Recently, ESPN unveiled their ranking of the top 100 athletes since the year 2000. You’ll never guess, so we’ll spoil it: they failed to include a single bowler on the list. Well, mostly.
That’s right. No Jason Belmonte, who piled up 31 titles and a record 15 majors within that time frame (shorter, actually). No Liz Johnson, who won 19 PWBA titles (nine majors)—even with a 14-year stretch during which the PWBA Tour didn’t even exist—and one PBA title since 2000. No Walter Ray Williams Jr., who won 17 of his 47 titles this century in addition to a record 16 PBA50 titles and even a PBA60 title, not to mention his success as a two-sport athlete who is also a star horseshoes player. No EJ Tackett, no Anthony Simonsen, no Tom Daugherty (likely hurt by his lack of inclusion on the 2021 Bowlers Journal All American Team). No bowlers at all.
Ridiculous. ESPN has the gall to claim Connor McDavid (ranked number 98 on their list) is a better athlete than any of the above?
Of course, the list is comprised entirely of great athletes. We’re not disputing that. What ESPN wants us to dispute to help their engagement numbers is where the athletes fall on the list and who was snubbed. This is who was snubbed: the sport of professional bowling.
We at The One Board have often mentioned bowling being unceremoniously banished to the periphery of society—never the focal point, always involved—whether it’s on TV, in books, movies or music. Bowling is often a part of something but very rarely is it the something. We even interviewed “Weird Al” Yankovic about this very topic for a cover story in a bowling publication (and Yankovic had some great insight).
Which other athletes did ESPN rank above pro bowling’s top stars?
At number four, we see LeBron James. That’s right, the same LeBron James who, with Jason Couch, won the very first CP3 Invitational (hosted by the 83rd-greatest athlete of this century, Chris Paul). But there’s no Jason Couch on the list. He won the same bowling event James did and James is number four but Couch is missing? Plus, Couch completed his three-peat of Tournament of Champions titles this century. Snubbed.
Who did No. 4 James and unranked Couch beat in that event? Among others, they beat No. 35 Dwyane Wade (with Mitch Beasley) and No. 39 Kevin Durant (Tommy Jones). Where are Beasley and Jones? Snubbed.
Number 58 on the list is JJ Watt, whose impressive football stats are listed, but are any of those as impressive as calling and telestrating a 2-10 split conversion at the 2019 CP3 Invitational? No. Especially not when considering that split was converted by none other than number 73, Mookie Betts, an actual PBA member who bowled a perfect game at World Series of Bowling IX and would be a regular competitor if not for his pesky day job. (None of Betts’ bowling accomplishments were mentioned in the ESPN story to justify his ranking, unless you count David Schoenfield’s final sentence: “Yes, Betts is good at everything.”)
Allyson Felix, the 63rd-greatest athlete of the century, bowled in the 2016 CP3 Invitational. No. 67 James Harden bowled in the 2018 installment. We can only assume Terrell Owens, a frequent participant in PBA events, was ranked No. 101.
Even if we don’t count Owens, that makes eight from ESPN’s top athletes of the century who have competed among PBA and PWBA professionals. And yet no PBA or PWBA professionals are included on the list.
Could it be because those who compiled the list knew that naming one bowler meant they’d have to name at least four (one man, one woman, one senior and one super senior) to avoid online vitriol? Doing so would push several great athletes off the list, but so what? Fairness prevails.
Or, maybe, and this is an unjust truth, bowlers were not considered at all. From the ESPN story, detailing how the top 100 were chosen and ranked, the very first sentence states step one of the thorough process: “Experts in individual sports were asked to vote to rank the top athletes in their sport since Jan. 1, 2000 (no accomplishments before this date were to be considered).”
It doesn’t name which individual sports they considered. We at The One Board try to remain humble but must admit we have quite a few connections among the experts (“experts” is merely an ego-driven way for writers to say “writers”) of the individual sport of bowling and could find no one who was consulted regarding the top bowlers of the 21st century.
Bowlers were not considered. The list is therefore invalidated.
So often, bowling is on the periphery of mainstream society. The ESPN list, created to inspire debate for their benefit, shows that yet again. Eight percent of those 100 have bowling on their periphery. The other 92 are merely waiting for their chances.