Pete Weber won the PBA Tucson Open Feb. 8 as the top seed, earning $16,000 after beating Brian Himmler in the championship match 208-191, breaking his drought of nearly four years without a national tournament victory.
Weber waited for Himmler to climb the stepladder to meet him in the championship match, as Himmler beat Steve Hoskins in the opening match 224-201, a distracted Mike Aulby 245-235, and Ryan Shafer 227-221 in the semifinal match.
Weber credited his older brother, Richard, who also is the tournament director of the PBA Senior Tour, for coaching him into his new and improved game.
"I was having trouble adjusting to the characteristics of the reactive resin balls, and that’s why I wasn’t winning," said Weber. "My brother, Rich, worked with me on this, and we tried to figure out the best way to overcome the tendency of my reactive resin ball to overreact on the back-end of the lane. We determined that if I got my ball out of a spin and into an end-over-end roll on the back-end closer to the pins, the ball would stay put and not hook so much and carry the pins by staying in the pocket.
"I found that the Scorpion wrist band locks me into the end-over-end revolutions and carries my shots. As a result of my success, I have signed an advertising deal with Cobra products, the manufacturer of Scorpion and other similar wrist bands."
It was Weber’s 22nd victory on the tour, and he thinks 22 is a magic number since PBA commentator Marshall Holman came out of his ESPN broadcast booth to win his 22nd title last Oct. 15 in Allen Park, Mich.—his first PBA victory on the national tour since 1988. In addition, Player/Bowler of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. collected $22,000 in winning his 22nd PBA title Feb. 1 in Austin, Tex.
While Weber is happy to be in a three-way tie with 22 tour victories, he still has a particular goal in mind.
"My immediate goal before I start thinking about which one of us will win 30 tournaments on tour is 26," Weber said. "That’s because my Dad [ABC and PBA Hall of Famer Dick Weber] won 26 times on the PBA Tour, and my goal now is to catch him with 26 victories of my own."
Weber thinks the ESPN coverage of the PBA Tour on Saturdays and Sundays taped delayed for the winter tour is OK, but he misses the popularity of the weekly Saturday afternoon broadcasts which were previously done by sister network ABC.
"I was having trouble adjusting to the characteristics of the reactive resin balls, and that’s why I wasn’t winning."
"Lately, friends and fans of mine have been asking why the PBA Tour is not on ABC-TV anymore like it always was before," Weber said. "At first, they thought the tour was no longer being televised, but I tell them that it is, except it’s on ESPN now and it’s not always on Saturdays. They respond by saying they will try to remember to watch it.
"I think it’s great that my Dad is doing the broadcasts for the Senior PBA Tour on the Prime Network and works with my brother, Rich, but I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. I’ll check their schedule more closely."