Bowling Philosophy-U.S. Open

Put simply...this IS bowling.

Every sport is defined truly by one seminal place or event that, when the annals of its sport are written, people remember the time and place. For the four major sports, that event is their world championships. For sports such as tennis, it is the green grass and ominous summer skies of Wimbledon that transcends the game: white shirts and skirts, strawberries and cream, Henman Hill/Murray Mound, and the Royal Box. Golf's marquee place is Augusta National and the Masters. Azaleas, Ray's Creek, Amen Corner, the Green Jacket, and the Par 3 contest. College football has the Rose Bowl, college basketball has the Final Four, and auto driving has their major sport sites with NASCAR's Daytona and IRL's Indy 500.

For bowling, the PBA will look to the prestigious Tournament of Champions as the game's greatest event. Only winners allowed, Hall of Famers invited, RPI champions get their opportunity, even now the Women's and Senior's world championship winners get an invite. However, the T of C has had a limited shelf life in regards to other major championships and has always been a field of players that were maybe past their prime or were one-hit wonders garnering a exemption to the PBA's marquee event.

But this IS bowling...give ME bowling...give me THE United States Open.

Give me the game's most grueling lane condition: 40 feet of oil and each board having the same amount of oil on each board, offering no area one way or the other. Give me 51 games over 5 days, as well as 33 in the last two days. Give me 24 meaningful round-robin match play games, where 180 might win you a game for goodness sakes! Give me the tradition of Woodland Bowl, of Fountain Bowl, of Carolier Lanes. Give me the "other" Green Jacket of sports. Give me the names who have won the US Open (formerly known as BPAA All-Star): Ned Day, Varipapa, Welu, Limongello, Petraglia, Johnson, Roth, Barnes, Jones, and Duke. Give me the men who have conquered the game's greatest test twice: names like Connie Schwoegler, Ballard, McMahon, Holman and Walter Ray. Give me Dave Husted; the only man to win it in back to back years in the modern era. Give me Varipapa's 1st-1st-2nd finish from 1946-1948, while only being 55, 56 and 57 years old AND bowling 100 games to boot! Give me Don Carter; who back-to-backed twice in 53-54 as well as 57-58. Give me Duke's bucket, Mika's destruction of Patrick Healey, Bohn versus Hromek (and young foul line judge Jason Couch), Voss versus Pete Weber, Barnes' solid 8, Ballard's $100,000 payday in Tacoma and the very, very, very deep inside angle in Cheektowaga for Open title #2.

And you can always give me the first family of bowling: Dick and Pete Weber. Both legends, both Hall of Fame bowlers, both 4 time US Open champions. Give PDW rolling over Thayer and Mr. Weber's class in his victories and in his son's defeat in '87. Give me the DW patches that started at the US Open on Valentine's Day after his sudden passing in 2005. Give me Pete's point to the heavens for his dad after winning his fourth in 2007. Give me all of that and another memory for 2010.

In fact, let's hope this year's US Open gives all another moment in history.