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Pete Weber (bowler)
Peter David Weber Laureana (born August 21, 1962) is an American bowler in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), currently exclusive to their age-group PBA50+ tours (PBA50 and PBA60), and a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame. Weber was one of the sport's most active players and became known for his maverick, chirpy and rebellious personality. He is also known for being incredibly versatile, with his high backswing and the side rotation he puts on the bowling ball helping him control numerous oil conditions. Weber is featured in the ten-pin bowling sports documentary A League of Ordinary Gentlemen. He has won 37 titles on the PBA Tour (fourth all-time), including ten major championships (tied for second all-time), and another 14 titles (six majors) on the PBA50 Tour. He is one of only three bowlers in history (with Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Earl Anthony) to have amassed at least 50 combined titles between the PBA Tour and PBA50 Tour. Weber and Williams Jr. are the only two bowlers to have amassed at least 100 total PBA titles, with PBA Regional events added. (Weber currently has 107 total titles with his 48 PBA Regional Tour and eight PBA50 Regional Tour wins included.)[1] Weber has won bowling's U.S. Open a record five times. Among the nine players in history to win the PBA's triple crown (U.S. Open, PBA World Championship and PBA Tournament of Champions), Weber is the only bowler to win each of these events at least twice in a career. He has also won the PBA Senior U.S. Open twice, and is a two-time PBA50 Player of the Year, in addition to winning PBA60 Player of the Year in his first full season. Early lifeWeber grew up in Florissant, Missouri, and as the son of bowling superstar Dick Weber, was introduced to the sport at the age of two. At the age of 15, Weber was already winning local bowling tournaments against adult players, and won his first PBA Regional Tour event (as a non-member) at age 16.[2] With the help of his father, Pete was able to become a PBA member at the age of 17 (the former policy required a minimum age of 18). In 1979, Weber bowled in his first event on the professional circuit and participated in 20 tour events during the 1980 season, making one televised finals appearance. Weber won Rookie of the Year honors in 1980. By 1982, he had won his first PBA title, winning two that season. By the time he was 24 years old, he had already reached the 10-title plateau (becoming the youngest player in PBA history to attain that mark). At age 26, he narrowly won the PBA National Championship over Dave Ferraro, giving him all three jewels of the PBA's "triple crown" (achieved by winning the U.S. Open, Tournament of Champions and PBA National Championship).[2] CareerPBA TourWeber and his father, Dick, were the first father-and-son combination to ever both earn a title on the PBA Tour.[3] The feat has since been matched four times, by Don/Jimmy Johnson (1990), Don/Eugene McCune (2002), Guppy/Kyle Troup (2015) and Eugene/Kevin McCune (2023). Weber was the youngest player to reach 10 PBA titles, accomplishing the feat in 1987 at age 24 years, 247 days.[4] His 16th PBA Tour title on March 2, 1991 at the Fair Lanes Open was earned "on the bench" in one of the PBA's most infamous incidents. Weber struck three times in the tenth frame of the title match, forcing his opponent, Del Ballard Jr., to get two strikes and seven pins in his final frame to win. Ballard rolled the two strikes, but then sent his fill shot into the right gutter, handing Weber the championship.[5] Pete reached the 20-title plateau in 1993, before going on the longest winless streak in his professional career between 1994 and 1996. In the 2003–04 season, Weber won two titles, including his 30th title and his third U.S. Open, and earned a career-high $206,217. On December 4, 2005, Weber overcame a year of trying times both personally and professionally by clinching what was, perhaps, the most emotional title of his career at the 2005 Bowlersparadise.com Classic at Stardust Bowl in Hammond, Indiana. This marked the first television appearance for Weber in 666 days, and it was his first title after the death of his father on February 13, 2005. Weber honored his father after the victory by looking into the ESPN cameras and pointing at the "DW" patch on his sleeve. Overall, Weber has won 37 PBA Tour events, including ten major titles (tied with Earl Anthony for the second most majors all-time). His 37th tour win on March 31, 2013 came at age 50 in the Tournament of Champions. His 37 wins place him fourth on the all-time PBA tour titles list, behind only Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (47), Earl Anthony (43) and Norm Duke (40). Weber's 35th Tour win at the end of the 2009-10 season against Mike Scroggins at the 2010 Marathon Open in the title match ensured Walter Ray Williams Jr. his record 7th Player of the Year award, as well as making Williams (then age 50) the oldest ever to win that award. Had Weber lost the title match, Scroggins would have been named Player of the Year for that season.[6] Weber has rolled 85 perfect 300 games in PBA competition through 2018. His five U.S. Open titles are the most of any bowler in PBA history.[7] He also had a runner-up finish in the 1987 U.S. Open. Weber is one of eight PBA players to have earned the career PBA Triple Crown. Upon winning the 2013 Tournament of Champions title, he became the first bowler to win all three jewels of the Triple Crown at least twice in a career (five U.S. Open titles, two PBA World Championship titles, and two wins in the Tournament of Champions).[8] He is also the oldest winner of the U.S. Open (49) and Tournament of Champions (50). The Tournament of Champions win at age 50 years, 222 days made him the oldest player to win a PBA Tour major title that was considered a major at the time of victory. (Ernie Schlegel won the 1996 USBC Masters at age 53 before it was considered a PBA major; he was retroactively credited with a major due to a 2008 rule change.)[9] Weber's other major win was in the Touring Players Championship, which has only recently become a PBA major again. The only major that has eluded him is the USBC Masters among the regular majors. Among senior majors, he has yet to win the Tournament of Champions or the USBC Super Senior Classic (part of the USBC Senior Masters, was first eligible in 2023). Along with Mike Aulby, Norm Duke, and Walter Ray Williams Jr., Pete is one of only four bowlers to have won at least one standard PBA Tour title in four different decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s). However, a feat that sets him apart from his contemporaries is that he's won a U.S. Open title in the same four consecutive decades, specifically in 1988, 1991, 2004, 2007, and 2012.[10] Weber joined his father in the PBA Hall of Fame in 1998, and he became a member of the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 2002. His career PBA Tour earnings of over $4 million (through the 2019 season) place him second all-time, behind only all-time titles leader Walter Ray Williams, Jr. Weber and Williams are the only two PBA bowlers to have topped the $4 million mark in career earnings. Weber owns 48 PBA Regional titles, the most all-time, in addition to four PBA50 Regional titles.[11] Weber was ranked 4th on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years," one place behind his father. At age 58, Weber participated in World Series of Bowling XII and made the Round of 16 match play at the 2021 PBA Scorpion Championship. Prior to match play on March 17, he announced that this would be his last event as an active national PBA Tour member, choosing to focus on Regional and PBA50 Tour events.[12][13] As he completed his bowling that day, Weber said to the FloBowling cameras:
Over his 41-year PBA Tour career, Weber made the final match 67 times, going 37–30 in those matches, and made the top five 152 times (second all-time).[14] PBA50+ (PBA50 and PBA60)Weber joined the PBA50 Tour (formerly PBA Senior Tour) in 2013. His first title on that tour was a major: the 2013 USBC Senior Masters, which he won on June 14. He also won the last PBA50 Tour tournament of the season on his 51st birthday and earned Rookie of the Year honors.[15] Weber won a second PBA50 major title, his fourth PBA50 title overall, at the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open on June 5, 2015. The win made Pete the second player in history, after Norm Duke, to win the U.S. Open on both the standard PBA Tour and the PBA50 Tour.[16] Weber was named the PBA50 Player of the Year for the 2015 season, after dominating in the earnings, average and competition points categories. It was his first PBA Player of the Year win of any kind.[17] On May 10, 2016, Weber won the BVL Johnny Petraglia Open on the PBA50 Tour for his third consecutive title in the 2016 season, and seventh PBA50 title overall. He joined fellow PBA Hall of Famer Tom Baker as the only players to ever win three consecutive PBA50 Tour events.[18] In the next PBA50 Tour stop, Weber successfully defended his 2015 PBA Senior U.S. Open crown, and became the only bowler to win four consecutive PBA50 Tour events.[19] Although the winning streak was stopped in the next tournament, Weber made history again later in the season. His victory at the 2016 USBC Senior Masters on June 26 made him the first bowler ever to win five titles in a single PBA50 Tour season.[20] Weber's unprecedented PBA50 season continued on July 28, when he won his sixth title of 2016 in the PBA50 South Shore Open.[21] Despite missing the last three events of the 2016 season due to a hip injury, Weber easily won his second consecutive PBA50 Player of the Year award with 457,200 points – more than 200,000 above the next closest player (Amleto Monacelli with 241,680 points). Weber also averaged a PBA50 record 237.03 for the season, almost nine pins ahead of second-place Norm Duke (228.31).[22] In the 2017 PBA50 season finale on August 8, Weber won his 11th PBA50 title, capturing the DeHayes Insurance Group Championship held in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This victory gave Weber 100 total PBA titles (37 PBA Tour, 11 PBA50 Tour, 48 PBA Regional Tour and four PBA50 Regional Tour). Walter Ray Williams Jr. is the only other bowler to reach this total.[23] On April 29, 2021, Weber won his 12th PBA50 Tour title (and first since 2017) in the Florida Blue Medicare PBA50 National Championship for his fifth PBA50 major.[24] One week later, on May 5, Weber made it back-to-back PBA50 championships, earning his 13th title at the PBA50 Granville Financial Open, his 50th national tournament win in PBA-sanctioned competition (regular and PBA50).[25] On August 10, 2023, Weber won his 14th PBA50 Tour title and sixth PBA50 major championship at the Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship in Sterling, Virginia.[26] On October 18, 2023, Weber won the PBA60 Player of the Year in his first season of eligibility. Weber is one of only five bowlers in history (with Walter Ray Williams Jr., Tom Baker, Amleto Monacelli and Parker Bohn III) to have won at least 10 titles on both the standard PBA Tour and the PBA50 Tour. Pete and his father, Dick, are two of the eight players in history (with Dave Soutar, Johnny Petraglia, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Amleto Monacelli, Parker Bohn III and Norm Duke) who have won a PBA Tour or PBA50 Tour title in five different decades. In February 2024, after participating in his namesake tournament (the 2024 Pete Weber Missouri Classic), Pete announced his full retirement from the main PBA tour, but continues on the age-restricted senior tours, where at the time the reigning Player of the Year on the PBA60 tour. Weber will continue to participate in team tournaments on the main tour where one player on each team is a PBA50 or PBA60 player, such as the PBA All-Star events at The Barn at Phoenix Raceway and PBA/PBA50/PWBA Jonesboro Trios. [27] Other achievementsWeber claimed his first career European Bowling Tour title in 2008, in the 30th Trofeu Internacional, July 22–27, 2008, Ciutat de Barcelona at Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain. When Pete won his first PBA title in 1982, it was the first time a father (Dick Weber) and son had each captured PBA titles. This has since happened four more times (Don and Jimmy Johnson, Don and Eugene McCune, Guppy and Kyle Troup, Eugene and Kevin McCune). Weber is one of only 13 players in PBA history to start in the 24th and final spot of the match play round and go on to win a tournament. He and Mike Aulby are the only two players to accomplish this feat twice. Weber did so in 1984, and again in 1991.[28] On ESPN's Cold Pizza he mentioned that he has made the 7-10 split four times in his career. He also noted that he is a near-scratch golfer and has six career holes-in-one. Weber won the 2013 ESPY Award for Best Bowler, defeating fellow nominees Jason Belmonte and Scott Norton.[29] ControversyBy the early 1980s, Weber had established himself as one of the best bowlers in the world, but his lifestyle saw numerous long binges of alcohol and cocaine use.[30] In a 1985 Sports Illustrated article, Weber admitted to spending a four-week stretch on tour in a "complete blackout"—staying up for days on end with cocaine, and drinking a fifth of Jack Daniel's every night. Pete estimated he blew through about $150,000 between 1982 and 1984 on cocaine, alcohol and gambling. He once bragged about hitting the lanes one evening and scoring in the high 200s after spending the day drinking full-strength Long Island iced teas.[14] He entered rehab in March 1984, ending what his famous father called "eight years of hell".[31] Though Weber says he never used cocaine again, he is open about the fact that he has continued to struggle with alcohol addiction throughout his life.[citation needed] Despite Weber's talent, he was not popular with his bowling peers and was even denied Player of the Year honors in 1987 despite winning the Tournament of Champions and leading the tour in earnings; the award was instead given to Marshall Holman.[32] By 1989, Weber had won 13 PBA Tour titles and had reached over $1 million (USD) in earnings, but his personal life was plagued with problems. By the mid-1990s, Weber had been through two divorces. He went through a three-season stretch (1994–96) without winning a title, and he failed to make a championship round appearance during the entire 1995 season.[3] At the same time, the PBA Tour itself was in decline and was nearing insolvency.[33] Weber began a slow turnaround in 1997, for which he gave much of the credit to third wife Tracy. "Tracy is the best thing that ever happened to me," he said. "She keeps me focused and keeps me loose."[34] Weber won two titles in the 1997 season, and established a then-career high in earnings with over $181,000. In 2000, the PBA Tour was sold to three former Microsoft executives; Weber was not on the tour during this transitional phase; he was still serving a suspension for "conduct unbecoming a professional" given by the former PBA leadership due to a late 1999 incident at a Bay City, Michigan pro-am related to his drinking problem.[35] The new tour ownership saw Weber's flashiness as a potential tool for marketing the PBA to a new audience.[33] By the 2001–02 season, Weber had his career back on track, winning three titles in all. In one of the three victories, at the Great Lakes Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Weber rolled a nationally televised 299 game, leaving a 4-pin standing on his final shot.[36] In an interview during the season, Weber remarked:
Weber's attitude on television has given him a reputation as a brash "action bowler," which some critics view as unsportsmanlike.[37] After icing a 289–279 victory in a televised match against Michael Haugen Jr., who was looking for his first PBA win at the 2001 Greater Louisville Open, Weber walked back on the approach toward Haugen and shouted, "He ain't getting his first one against me, no way!" During the 2010 One-A-Day Dick Weber Open, he became frustrated after hearing the sound of a photographer's camera click just before letting go of the ball, and verbally told them to refrain from flashing the camera during his approach. In the 2012 U.S. Open finals, he repeatedly confronted a young audience member who he believed was intentionally distracting him on his shots. He eventually won the 2012 event, his unprecedented fifth U.S. Open title, getting a strike on the fill shot of the tenth frame to defeat Mike Fagan by one pin, 215–214. Weber exploded in a burst of rage and excitement, directing his elation assertively to the audience and camera crews in and around the approach lanes:
The video footage of Weber's reaction to his win went viral on the Internet[39] and made the Top 10 on ESPN's "SportsNation 101 Celebration Fails" list. His "Who do you think you are? I am!" quote ended up on T-shirts. Weber later explained he intended to say, "Who do you think you are rooting against me? I am the man in this tournament!".[40] Weber clarified his comments were directed towards a young heckler who was jeering him throughout the tournament, at times during Weber's approach.[41] After taking time to cool down, Weber was humble in his post-tournament interview. When the announcer stated that Pete had just passed his father and Don Carter in career U.S. Open titles, Weber replied, "I'll never say I'm better than them. They paved the way for us to be here. It was an honor and a privilege to join them when I won my fourth U.S. Open, and it's even more of an honor to be the first one to win five."[42] In response to critics, Weber said in a 2016 interview:
LegacyWhile there are divided opinions on Pete Weber's PBA legacy, the majority conclude that he had a positive impact on resurrecting the sport's popularity. PBA Commissioner Tom Clark stated that when Weber made the finals telecast, ratings went up.[14] Hall of Famer Norm Duke, who also started on Tour while in his teens, was quoted in 2021 saying, "Pete can reach out through a television, grab you by the neck, turn your head toward him and say. 'Oh no, no, no. You might want to watch this.' And people do. It speaks to his entertainment value."[14] Mike Fagan, who once noted that Pete was alienating the very fans the sport wanted to attract, stated years later, "He has been the most noteworthy person in the sport for 40 years. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But he made bowling fun again."[14] After his team won the AFC Championship on January 29, 2023, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tweeted Weber's famous "Who do you think you are? I am!" quote. Weber has been a fan of the Chiefs ever since his favorite team, the Rams, moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles.[43] In 2024, the PBA held a tournament named after Weber: the inaugural Pete Weber Missouri Classic.[44] In 2017, Pete was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.[45] Weber's career PBA Tour titlesPBA Tour TitlesMajor championships are in bold text.
PBA50 Tour Titles
References
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