SPORTS

He's No Pinhead

Marshall Holman has bowled
them over in a storied career
that has spanned 18 years.

MELINDA GREENBERG

Special to The Jewish News

M

arshall Hol-
man can't rat-
tle off his
latest statis-
tics. He doesn't
know the exact amount of
money he has earned. He
hardly ever reads the articles
written about him. All he
cares about is doing "his job"
— throwing a 16-pound ball
at just the right angle and
knocking down 10 wooden
pins.
Holman, age 37, need not
worry about following his
own career; there are plenty
of professional bowling fans
who watch his every move.
One of only six bowlers to
win over 20 Professional
Bowlers Association (PBA)
titles, Holman represents
the top of his sport.
He is one of only three
bowlers to earn over $1 mil-
lion in his career, which
spans 18 years. In 1987, he
won both the PBA Player of
the Year Award and the
George Young High Aver-
age Game Award for his
third time, after leading the
tour in average with 216.8
per game. In 1990, he was
inducted into the PBA Hall
of Fame.
Not bad for the once
skinny Jewish boy from
Medford, Ore., who easily
adds a Yiddish accent to his
conversation. "I've been
practicing to talk to you,"
he said. "Vhat do you vant!
Vhat do you vant!"
Holman first became in-
terested in bowling after see-
ing a professional competition
on TV. "It looked like it would
be fun," said Holman, who
bowled an inauspicious 71 in
his first game.
He persisted and prac-
ticed. And the practice
evolved into strong show-
ings at local tournaments. A

win at a local contest earned
him a spot on the PBA tour
in Portland. From there,
there was no looking back.
Despite his parents' trepi-
dations, Holman turned pro-
fessional in 1974. • "My
parents were a little leery of
my chances of actually mak-
ing it a lifelong, viable op-
tion," said Holman in a tele-
phone interview from his
Oregon home. "I'm sure
they wanted me to continue
my education and become
who knows what. Still to
this day, I have no idea what
I would have done if I hadn't
made it as a professional
bowler."
Holman did get an educa-
tion of sorts at what he calls,
"the University of Bowling.
I basically traveled to Seat-
tle and Portland every
weekend to bowl in different
tournaments. It was a good
education as far as getting
my feet wet and getting
used to competition."

He has earned
over $1 million in
his career.

His parents have since
gotten over their worries
about Holman's career
choice and are his "biggest
fans." Holman has also
picked up several fans along
the way as one of only two
Jewish established bowlers
in the PBA —Mark Roth,
with whom Holman has won
three doubles titles, is the
other. "When I go on tour,
especially to Florida and
New York, the nice Jewish
people treat me like I'm
their adopted son for that
week. They can watch the
tour and watch this Jewish
bowler. It's pretty neat."
Holman attributed the
limited numbers of Jewish
bowlers to bowling's image
as a "middle America, blue
collar kind of sport." He also
noted that school work is

Marshall Holman is one of only two established Jewish bowlers in the PBA.

stressed over sports in most
Jewish homes. "When I
think of the stereotypical
Jewish family, I think of the
father who is a doctor or a
lawyer and the son who is
made to work very hard in
school and goes on to be-
come an accountant, or a
doctor or a lawyer."
Despite the misconcep-
tions about bowling, it ap-
peals to a wide audience.
And it appears that its

popularity is on the rise.
"Our ratings have been good
through the 30 plus years of
professional bowling tours,"
he said. "The ratings show
that people enjoy what we
do."
Noted for his volatile na-
ture, Holman has sometimes.
given spectators a lot of
show for their money. And
he's paid the price for it. He
was suspended from 10 PBA
tournaments after a series of

conduct violations, in-
cluding kicking a national
television foul light. He also
broke a bone in his right
hand — his bowling hand —
after punching a wall be-
cause he left a 10-pin stan-
ding in the Firestone Tour-
nament of Champions.
But the John McEnroe of
bowling says he's changed
his ways. He even joked
about his temper when ask-
ed about it. "What are you
saying. What are you say-
ing. Come on," he barked in
mock anger. "Bowlers must
adhere to a certain set of
rules, and I have, over the
years, broken a few of them
and paid the price," he said,
after composing himself. "I
do get upset when I don't do
things the way I think I
should. But you get older
and go through the natural
maturing process and I've
made efforts to stay within
the rules and not lose my
cool."
Part of the maturation
process also involves losing
some of the passion he used
to have for his sport.
"Bowling has become my
work, which is one of the un-
fortunate things of taking a
hobby and turning it into
work," he said. "All of a
sudden, what used to be so
much fun now becomes more
routine, more worklike. I
don't always look forward to
going to the office, which is
the bowling center."
Still, Holman intends to
stay with the sport, if not as
a player, then as the owner
of a bowling center. "It
would be really unfortunate
if I were to totally take my-
self out of bowling," he said.
"I was fortunate enough to
build a good name in bowl-
ing by virtue of my perfor-
mance on the court and I
think it would be a natural
progression to stay with the
sport." ❑