The most common question I’m asked when I’m out among bowling fans is to compare the players of my era (1982-1990) to today’s players. So I thought with the next two blogs (this week’s will be Part 1 and the next Part 2) I’d give it a shot.
Where to start? First, I will not be talking about Earl Anthony, Mark Roth, or Marshall Holman. Why? Because there is nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said about these three. And yes, they were that good! Also, gloating about Dave Husted’s career is off limits. Why? Because he’s been my best friend for 30 years so I may be a tad biased. But he definitely was one tough customer and he made the Hall of Fame practically in his spare time, so not much more needs to be said!
TOUR SIZE AND SCHEDULE
Starting with the obvious, we had a much bigger Tour in terms of events and entries per week, so our traveling circus had many more performers. But cutting to the chase, the best players of today would have had absolutely no problem competing in the '80’s. Conversely, the superstars of my group would have been just fine today…actually, a few of them (Walter, Voss, Duke and Pete) were able to succeed in both eras. There are, however, some distinct differences in the players from the two eras. Here are a few examples:
KNOWLEDGE OF EQUIPMENT
Hands down, this group is the best ever, but they have to be! The game has evolved, like everything in life, and there are now more balls released in a single year than we had available to us probably in the entire decade of the 1980’s.
We tended to drill the same ball and layouts over and over…and I mean the same layouts. Walter, Tommy Baker, and Dave Ferraro are three players who had great success with one (!) favorite layout. I had three favorite layouts that I used for years: ½ top ½ side, ½ negative side with an extra hole, and ½ leverage with an extra hole. That’s it. Every now and then I’d drill a new ball so the shell was smooth to help me get through the heads at night then, when I made the finals, there I was with the same ball, same drill. Life was easy! I actually threw one ball so much – a Black Angle with ½ side and ½ top, that PBA Player Services rep Curt Schmidt hardly ever made me weigh in when I got a check!
Yes, we had weigh-ins back in those days, which meant that every ball you threw in competition had to be weighed in before you ever threw it, and then again afterwards if you threw it at any time during the week and earned a check. Think about this for a second. We had 400-plus entries at the Showboat, with all of us drilling balls! Somewhere, Billy Hall is having nightmares just remembering this! Can you imagine if they still had weigh-ins these days and getting stuck in line behind Barnes? Good luck getting out of there before midnight!
TERMINOLOGY
The guys today have much better lingo than we ever had. The first time I ever heard after a player answer the question, “How’d you bowl this week?” with “I threw it good, I just didn’t match up.” I went, “What the (bleep) does that mean!” In our era there were two answers: “I bowled good.” or “I bowled bad.” End of story. Some weeks our carry was better than others, but when I bowled well in my nine years on Tour, I always made the finals, period. Now, I may have spent the next 24 games shuffling between 21st and 24th, but at least I’d bowled well enough to earn some extended play. But now I know the real reason I wasn’t able to make the show those weeks: I didn’t match up! Silly me, back then I just thought I’d forgotten how to bowl between Thursday night and Friday morning! So score another one for today’s player – “Not matching up” is a much smarter way to look at it - at least from the standpoint of psychological preservation. It also would have saved me quite a few fine slips!
CELEBRATING
This one is laughable! Back in the ‘80’s we were a bunch of animated knuckleheads, while the guys of today are more like robots. They don’t ever get mad and they really don’t ever seem to get too excited – up until the very last few games of the finals. Seriously, in the ‘80’s, David Ozio was the best at running out shots as if they were life and death – and that was in the PRO-AM! We had guys running them out in games two and three of qualifying, let alone the finals – when things got REALLY interesting!
When Steve Cook got it going (which was a lot) and you were within three pairs to his left (his favorite run-out zone) and you bowled before he was done, you literally took your life in your own hands! Cook was a seriously large human being who took striking and winning very seriously. Just ask Norm Duke. One time at the U.S. Open, I was bowling Norm and he was on the approach three lanes over from Cook. Steve ran one out, slapped his hands (which sounded like one of Zeus’ thunderbolts hitting the Acropolis), then pirouetted in front of Duke (probably sparing Norm’s life), picked him up by the side of his arms and set him back down in the settee. Norm looked at me and sheepishly asked, “Can I bowl now?” I said, “You may want to ask Steve!” When I watch today, I am amazed at the iron-willed composure of today’s players – I guess we never got the memo!
TEMPERS
When it comes to tempers, where do I even start? As for me, I was no day at the beach. I talked to myself a lot and I never had anything much good to say about me. Let me put it this way – my mom used to call me on Tour on a regular basis and say, “You just got another registered letter from the PBA today. What did you do now?” My response, “Just pay the fine mom, I’m sure I deserved it!”
As for my peers, instead of going with the obvious guys – no revelations there – I thought I’d bring up a funny instance that – if hadn’t seen with my own two eyes (and Husted’s) – I wouldn’t have believed it. Jon O’Drobinak, who won his one and only title in Grand Prairie, Texas by beating maybe one of the best threesomes in bowling history (Wayne Webb, Marshall Holman and Mark Roth), did two things I’ve never seen before or since.
After Jon won in Grand Prairie, a bunch of us flew out on Sunday to Miami. Jon gets on the plane last, carrying the ball he threw on the show. Kinda strange but not that big a deal I guess. But then – get this – he proceeds to actually place the ball in the seat next to him and then buckles the seatbelt around the ball! He bought a plane ticket...FOR THE BALL!
After winning his first title, Jon’s career didn’t exactly go the way I’m sure he’d wanted and expected it to. Well, a few months after the glow of his win had begun to wear off, Husted and I are sitting in the stands watching his squad finish game 18, and Jon is close to making the finals. Well, he splits in the 9th and, as he walks back to the settee, you can see that he’s hot. After he stops, he suddenly winds up and punches himself right in the face! I mean he gives it all he’s got! Then, he turns and faces the pins and proceeds to punch himself in the temple! This second punch staggers him into sitting down…and he had to give himself a standing eight count before he could get back up and shoot the spare! For some reason, I have a hard time imagining Wes Malott or Mike Fagan doing the same thing today. Jon, if you're reading this I hope it finds you happy and healthy!
And that’s all for this week’s blog! Hope you enjoyed it folks! Be sure to check back soon for Part 2, where I’ll discuss more of the similarities between the players from my era and today’s PBA stars.
Later,
Bakes