A League of Ordinary Gentlemen

Given the dearth of of movies out there that treat bowling in a serious light, this documentary is well worth watching. I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering a career in professional bowling.

This documentary delves into the psyche behind the bowlers and the PBA commissioner. All in all, this analysis is actually very entertaining and informative.

The only parts of this documentary that I found lacking was a piece on the fans and the popularity of the sport world wide. PBA fans run the gauntlet among society and it would have been interesting to see a cross section of these fans. It would also have been interesting to show some of the international PBA regulars that compete on tour (they did show a brief piece on England's Stuart Williams but should have included Ameletto Monacelli or Mika Kouvunemi).

Again, this does not detract from this documentary. In fact, since there is such a lack of quality material available on this topic it is easy to see what was left out :)This is a good film and I recommend it without hesitation.

I must start by saying that I'm a big bowler/bowling enthusiast. That being said, even if I wasn't that big of a fan of pro bowling, I would still like this movie a lot. But since I am a big fan of the pro tour, it made me appreciate the movie that much more. This documentary follows a couple bowlers (Walter Ray Williams, Jr., Chris Barnes, Wayne Webb, and Pete Weber) during a season on the PBA tour, which is starting to spice up their image. There are several different story lines that are followed throughout the film. Williams and Weber are the two superstars of the tour, and get the majority of the movie for themselves, but it also follows former team USA member and rising star Chris Barnes on his journey to greatness, as well as a PBA hall-of-famer with 20 career tournament wins, Wayne Webb. To me, Wayne Webb's story is the most intriguing. Williams and Weber have made millions of dollars bowling and to the bowling world, they are two of the greatest living bowlers, but you rarely see the other side. Wayne has more than $1 million in earnings in his career, but he's lost it all due to a party-heavy lifestyle, as well as gambling. He's making one last chance to make a living on the tour, and despite being a hall-of-famer, he really plays the underdog role.

Overall, this is a great movie which you should take some time to watch. If you don't watch pro bowling or don't know too much about bowling in general, you might not appreciate the movie as much as us bowlers do, but it's still a good solid documentary.

I saw this at the CineVegas Festival. It's about the Microsoft executives who purchased the struggling Pro Bowlers Tour and tried to turn it into a profitable sports league. Several of the players are profiled, including the 2 biggest stars (Walter Ray Williams & Pete Weber), an up and coming star (Chris Barnes) and a "has-been" (Wayne Webb) who is trying to reclaim his 70s and 80s stardom. This film shows the psychological pain that many of these players have to endure as a result of brutal travel schedules, long hours away from their families, low pay and the lack of respect they often receive in their chosen profession. It's an entertaining and heart-breaking film that will appeal to anyone who likes underdog stories about real people, it's not just for bowling fans.

An initial brief history details the decline of bowling in past decades, culminating in ABC television discontinuing coverage of the sport in 1997. But then in 2000 three ex-Microsoft execs bought the Pro Bowlers Association (PBA) for $5 million with the idea of resuscitating the sport. They hired Steve Miller, previously Nike's Director of Global Sports Marketing, as CEO of the PBA. Miller is a no-nonsense, tough, foul-mouthed, organizer. He is quoted as saying that his main focus in on the sponsors and the audience and that he views the players as replaceable. Whatever you feel about Miller, he was successful in putting bowling back on the map, landing a TV contract with ESPN.

This documentary is not so much about bowling as it is about people. In addition to getting to know Miller we follow four pro bowlers during the 2002-2003 PBA tour season, leading up to the final World Championship. We follow Pete Weber (the flamboyant bad boy), Walter Ray Williams (the well-adjusted true pro), Chris Barnes (the rising young star), and Wayne Webb (rapidly becoming a has been). I was surprised at how much access the filmmakers were given to the people involved. Through interviews with them and their significant others, and watching their behavior on the lanes, we get to know them pretty well. We get beyond the usual, "I take it one day at a time," and "I give it my best every day." For example, consider this quote from Wayne Webb, "Giving your whole life to something, thinking it will never die, thinking it will never go bad, and then it does, and having nothing to back me up, no college, no other career to step into, then that part of it is the part that really hurts."

I found the reaction shots, where the camera would linger on a person who was not at the center of the action, to be very effective. The looks of frustration and dejection told us a lot. One of the most poignant scenes had Wayne walking alone across an empty parking lot to his car at night, after a loss.

Wayne confessed to having a gambling problem, but most all of these bowlers must be gamblers to some extent. They go to the tournaments and there is a very good chance that they will come away with no money and, given the costs to participate, they will lose money. A profession where you never know when you will get a reward is a risky one. The toll this lifestyle takes on the players and their families is well presented.

After hearing some of the language used by these players I have to question the use of the word "gentlemen" in the title. A more appropriate title would be, "A League of Ordinary Men."

The music adds a great deal to the proceedings. The use of some classical pieces by Mozart and Bach would seem an odd choice, but they were effective. And original music by Gary Meister complemented the moods of the film well.

I am an ex-bowler who used to bowl upward to fifty lines a week, so I know the appeal of participating, but I think the sport is always going to be fighting a stiff headwind as a spectator sport. For one thing, it is hard to view bowlers as athletes. A couple of the shots in this film were blocked by the enormous guts of some of the competitors. And many of the top bowlers seem to be in their 40s. Some aggressive young stars would help. Plus there is not much variety to keep your interest--it's just following the ball down the alley and seeing how many pins fall. The ambiance of a bowling alley is a bit dark and claustrophobic, especially compared to a golf course, or a baseball or football field. And it's frequently the case that the match play events are settled long before the tenth frame, so there is not much tension. It was fortunate that the final game in this movie went into the tenth frame.

I give this movie a lot of credit for its honesty and its production values. You would not have to be a bowler to find it interesting.

Focusing on the underbelly of professional bowing, ALOOG, shows what happens when three microsoft engineers decide to buy the Professional Bowlers' Association for $5m in the hopes of reviving the sport. With the help of a former Nike executive, Steve Miller, the sport is given a makeover for the 21st century. Some bowlers are skeptical, and some delusional, yet the PBA tour regains a t.v. contract with ESPN. Long days on the road, loneliness, paltry paychecks, and the hope of redemption and riches that fuel these men on make it an interesting movie. The price that is paid in terms of broken marriages, stress, lack of respect all combine to create a vivid portrait.

Of the four bowlers profiled, ex physics professor Walter Williams is by far the most successful. Happily married, he lives comfortably on his bowling winnings, and by movies end has earned an impressive 400k in earnings on tour. The others, a son of a legendary bowler himself, a hall of famer who is alone, and broke at movies end, and a family man on his way up in the tour are presented as three dimensional people not caricatures from a movie like 'Kingpin'. Worth checking out.