Anyone meet or bowl with a PBA Tour bowler?

[J Anderson]

Just wondering how many of us have met or run into players from the PBA Tour?
This Monday in the sport league that I bowl in, I wound up bowling opposite Rhino Page. The format of this league is that we move to a different pair after each game, and points are based on how many scores you beat, with a bonus for throwing a clean game. So you're not just bowling against the guy opposite you, or even the other three bowlers on your pair, but against everyone in the league. By the fourth game we've gone from a handshake and a hearty, "Bowl well", to a "You ready? Let's get this over with and go home". So the last game, I was waiting to for the other two bowlers to move over. The bowler who was subbing for Justin puts his balls on the ball return and asks if he's on the left lane. I said "If you're bowler C you are" and with that we started the game. At first I thought he looked vaguely familiar. Then I thought this guy looks like Rhino Page, but he wouldn't be bowling here. It must just be one of the hot shot kids from Sacred Heart University. Then yesterday when Monday's results were posted on League Secretary.com I looked up who the sub was and sure enough it said Rhino Page. Turned out He had come to have Chris from our local pro shop drill some balls for him, and while he was hanging around the shop, Justin, half jokingly, asked him to sub and he said yeah, why not. He seemed very down to earth, not nearly as intense as he appears on TV, but then this was basically four games of practice for him.

O.K. so who else has a story?

[JerseyJim]

Teata Semiz ( he was big in the 70s) used to drill balls at our alley. He also did some coaching. I asked him to help me with my game. On the day that I was supposed to meet with him, he ended up with a few rush orders for drilling. He told me to get an alley outside the window of his shop. I started throwing, and he would bounce out of his shop, and show me what I was doing wrong. He tweaked my game over the course of a couple of hours. After we were finished with the lesson, he just charged me $10. He said that he since his attention was split it wouldn't be fair to charge me full price. However once I worked those tweaks into my game, I ended up averaging 211 a game over the last 12 weeks of the season. He would even stop by my alley when I was bowling in league, and just tell me what he saw in my game.

[The Mayor]

I grew up bowling with Scott Newell (just won his first PBA title at the Ricart Ford Open two weeks ago) and I am still good friends with him. A great bowler who is still on the rise. I'm also friends with Chris Loschetter and Terrence Reeves (former exempt player). I've met many PBA bowlers, the highlights being getting to talk with Walter Ray for about 3 hours on everything from bowling to music and meeting Dick Weber at a senior stop when I was young. I've met pretty much all of the big names currently on tour and it's really an amazing thing to watch them bowl. They are all pretty down to earth and nice, with the nicest being Parker, Ryan Shafer, Amleto, Jeff Carter, Jason Couch and Norm. The weirdest, by far, is Patrick Allen.

[DaveAyotte]

I've met a bunch of bowlers while attending PBA events - some small talk after, and maybe an autograph or whatnot, but the best experience was the few years I bowled an event in Las Vegas at the Gold coast. I would go with my best friend out there and bowl with his uncle who lives down in San Diego. Turns out he has connections, because the 4th member on our team... Wayne Webb. He was definately eccentric, but wicked awesome. Always had a great time at that event regardless of how I bowled. The last year I went was 05, and at the time I only had a 184 average. I ended up hitting 692, which helped us get a little cash out of the tourney, but more importantly - I beat Wayne by 4 pins. The ball busting ensued from there!

[scottb879]

I bowled in a Pro-am in New Hampshire and bowled with tons of pros like Walter Ray, Rhino Page, Patrick Allen, Doug Kent. Have any of you bowled with any Pro Bowlers?

[JaMau24]

Norm Duke, Brian Voss, and Mike Machuga came to our alley when years ago while I was in youth league and coached many of us and bowled with us a little bit. Got their autographs and all, so it was pretty cool. I'm sure you all already know, but Norm Duke is one short dude. Seems shorter when you actually stand next to him.

[J Anderson]

Norm Duke, Brian Voss, and Mike Machuga came to our alley when years ago while I was in youth league and coached many of us and bowled with us a little bit. Got their autographs and all, so it was pretty cool. I'm sure you all already know, but Norm Duke is one short dude. Seems shorter when you actually stand next to him.

I'm so jealous, three of my favorite pros to root for.

[Stormed1]

Over the years i've bowled with too many to mention. However for the most part when you take them away from the pressure of the tour they're all pretty good guys and girls

[kev3inp]

My wife and I got to meet and bowl with Tim Mack a few years ago as part of a Storm Open House. He's a great guy. Shorter than I expected but built like a brick, um, house. Two years ago at the Gathering Tom Baker was there to work with Ron and tune up his game a bit. He's also another friendly, funny guy and I got him to sign my "Split Happens" t shirt.

[Rusty]

When I was little, I guess about 6 or 7. My mom used to work at Thunderbird lanes in Michigan. They hosted the show Beat the Champ and my mom was the person who wrote down the scores. So I guess you could say my mom had a famous hand! I don't remember a whole lot about it, but now I wish I did. I got to meet Earl Anthony and sit in the front row to watch him bowl. I even remember being on TV. Wish I could get a copy of that tape! Havent really looked, but thinking about it now, I might try and find it!

Rusty

Just wondering how many of us have met or run into players from the PBA Tour?
This Monday in the sport league that I bowl in, I wound up bowling opposite Rhino Page. The format of this league is that we move to a different pair after each game, and points are based on how many scores you beat, with a bonus for throwing a clean game. So you're not just bowling against the guy opposite you, or even the other three bowlers on your pair, but against everyone in the league. By the fourth game we've gone from a handshake and a hearty, "Bowl well", to a "You ready? Let's get this over with and go home". So the last game, I was waiting to for the other two bowlers to move over. The bowler who was subbing for Justin puts his balls on the ball return and asks if he's on the left lane. I said "If you're bowler C you are" and with that we started the game. At first I thought he looked vaguely familiar. Then I thought this guy looks like Rhino Page, but he wouldn't be bowling here. It must just be one of the hot shot kids from Sacred Heart University. Then yesterday when Monday's results were posted on League Secretary.com I looked up who the sub was and sure enough it said Rhino Page. Turned out He had come to have Chris from our local pro shop drill some balls for him, and while he was hanging around the shop, Justin, half jokingly, asked him to sub and he said yeah, why not. He seemed very down to earth, not nearly as intense as he appears on TV, but then this was basically four games of practice for him.

O.K. so who else has a story?