First of all, Bowler's Journal screwed up nearly everything in their short article for the ABC tournament about Ron Bahr, the singles champ and first person in the 100 year history of the tournament to shoot back to back 300's. The date was wrong, and they said the 300's were the first two games followed by the 237, rather than the way it actually was, which was 237-300-300. Upon further examination, it was discovered that everything the BJ reported was taken word for word from the ABC website, where it was consequently incorrect as well.
Apart from that fiasco was the situation. Ron is a true amateur in the full meaning of the word. He bowls 3 or 4 leagues a week in the winter, he's not on any company's staff, he doesn't get free or even discounted equipment, (unless my boss kicks kicks a few bucks off, lol) and hasn't ever bowled big tournaments like the Mini or Super Hoinke. He's not your average spray it and score league bowler, however, he won the Bowler of the Year award for our city for 2002-2003 based on accomplishments unrelated to his performance in Knoxville.
My longwinded point is that his national record seems to have been sluffed off. ABC didn't take enough care to report the 3 games in the title winning series in the right order or even list them on the right date, and BJ didn't take enough care to verify the information they found. None of the ball companies seem interested in giving him some free equipment, and he's not asking for bags, shirts, cases of balls or anything, he'd just like a ball or two from a few companies because his arsenal is somewhat lacking. He owns the Red Pulse he shot the 300's with, a 3D Offset, a Forest Quantum (I believe), a Wicked (original), an Angle Evolution Tour (I don't know if it's the Tour or not) and a Cherry Bomb. He has other balls of course, but doesn't everyone have old equipment under their stairs they haven't been able to get rid of yet? Of the balls he carries around, only a few of them see consistent use. The Pulse is his go to ball, the 3D Offset he mainly throws at 10's with, and the Wicked is one of the first out of the bag.
Is it too much to ask for a little help? He's not a person to do something great and just expect people to fawn all over him, but he has equipment that's wearing out, and holes in his arsenal that he'd like to fill. When he went to the Foundation Games Invitational in Florida, he was the ONLY one that wasn't on a company staff. 48 of the most accomplished bowlers in the world were in attendance, and most sources I heard from said that his lack of equipment hurt him incredibly. Jaros, Mack, what do they do if they get in trouble? That's easy, grab one of the 20 blank balls they brought with them and punch holes in it. The way the game is today, even the greatest in the game have to have the right equipment to keep up with the rest of the best who take advantage of the technology. Is it too much to ask Columbia if they have a 16 pound original Red Pulse laying around somewhere? They seem indifferent.
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Forget Kung Fu, I know Ron Bahr!!!
The only difference between youth and adult leagues are that the big boys are allowed to whine. They're more entertaining anyway.
