Just imagine if professional bowling had taken another path at the fork in the road back in the early 1970's, how would things be now? A theory at the time said pro golf and pro bowling were very close in commercial appeal and generating television viewers. Well, things could not certainly be more different, even without Tiger Woods. With that in mind, this month's JPA takes a look at, "What If?"

     Ed Sabol and his Blair Motion Pictures Company begin to produce a weekly half hour highlight show about the PBA Tour. You have seen this company's real work after it was bought by the National Football League in 1965 and renamed NFL Films. What follows is a make believe timeline tracing the glorious history of the PBA, PBA Films, and its expanding coverage on ABC, CBS, and NBC

     PBA Films began as a senior year college film project by Ed Sabol's son, Steve, in 1962 as the PBA began weekly telecasts on ABC Television. Steve's project included player interviews, a slew of statistics presented with eye-catching graphics for its time, and even a cameo by a new network announcer named Pat Summerall. Rather than a weekly highlight show, the PBA thought the show would be received better by the public if it were aired as part of the network show itself. The Pro Bowlers Tour would be expanded to a two hour show with a 15 minute segment at the beginning (the word 'pregame' was not coined yet) and player profiles in between the four-game stepladder finals taking up the added quarter hour.

     1965--ABC Sports is pleased as ratings steadily climb for the fourth year in a row. Viewers get in the habit of telegramming PBA offices in Akron by the following Monday to register their praise or complain about the new pregame show and between game feature segments. The highest response was on a Dick Weber feature during the first Firestone Tournament of Champions telecast as a 2-year old Pete Weber is shown grabbing one of his Dad's trophies and slamming it to the ground. Most viewers complained such actions had no place being seen on national TV.

     1967--Pat Summerall spoke with a player who ABC's Chris Schenkel called the tour's James Bond lookalike. Nelson Burton, Jr. gave his opinions on why the two-frame rolloff was a terrible idea and thought a major title should never be decided something which works better for pro football. Later on that same show, Jim Stefanich defeated Don Johnson in a two frame rolloff 48-36 for the T of C title. Here, the Bo Burton Kiss of Death is born.

     1968--A feature on Jim Stefanich showed him taking us on a tour of his hometown. One shot showed his car passing by the Collins St. gate of the Joliet Eastside Correctional Center. Some twelve years later, actor John Belushi said in an interview this shot gave him the idea for the opening sequence of his movie, "The Blues Brothers."

     1970--Don Johnson's story was the big feature during the Tournament of Champions telecast. He said at numerous points during the 5-minute prerecorded feature about how it would take a miracle for him to win bowling's biggest tournament. Johnson had made the TV show the last three years without getting the top prize. Little did anyone know his reaction at the end of the legendary 299 game would be compared in the same breath as the1972 Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception and Carlton Fisk's 1975 World Series Game 6 home run

     1971--The PBA announces both CBS and NBC will cover spring and summer tournaments while ABC retains the winter tour. ABC Sports chief Roone Arledge is quoted in industry publications as saying his network still has the best piece of the PBA Tour pie. The NBC announce team of Jay Randolph and Earl Anthony get their first Emmy nomination. Later that year, Howard Cosell joins the announcing team on ABC's Monday Night Football and is quoted in TV Guide saying, "If we get halfway as good as our bowling show, we'll be just fine."

     1973--ABC begins promoting "The Superstars" on PBT telecasts which it uses as a lead-us line, "Maybe I should do this for a living. What are you, stupid?" In 1999, that tag line is selected by People Magazine as the most remembered ad phrase of the 1980's ahead of "Where's the beef?" and "I've fallen and I can't get up."

     1976--The Bo Burton-Marshall Holman feud begins during the T of C telecast as Burton claims "I didn't know Peter Frampton was out here on tour," refering to Holman's hair style. Years later, Holman divulges in a Playboy magazine interview the whole thing was staged by Holman to get noticed by network sports honchos for a color-analyst job after his touring days were over.

     1980--Joe Hutchinson attains cult-figure status as the viewing audience hears him talk to his ball during all four games of his first tour win as most of the Midwest U.S.is snowed in by a blizzard. This show remains the highest rated tour telecast to date. Hutchinson parlayed this fame into getting the CBS color analyst job the following year. He later ends John Madden's hold on the sports analyst Emmy Award by winning it for four straight years. Hutch also signs as a spokesman for American Airlines, citing his fear of riding buses.

     1983--The Firestone Tournament of Champions telecast expands to three hours and is pitted against CBS' coverage of The Masters golf tournament. PGA officials wonder out loud how they can compete with that ratings juggernaut. ABC rating is 7.4 compared to CBS at 1.5. At the insistence of Masters officials, next year's Masters coverage on CBS begins after the PBT show signs off for the day on ABC.

     1986--PGA Tour officials announce a special doubles format tournament with their PBA counterparts. Tom Watson announces he will not take part in the event saying it is demeaning to the best PGA players who battle for the $20,000 first place paychecks each week compared to the PBA snobs who battle for the $200,000 first place paychecks. Fresh off his first Emmy win as CBS analyst, Marshall Holman publicly challenges Watson to a $20,000 winner-take-all 18 hole golf match.

     1990--CBS play-by-play announcer Jack Buck steps down to take over the network's Major League Baseball coverage. He said he will miss the wide range of personalities he was around covering pro bowling.

     1995--ESPN wrestles away broadcast rights from NBC as a result of a bidding war. The Worldwide Leader in Sports also indicates it wants to begin a new outlet called The Bowling Channel which would be made available on cable outlets as early as 1996.

     1997--Chris Schenkel ends his ABC announcing duties to begin a monthly show on The Bowling Channel, "Pro Bowling Scene."

     1998--NBC wins back broadcast rights to the PBA by taking what was ABC's chunk during the winter tour. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue commented he was glad there were not such happenings in his league.

     1999--Nelson Burton, Jr. follows through on an earlier mock threat and suddenly quits as NBC's play-by-play announcer. During the opening show Burton reminds viewers about the 25th anniversary of the Stefanich perfect game. In the same breath he states if another Joliet area bowler can shoot a 300 game on national television, he might give up the long coveted announcers chair. Steve Jaros obliges by throwing a perfecto on February 14. On the February 21 show, we see Burton open the show by handing a microphone to Denny Schreiner and saying, "Take good care of it, partner." Burton rejoins his longtime sidekick Chris Schenkel on his show for The Bowling Channel.

     2000-The Bowling Channel acquires rights to air World Series of Poker shows dating back to the 1980's saying, "They put on a good show, too." The shows air overnights and prove a constant rating draw over the years, gradually going neck and neck the late edition of ESPN SportsCenter and Howard Stern on the E! Channel

     2000-Cingular Wireless signs on to provide game by game scores of PBA Tour events to its customers.

     2001-Chris Schenkel stuns the bowling world by announcing his retirement from the Bowling Channel on fellow Hoosier David Letterman's late night talk show. After Dave collects himself he proclaims, "You know, you and Johnny Carson were the two greatest influences on my career as a broadcaster as a young man, but I'm not going through the grief of trying to replace another legend like I did about ten years ago. Once is enough!"

     2001- ESPN's sports biography series, Sports Century, premieres its Chris Schenkel episode and features him on the SportsCenter Sunday Night Conversation segment. He recalls the comments by golf legends like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus about Dick Weber and Earl Anthony winning "time after time with grace under pressure."

     2001-Pete Weber talks in a Vanity Fair magazine piece about doing something more visual while bowling on TV, but doesn't want "to look have to be as distracting as a golfer to do it."

     2002-ABC wrestles back its tour telecasts from NBC, and for awhile saves ABC-Disney chairman Michael Eisner's job. Meanwhile, Marshall Holman is named to replace Chris Schenkel on his monthly show, beginning a new chapter in his 'feud' with Bo Burton. Bob Costas remains a regular contributor to "Pro Bowling Scene, " turning down his own weekly interview show on HBO.

     2003-Bowling Channel ratings reach an all-time high as Burton and Holman anchor a one hour pregame show to the PBA Tournament of Champions TV finals, back on ABC after a decade-long absence. TV Guide Magazine later compared getting the PBA back on ABC like getting music videos back on MTV, a welcome fit indeed.

     2004-Time Magazine features a seven-page spread on the success of the PBA Tour, despite declining league bowling numbers. Some fans are quoted by saying, "I got tired of all those boring reality shows on nighttime network TV."

     So is this a stretch from what is going on now? No one could have predicted even ten years ago what primetime network TV look like, what music might be on the radio, what movies we might be seeing these days. One thing is for sure, it will change in 10 more years. Plus, look at the money structure in other professional sports, who's to say what is real and what should be real. But it is nice to dream, isn't it?

     Don't forget, the November JPA will pickup on what promises to be a wild arena finals in Milwaukee's Miller Park Halloween Day for the ABC Masters.