onefrombills
08-25-2009, 11:11 PM
Last week, on Media Day here at the World Series of Bowling, we had the chance to film some interviews with a number of the players on both the men’s and women’s tours. And I have to say, I could not have been more impressed, especially with the women.
There are so many fascinating, untold stories out here on Tour. Like Stevie Weber’s long, winding journey through the amateur circuit and regional program where he burned out in the early part of the decade, then watched his talented older brother die of cancer at a very young age which led to a shift in priorities and a rededication to the sport that has resulted in a successful start to his World Series here in Detroit. Or Troy Wollenbecker’s steady rise through the ranks, where he’s drawn upon his success as a collegiate baseball player and utilized the same lessons to begin to make his mark out here on Tour. But the women, and their collective and individual stories are, to use an appropriate and doubly meaningful symbolic phrase, in a league of their own.
Before I go into details, imagine that you were one of the best in the world at whatever it is you do (you could be a lawyer, a doctor, an athlete, a CEO, it doesn’t matter) and being told that your industry and your trade (in other words, the things upon which most of us build our identities and earn our livings) would cease to exist. What would you do? How would you react? Most of us, I’d argue, would have problems with this, to say the least. This is precisely what happened to female professional bowlers in the early part of this decade.
Yet, as I sat on our makeshift TV set as woman after woman came through for their interviews and to hear (and feel…the positive energy was actually palpable) the overwhelmingly positive attitudes of these ladies, you’d never know the injustice and life-altering turmoil they’ve been through. From veterans like Wendy Macpherson and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, whose Hall-of-Fame careers were cut short right in the midst of their primes, to up-and-coming stars like Kelly Kulick and Liz Johnson who were just beginning to make their marks as potential greats, to the talented crop of young ladies like Diandra Asbaty, Missy Bellinder, Clara Guerrero, Stefanie Nation and Amanda Fagan, whose dreams of competing against their idols were snatched away almost at the exact moment they were ready to live them, you’d never know how painful their road has been.
The last time I heard the words “Thanks” and “Appreciation” and “Grateful” and “Lucky” so often was at my sons’ Thanksgiving school play. During CDB’s interview, we actually had to stop and take a five-minute break because we BOTH started crying. It was something about the truth in how your kids love you no matter what that caused it, but the previous 10 minutes of discussing the importance of giving thanks and following your dreams and continuing the fight for future generations probably primed the waterworks a bit.
It was amazing to hear someone like Diandra Asbaty, who has perhaps risen to the position of the most famous woman bowler in the world despite the fact that she’s not had a consistent vehicle to promote herself (i.e. a 20-30 week Women’s Pro Tour), talk about what motivates her to keep pursuing her childhood dreams, when 99.9999999% of us would have simply given up and (bitterly) tried something else (including myself…I actually did give up pro bowling “because the money wasn’t good enough”…a shameful admission in light of what Diandra and the rest of these ladies have dealt with).
And, of course, after watching every ball of every tournament on the ladies’ side from up here in my perch atop the balconies here in the Thunder Bowl Arena Bay, I also have to say that these ladies can flat-out bowl. To watch Shalin Zulkifli blitz CDB in a 4-0 rout while averaging over 250 (on the difficult Viper oil pattern), and then watch CDB come back a few nights later and methodically squeak out a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Jodi Woessner with a clutch 246 while playing 5th arrow (probably her Z game because she usually prefers to play so straight) on a pair that was drier than the Sahara was to watch the ultimate in talent, grit and what athletic competition is all about.
Maybe it’s because I now have a 6-month old daughter and I’m more vested than ever in seeing equal opportunities for women, or maybe because I have a soft spot for beauty (both athletic as well as physical…maybe it sounds chauvinistic but have you seen some of these ladies? I mean they’re not only incredibly fit and athletic…they’re total foxes!) or maybe because it’s just the right thing to do, but I firmly believe that the women here in Detroit deserve the best the world has to offer.
When I finished the day of interviews last week, I had the feeling that these ladies were carrying the ghosts and spirits of Eddie Elias, Dick Weber, Earl Anthony and all of the legendary women from other organized athletics who sacrificed and worked to build and grow their own sports for future generations. In my mind, the road ahead to rebuilding a full-time ladies Tour is in exactly the right hands with these young women. Hopefully, this time at the World Series will help to serve as one of the springboards that will help launch women’s bowling back to its rightful place among the year-round sports landscape.
E-mail Jason at jason.thomas@pba.com.
There are so many fascinating, untold stories out here on Tour. Like Stevie Weber’s long, winding journey through the amateur circuit and regional program where he burned out in the early part of the decade, then watched his talented older brother die of cancer at a very young age which led to a shift in priorities and a rededication to the sport that has resulted in a successful start to his World Series here in Detroit. Or Troy Wollenbecker’s steady rise through the ranks, where he’s drawn upon his success as a collegiate baseball player and utilized the same lessons to begin to make his mark out here on Tour. But the women, and their collective and individual stories are, to use an appropriate and doubly meaningful symbolic phrase, in a league of their own.
Before I go into details, imagine that you were one of the best in the world at whatever it is you do (you could be a lawyer, a doctor, an athlete, a CEO, it doesn’t matter) and being told that your industry and your trade (in other words, the things upon which most of us build our identities and earn our livings) would cease to exist. What would you do? How would you react? Most of us, I’d argue, would have problems with this, to say the least. This is precisely what happened to female professional bowlers in the early part of this decade.
Yet, as I sat on our makeshift TV set as woman after woman came through for their interviews and to hear (and feel…the positive energy was actually palpable) the overwhelmingly positive attitudes of these ladies, you’d never know the injustice and life-altering turmoil they’ve been through. From veterans like Wendy Macpherson and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, whose Hall-of-Fame careers were cut short right in the midst of their primes, to up-and-coming stars like Kelly Kulick and Liz Johnson who were just beginning to make their marks as potential greats, to the talented crop of young ladies like Diandra Asbaty, Missy Bellinder, Clara Guerrero, Stefanie Nation and Amanda Fagan, whose dreams of competing against their idols were snatched away almost at the exact moment they were ready to live them, you’d never know how painful their road has been.
The last time I heard the words “Thanks” and “Appreciation” and “Grateful” and “Lucky” so often was at my sons’ Thanksgiving school play. During CDB’s interview, we actually had to stop and take a five-minute break because we BOTH started crying. It was something about the truth in how your kids love you no matter what that caused it, but the previous 10 minutes of discussing the importance of giving thanks and following your dreams and continuing the fight for future generations probably primed the waterworks a bit.
It was amazing to hear someone like Diandra Asbaty, who has perhaps risen to the position of the most famous woman bowler in the world despite the fact that she’s not had a consistent vehicle to promote herself (i.e. a 20-30 week Women’s Pro Tour), talk about what motivates her to keep pursuing her childhood dreams, when 99.9999999% of us would have simply given up and (bitterly) tried something else (including myself…I actually did give up pro bowling “because the money wasn’t good enough”…a shameful admission in light of what Diandra and the rest of these ladies have dealt with).
And, of course, after watching every ball of every tournament on the ladies’ side from up here in my perch atop the balconies here in the Thunder Bowl Arena Bay, I also have to say that these ladies can flat-out bowl. To watch Shalin Zulkifli blitz CDB in a 4-0 rout while averaging over 250 (on the difficult Viper oil pattern), and then watch CDB come back a few nights later and methodically squeak out a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Jodi Woessner with a clutch 246 while playing 5th arrow (probably her Z game because she usually prefers to play so straight) on a pair that was drier than the Sahara was to watch the ultimate in talent, grit and what athletic competition is all about.
Maybe it’s because I now have a 6-month old daughter and I’m more vested than ever in seeing equal opportunities for women, or maybe because I have a soft spot for beauty (both athletic as well as physical…maybe it sounds chauvinistic but have you seen some of these ladies? I mean they’re not only incredibly fit and athletic…they’re total foxes!) or maybe because it’s just the right thing to do, but I firmly believe that the women here in Detroit deserve the best the world has to offer.
When I finished the day of interviews last week, I had the feeling that these ladies were carrying the ghosts and spirits of Eddie Elias, Dick Weber, Earl Anthony and all of the legendary women from other organized athletics who sacrificed and worked to build and grow their own sports for future generations. In my mind, the road ahead to rebuilding a full-time ladies Tour is in exactly the right hands with these young women. Hopefully, this time at the World Series will help to serve as one of the springboards that will help launch women’s bowling back to its rightful place among the year-round sports landscape.
E-mail Jason at jason.thomas@pba.com.