Bowling Philosophy-August 2013

The Big Nasty finally won the big one, but where will he rank on the UOPBAPW?

 
"The Porthole": After the Warming (Part I)
by Thomas Scherrer

     After a long hiatus from blogging on the world of bowling, there has been a return to glory for the August edition of BP; namely the return of the Unofficial Official PBA Power Rankings, a quick update on how the hell I decided to evaluate things that happened overseas, the USBC Masters as well, but today...a Final Frame.

     In 2002, I picked up the first edition of Bowling Execution, written by John Jowdy.  Coach Jowdy had long been an advocate of a free armswing delivered from the shoulder, coinciding with the Over-and-Under drill to permit a smooth and free release delivering the ball onto the lane.  His most ardent student was the man who wrote the Foreword, PBA/USBC Hall of Famer David Ozio:
  

"At the end of mt first PBA tournament in 1985, he (Jowdy) walked up to me, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and said, 'You're going with me.'  He informed me that he had seen enough good players struggle.  He convinced me to join him and two other PBA bowlers, Dave Husted and Kent Wagner, at another bowling center to work on our games.  He was intent on teaching me the art of the free armswing.  At first, I was hesitant; but having nothing to lose, I made the smartest decision of my career.  I set my ego aside and listened to what he had to say.  The first hour was a little perplexing.  I had thoughts of opening the parachute and jumping out, but I decided to continue the experiment a little longer.  This was the turning point that launched  my career into the PBA Hall of Fame."

     Over a decade after I picked up that book, it has shown the scars of time.  Page corners folded over, water/soda/juice stains at the top of the book, fraying on the border of the cover.  But unlike the condition of the book, the content of what's inside of it has withstood the test of time.  John Jowdy had placed his thoughts into exactly 200 pages (perhaps ironic given 200 was the declination between being "plus" or "minus" in a tournament) and opened a window to the world of all bowlers.  Maybe because he had so much to offer, he needed to write it down.  Maybe he needed to upgrade his financial windfall for all those free lessons he doled out (Ozio included).  Maybe he thought time was running out for himself.  After all, Coach Jowdy was in his early 80's, always with an oversized cigar in his hands or mouth and perhaps a less than quality diet living in San Antonio all those years before heading to California.  Perhaps he thought it was time to share his thoughts with the world before he passed or went crazy or both-sometimes one can symbolize the other despite being physically alive.  This was as close to a bowling memoir as we might ever see.  

     Hopefully, we'll have some talented enough writer talk to Mark Roth about why he wanted to revolutionize the game with power and how his life has changed post-stroke.  Hopefully, we'll have some talented enough writer talk with Carmen Salvino so he can share a bunch of great action stories from his native Chicago and the sink of corruption that action bowling is.  Hopefully, we'll have some talented writer talk with Norm Duke or Pete Weber or Walter Ray and talk about the myriad of changes they've witnessed over their legendary careers regarding oil conditions, lane play, bowling balls, formats, television, earnings and above all things, all their hairstyles.  Luckily for us, Coach Jowdy took the time to share some of his stories with the many players he taught in his career; names like Ozio, Del Warren, Tim Criss, and Marshall Holman all looking to establish or re-establish themselves as stars on the PBA.  

     I only witnessed Coach Jowdy once in my life and it is a story worth writing about: it was the 2006 US Open in North Brunswick, NJ.  I travel down with my William Paterson teammate Greg DeJesus to watch the final 16 games of match play and we are there early enough to beat some of the finalists into the building.  You might remember some of the names: Walter Ray walking in, all 6 feet, 2 inches of him, looking unassuming (or bored), and quite tired.  Mika Koivuneimi walking in, all the more 6 feet, 4 inches-all arms and legs.  Really, an incomplete athletic body except when he puts a bowling ball in his hand.  Ryan Shafer saunters in, really, that's how he walks.  Jacket on, insulin pump hidden underneath his jacket, ready to eventually end the tournament at the top seed in the stepladder final.  Other names like Mike Fagan, Tommy Jones, and Robert Smith, who would all make the ladder (Jones would win the title); Norm Duke and Rhino Page (when Page was an amateur and had curly hair-yes, he had hair then) talking eye-to-eye while warming up because...well, they are the only two people that each other can talk to eye-to-eye without having to see a chiropractor the following day.  Randy Pedersen was making a deep run that week as well and gathering a very large cheering section, which showed me that true bowling fans respected Pedersen and were rooting for the color commentator to make an 11th hour comeback to make the television show as a competitor.  Tommy Delutz Jr. stopped by in the morning to watch along with Kelly Kulick and her then-boyfriend Jim Tomek.  There were several bowlers who had not made it to match play that were there, fully aware of what the US Open meant and how hard it was for the remaining 24 players to get just that far, waiting to see who would make it through the sport's greatest test.

     I also remember Nathan Bohr throwing the first shot of the day, as well.  There is one problem with this: Bohr wasn't one of those 24, he was bowling further down in the bowling center away from the action.  He was working on his game.  It showed his sensational ambition and dedication to his craft that at 8 in the morning, the only guy bowling was a player whose tournament was over.  But he wasn't alone-an elderly gentleman was with him, one hand on his right shoulder, the other hand slightly in front and above of the bowling ball.  He was imploring Bohr to deliver his pushaway to his free hand so he could push it down and let gravity take care of the rest.  It was the free armswing...it was John Jowdy in his mid to late 80's, at 8 in the morning working with a player no longer in the tournament.  Talk about passion for the craft, indeed.  

     As the day progressed, Jowdy would work with other players away from the tournament, mostly listening to players first, then basically suggesting this or that and then watching players turn into striking machines, players full of confidence once again after having their skulls bashed in by the demanding US Open lane pattern during the week.  I distinctly remembered the Bohr-Jowdy interaction the most, mainly because it was just the two of them and it made me reflect back to the Ozio story.  While Bohr has not reached the heights of what Ozio did while working with Jowdy, it is worth noting that Bohr has hung around on tour for 7 seasons in a sport where the attrition rate is higher than you think.  Whether or not Jowdy helped Bohr that one day is only known by the student, but the teacher had at least left his imprint.  

     On August 1st, we lost the teacher at 93.  But looking back on it, we really didn't.  The teacher left his mark on so many players that today's elite coaches such as Warren and Mark Baker stand on Jowdy's shoulders today.  The teacher will never give another personal lesson again but his students of the past will carry on at the very least, his message.  Maybe not the same message but a similar purpose: to make bowlers better.  Really, that's all we ask for as fans, observers, and players of the game.  Despite never having spoken to me or even known my existence (unless he loved reading my BP blogs in San Diego), the teacher taught me the fundamentals of bowling properly in today's game that I can say still hang with me today.  It was the best $19.95  I ever spent for bowling technique, yes but the teacher actually allowed me to see that somebody could write about bowling and remain engaging and fluid while doing it.  Perhaps that was his greatest lesson to me.  Rest In Peace, Coach.  Say hello to Don, Dick, and Earl.