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by Randy OoneyMy Nickel’s Worth by Randy Ooney
My Nickel’s Worth by Randy Ooney One or Two
Back in August, I had the pleasure of sharing a pair of lanes at Treasure Island with Hall of Fame PBA bowler Pete Weber. It was part of the pre tournament no tap format and Pete was surprisingly personable. Somewhere in the middle of the game after Pete had made five or six in a row, I placed my tongue in my cheek and spouted at the table, “He’s pretty good for a guy that only uses one hand.” Pete’s eyes lit up like the ferris wheel in the parking lot and although he never mentioned the Australian ‘before guy’ in the Barbasol commercial, he proudly announced to our settee table that although he may have lost a five dollar bill here and there during qualifying matches, he never lost a TV match to the two handed wonder from down under.
Two handed bowling is not new. Both Karl Jenne and Larry Harvanko used two handed deliveries in the Twin Cities area long before Belmo and Osku were 5 and 4 letter answers to crossword clues. I tossed my hat into the two hander ring on a painful morning in Alex years ago. A blister formed on my thumb at the Garden Center tournament and it was so bad that I was unable to use the thumb for singles and doubles. I used a two handed delivery and my high game was 179, well under average. But the consequence of that event was a back ache that lasted about a week after bowling. The experience has me offering a great deal of respect for the two handers. It is not as easy as they make it look. Recently I became involved with bowling competition at the High School level. There are a variety of skill levels among the players, but I am very impressed with the ability of some of the older players. I’m sure that the scratch leagues of which I am a member now, will welcome their talent in a few years. Also I have noticed a half dozen or more two handed high school bowlers, and they have mastered the delivery and toss strike after strike. It will be interesting to watch the sport change in years to come and listen to all of us underhanded bowlers complain. Will pro shops charge less because they don’t have to drill thumb holes? The kids are in their late teens. MSC bowlers have nothing to worry about, but watch out CBA!!
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