I understand that.  Pete Weber is a great bowler I understand that.  Letting Pete Weber go off on a fan in the stands is not great.  Pete may have been PO'd at the fan but doing what he did on national TV was uncalled for.  At one point he said something about sportsmanship?  What about his sportsmanship toward his opponent?  I did notice Belmonte was drinking out of a glass!  The proper thing that should have happened would be to bring the distraction to the attention of the tournament officials.  The tv announcers had no idea who Weber was mad at but he intimidated one side of the lane.  These are suppose to be Professionals bowling and this gives a bad image of the sport.  This is especially bad when many newspapers, school districts and their administrators do not think bowling is a sport at all.  It's hard to win over people that have opinions of the sport that are bad when this happens.

 

If the image of smoke filled, beer drinking dungeons with crude low class people is to ever be improved the sport and the best at it need to conduct themselves responsibly.

 

Some people ay that is just Pete.  Maybe it is but the tournament needed to step in.  Other sports fine players and coaches for the same actions.

 

Smash49

I was not there, I watched on TV.  In Pete's defense, from his reaction it appeared to be the same person every time, moving during his approach.  After (I think) the second time he turned and said to someone off camera "If he does that again I want him removed."  He did it several times but apparently wasn't removed.  One time he (again, I think, it could have been someone else) even responded to Pete verbally.  This is the most prestigious tournament on the tour, and all the competitors were struggling with the condition.  Pete went further than he should have, but I understand.  --  JohnP

Because it is not a rant against Pete.  It is a rant against the tournament officials that let it go on.  No matter who was the problem the officials should have stopped it.  Bowling is mostly mental and when someone, anyone goes off like that it is distracting and unfair.  I have been to several functions where Pete has been.  Pete is Pete.  Personally I like him.  I like Belmonte too but crinkling bottles no.

 

Smash49

To me, the obvious answer is that it wasn't really a big deal, it was all for the show.  Lets be honest, if Pete was really concerned about the audience moving or whatever, he could wear sunglasses with heavy tint on the sides so that you can't really see the audience out of the corner of his eye.  "Blinders" if you will.  Problem solved, before it starts.  PBA officials could have moved the audience member.  They could also fine/warn PDW for his actions.

 

In the end though, Pete probably benefited from the distraction away from the moment.  Furthermore, I'm guessing it wasn't nearly as distracting as he let on to be.  The PBA benefits from increased talk about the sport.  Fans feel "part of the action".  Everybody wins, that's why Pete, and the PBA aren't going to do anything different next time.
 

Having been a serious bowler for many years, I realize to a small degree the immense effort required to improve, and still never reach the level of these pro players.

They lead a suitcase life a lot of the time, away from family and friends. Finding and maintaining a good shot is about the oil, which constantly changes with each shot. A tremendous amount of focus and talent is required on the extremely tough open pattern

Each bowler must find their own way to maintain this focus and to put spectators  up close and personal on the side I think does them an injustice.

These pros have more and more rules added every year and unless you live and breath the sport, there's a lot of easier ways to make a living.

All sports have their fair share of outspoken, passionate players that can rub some folks the wrong way. It doesn't change the fact these are truly hard earned talented players at the top of their game. I enjoyed the matches tremendously and that ladies and gentlemen, was what it was all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could careless about the PBA forums.  Fact is many parts of the bowling world stress sportsmanship and good behavior.   Other sports handle this situation much better.  If an NBA or NFL player does something like this the leagues react instantly.  I agree that bowling needs some excitement but conflicts with fans is not good for the sport.  That would be if Pete actually had a conflict and was not talking to Harvey the 6ft invisible rabbit.  If that was the case Belmo needs more water bottles.  When your job is to promote the sport of bowling the officials lack of reaction and the players behavior have bad effects.  People new to bowling's opinion becomes things like bowling is not a real sport and it is classless.  The attitude of that is just Pete and Ain't it cool, well it's not cool.  To make matters worse when you put the BPAA, USBC and PBA stamp on it, it gives them a black eye. 

 

Smash49