hand, I hope that the powers-that-be in the PBA don't defensively dismiss legitimate criticisms and suggestions that the PBA's most ardent fans serve up in the PBA Forums and social media. If we all work together, perhaps the PBA can survive and even thrive.
What's Next?
In my next post, I'll start addressing Mr. Clark's responses to the questions and suggestions that were put to him, beginning with Why the vuvuzelas?
If you wish, you can jump ahead of me and read the whole discussion here after, if need be, registering.
"I absolutely love Mike Jakubowski doing the announcing with Randy Pederson. Jakubowski, who handles the PBA Xtra Frame Webcasts, meshes fantastically with Pedersen and is, in my opinion, far superior to Rob Stone, Pedersen's regular ESPN partner who is busy covering the World Cup. I'm not a Stone hater and I think he's better than predecessor Dave Ryan, but Jakubowski clearly knows bowling a lot better than Stone and he and Pedersen just sounded far better together than Stone and Pedersen ever have."
~ Mohr Clings to Lead as PBA Senior Northern California Classic Field Heads Into Match Play Finals -- "Reigning PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska, still in search of his first title of the 2010 season, held onto a two-pin lead at the end of qualifying Tuesday in the PBA Senior Northern California Classic at Harvest Park Bowl.Mohr finished the 16 games of qualifying with a 3,624 total, two pins ahead of four-time PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year Tom Baker of King, N.C., as the top 32 players headed into Wednesday’s single-elimination match play finals..."
~ Wayne Webb Goes for Third Straight PBA Senior U.S. Open Title June 6-11 in Las Vegas -- "PBA Hall of Famer and two-time defending champion Wayne Webb will attempt to become the first three-time winner of the PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Suncoast when the 2010 edition is conducted June 6-11 at the Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas. Webb will be among approximately 250 bowlers ages 50 and over who will compete in the first major of the 2010 PBA Senior Tour season...In 2009 Webb successfully defended his Senior U.S. Open title by defeating Brian Voss, 214-188, in the championship match. In 2008 he defeated top qualifier Johnny Petraglia, 204-172, for his first PBA Senior Tour title...The 52-year-old Webb, who recently moved to Columbus, Ohio, from Sacramento, Calif., to open Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, won the Senior Columbus Open in April for his third Senior Tour win and despite having to deal with the demands of being a new proprietor, is confident heading into this year’s Senior U.S. Open..."
~ Rob Stone: more than just hambones and yahtzees -- "He inspires critics to yearn for days when bowlers kept score by abacus, the lanes were lit by gas lamp, and any display of passion more boisterous than a golf clap warranted permanent expulsion from the bowling center. He has turned a ham hock into the most bitterly polarizing symbol the sport has ever known. He is . . . well, maybe not quite the most interesting man in the world, but if you listen to his hissing chorus of detractors, you just might think so. All he needs now is a bottle of Dos Equis and a gruff Latin accent. He is Rob Stone, Lord of the Hambone, jester in the royal court of future hall of famer Randy Pedersen, and the face glued to dart boards in the homes of bowling purists from coast to coast..."
~ Robert Andersson wins men's division at 3rd European Bowling Tour Masters -- "Robert Andersson (pictured left), Sweden, and Kamilla Kjeldsen (right), Denmark are the men's and women's champions of the 3rd European Bowling Tour Masters 2010, the season-ending event of the 2009 European Bowling Tour. The winners each received 4.000 Euro..."
~ Surasak Manuwong averages over 265 to lead 43rd Singapore International Open qualifying -- "Surasak Manuwong (pictured left), Thailand, posted a huge 1061 4-game series at Orchid Bowl at Orchid Country Club in Singapore to lead the men's Open Masters qualifying in the 43rd Singapore International Open. Manuwong's 265.25 average propelled him atop the Overseas Pool, 91 pins ahead of second-placed Aaron Kong, Malaysia, with 970. Howard Saw, overtook Justin Lim (right), both Singapore, by six pins to take the lead in the Local Pool with 956 or an average of 239,00...On the women's side, local bowler Kristel Oh chalked up a 963 series to jump to the top of the Local Pool and to overtake previous leader Cherie Tan by 26 pins. Zandra Aziela (pictured left), Malaysia, held on to the lead in the Overseas Pool with 931 and an average of 232.75 for four games. Li Hsiao Ping, Chinese Taipei, is 21 pins behind in second place with Ivana Hie, Indonesia, in third with 883...A total of 42 men (39 qualifiers plus the top 3 from the desperado squad) and 30 women including defending champions Shaker Al-Hassan, UAE, and Sharon Koh, Malaysia, will advance to the Masters Finals..."
~ The 11th Frame: Robert Smith latest star to retire from PBA Tour -- "Robert Smith is the latest star to announce his retirement from what's left of the PBA Tour...There is good and bad in the new Tour, and there has been passionate debate on all the changes on the pba.com message boards. What isn't debatable is that it's very different. What also isn't debatable is that bowlers should be thankful that any PBA still exists -- too many just don't get the economic climate for sports seeking sponsors and other commercial ties. Virtually every other sport is suffering -- the main differences are in where the sports started from...But the PBA's struggles aren't the only reason Smith is retiring, according to the following statement he posted on the PBA message board..."
~ Quitting While You're Ahead -- "Is it possible to get too good at bowling? For some, I think the answer is yes. There are a few freaks of nature who seem to dominate the game from age 2 throughout their entire lives. But for most people, becoming a good bowler takes practice. So, the question again: is it possible to get too good?..."
~ Arlington's Bob Learn Jr. finds new niche as bowling center marketing coordinator -- "Like too many Americans, Bob Learn Jr. faced a dilemma when his job at the United States Bowling Congress was eliminated in February. "At first, I said 'OK, we just moved here,' " said Learn, an Erie, Pa., native. " 'We just sold our home. What do we do.' Four days later, I was fortunate to be working here." A former Professional Bowlers Association touring player who was well-connected in the industry, Learn almost immediately received offers from around the country. But after getting away from Erie's brutal winters, he and wife decided they preferred to stay in North Texas. So when Bill Blackerby, general manager at Fort Worth's Cityview Lanes, contacting him, he was more than happy to take the job. Today, he's marketing coordinator for both Cityview and USA Bowl in Dallas..."
~ Questions on armswing, urethane bowling balls and approach -- "Q: Two coaches advised me to incorporate a free armswing, and I’ve been working on it. My problem is that my ball speed is still slow because the shoulder muscles get really tight going into and at the top of my swing. I have a five-step approach and push the ball into the swing slightly after my second step. Once it reaches the top, I can’t relax my muscles. What should I do?...Q: I am a senior bowler well into my 60s and am very frustrated. I had been using an old urethane bowling ball for decades and decided to upgrade to a new weapon. So I had a 16-lb. ball drilled and, frankly, I can’t handle it. It moves rather dramatically on the back end no matter where I move my target or my feet. Then I obtained another ball, a 14-pounder, and had it drilled for minimum action. Same result: too much back-end. I can flatten the release and try to kill the hook, but that doesn’t always work. Is there any ball that could give good pin action but not be as reactive on house patterns?...Q: I have had both knees replaced, and ever since I’ve had problems bowling. Do you think a one-step approach might help, or should I stay with four steps and practice more? I’ve gone from a 180 average down to 135 — very embarrassing. Any ideas?..."
I was reading the PBA message board and came across the following comments regarding Walter Ray's participation in the PBA Senior Northern California Classic:
"As for the state of bowling in general, I was amazed to see that the number 1 player in the world is bowling in the tourney, with no fee to enter the facility and watch, and there were about 15 or 20 people in the building watching him. If Tiger Woods enters a golf tournament, 60,000 people will shell out 50 bucks just to get within 100 yards of him. It becomes obvious why sponsor money for the PBA is so hard to find."
"The best WRW can do on any shot is a strike, which all bowlers can do.
TW can hole out from a sand trap 200 yards away, over a tree. 99% of golfers wouldn't even attempt that shot.
Pro bowlers play golf in their free time.
Pro golfers do not bowl in their free time."
I think both make good points, but I side more with the first commenter. How many chances do you get to watch a player of Walter Ray's legendary caliber bowl? Yes, his strikes and spares may not be any more impressive than anybody else's, but, by golly, it's the second greatest player in PBA history and current PBA Player of the Year getting those strikes and spares. That should count for something and attract more spectators.
I think Rob Stone makes a valid point that bowlers and bowling fans are just a little too blase about the game, and *I* think they tend to undervalue the game's greats. And as long as that's the case, the PBA will continue to struggle to stay afloat and elite bowling in general will fail to live up to its promise.
"The highlight of the first five frames for me was Norm Duke, who is always unfailingly polite in any social situation, giving a curt answer to Rob Stone's question, "Did you learn anything from watching (Reuer)?" Norm's one-word reply? "No." Ooooooooooo-Kay. Moving right along then. Of course, why would he considering Reuer is a lefty bowling for his first time on TV?" --Jason Thomas, from his article PBA Experience Showdown TV Recap on pba.com
"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 Openchampion 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.
I'm still shaking my head over Walter Ray's six count in the fill ball of the final game of match play. But it may not have made that much of a difference if Tommy Jones had bowled as well against him as he did against Jason Couch that first game. Walter finished as high as he did because he just kept grinding away through qualifying and match play, making all his makable spares and getting a double or turkey every now and then to salt away some decent, if unspectacular, games. But he didn't seem to match up with the lanes as impressively as he often does, and I didn't see him shoot any big games during the week. Still, I wish he'd thrown the "high hard one" on that fill ball. Don't you think that, with his accuracy, he'd have likely knocked down more than six pins, or am I suffering from hindsight is 20/20 itis?
In following the U.S. Open throughout the week, one of my convictions was strongly reinforced. If you subscribe to Xtra Frame and watch the qualifying and, especially. match play, you get so much more out of the tournament than if you watch only the televised finals on Sunday. One thing you would have gained last week is greater respect for Jason Belmonte's dazzling talent and skill as he dominated the lanes, the pins. and his fellow bowlers through much of the tournament until his hamstring injury reduced him to mere mortal status. "Bowling Doctor" Jeff Mark was certainly dazzled by Belmo's ability to adjust his axis tilt to suit his angle of attack, to throw reverse hooks to convert difficult right side spares, and to put the ball where he wants it and repeat shots on the tour's most formidable oil pattern in a way that seems miraculous for a two-handed, thumbless cranker. This guy's got game like we've never seen before, and we'll be seeing a lot more from him as soon as his hamstring heals. I'd love to see how he does in the plastic ball championship coming up shortly.
If you didn't watch Xtra Frame, you also missed Ken Simard's insightful commentary during the final round of match play. Simard bowled the tournament but didn't make it to match play. Too bad. I would have liked to see him bowl. I didn't know this, but he said that a few years ago, his ball was measured in the 690 RPM range at the Kegel Center in Florida. I thought only Robert Smith was capable of that. But he's been trying to tone it down to make his ball more controllable. You can watch a YouTube video of him bowling Wes Malott here.
Without Xtra Frame, you also missed Rob Stone's commentary during the opening part of the final round of match play. He sat in for two or three games and was even more animated and jocular than he is on the ESPN telecasts. If you don't like him, he might have driven you crazy. But if you do like him, you would have probably enjoyed him. You certainly can't deny his energy and enthusiasm. One of the first things he said was that he was disappointed when he walked in the building and it was as quiet as a church. He said bowling fans need to make more noise, show more enthusiasm, and inject more excitement into the sport.
Do you think he's right?
Finally, congratulations to Bill O'Neill who seems poised to attain PBA superstar status. As Jason Thomas reports in his article today, no less an eye for bowling talent than Chris Barnes says that O'Neill is "scary good." He may very well end up this season's Player of the Year with the year he's having.
Love him or hate him, ESPN's bowling announcer Rob Stone sure makes an impression.
I started out not liking him at all because he seemed to know nothing about bowling and tried to fill the void with silly wisecracks. But he's grown on me over time as he's learned more about the game and developed a nice rapport with analyst Randy Pedersen.
I still long for the good old days of Chris Schenkel (although, to be honest, he didn't seem to know any more than Rob Stone about bowling, even after decades of covering the sport) or, better still, Denny Schriner, the bowling announcer par excellence. But I no longer want Rob Stone thrown off the telecast the way I did at first.
I'm amused by the love it or hate it reaction that bowlers seem to have to his coining the irreverent term "hambone" for four strikes in a row and to how it's caught on. It has even inspired About.com's bowling writer to post a series of recommended names in his blog for other strike strings.
Bowling "purists" seem to hate the expression, and the less serious seem to love and embrace it. I guess I'm one of the relatively rare individuals closer to the purist end of the spectrum who, while I won't use the term myself, don't mind other people using it. It's too silly for me, but it doesn't bother me a bit if others want to be silly.
Yet, I think the most amusing thing Rob Stone has come up with is the moniker he pinned on Jack Jurek. When Jurek appeared a few weeks ago on the telecast, Stone began calling him Jack "The Ripper" Jurek, and I don't think I've laughed as hard in years as I did when I heard that.
Now I don't know Jack Jurek personally, and I haven't even seen him bowl that many times on TV, but the overwhelming impression I've nevertheless formed of him and his game is that they're about as far away from "ripping" anyone or anything as anyone or anything could be. During Jurek's appearance in the final match of the USBC Masters in 2006, Randy Pederse said, "You look up 'nice guy' in a dictionary, there's a picture of Jack." And that's how he comes across to me. What's more, unlike power players such as Robert Smith, Sean Rash, Jason Belmonte, and Tommy Jones. Jurek is a much more diminutivestroker of the old school variety. He's a very capable bowler, but his ball seems to nudge the pins over more than it rips them off the deck.
So, Jack "The Ripper" Jurek sounds about as playfully ridiculous as would Mike "The Ripper" Aulby or, for that matter, Wally "The Beast" Cox. Come to think of it, Aulby and Jurek kind of resemble one another in appearance and in the softness, albeit an effective one, of their games. Neither looks like he would or could so much as rip a fly apart much less rip apart pin racks. If you're going to call someone "The Ripper," how about Rudy "The Ripper" Kasimakis for the burly cranker with the intimidating demeanor and pin crushing power?
But Kasimakis' first name isn't Jack, and calling HIM "The Ripper" wouldn't have the delightful irony that leaves me in stitches every time I hear it that Jack "The Ripper" Jurek does. Does Rob Stone appreciate the incongruity of his creation? I don't know. I don't suppose it matters to those of us who do. Does Jack Jurek like his new nickname? I don't know the answer to that either. But I don't suppose there's anything he can do about it even if he doesn't like it. It's going to stick with him for the rest of his life, so he might as well join the rest of us and laugh out loud about it.
