Originally posted on allbowling.com by Fishermanhttp://www.allbowling.com
The Ultimate Controversy - Today, 06:09 AM
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Everyone in the bowling world knows what 900 means; you may call it the ‘Triple Crown’, maybe a ‘Trifecta’, perhaps a ‘Three-peat’, maybe even ‘triple perfection’. Call it what you will; what it amounts to is the ultimate in bowling perfection. There is no greater feat in bowling than the 900 series. It’s a feat that many will strive to reach but only a limited few will attain. In fact, there have only been seven ABC approved 900 series’; that’s right, I said seven.
The first approved 900 series was rolled by Jeremy Sonnenfeld of Lincoln, Nebraska. A college student and collegiate bowling star at the time, Jeremy rolled his perfection on February 2, 1997 and became the first person ever to roll an approved 900 series. But he wasn’t the first 900 ever. In the wake of his perfection is a story we probably all know to well. In case you don’t know the story, keep reading.
It was league night on Thursday, July 1, 1982 and Glenn Allison was ready for a big night of bowling. During his first shift, a mixed handicap league, he was trying a new ball and managed to shoot a whopping 578. Feeling that his new ball was hooking entirely too much, he pulled out his Yellow Dot for the second shift, semi-scratch league. For him, that was a fateful decision. Approximately two hours later, Glenn Allison had made bowling history. He became the first person in the 87-year history of the ABC to shoot 900 in sanctioned league play.
The ABC decided not to honor Glenn Allison’s 900 series. From my understanding, his 900 was not approved because the lanes were not inspected prior to his shooting 900. The lanes were inspected after his bowling and they were found to be out of specifications. At the time, it was considered an impossible feat and it was believed that no one would ever achieve such a fantastic accomplishment. But Glenn did it and there were many witnesses. But that isn’t really my point.
As I mentioned earlier, there are now seven approved 900 series and none of them belong to Glenn Allison. After Jeremy Sonnenfeld, there was more than a full year before another perfecto was rolled. This time it was Tony Rovetini throwing the ball. On November 9, 1998, Tony achieved his ultimate perfection in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. About one year later, Vince Wood shoots 900 number 3 in Moreno Valley, California. In 2000, Robby Portalatin rolled the fourth 900 series. Number five was shot in Salem, Oregon in May, 2001 by James Hylton. Number six came recently by another college student in New Castle, Pennsylvania on June 12, 2004. Jeff Campbell II found himself in the midst of the 900 controversy as the ABC scrutinized his perfecto for weeks before honoring his accomplishment. The latest 900 series came on December 9, 2004. It was rolled by Darin Pomije of New Prague, Minnesota.
The first of these perfectos came some 15 years after Glenn Allison’s. And each of these perfectos has seen their own bits of controversy, though none have seen the controversy of the true first.
Glenn Allison shot his 900 when lane conditions and bowling balls were different. There was no ‘particle technology’ when Allison achieved perfection. In fact, there were only rubber, plastic, and urethane bowling balls. Lane conditions were not the ‘walled-up’ house shots that we see today. Lanes were still ‘dressed’ and cleaned by hand. I guess you could, or should, call his 900 pure. Don’t take this the wrong way, any 900 is great; but why approve seven and not approve the first one ever?
I recently caught a message board on a popular industry web site that had a topic going about the latest 900 series. Many of the people who posted seemed to feel the same way that I do regarding Glenn Allison’s achievement: APPROVE IT. After all, he was the first and he deserves it.
But I was surprised to see how many people were sort-of bashing the other 900 bowlers. There were some comments that basically said none of them should count unless Allison’s is counted. There were also some who said the lane conditions must be too easy and of course there was talk of bowling a ‘real’ 900 on a sport pattern. There were even jokes about sanctioning cosmic or no-tap bowling so that those scores would count. To all of those people I say WAKE UP. You are missing the boat. I don’t care if the shot is the ‘Great Wall of China’; I don’t care if you are a righty or a lefty; I don’t care if you own the center, if you’re the lane man, or if you’re just a regular league bowler; I don’t care if you have 2 boards of area or 20 boards of area. It takes accuracy, consistency, mental and physical ability (and okay, a little luck too) to throw 36 strikes in a row. All of those individuals deserve kudos from everyone. You have to know your game, know the conditions, know your equipment, know how to make adjustments, know how to execute, know how to put it all together and keep it all together. There have only been eight 900 series’ in the 110 year history of the ABC. Thirty-six strikes in a row is an amazing accomplishment.
Glenn Allison’s 900 may not have been approved, but we all know the story and he knows he did it (along with the hundred or so witnesses who saw him shoot it on that fateful night). No one can take that away. Maybe someday, the governing body of bowling will see the error of their ways and approve this much-deserved award.
Even More Controversy
When I originally wrote this article, more than a year ago, the 900 series seemed a distant and unachievable goal to most bowlers. But in the past months, bowling has seen some new controversy surrounding this ever-coveted feat as a youth bowler currently claims to have bowled three sanctioned 900 series.
Young Robert Mushtare has become the talk and often ridicule of bowling forums all over the internet. The controversy surrounding his 900 series begins with the fact that he pre-bowled all three of the series. Two of these series are still under review by the USBC. The third series has been administratively rejected because, at the time of bowling, Mushtare did not have a valid youth membership in USBC.
Further surrounding his controversy, is the fact that he claims to have bowled other 900 series in practice attesting to some 6 perfect series to his credit. Many in the bowling arena simply find that hard to believe. Not only is hard to believe, it is hard to digest. Is it really possible that someone could roll six perfect series one no other person has been able to claim more than one?
More Approval
In February 2006, the eighth sanctioned series was rolled by Lonnie Biliiter and approved by the USBC. Even more recently, April 2006 in fact, a Milwaukee bowler rolled a 900 set that has yet to be approved by the USBC. If approved, it will become the ninth approved series.
It took 87 years (of ABC history) for someone to roll the first 900. Now we’ve seen nine in ten years. Will we see more? Will 900 become more common? Will the ever-coveted ultimate perfection become commonplace like the 300? Lane conditions are getting easier. After all, bowlers want to see high scores and bowling centers are all too happy to comply. I really don’t know if we’ll see more and I guess only time will tell. I think we may see more; but I also think this subject will long remain bowling’s ultimate controversy.
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"Great teams are made of great attitudes, not just great talent." ~M.B.O.
Gary.............................................................
