Time Machine Tuesday | A Look Back at Pete Weber’s Historic Win at the 69th (nice) U.S. Open Bowling Championships

Where to begin with this one? For starters, it produced the greatest reaction in the history of sports (probably history in general).

Pete Weber, son of the famed bowler Dick Weber, was blazing his own path as one of the greatest bowlers ever to grace the lanes. Pete Weber captured his first PBA title in 1982, marking the first time in history where a father/son duo had each won a PBA title. Weber has won 37 PBA Tour events, with 10 of them being major titles (2nd all-time). Weber is also the only bowler in history to win five U.S. Open titles, winning two of them as the No. 4 seed (including his 5th U.S. Open title). And that is what brings us here today.

In 2012, the U.S. Open was having its 69th (nice) installment. Weber was determined to capture his 5th U.S. Open title, something not even his father did. Nobody could deny Weber his date with destiny, but a few certainly tried. The overall No. 1 seed, Mike Fagan wasn’t going to just roll over to Weber, and he would make Pete earn his 5th U.S. Open title the hard way. Who could forget the fan heckling Weber during the U.S. Open championship match? Weber didn’t go any two ways about it, letting that fan immediately know who the boss was. Weber wouldn’t be fazed by the guy in the stands, and that was apparent when he was rolling his rock. It didn’t matter where the split came from, Weber would pick up any and every spare, or he would clean up with a strike. Weber got hot in the 7th frame, going for three strikes in-a-row, leading up to the 10th frame. Fagan threw out a Hail Mary, getting three strikes in-a-row of his own in the 10th & 11th frame, making Weber have to go 9 spare, strike for the title. However, if Weber got a strike in the 10th frame, it would all be over. And wouldn’t you know it, Weber went 9 spare in the 10th frame. An 11th frame strike would win it all. It was like a movie how everything happened, it couldn’t have been more perfect; but it would be. Weber would nail the strike, and in an absolute storm of pandemonium and emotions, he had the greatest reaction the world has even seen, letting everyone know who he was.

This is easily one of the best sports moments in recent history, and definitely the greatest championship reaction of all-time. Hands down. But it wasn’t just about his reaction. It’s about everything behind it. His father had passed away some years before, and they were both tied for the most U.S. Open victories in bowling history at four. Weber was storming through the PBA, making his case for the best bowler of all-time, and in all honesty, he might be. Weber has a wide variety of accolades and accomplishments throughout his professional bowling career. Pete Weber continues to bowl professionally today, on the PBA50+ Tour, where he has won numerous times.