Aleta Sill is making 1998 her most significant year by first becoming the only pro bowler to win the Triple Crown twice, then winning her 30th title to tie Lisa Wagner for career tour victories.
Sill was destined to eventually tie and overtake Wagner for the career title lead because the Dearborn, Mich., left-hander has maintained a regular pattern of winning on the ladies’ tour, while Wagner's frequency of victories has decreased. The latest PWBA statistics show Sill is leading in 1998 earnings with $100,285 and is third in ranking points with 8,557.5 and sixth in average with 214.01. She also has two titles this year—the Southern Virginia Open and the U.S. Open.
By comparison, Wagner, who is winless this year, is 25th in earnings with $19,633, 21st in ranking points with 5,335, and 24th in average with 208.73. The last national tournament she won was the 1996 WIBC Queens, when her boyfriend, Brian Billert, dramatically dropped to his knees and proposed marriage to Wagner on national television. The wedding plans are still in the works, according to Wagner, with no definite date planned.
Another difference between the two competitors is their attitude and approach to the sport.
Sill believes she can still win on the tour and actually set goals for herself, such as becoming the all-time career victories leader.
Wagner previously told me that all she cares about is bowling good enough to bring home a large paycheck, thinking of bowling more as her job than anything else. She also contended that setting records and maintaining them on tour makes no difference to her, and that it was not important to her ultimate satisfaction in her career.
This dynamic difference in approach by Sill and Wagner seems to make a difference in the results they get in general from bowling.
Wagner has done a 180-degree turnaround when it comes to her feelings about her production in recent PWBA competition. Now that she's been challenged, it seems Wagner suddenly cares about her accomplishments and is concerned about the jeopardy of her tour records since Sill provided the wake-up call with her 30th career victory.
In a recent interview on ESPN concerning Sill's heroics, analyst Jan Schmidt asked Wagner, with Sill at her side, how she felt about Sill's record-tying victory.
"I'm mad about it," Wagner said. "I was working in the truck helping with the TV production when Aleta did it, and the people I was working with got a reaction out of me. I'm not through yet with my bowling career, and I could always come back and win another one."
Sure enough, Wagner was in contention at the Chattanooga Open, losing in a roll-off for the final TV spot to Carol Norman.
Sill placed 30th in Chattanooga the week after she won her 30th title. She rebounded the next week, finishing fourth after losing in the televised finals to Marianne DiRupo, 259-184.
Wagner and Sill admit they can't bowl as professionals forever, but their focuses are different on what they will do after life on the tour.
"I still want to open a pet hotel in Bradenton (Fla.) where I live because I love animals," Wagner said.
Said Sill: "I don't know exactly what I'll be doing after my life on the tour, but I'm sure it will be something to do with bowling."
Neither has any immediate plans to retire, and the duo likely will remain competitive as tour regulars in the coming years. The career victories situation should stir more interest for PWBA fans who have been searching for reasons to watch the tour regularly.
Marketers, promoters, and fans of the PWBA can play this competition the way Major League Baseball does with the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run race.
"I think our tour should emphasize the career wins of Lisa and me and play up the angle of who will get the most in a similar way to the home run contest," Sill said. "If we both stay healthy, the intense competition to have the most victories of anybody on tour will be the best thing for both of us, and it will really give our tour a boost."
It will be intriguing indeed to see who will become the all-time home run king for a single season in baseball and the all-time career victories queen in the PWBA, so I wish the best for the best athletes in their sports.
Syndicated columnist Richard Kolb is a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America.