1997 PBA St. Clair Classic - End - Final ABC PBA telecast

[webere50]

pba is coming back to abc in 2011

[cbaldwinjr]

I fondly remember Saturdays with my mom watching bowling on ABC. Bo Burton and Chris Schenkel were so relaxed on air. LOL...my best friend and me would pretend to do those silly "Winning Never Gets Old" vignettes that Bo would do during commercials...or we'd do pseudo commentary: Dustin is working on a 103...he needs a strike to stay in the match. 8TH FRAME! dcbandnerd, i couldn't agree more...ABC doesn't put anything on Saturdays when football isn't on...BRING THE PBA BACK!

[dcbandnerd]

One of the saddest days in Television history. I still miss this show and I pray that somehow, ABC Sports will break loose from that stranglehold ESPN has on them and get a lot of their shows back. Especially this one.

[TheBrassHole]

@dcbandnerd I second that.

[TheAmpad]

@dcbandnerd I likrd ABC when they televised the PBA Tour except when they bowled through while they went to commercial. I like ESPN because they showed all the matches even if the show ran over the slotted time.

[larchmontmark]

Trivia fact, although irrelevant: :-)

Even though his hometown was pretty obscure (Milwaukie, Oregon, which I noticed b/c I lived for a while in Milwaukee WISC), there was ANOTHER BOWLER from that same town -- JIM WINKLEPLECK -- and I think they might have both made the same TV finals once, or at least within a couple of weeks of each other.

[larchmontmark]

Darn....I forgot to say WHO I WAS TALKING ABOUT up there (i.e. the first guy from that town).

DAVE HUSTED

(Winklepleck was from the same town)

[jayjarnold]

Early in their careers, I do remember seeing Winklepleck and Husted against one another in a match...I think 1981. May have been either or both's first time on TV. It was also the first time I ever heard of Milwaukie, Oregon. Good bowlers, the both of them.

[larchmontmark]

Oh.....I forgot the guy at the end in the navy blue shirt.......Don't recognize him either.

[dcbandnerd]

(Yellow shirt: Norm Duke at a VERY young age, I think. The guy after him is Bob Benoit after he shot his 300 at Quaker State. After him, it was Pete Weber at a young age. As a matter of fact, that may have been a shot from his first title. Bob Hoskins after that, then Bob Learn after his 300 game. And of course...Chris (Rest in Peace).

[larchmontmark]

D. Carter D. Weber B. Hardwick (I think) then....??? Billy Welu (in the booth) J. Petraglia M. Holman E. Schlegel then ??? (the guy WAVING) E. Anthony M. Roth then ??? (yellow shirt) W. R. Williams then ??? (red shirt) Petraglia and Williams again

[syntonik]

4th is weber again

after schlegel is anthony waving

yellow shirt - norm duke

that wasn't walter ray after Duke...it was Bob Benoit after rolling the 300

after that was dave husted in the U.S. Open

[larchmontmark]

THANKS!!!!

I do know all those other guys (of course), just didn't recognize them!!

And thanks for correcting me on "Williams again."

Never noticed before that Benoit and W.R. had any resemblance.

And maybe they don't. :-)

[larchmontmark]

Oh......Do you know THE LAST GUY?

(heavy-set guy in the navy blue shirt)

[Curtie555]

That was Bob Learn Jr. Just after rolling his 300 against Johnny Petraglia.

[dcbandnerd]

I think the guy waving was Earl Anthony before he let his hair grow.

[larchmontmark]

Here's the list....can someone fill in the gaps?

(Sorry, I'm having to divide the post because of the above.)......

[larchmontmark]

Darn.....for some reason, the site keeps thinking my next post is TOO LONG, even though it's not.....

[larchmontmark]

Thanks for posting this!!!

I was a long-time fan of the show, and often even scheduled my Saturdays around it.

But I never saw this before, and didn't even know about it.

It's great.

BTW...I don't recognize all the bowlers who are shown. In the next post, I list the ones I do recognize, plus the ones that I don't.

Can someone fill in the gaps?

[dcbandnerd]

One of the reasons why this show was enjoyable to watch was because it had a solid booth. Just like with any other sport, you can't go on the air with subpar color commentary. Thank you Chris Schenkel, and rest in peace.

[odiedude]

No doubt about that. The reason it worked so well is because ABC put a top-notch announcer in the booth to cover bowling, and he was loyal to both the network and the sport for so long. Bo was also smart and very insightful. If ESPN wants to succeed at it like ABC did, they need to pair Pedersen with a veteran play-by-play guy who people know - someone who can call the action like Schenkel did. Changing the timeslot wouldn't hurt, either.

[Revs300]

RIP..i cryed as well when this was on

[RedSport2]

I will always remember spending Saturdays at my grandmas house. And when that theme came on, I was locked in. R.I.P

[blaster212]

I second that. We miss ya Chris. RIP. Thanks to you and Bo for all of the wonderful years and memories.

[BadGurl404]

R.I.P Chris Schenkel.

[ericcollins81]

i miss that episode i was so pissed off. but thanx to you tube i was able to see the retrospective during the last braodcast. thanx dunner 228