Walter Ray Williams Jr. has responded to comments made several months ago by syndicated sports talk show host Jim Rome on his national radio show, "The Jungle," and his TV show, "The Last Word," on Fox Sports Network. Rome referred to an article in USA Today which told about Williams’ victory in the 1998 U.S. Open. The win gave Rome the opportunity to insult Williams and launch into a massive anti-bowling campaign on several national media outlets, including his own.
Rome said bowling was a recreation on par with miniature golf and thus was not a sport. The rising star of sports talk shows continued his tirade against bowling by saying that anyone could bowl like the pros and match their scores with the use of house balls and rented shoes. He also said that amateur bowlers who use their own equipment are losers, and those who use another ball for shooting spares are idiots.
These comments only scratch the surface of what Rome had to say about bowling.
When I questioned Williams about Rome’s comments, he said Rome obviously knows nothing about bowling as a sport.
"Apparently, he doesn’t want to do any research on bowling and doesn’t care about it at all since he’s making all of those ludicrous comments," Williams said. "If he bothered to learn anything about bowling as a sport, he wouldn’t sound so ignorant."
Williams added that if Rome thinks he could compete on the PBA Tour using house balls and rented shoes, he should come out and compete on the tour and see how far he gets with rented equipment and no experience.
"I’ll be glad to take on Rome in bowling anytime he wants, either one-on-one or on the tour on a given week," Williams said. "I doubt if he would get very far on the tour with his approach and attitude, and I’m sure he wouldn’t come close to making the cut. It wouldn’t take long for me or anyone on the tour to beat him in an individual game in match play. He’s welcome to come out to a tour stop and try it. It could be a very embarrassing publicity stunt for him."
Williams suspects Rome might be spewing all of his negative opinions about bowling simply for the purpose of angering bowling fans into making their own comments or getting other sports fans to agree with him by using bowling for his own advantages.
"He may be making those comments about bowling and me to get fans angry at him and boost his ratings," Williams said. "He could be trying to act like the Howard Stern of sports and shock people with what he says on TV or radio."
Williams noted that when he reads, sees, or hears somebody from the media downgrading bowling, it makes him try even harder to win tour events. Indeed, since Rome’s comments first were published here, Williams has won three tournaments.
"I’ll be glad to take on Rome in bowling anytime he wants, either one-on-one or on the tour on a given week," Williams said.
Williams, 39, plans to bowl another five years on tour. If he maintains his pace of five tour victories this season, he will shatter Hall of Famer Earl Anthony’s record of 41 national tour victories and seven senior tour titles. Walter Ray currently has 29 titles, and if he wins five tournaments per year for the next five years, simple math reveals the possibility of 25 additional titles and a career total of 54. Even if he averages four wins a year, he still would finish with a record 45 PBA national tour victories.
In spite of these favorable numbers, Williams prefers to keep a low profile when it comes to catching Anthony, much like Mark McGwire did this past season when he chased and ultimately surpassed Roger Maris’ home run record.
"I still have a long way to go before I catch Earl Anthony’s record, and I would rather focus on one tournament victory at a time," said Williams. "His record does give me something to shoot for, but I still have to win another 12 tournaments even to tie it. I only had six titles before ‘93, and I’ve won 23 in the last six years. I can’t believe I’m this close to 30 titles, so it’s been an incredible run for me."
In his quest to become the all-time leader in tour victories, Walter Ray passed three of bowling’s greats in 1998 in Mike Aulby, Dick Weber, and Don Johnson. Only Anthony and Mark Roth (34 PBA titles) remain ahead of Williams’ 29.
Williams experienced his hottest year on tour as a new resident of Orlando, Fla., and he says its climate agrees with him.
"I like living in Orlando so far, but I haven’t decided whether we should buy a house here or not," Williams said. "In addition to the weather, I also like the tax structure, which is better than it is in most places. That’s why some of the other bowlers [including Norm Duke and Steve Hoskins] on tour live there."
Williams is the PBA’s number one-ranked bowler, and he has been ranked at this level for 73 consecutive tournaments and in the top spot five times since the computer ranking began in 1992. He is on pace to become PBA Player of the Year for the fifth time, so if Mr. Rome wants to bowl Walter Ray head-to-head, he shouldn’t even think about winning because every time Williams bowls, he makes history.
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PBA recently announced that it will host its first-ever outdoor tournament. It will be televised by CBS on its "Sports Spectacular" as a new spring stop in New York City on May 1, 1999. The tourney will be televised live from 3-4 p.m. in Bryant Park near the Avenue of the Americas between 41st and 42nd Streets. Admission to the event is free.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says the event will make history in the Big Apple since bowling will be staged on a pair of lanes outside for the first time.
But what happens to the tournament if foul weather occurs?
PBA’s Chris Bame hopes the tour won’t need to send out a May Day message of emergency. However, if it experiences stormy weather during the inaugural outdoor tour stop, PBA has no room for its first rainout, even though it will have plenty of room for spectators.
"We are busy planning and designing an outdoor cover which would run the length of the lanes to protect the bowlers and some fans," said Bame. "We also have plans to screen the fans for safety at the entrance since this will be contested in a public park in New York," said Bame.
Hopefully, the covering will repel lightning bolts and high winds so that PBA can avoid May Day mayhem.
Syndicated columnist Richard Kolb is a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America.