Inside: - The Bowling News

Can an average Joe beat
a PBA pro on TV?
At the age of 7, well before
the age of being able to handle
a big bowling ball, I cut my
head falling against a door in a
bowling “alley” in Fort Worth
that required stitches. I was
playing with my friends.
At this point in my
seven-year-old life, I didn’t like
bowling very much. Mom and
dad brought me there once or
twice a week, but it was pretty
boring, I was too big to be in
the “day care” facility maintained
by the bowling center.
When not forced to sit in the
bowling pit, I was left to find
amusement on my own, well
before the age of any modern
electronics that would set a
seven-year-old free.
In 1959, my family moved to
Hurst, only a few blocks from
another bowling “alley” named
Hurst Bowl.
In an age before video
games, an Internet, or color
televisions, I became “hooked”
on bowling. There was pinball
and shuffle board “bowling”
with pins that popped up
with every puck thrown, but
nothing could compare to the
physical effort and adrenaline
rush of trying to knock all
ten down with two big, heavy
balls.
I went to work there at 14,
I think. I was a porter for a
while. Then I became a “pin
chaser”, a junior mechanic behind
the automatic pinsetters,
the electric powered revolution
that had changed the face of
American Ten Pins. These
were the Brunswick “A’s” and
I was responsible for cleaning
the ball return wheels, changing
filters and responding to
breakdowns.
To prepare the wooden
bowling lanes, I was instructed
Max Gross
to first drag the large wick for
the entire 60 feet from foul line
to pin deck and back to clean
the lanes. Then spray the oil on
each lane with a big “bug can”,
then perform a final drag of the
four foot wide wick to spread
the oil.
As a perk, I got to bowl for
10 cents a game.
I soon got fitted with an
AMF “Dick Weber 5 Star”
drilled by Otis Pillow and
received lessons from a woman
professional whose name I lost
long ago.
Looking back on it now, the
lessons were superb, she taught
me bowling fundamentals
that I’ve used to this day. She
taught me how to adjust my
spot on each lane, a premium
skill in those days before synthetic
lanes and lane machines.
I joined an American Junior
Bowling Congress league that
bowled at 10 a.m. on Saturday
mornings at Hurst Bowl.
Every Saturday morning
was a full house there. Saturday
afternoons were spent in
front of the television watching
the Professional Bowlers Tour.
In the early days, I so admired
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the long swings of Dave Davis
and Gary Dickinson, the great
follow through of Larry Laub
and Jim Stefanich, the power of
Mark Roth and his duels with
Marshall Holman, and the cool
handed Earl Anthony. I lusted
for an orange Ebonite ball.
Time and age have blurred
some of those early days, but I
remember bowling in a travel
league in Fort Worth, in the
ABC Tournament in Oklahoma
City, and in the Texas State
tournament in Corpus Christi.
I also bowled in the Pro-Am for
the 1978 Quaker State and took
home a Columbia White Dot.
At one point, I lived in
Amarillo and bowled in a
league at Western Bowl, but in
1982 took a job in Dallas that
required extensive travel and
my bowling came to an abrupt
end.
I went to a center every
once in a while for fun, but my
skills had dulled and I found
it frustrating because I knew I
was a better bowler than that.
My travel days ended in
2001, and one day while rummaging
around in my garage, I
encountered my bag and shoes,
and the White Dot was in fine
shape.
I threw it in the car and
took off for Don Carter West.
That day, I rediscovered one
of my first loves, knocking
down pins with a big heavy
ball, but now the ball wasn’t so
heavy any more and the lanes
seemed to steer the ball into
the pocket. I was back.
It wasn’t long before I had a
new resin ball and some new
Dynothane shoes, and after
reading up a little, I decided
that Sport Bowling was for
me. I figured it gave me a little
of what we bowled on in the
70’s, a little more challenge
than common league lane
conditions. After all, I wasn’t
there for my ego of carrying a
big average; I was there for the
challenge of the sport.
I think I carried a 167
average that first season, but
wasn’t pleased with my ability
to score, so I sought out a new
coach and found USBC Gold
coach Susie Minshew.
She was fine with my
fundamentals, convinced me
to ditch the “Wristmaster”
thingy I wore to keep my
wrist straight, to have my ball
redrilled for a better fit, and to
move my hand more under the
ball for a better roll.
She made me understand
the concept of “axis tilt”. Her
lessons changed my game so
that with a bit of practice, I
was competitive again in this
new era of bowling.
I’ve been bowling in the
Sport Bowling league since
2002 and moved on to the
challenge of the PBA Experience
when it was announced a
couple of years ago.
I joined SASBA and have
been bowling in some of their
tournaments as well as the
Texas USBC Senior Masters.
My best finish to date was at
the 2009 SASBA Firecracker,
after 16 games of qualifying,
I missed the cut to match play
by five pins.
THE BOWLING NEWS | Thursday, February 18, 2010 | Page 17
Thomas Mahaulu, former
ABC director, dies
Thomas Mahaulu, an
American Bowling Congress
director for nearly two decades
and later an honorary member
of the organization, died Jan.
20 in Hawaii at age 87. He
had suffered from Alzheimer’s
disease for several years.
The retired State of Hawaii
employee joined the ABC Board
of Directors in 1983. He represented
his native state until
2002 when he became an ABC
What do you think
Ten pin Ten pin what do you think?
I’m holding my nose, cause you sure do stink.
Seven and Ten, you are a whole lot worse,
I hold my tongue, so I will not curse.
Five pin Five pin, you sure make me stew,
I have to throw a strike ball, to get a drive on you.
Seven pin Seven pin, you are about the same,
I have to take a deep breath, before I call you a name.
Three, Ten split, I sure do know you.
I try to throw the ball, so it won’ go through.
Four, Six, Seven, Ten, You are a hard row to hoe.
Hard to pick you up? Forty years of bowling and I still don’t know.
Two, Four, Five and Eight, we call you the bucket.
To pick you up is a pretty hard call.
But the best I know is “to get you ALL” with the ball.
One, Seven, Ten. There’s just no way.
At my very best shot, one of you always stay.
Three, Six, Ten, you always get the best of me,
When I leave you there, I chop the three.
One, Two, Three, Five, you are really rare,
But a solid pocket hit will get a spare.
Six, Seven, Ten split, I get you a lot.
Every time I miss, it sure makes me hot.
Four, Seven, Ten, are about the same,
there’s not much to say, so just call it a game.
The Eight and Nine pin, are the two I left out.
Say what you want, but this is what bowling is all about.
But I’ll tell you all, and I hope I am understood.
To love this game, it’s better to be LUCKY than GOOD.
By Gene Bradford
My name was submitted
a couple of times last fall
to the USBC as the weekly
league high series bowler for
entry into the PBA Experience
Showdown, a special tournament
to be held in Arlington in
April that features the question
“Can an average Joe beat a PBA
pro on TV?”.
Eighteen names were
randomly selected from this
national pool and were announced
during the USBC
Masters television broadcast.
A web poll will be conducted
at www.Bowl.com for those
most deserving a berth into a
final six-contestant field.
In April, these six will
go to the USBC International
Training and Research Center
in Arlington for a six-game
qualifier, to bowl one game on
each of the five PBA “animal”
patterns and one game on
a championship pattern to
determine a final television
contestant.
The final contestant will
bowl against the five winners
of the PBA “Versatility Swing”
from last fall, including Norm
Duke (Cheetah), Rhino Page
(Viper), Bill O’Neill (Chame-
honorary member. He served
many years as a director and
officer in both the Oahu and
Hilo bowling associtions. He
also was involved in tournament
promotions and league
organization.
He is survived by a daughter
and son. Funeral services were
held Feb. 5 and condolences
may be sent to his family at
200 Kanoelani St, Hilo, Hawaii
96720-5831.
leon), Jack Jurek (Shark), and
Mike DeVaney (Scorpion).
I am thrilled to announce
that my name was selected as
part of the 18-player field and I
need your vote on www.Bowl.
com beginning on Feb. 15. To
say that participation would be
the thrill of a lifetime for me is
a vast understatement.
Thanks in advance,
Max Gross
“The quickest
and best
way to reach
people in
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P.O. Box 1642, Colleyville, TX 76034
Phone 817-267-8686
Fax 817-267-1813