The Greatest Bowling Story Ever Told? - bowling

Bowling Digest, Oct, 2001 by Bob Jr. Learn

As the second game began my adrenaline was still very high, and I started with a spare (10-pin), strike, and spare (10-pin). During a commercial, my wife said to me, "I know you're happy with the perfect game, but finish the dream and win the tournament." That put everything back in perspective, and I got my game back on track. I struck out through the 10th frame to beat Mazza, 270-268.

By the time the third game began, I was really rolling. I struck, spared (10-pin), then struck out to beat Bohn, 280-279. I don't remember which frame it was that Bohn spared--I was focused on continuing to string strikes. Plus, I was exhausted, running on empty by then. I had been chewing the same stick of gum during all three games, and I kept on chewing it into the fourth game.

In the title match, Pedersen converted a 10-pin leave in the 5th frame and knocked down the 10-pin for a spare to begin the 10th, winding up with a 257. I needed to get at least nine pins on my first shot in the 10th frame, spare, and then strike to win the game. I kept my focus on getting the first strike in the 10th, and I did. I struck two more times to win with a 279.

It's still hard to believe all of the good things that happened to me on that day. My family and I had just built a new home four months earlier, and the $100,000 helped us add an in-ground pool and finish the basement as a trophy center. The AMF Swirl ball I used that day is in my trophy case. It's the only ball I've ever kept.

The victory helped me negotiate a three-year deal with AMF, which I signed the next year. I'm still with AMF. After the show ended and I finished talking with the media, my family and I went to dinner with a bunch of people from AMF. Then I spent the rest of the night at home taking it all in. That night I slept like a baby.

Learning Curve

BOB LEARN JR. REMEMBERS ALL too vividly the PBA before Chris Peters bought the tour and his triumvirate took over ownership in early 2000. "Tour life was very depressing," says the 39-year-old Learn, a four-time champion from Erie. Pa. "We had dwindling crowds. The money you can potentially win is a big incentive, but without fans cheering you on it can be hard to get fired up. But good things are happening now with the new owners. I've always had a passion for this game, and when t see the PBA's renewal and its new life, it affects me emotionally. [That's] very positive."

Learn, who claimed the 1999 U.S. Open as his first major title, spent the long layoff between the recent fall and winter tours lifting weights and practicing a lot at his home center, Erie's Eastway Lanes. "I plan to be on tour another five years, if I can stay competitive" he says. "There is a lot more incentive because of the new ownership, and I've worked hard to get in better shape.

Now that Learn--and the PBA--is more fit he should once again become accustomed to hearing those cheers.