1981 Firestone Tournament Of Champions
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$150,000 FIRESTONE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Riviera Lanes, Akron, Ohio, Apr 20-25, 1981
Cook Snaps Slump Almost Perfectly
Steve Cook was clearly the best player on the PBA Tour in the $150,000 Firestone Tournament of Champions as he threatened perfection in the championship match before settling for a 287-183 victory against Pete Couture.
Cook, a 6'6", 260 lb. southpaw, belted out 10 consecutive strikes in the championship game, each one solid in the pocket, before coming light on his eleventh attempt and leaving the 6-7 pins.
Couture had no chance against that onslaught but had performed courageously to get that far, including a double overtime win earlier in the finals.
The 5'8", 130 lb. Couture had one of two 300 games in the 16th annual Firestone and put together the top match play record of 18-5-1 in securing third place going into the championship round.
The other 300 game was by Gary Dickinson in a sixth-round match against Mark Roth in which Roth lost by two pins. The 300-298 match play clash (a record later to be broken), propelled Dickinson into second and Roth into fourth for the finals, just ahead of fifth-place qualifier Earl Anthony.
Cook, meanwhile, while never owning a large lead, came through at crucial points throughout match play and prevailed with a 218 average at Riviera Lanes. It was not only his first TV finals effort of the year but the 24-year-old had not finished above 19th all season. The slump had affected Cook's confidence to the point that he considered he might be overmatched on the pro tour and began thinking of quitting.
All that, the self doubt and the financial struggle, was to change.
Anthony defeated Roth in the first match. Anthony and Couture then rolled to a 205-205 tie, forcing a roll-off of two frames in which they each scored 40. As the almost unbearable tension mounted for both the players and viewers of the historic match, Couture rolled four straight strikes in the second roll-off and was declared the winner when Anthony missed striking on his third attempt.
Cook waited for his chance to bowl for the largest first prize on the PBA Tour. As he had done in the past in such a position, the Roseville, Calif., native determined to play aggressively, as if attacking the lane and pins much more than usual.
His first 10 shots could be mixed up and replayed out of sequence and only the sharpest bowling eye would be able to put them back in actual order. An extra $10,000 was on the line if he could come up with two more.
"But as soon as I threw that second shot in the 10th frame I knew it wasn't right," said Cook. "I thought it might have a chance to carry but I wasn't counting on it."
He didn't have to. He had already counted the $30,000 for the title.
TELEVISED FINALS
Pos. Name, City/State Total Amount
1 Steve Cook, Roseville, Calif. 287 (1 game) $30,000
2 Pete Couture, Windsor Locks, Conn. 586 (3 games) 17,000
3 Gary Dickinson, Burleson, Texas 179 (1 game) 10,000
4 Earl Anthony, Dublin, Calif. 426 (2 games) 7,500
5 Mark Roth, Spring Lake Heights, N.J. 192 (1 game) 5,000
PLAYOFF RESULTS - Anthony defeated Roth, 221-192; Couture defeated Anthony in a double roll-off, 60-40, after they tied 205-205 and 40-40 in the first two-frame roll-off; Couture defeated Dickinson, 198-179; and in the championship game Cook defeated Couture, 287-183.
Пікірлер: 165
I used to watch the Pro Bowlers Tour for years. I was a big fan of Earl Anthony, since I was a lefty. He was so smooth and like a machine. RIP Earl.
@felixmadison5736
6 ай бұрын
Same here. I was a lefty bowler on our Monday Night Classic League, using my Columbia 300 Yellow Dot bowling ball. Good times! Earl was my favorite bowler so I purchased an Ebonite bowling ball. Earl was the first athlete in any sport to have a 1 million dollar endorsement deal.
Earl was the best. Everybody likes him. Never heard a bad word about. God bless you Earl. RIP.
Couture looks like every league bowler in the 1970s to the early 80s.
I was an earl anthony fan..grew up bowling..This man was so smooth,hit pocket all the time. I think the geatest that ever was.. i miss him and sorry he left us so soon.
@fjccommish
Жыл бұрын
Too bad pro bowling has been ruined by two handed SJW bowling.
@cattman1970
Жыл бұрын
Me too. And growing up in Akron made bowling a big deal in our family.
I love these classic Brunswick Starlight masking units from the '70s. One of the houses I bowled at back then was Lynbrook Lanes just north of Minneapolis and they had 24 of these. When the house lights were down for league the lanes had more of a quiet and elegant look than the super-busy look lanes have today.
I crossed lanes with Earl in Dayton, Ohio in the 1980 tournament, he was using that orange ball then.
Best time in bowling...Chris Schenkel was awesome....
I miss tournaments like this! This was when bowling had a lot of class and real skill! The pros back then let their bowling so the talking. I loved Earl Anthony and was my inspiration to want to be a professional bowler. I have been bowling for 20 years.
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
You said a mouthful.
@timothyduzenski1386
Жыл бұрын
Earl was the best. This is all before reactive resin.
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
@@timothyduzenski1386 Earl had nothing but disdain for the newly "approved" equipment that's destroyed bowling. As a color commentator he even made derogatory comments about the newer balls on air. Needless to say, he didn't last as a sportscaster.
Saw Earl bowl a West Coast regional. When they introduced him, he stepped up and said he would roll until he stopped striking. He then proceeded to throw right handed backup balls from the left 3 board for 9 in a row. Simply amazing.
my dad met earl anthony. earl, gave so much advice to my dad for him to become a great bowler. we miss you earl. my dad and earl are left handers.
Man - when Earl was on, he would just BURY every single ball !!
I remember every Saturday praying like hell that I would hear "Earl Anthony" when they announced the finalists. If he didn't make it I was so disappointed I'd turn it off and go to the local alley. They had an afternoon special, 2 games and shoes for a dollar !
@rockvilleraven
2 жыл бұрын
Earl was a good analysist when NBC got the fall PBA tour.
@joes6883
2 жыл бұрын
No wonder he didn't make it,,, you were "praying like hell". not good.
@spiderreed350
2 жыл бұрын
What'd you do when Earl,Earl, Earl lost?
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
@@joes6883 Lol, good catch.
@rayt1689
3 ай бұрын
Earl and Mark were my favorites
At a time when bowling was classy. I miss these days and then likes of these two greats.
@jhamlin726
4 жыл бұрын
Bowling is fine now.
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
@@jhamlin726 Lol, you cannot be that stupid.
@1USACitizen192
4 ай бұрын
Bowling was so much better back then. These were so much more skilled than today's "pros" who know nothing but revs.
Love the backdrops, love the lanes, if I could emulate any bowler in 2017 it would be Early Anthony. Master of the sport!
This is when bowling was bowling!
@rockvilleraven
10 жыл бұрын
It's impossible to top the TV coverage of the PBA tour when it was on ABC.
@rockvilleraven
10 жыл бұрын
And the Professional Bowlers Tour on ABC was televised bowling at its best!
@davehansen9124
7 жыл бұрын
Chris Schenkel and Nelson Burton Junior were the best. Pete Couture was 33 years old during this tournament, so that makes him about 70 years old now !
I miss those days....Back when you needed talent to bowl....not buying a high score/avg with a high tech resin ball
@TheDarinw40
9 жыл бұрын
Exactly... Screaming has no part in bowling....I remember I bowled in a qualifier in St. Petersburg and me and my buddy were shooting some pool between squads and there was a couple of guys in the way of our shot, I said " excuse me gentlemen"...Earl turned around and said " there's no gentlemen here".he jumped in and we had so much fun...Earl was such a down to earth class act...the true ambassador of bowling....
@SteelersRule1011
8 жыл бұрын
+Darin Whitehead Oh really? I didn't know that modern bowling balls made you automatically throw a 300. Could've fooled me. Apparently if I throw the ball in the complete opposite direction of the lane, it will turn itself right around and turn into a strike. Such idiots, golfers get more advanced clubs, runners and basketball players get better shoes, but you know what. I think plastic balls are too easy to use., And rubber too. And wood, it's so easy. We should throw perfectly spherical stones at the pins.
@BriansWorkshop
8 жыл бұрын
+SteelersRule1011 There's no denying that modern bowling balls made the game MUCH easier. The hiher scores and averages tell the story.
@SteelersRule1011
8 жыл бұрын
***** But that doesn't matter, because everyone has access to higher tech bowling balls. It doesn't make it any easier to compete with the pros, it just means league and house scores will be higher. In addition, the PBA now has far more difficult oil patterns.
@BriansWorkshop
8 жыл бұрын
+SteelersRule1011 Access, maybe....but not everyone can shell out $200+ for a new ball all the time. And when you got guys wheeling 8 balls in for league and trying them all until he find one that works because heaven forbid he tries to find a shot, well....there's your problem.Not arguing that there isn't skill involved, but the amount of skill it takes to compete these days has dropped a lot since reactives hit the scene. Used to be if you wanted the ball to hook and hit, you had to actually put something on the ball. Now practically all you have to do is just let go of it and it will do all the work for you.
theres nothing like the pba back in the 70's 80;s growing up. love chris and nelsoon bo classic.
@1USACitizen192
4 ай бұрын
So much better than today's crap bowling shows.
TY so much. I never saw that match back in the day, so much tension, so much excitement. TY again !!
I miss those Saturdays with Chris Schenkel and Bo Burton. Those ABC broadcasts put PBA Bowling right up there with the other major sports: baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.
@chrishall6419
4 жыл бұрын
We were blessed with that time period in all sports...your comment is right on...
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
@@chrishall6419 You are absolutely correct.
@rockvilleraven
6 ай бұрын
It was the longest running spin-off of Wide World of Sports, in 1961 a bowling event on Wide World got good ratings and the PBA negotiated their own TV deal.
@jesse75
3 ай бұрын
Bo knows what he's talking about, Chris just a dud.
Earl the Pearl! He was the Freddy Couples of the PBA! So smooth and very rarely out of the pocket. Used to come home from bowling junior league on Saturday morning to watch the PBA tour! Man I miss those days! 😂
I like how Roth puts everything into the shot and gets 2 boards worth of ball movement on the lanes...crazy
Back when reporters gathered to follow a bowling tournament. And ball drillers did not seem to mind losing a few digits.
After Earl was eliminated, did you notice just how subdued the fans were? I think the fans wanted Earl to win all the time.
@dondec
7 жыл бұрын
Indeed he was very popular, and sort of the ambassador of smooth back then. He and Nelson Burton Jr were my personal heros.
@joeambrose3260
3 жыл бұрын
@@dondec Loved Earl, Nelson not so much
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
@@joeambrose3260 Agreed
@irishpogi
Жыл бұрын
He and Dick Weber were the sentimental favorites.
thank you whoever posted this live action. loved coming home afte my bowling saturdays watching them so great me
Got to love those Lite Beer commercials.
I missed Earl Anthony, Because I love to watch him smooth. If he is 22 years old. I am sure that he would get more than 60-75 champion title. He was 30 years old. He started to play bowling in PBA....
@TimothyBukowskiApologist
8 жыл бұрын
+Marcel Metz And he retired pretty young, and not because he couldn't do it. He could have easily won a dozen or more times.
@marcelmetz363
8 жыл бұрын
you are not understand that he decided to get back in 1984. But he struggled to practice bowling. He gave up. Later, he joined Senior PBA He successfully at 50 years old in 1990-1996. He want to learn how to golf. His friends told them that he played golf very well. He passed away at 63 years old.
@8avexp
8 жыл бұрын
+Marcel Metz Anthony retired in 1983 because in his words, "it wasn't fun anymore." He later came out of retirement when the top prize in the US Open went up to $100,000, but was never the same.
@daveandlaarni
7 жыл бұрын
+Marcel Metz Yes and he also had a bowling house in Cali that took up a lot of time.
@marcelmetz363
7 жыл бұрын
David Martin I met Earl Anthony for PBA tour in Gretna, La. in 1977. His avg was 240.5 He was very nice man. I saw him very smooth bowler. I saw Marshall Holman argued with Earl Anthony. He said got out of bowling He saw me We laughed. But he lost to Don Johnson One thing He smoked a lot of cigarettes Winston. I still loved to watch his video. I sorely missed him very much.
unfortunately bowling is dead! Loved the game in the 70s
@chrismontreuil2206
4 жыл бұрын
Most everything is dead.
The Anthony vs. Couture match was incredible. At 29:19 is Bud Lite commercial that was a preview of how to win elections today.
@ripvanrevs
Жыл бұрын
They packed a lot of stars into one commercial!!
@felixmadison5736
6 ай бұрын
Bud Lite had the best t.v. commercials in those days.
Miss Earl the bowling pearl. He was such a class act and proved accuracy is better than power. Just watch. Why do you think a lot of pros are starting to use urethane bowling balls now. No big splits.
Earl Anthony was and still is the GOAT!!!
I like Steve Cook's form.
I DID see earl Anthony get angry once. He was bowling in match play, Wonderbowl Downey or keystone lanes. Gary Dickenson threw 3 Brooklyns in the tenth to beat Earl 224-223. I will never forget it. Earl's face was red as he threw his towel in the air in disgust. For Dickenson...hey, a win is a win.
Nothing pleased me more back then than to see Anthony beat Roth.
Congrats pixley and nice to hear Alex
I didn't know Ron Jeremy was a bowling champion. I also like how Roy Schieder could take time off from filming Jaws 2 to bowl in this.
@joeambrose3260
3 жыл бұрын
Spielberg was a big bowling guy
Earl the pearl!
@markking002
4 жыл бұрын
wrong Earl
@dnx112
Жыл бұрын
Earl the Pearl Anthony.
The great Earl Anthony.
The urethane era was beginning at that time.
@PointyTailofSatan
7 жыл бұрын
Ya, the balls were still made of stone when this was on. No, no really. lol
@charlesharred5841
4 жыл бұрын
I wish it would have stopped there most of today's bowlers skill set comes right out of the box.
I was there! I somehow managed to get myself on TV during Bo's interview with Gary Dickinson. They were right in front of me, and I slowly lean over until I am over Bo's left shoulder. They were all great matches, but seeing Cook almost get the 300 was very exciting
@mrbowling300
7 жыл бұрын
Ross S my all time favorite show. I was 15 years old when I saw this live
Earl Anthony and Steve Cook using Brunswick Mark X's, the best rolling ball ever made. Too bad the cover stock developed a rippling effect. I had four of them in the early 80s.
@schnauzerears912
3 жыл бұрын
I remember that ball - I think it was on the soft side which hurt its durability, but it grabbed the lane as good as anything , hit hard and got those corner pins out without much deflection.
@felixmadison5736
6 ай бұрын
I have to say the Columbia 300 Yellow Dot was the best ball for the 1970s and '80s. Used by more bowlers than any other ball, be it league bowler or Pro.
@Mr4stringer
6 ай бұрын
@@felixmadison5736 Undoubtedly the dominating force of the 70s and into the early 80s when. urethane was intriduced
That intro music!
Earl's wife. One of the pretties ladies ever.
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
Agreed
Steve Cook received $150,000 on Firestone Tournament of Champions!
I don't know the stats but I'm guessing Earl Anthony made the final five twice a often as the next best over a 15 tear span. He was the best bowler AFTER the 100-game BPAA All Star format was discontinued. Before that it was Don Carter, who won FOUR All Stars and finished in the top 5 a total of nine times! And Dick Weber, who bowled so well in both eras, completes bowling's Big Three--of all time.
Earls got his great orange Ebonite Gyro III
listening to Coutures whining…and whining resulted in me rooting for his opponent in match 2, something i had never EVER done before
Best part of the video 29:19!!!
Earl,Earl,Earl,Earl!!!!
That first prize would be equivalent to $100,000 in 2024. That's pretty damn nice for some bowling.
I was wondering if you had the 1989 TOC
@ 0:43 the tv final field of 5 pros for the big one
5:22 announcer jinx
Damn great bowling
Larry Laub missed the show by 59 pins.
@joeambrose3260
3 жыл бұрын
How do I utilize this info to my advantage ?
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
@@joeambrose3260 Pick up your spares.
@dnx112
Жыл бұрын
Your point???
Do you have the 1983 true value open?
@douglasharris5216
4 жыл бұрын
Andrew Phillips why, so you can spoil the outcome?
Sure miss Chris and Bo!
I was wondering if you had the 1985 Tournament of Champions telecast featuring Mark Williams
Earl Anthony in my opinion is the greatest.
Im looking for the 1988 ToC. Mark said i should watch that one too! I hope you can!
I seen a first,Roth left a five pin.I've never seen Mark throw an air ball.
Anthony vs Roth = Ruth vs Gehrig
The second match was exciting and close
@douglasharris5216
4 жыл бұрын
Andrew Phillips Mark Roth and Earl Anthony have bowled some exciting matches George N. Pappas and Ernie Schlegel have bowled some awesome matches
@ 1:30 the guy with a hot hand
5:31 ouch
Brunswick Mark X
was this the only time in PBA history that a double roll off was needed to decide a match on TV?
@joeambrose3260
3 жыл бұрын
I believe so, Earl was also in one on the senior tour with Darrell Curtis and lost that too
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
Yes
Amazing how even 40 years ago even with the old rubber balls, a lot of left handers could really hook the ball, we all know modern reactive balls hook more. Mark roth really bounced and lobbed the ball not at all smooth.
@shrapnel77
3 жыл бұрын
Roth had a lot of raw power. 34 titles - no joke.
@sprucefan4379
2 жыл бұрын
@@shrapnel77 yeah, he was also about the best at making spares.
the first and second bowling millionaires bowling against each other
@joeambrose3260
3 жыл бұрын
How do I utilize this information to my advantage ?
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
@@joeambrose3260 You're so dumb, you couldn't use a life boat to your advantage.
great
Pete Couture looks to be almost a dead ringer for Joe Weatherbee from Lawrence High School back in the late 1960s.
Steve Cook was a great bowler. Give Pete Couture credit in his match against Earl. There was nothing like the PBA on a Saturday afternoon and then watching the legend Jim McKay on WWOS.
Pete Couture is not a Dork and no,he was not in Wayne's World.
Pete is a drama queen
Everyone in the 80's looked like a serial killer and owned a window-less van.
100
What is La Mode ? You saw the polo shirts they would ware during play. As far as I can research, they're a golf shirt. You can't even find the old La Mode shirts online or eBay used. Only new styles that aren't even close to the vintage ones, if it's even the same company anymore.
@20alphabet
Жыл бұрын
Generally the shirts were Izod.
@beeemm2578
3 ай бұрын
LaCommode
I have rubber core balls
nice glasses, Pete
@beeemm2578
3 ай бұрын
Looks like he has a fake nose/glasses on...lol
pete couture looks like my mom's ex husband no joke
Pete Couture complains about everything.
Couture rockin the fake glasses/nose.......oh wait.
Steve cook almost shot 300 but he still wins the Firestone tournament of champions
@douglasharris5216
4 жыл бұрын
Andrew Phillips asshole spoiler
That’s funny Games in Japan Philippines and such like that never ever require a read rack see only in America pigs.asawa ko po🇨🇿
That heckler in the second match - he should have been kicked out.
Ah for the days before two handed SJW bowling ruined the sport.
cotour's is so dumb
Where's the commercials..