Original subtitles

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[soft music]

♪ ♪

[radio static crackling]

[gentle folk music]

- In the early days of TV, the most viewed sport

wasn't baseball, basketball, or even football.

It was professional bowling.

- Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm Johnny Johnston. Welcome to the show.

- I know.

It's hard to believe.

- And he really throws a speedball.

Here he goes to the line, and it's good.

He's able to carry it!

- Even the first athlete with a million-dollar

endorsement was a bowler.

- But pros depend on the Ebonite Gyro.

- And many more followed.

- Now is the time to get a set of heavy-duty

Monro-Matic shock absorbers.

- So yes, all athletes have bowling to thank

for TV endorsement deals.

- You know, I'm always teaching bowlers

how to put fingers into the shot.

- But over generations, while other sports stars have signed

countless deals with companies like Nike and Rolex,

pro bowlers are lucky to get paid

promoting hardwood floors, stretchy jeans,

and flushable wipes.

- Two hands cleans up the back pretty well.

[bell dings]

- Though these deals might supplement their winnings,

it's important to remember they don't bowl

for fame or riches

but rather for a love of the game.

- Fuck yourself, fucking cunt bag of a fucking lane.

♪ ♪

- The Detroit area is famous for a lot of things--

cars, Motown music, and Eminem.

- Detroit, what?

- OK, thank you, sir. - Detroit, baby!

- But Detroit is also the unofficial

bowling capital of the world,

with over 50,000 regular league bowlers

and 80 bowling centers,

one of which is the host of the USBC Masters--

Thunderbowl Lanes.

The Masters is the one major where amateurs

and professionals bowl side by side.

It follows a double-elimination format,

so if you lose once, you're still in the game.

But you lose twice, you go home.

- Hey, don't try to flex on my mom right now, OK?

- No, I already know what's about to happen, bro.

You're about to strike the beats,

be, like, it's for you, Cam.

And I'm gonna be pissed, and then we gonna have to box.

- It's for Mama Crowe.

Nah, you already--

you know what my mom said last week?

She was, like, I think you can beat everybody else,

except that Anthony Simonsen guy.

He's so good.

I was pissed.

- Fresh off the grueling marathon of the World Series

of Bowling, Cam and Belmo miss making the cut,

but Kyle makes 15th place.

E.J. finishes in ninth, just short of the TV show.

Simo, however, heads to the show in second place,

with a great shot of winning his fourth Masters,

which would tie Belmo's record

for the most USBC Masters titles.

[cheers and applause]

- Will that man there in the background hoist

that trophy in the foreground for a record-tying fourth time?

- But to win that fourth Masters,

now Simo has to beat this guy--

Gary Haines.

Gary isn't a household name in bowling circles

because this is actually his first show.

Gary works full-time at a power plant on Long Island,

and he has dominated this week,

remaining undefeated

in the double-elimination tournament.

And that means that even though the power plant worker

is a huge underdog, because Simo has one loss,

he has to beat Gary two times in a row to win.

[upbeat music]

- Oh, yeah.

OK.

- Correction--Simo has to beat him just one more time to win.

- One game left for the USBC Masters Championship.

[tense music]

- Go ahead and show 'em how important it is.

- Ooh! - Bang!

♪ ♪

- He never missed.

He hasn't missed on this level.

- Well, this thing is FFO--

far from over.

- This might be the shot of the match here.

♪ ♪

- And through the face a little bit, some extra work.

- The nerves are obviously pouring out at this point.

- Take a look at his wife and his father.

They look nervous too.

- Just get comfortable.

- Yeah, I think he's trying to talk himself into it.

- Oh, 100%.

♪ ♪

- Uh-oh.

- Oh, wow. - Oh!

- That is a big miss, guys.

- You're panicking.

Go to your wife. Give her a kiss.

I don't care what you do.

You've got to change something in your head.

- I think all the time favors Anthony Simonsen here,

given his experience.

- But he needs to strike out the tenth frame

and put all the pressure back on Gary Haines.

♪ ♪

- Look out.

- Oh, my!

- Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

- Unbelievable, four through the middle.

- Come here, come here, come here.

- Let's go.

[cheers and applause]

- Can he make a ten-pin?

- Gary has never shot one for a Major.

- And for $100,000.

- It is a long, long way away right now.

- Will the kiss from Lauren make the difference?

♪ ♪

With a kiss, the USBC Masters champion

for his first professional title.

crowd: Harry! Harry! Harry! Harry!

Harry! Harry! Harry! Harry!

[uplifting music]

♪ ♪

- I'm gonna apologize now, OK?

[echoing] Fuck!

[dynamic music]

- With the season nearing its end,

the standings are starting to lock in place.

The next Major and chance at $100,000 for a winner

is the Tournament of Champions in Akron, Ohio.

[exciting music]

- Good morning. I'm Phil Ferguson, WNIR News.

And we got the bowlers in town at Riviera Lanes.

[bright music]

♪ ♪

A couple of qualifying sessions today,

11:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

- The Tournament of Champions is by far

pro bowling's most iconic tournament

because it's where the PBA began.

And you're only allowed to participate

if you've won a PBA event before.

That means Cam doesn't qualify.

- Don't need to be in here.

Absolutely don't need to be in here.

- The Tournament of Champions,

it's like the Super Bowl of bowling.

It really is.

These bowlers don't get enough credit.

They're very accessible.

So many of them trying to just make a living.

- And if making a living wasn't hard enough already

for the bowlers, the tournament will also

be the final major broadcast on Fox.

♪ ♪

After a seven-year partnership that included airing

the PBA show,

Fox Sports and the league were unable to reach

terms on a new contract.

If there's no TV deal, there's no season.

And if there's no season, there is no prize money.

- In 2026, there's still some uncertainties

and hopefully not much financial change

of how much money is out there to be made for bowlers.

- Who knows?

Like, obviously, that's out of the players' control.

But, you know, all we can do is,

when we do get to TV, entertain.

♪ ♪

- Uncertainties aside for what the future might look

like for the PBA, all of the bowlers

have to narrow their focus to the Tournament of Champions.

- Good shot, Belmo.

- Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

- Tries to continue the perfect strike,

does so, three straight.

[upbeat rock music]

- Simonsen.

Oh. Oh, my.

♪ ♪

- Kyle Troup.

♪ ♪

- Oh, boy.

- I actually started off well, but, you know,

after six games, we're in the same position

we've been every week-- out of the cut.

Patience is very thin.

If I bowl good beginning,

I don't bowl well at the end.

When I make good shots, they split,

so not sure what ball to throw.

It's just getting more and more frustrating

every day, every week out here on tour.

So if we don't make the cut, season will be over.

[indistinct chatter]

I asked you not to fucking drink while we're bowling,

and you can't even wait till noon?

I'm gonna be fucking having to walk you out again.

Shove your camera up your ass.

This is my fucking father I'm talking to right now,

so I ain't got to fucking babysit him again.

If you keep this up, you can just take your car

back to North Carolina.

Fucking embarrassing.

It's 11:30.

I don't give a shit if he wants to buy you a drink.

Ridiculous.

I get frustrated with my dad when he's watching me,

just because most of the time, he'd rather

just hang out in the bar.

[somber music]

- I watched five games yesterday.

I wanted to see how he bowls, but I just get bored.

I was bored.

- So going into the Tournament of Champions,

I had an opportunity to do something I believe

no one's ever done before in a single season,

and that's win the Triple Crown.

- Yes, the Triple Crown is exactly like horse racing's

Triple Crown, just without the horses or fancy hats

or about 95% of the total prize money.

But the part about winning three

different main events to get the crown, that's the same.

With two Majors this season under his belt,

if E.J. wins the Tournament of Champions,

he'll make history as the first bowler ever

to win a Triple Crown in a single season.

Meanwhile, not qualifying means Cam's season is over,

giving him time to reflect on coming up short.

- Oh, really?

Interesting.

I've never been the guy to really, like,

fry out until I got out here.

It was not the season I hoped it would be.

Disappointed in myself.

If I was bowling bad, there was no way to get myself out of it.

The more and more the weeks went by,

I think I was losing a little bit of confidence.

But I got to go back to square one

and realize why I'm here.

It's very lonely out here on tour.

Usually, it's you and your thoughts.

- When you bowl bad, you're a little bitch about it.

- That's not true.

- 100%, you are.

- No, I'm not.

- That's the 100% truth. - No, I'm not.

What the fuck do I have to do to win a game?

Come on, Cameron.

This is why I don't win tournaments.

Fucking damn it.

[sighs]

- If you only rely on how good or bad you bowl,

you will drown because this game is fucking cutthroat.

- Fickle. It's fickle. - It's so cutthroat.

And it's easy to get into a bad spot mentally.

- Yeah.

- It's like that for everybody, though.

It's like that for everybody.

- Akron, Ohio, does offer Cam something different--

a chance to go with Kevin to the LeBron James Museum

and find a little inspiration.

[gentle music]

♪ ♪

- Being the only African American

most of the time, especially out here on tour,

that was one of the reasons why I did want to become

a professional, show all these African American boys

that there's another route than just basketball,

baseball, football.

There's other routes.

And you can start making scholarship money

at the age of five as a bowler.

I mean, I knew he did a lot off the court.

But just seeing all this in, like, one spot

just makes you realize the impact that especially

he had on the city. - The bigger picture.

- Always look at the bigger picture.

- It's not just the bowling. There's more to it...

- It's always more. - Than the one part of the job.

There's different aspects of the job.

This is the bigger picture. - Yeah.

- It keeps you around longer in your sport

or your profession, whatever it is, you know.

You don't want to just do your time as an athlete

and then bounce out.

You want to stick around to make changes

when you're done competing.

- Yeah, I know.

I like coaching.

I give back to the children a lot.

- What do you tell yourself when you're getting down

on yourself when you might not be bowling as well as you like?

- So what I tell myself is, most people are, like--

like, either get really angry-- [laughs]

Hold on, hold on. Let's drop it a little bit.

Ah, boop. All right, there we go.

- The children? But you are a children.

[laughs] - All right.

- How do you give back to-- those are just your friends.

- Let's get out of here.

- Those are just your friends.

- I know, you gotta go to--

you gotta go to the retirement home to see yours.

Come on, let's go. - Ooh.

- Let's go.

- Cam isn't the only bowler lamenting a lost season.

Last year's US Open champ hasn't made the show

in a single tournament.

- As we're going through qualifying,

I definitely feel everything just kind of closing in

on me a little bit.

The pressure of making the cut to save the season,

it's time to step up for once this year.

[pensive music]

♪ ♪

- Should be--

goddamn.

- He had 280 the last game,

which started at strike, spare, turkey.

Then he never got it going again.

♪ ♪

[car door opens]

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- Season's over. [sniffles]

It was close every week, close, close.

That don't fucking do me any good, so...

♪ ♪

Lots of disappointment.

Long, negative season.

Tried to fake it till I make it.

But guess what.

Didn't make it, and now the season's over, so...

♪ ♪

I gotta live with that and see

if we're gonna bounce back or just gonna keep doing it.

[sighs]

♪ ♪

I don't think I can take too many more years of this.

Like... [sniffles]

But yeah.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna probably go back in, sign a few autographs.

I just needed a minute out here before I

started talking to people.

♪ ♪

- Yay!

- That's gonna make my mom jealous.

- Thank you.

[upbeat music]

- Man-bun year.

- Yeah. [laughs]

Awesome, thanks so much.

- Yeah, sure. - OK.

both: Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.

- Let's go. - Oh!

- I told him all he needs is one night in here with me.

After that, he won't care anything.

He'll come back, and I guarantee

he'll make the TV show.

♪ ♪

- Thank you.

- Thank you, sir. - Appreciate it.

♪ ♪

- The final day of the Tournament of Champions

is here.

Belmo makes it to the top 25

but ultimately finishes 23rd.

- God damn it.

- God damn it.

And Simo finishes in 13th place,

just not quite good enough to make the show.

- Let's get the fuck out of here.

- E.J., though, is still on track to win the Triple Crown

and make history.

Then there's also another storyline playing out

alongside the lanes,

with the Fox broadcast team facing the reality

that this may be the last big tournament

they take part in.

[board clacks]

[somber music]

- It's another end of an era.

This is the last Major that will be on Fox,

and it's sad to see it go.

- Think I started with this production team in about 2004.

♪ ♪

- How long have I been in the show?

For almost 22 years.

- I'm pretty certain that this is my 15th season,

and that kind of shocks me.

♪ ♪

I am genuinely sad.

It's like a big family on the road,

and I will miss working with them.

- Today is gonna be tough.

I told myself I wouldn't cry.

[frantic music]

- Heading to the TSC show, we all had to have, like,

security badges and everything.

I'm like, damn, is the president coming today?

Nah, next best thing, I guess.

That's Ben Stiller. [laughs]

- Big-time sports draw big-time sports fans,

so it should be no surprise to see Ben Stiller leave his

courtside Knicks seats at Madison Square Garden

to come laneside in Akron

to see if E.J. can make history.

[upbeat music]

- After today, there might not be another chance

to win the Triple Crown again.

- ♪ Am I the one in your dreams ♪

♪ Do you love me ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Do you love me ♪

♪ Say yes ♪

♪ Do you love me ♪

- Nice bounce-back shot.

♪ ♪

♪ Do you love me ♪

♪ If you do, say yes ♪

♪ Say yes, please ♪

- Oh, E.J.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- This is not the Tackett we've grown accustomed

to seeing this season.

This is a struggle.

♪ ♪

- He needs five.

♪ ♪

- Butturff moves on.

What an adventure.

Wow!

- It happens quickly.

Just like that, E.J. loses his chance at the Triple Crown,

ultimately finishing fourth.

[cheers and applause]

[light music]

♪ ♪

And with the future of the PBA in doubt,

this might be one dream that stays out of reach.

♪ ♪

- The opportunity to do something that's never been

done before, opportunities like that

typically don't come around very often or at all.

Yeah, yeah, it sucks, sucks for sure.

[cheers and applause]

- And our number one seed is a 12-time champion

on the PBA Tour, looking for his second

Tournament of Champions title.

Representing Sweden, Jesper Svensson.

- To see him make the show, that made the week

much better for me.

And, you know, if I can't win,

that's the next person I want to win.

♪ ♪

- Messenger?

Get in your home!

♪ ♪

- Svensson in the ninth, one more for the win.

OK, the Iceman is back!

[cheers and applause]

- Come on!

Yes!

- Tour title number 13, Major number 2, pumps it out.

[cheers and applause]

- Congratulations, Jesper.

It's been a long road.

Raise that trophy, brother.

- Happy tears this time.

Let's go. [laughs]

You know, bowling has brought me so many great things,

great memories, great friends.

I would have never known him if I didn't bowl.

I don't know where my life would be without bowling,

but I wouldn't have any of these amazing people in it.

That's for sure.

♪ ♪

- The end of the Tournament of Champions

feels a little different this year, uncertain.

Though if you're looking for a silver lining,

you might find it in the notion that bowlers

are a particularly resilient breed of athlete.

They aren't prone to giving up,

despite how bad the odds or the pay might be.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- I was kind of born into bowling.

I'm 41, and I started when I was

18 months, bowling by myself.

I think I just liked the idea of throwing something

down the lane, watching it,

and then having it come back to you

and just doing that over and over.

And I fell in love with it, and I can't imagine

my life now without it.

- ♪ What do you say ♪

- For the title.

Got it!

- You, sir, are one of the best I've ever seen, man.

- ♪ For one more try ♪

- So bowling, it's not gonna be easy.

You actually have to work for everything

that you're gonna get, trying to achieve

that perfect week,

which we know will never happen.

[laughs]

- This one's for the title.

He got it!

[cheers and applause]

- ♪ Whoo-hoo-hoo ♪

♪ Ooh-hoo-hoo ♪

- This year, it wasn't even about the money.

Like, I love winning.

I just want to feel that thrill

that all that hard work paid off.

I hate losing, so I probably picked the wrong sport.

But-- [laughs]

- ♪ It's a rising tide ♪

♪ Like an hourglass ♪

♪ Running out of time ♪

- Everybody's parents wants their kid

to be successful in whatever walk of life it is.

You know, even if we were struggling financially,

my parents always did whatever they needed to do

so I could at least bowl.

So it's easy to take a look back where you are frustrated

and really appreciate what I have

because of the sport of bowling.

- Anthony Simonsen, looking good.

Simo, looking good.

- ♪ Ooh-hoo-hoo ♪

♪ ♪

- Love bowling, love it down to the core.

I remember when I went

from kind of doing bowling for fun

to, you know, I want to become a professional at this.

It's very exciting.

You know, we get to travel to all these different cities.

You know, we're bowling in all the different bowling alleys,

going to places that we've been to in previous years,

getting to see all the fans and, you know, friends

that I made at those stops.

And that experience and that journey

has kind of built me into the bowler I am today.

- Yeah, so these are just trading cards I make.

I give one to a player and then have them sign one.

And then there's a poem on the back of all of them

that's the same on all of them.

- "Bowling is a sport enjoyed by many,

"but being the best is a rare penny.

"So let us celebrate the bowlers who dare

"to aim for the top with precision and care.

"Their dedication and skill, a marvel to behold.

"Being the best in the world is a very niche thing,

a story to be told."

- Get that trophy, Kyle.

♪ ♪

- Little shaving cream.

♪ ♪

- Kyle, Cam, Belmo, E.J., and Simo are just 5

of the 100-plus professional bowlers

dedicating their lives to this sport.

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

And whether they win hundreds of thousands

of dollars or just enough

to pay for the travel and lodging,

they're all in it together, playing a sport

they grew up loving

not merely for the pins but for the people.

- Good start, everybody.

We're off to a flyer.

- ♪ Won't know until we get there ♪

♪ You know I wanna get there ♪

- The journey down the lanes of life for a pro bowler

might be about making a living,

but it's also just about living,

celebrating the wins...

- And pushing through the setbacks...

- We did it.

- Knowing tomorrow is just another rerack...

- And he got it!

[cheers and applause]

- Another chance to strike...

- Let's go!

- And show the world you've got the balls for success.

- ♪ Won't know until we get there ♪

♪ You know I wanna get there ♪

[pins clattering]

- ♪ Doo, doo, doo, doo-wop ♪

- A strike!

- ♪ Rolling down the alley with pretty playful Sally ♪

♪ Rolling down the alley, bowling, Sally and me ♪

♪ We pretend that every pin is someone we dislike ♪

♪ We aim right at the knucklehead ♪

♪ And come up with a lucky strike ♪

♪ Rolling down the alley, my Sally ♪

[bright tone]