Contrary to popular belief, the movie "Rocky" is not a movie about winning. Nor is it even considered by many to be the best movie that was released in 1976. In fact, in the world of film criticism, most auteurs now believe the film "All the President's Men," which was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award the same year "Rocky" took home the Oscar, was the more deserving picture.
When most of us now think about "Rocky," the natural blurring of memory over time likely fuses the glut of expensive, slickly produced "Rocky" sequels, parodies and pop-cultural ubiquity into our recollection of the initial film, obscuring the gritty, independent nature of the original.
Yes, Rocky Balboa ultimately loses (the result of which, in the film's closing moments is treated as a mere afterthought) but any film critic would be hard-pressed to convince me that any scene from "All the President's Men" carries more poetic weight than the scene in which Rocky is viciously knocked to the canvas late in the film's climactic fight but wills his way to his feet (with Bill Conti's soaring score pumping in the background) in spite of every single person he cares about obviously wishing he'd just stayed down for the count.
Sometimes, the will of the human spirit is too strong to be contained Sometimes, this kind of thing even happens in real life.
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"When the PWBA folded, my mom was optimistic about it coming back," said Kelly Kulick, who had just completed her third season on the Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour when the announcement that it would be ceasing operations was made. "She told me to stay sharp and to be ready for when it came back."
Years passed, but the PWBA didn't come back. Instead, the Professional Bowlers Association opened its doors to women, allowing them to join the organization and compete against the men. Over time, some of the top women bowlers began to break through and have some moderate success.
Missy Parkin, who was the first woman to join the PBA in 2004, became the first woman to win a PBA regional tournament in 2007. She now has three PBA regional victories.
In 2006, Kulick became the first woman to earn an exemption on the PBA Tour, which qualified her for entry in all of the PBA Tour's events for the entire season and guaranteed her a paycheck each week.
In 19 events on Tour that season, Kulick had a high finish of 22nd and ranked in the lower-mid portion of the 64 exempt PBA bowlers in most statistical categories.
"I learned a lot that year out on Tour," Kulick said. "I bowled well, but I felt that even though I hit the pocket a lot, I couldn't generate enough power to always carry. I found weaknesses in my game that I needed to work on."
Kulick's performance wasn't enough to earn her an exemption for the following season, so she split time between working in her father's auto body repair shop and bowling.
During the 2007-2008 PBA Tour season, she bowled in five events and had a high finish of sixth in the Don Johnson Buckeye State Classic, her best yet. The next year, the PBA announced it would be staging separate PBA Women's Series events that would allow the top women to compete in their own division. Kulick was among the top Women's Series competitors, and, in 2009, she won two of the series' seven events. One of those events was the PBA Women's World Championship, which qualified her for a spot in the PBA Tour's most prestigious event, the PBA Tournament of Champions.
It would be the only PBA Tour event she would bowl that season but boy, would she make it count.
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The 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions was contested at Red Rock Lanes at Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.. The event had been hosted in the venue for a number of years, and it always seemed to produce a dramatic finish, with Michael Haugen Jr. staging an epic late-game comeback against Chris Barnes in 2008 and Rhino Page tossing an inexplicable four-count to lose by four pins to Patrick Allen in 2009.
The 2010 tournament would get off to a so-so start for Kulick, who found herself in 26th place out of 63 bowlers after the opening eight games. But in the second round of qualifying, she would make her move, jumping 20 places into sixth overall. Her position would improve even further after the final eight games of qualifying, as she jumped into the top four (which is the number of players who would make it to the ESPN finals at the end of the week).
If you've never been to a PBA tournament in person, it is quite an experience. Almost without fail, every new city would see some Cinderella hopeful (usually a good local player) jump out to a quick start and develop dreams of TV glory. Equally without fail, was the accompanying Greek chorus of local "experts," friends, family and general well-wishers, who would adopt this local hero as their own, and both root them on and also quietly speculate on the timing of their eventual demise to one of the more well-known gladiators like Chris Barnes, Mika Koivuniemi or Pete Weber.
It was no different at the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions when Kulick's name appeared near the top of the leaderboard at the start of 24 games of round-robin match play, to which the top Tour players ominously refer to as, "The Finals."
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In spite of the pressure, Kulick remained within shouting distance of the final four for the TV show after eight games, trailing the legendary Pete Weber by just 55 pins.
The following day, she remained in the hunt for a TV finals spot after the next eight games, dropping one spot to sixth, but still only 73 pins back of Wes Malott for the last spot on "The Show."
Prior to the final eight games of match play in the evening, the buzz around the venue mostly centered around, "Will she or won't she?"
While some folks opined that Kulick would fold under the pressure, others held faithful to the idea that she was going to make history. There is no possible way that Kulick herself did not catch wind of these conversations, or was not at least mildly aware of them as she prepped for the stretch run that night.
Once the competition began that evening, Kulick's opening two matches were a disaster, as she rolled 172 and 174, to fall nearly 200 pins behind fourth place.
Upon seeing the updated leaderboard with Kulick's name dropping to the canvas like a certain fictional prizefighter, would-be well-wishers seemed relieved that their hope was dashed early, so they quickly could move on to the Pete Weber or Chris Barnes bandwagon.
But, apparently, nobody told Kulick the fight was over, because after moving to the high end of the bowling center for her next several matches, she reeled off games of 223-277-279-222 and 236 to fight her way back from the dead and into third place heading into the last game before the TV finals cut, known on the PBA Tour as "The Position Round."
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Working as a producer/cameraperson for the PBA's Xtra Frame live streaming video service, I had the opportunity to cover more than 100 PBA events. The position round always was the most exciting part of the tournament, and I can unequivocally say the position round of the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions was the most exciting I've ever seen.
Heading into the final game, Chris Barnes led but was only 97 pins ahead of fourth place, which was held by Rhino Page. Kulick was just nine pins ahead of Page, with the late Tony Reyes in second, just 29 pins ahead of Kulick. Weber, Koivuniemi, Tommy Jones and Malott all were very much in contention, with Malott just 74 pins behind Page.
The way the position round works is that all of the bowlers are positioned according to their current standing, so the player in first place bowls the player in second, the third-place bowler bowls fourth, and so on.. Players also receive 30 bonus pins for winning the match, so that is a key factor as well.
Directly behind the lanes were sets of seven-row bleachers, all completely packed with fans. Between the sets of bleachers stood several more rows of fans. I was positioned with my camera and tripod directly in front of those fans, so I could easily hear their running commentary as the matches went on.
I'm not sure I've ever seen a person more locked in on what she was trying to do as Kulick was that night. After starting off with a strike and a spare, she began to reel off strike after strike, going through a routine that was almost machine-like in its precision. Between frames, she would stand like George Foreman used to stand in his corner between rounds; arms folded across her chest, completely oblivious to the rampant speculation, excitement and adulation coursing through the audience just ten feet behind her.
As her run of strikes reached six in a row, it was becoming apparent to the crowd that Kulick was virtually a shoo-in to make it to the TV show. Reyes was struggling just off to her left and back-to-back open frames in the eighth and ninth frames would end his run, as he would ultimately finish sixth, 19 pins short of the top four. Barnes locked up the top seed by rolling a solid 236 and winning his match against Reyes.
Pete Weber and Mika Koivuniemi's pivotal No. 5-versus-6 match ended with Koivuniemi winning 234-228, leaving Kulick's opponent, Page, needing a strike on his last shot of the tournament to lock up the number four spot. He got it to edge Weber by one pin, with Koivuniemi qualifying for the show in third place.
But the star of the night was Kulick, who rolled nine consecutive strikes for a 267, which locked up the No. 2 seed for the show.
It seemed like a storybook ending, with fans congratulating an obviously exhausted, but happy, Kulick. Simply by virtue of picking herself up off the canvas and making it to the show, Kulick already had won, but she had even bigger hopes. And they were about to unfold in front of a live national television audience.
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Kelly Kulick was not the first woman to qualify for a PBA Tour telecast. That distinction actually belongs to 2015 PWBA Player of the Year Liz Johnson, who nearly pulled off a win at the 2005 PBA Banquet Open, ultimately finishing second to Tommy Jones after knocking off future PBA Player of the Year Malott in the semifinals.
"When Liz made the TV show, that definitely motivated me because it showed that women could compete with men at this level, and that winning a PBA title was a realistic goal." Kulick said.
The Tournament of Champions TV finals got underway with Koivuniemi taking on Page. Koivuniemi was a former (and future) PBA Player of the Year, and, despite having to wear a ridiculous, quilted pair of pants on the telecast after losing a bet with roommate Barnes, he still cast an intimidating shadow for any first-time PBA Tour TV finalist.
Koivuniemi and Page were neck and neck heading into the second half of their opening match battle, but the 6-foot-4 Finn reeled off the last seven strikes to easily win 255-215 and went into the semifinal match against Kulick with a huge amount of momentum.
Once their match began, Kulick and Koivuniemi looked like boxers in the early going of a huge blockbuster championship fight. Both looked tentative, and it was clear each was overwhelmed by the historical significance of their match, at least for the first half.
Once they shook off the nerves and got into their games, however, both started striking. Heading into the ninth frame, Kulick had the opportunity to win the match with three strikes and seven pins.
After striking on a marginal shot on her first attempt in the 10th frame, Kulick let out an uncharacteristically big reaction. The crowd in attendance did as well, sensing the possibility of history in the making. ESPN play-by-play analyst Rob Stone said, "It's hard not to root for her."
Kulick's next two deliveries left no doubt any pin would stand, and she closed out Koivuniemi with a 227-223 win to move on to face recent PBA Player of the Year Barnes for the title.
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It is hard to imagine a better opponent for underdog Kulick than Barnes in 2010. Barnes was just a year removed from his PBA Player of the Year season and still was on top of the PBA Tour as the most respected bowler in the world. He had a mean competitive streak (see Koivuniemi's aforementioned pants) and wanted to win possibly more than any other player, a point proven by his strong dedication to practice and his legendary preparation.
Barnes already had one PBA Tournament of Champions victory to his credit, having won the event in 2006, but he also had a history of vulnerability, both on television, and in this particular tournament, suffering the loss of a 53-pin mid-game lead to Michael Haugen Jr. in the title match of the event just two years prior in the same venue. Even though he was clearly the best in the sport, Barnes still felt like he had a lot to prove, and bowling against Kulick, who was certainly a massive underdog, he definitely also had a lot to lose.
"As someone who's married to a female hall of famer (PWBA member Lynda Barnes) - and regularly gets beaten by her in practice - I definitely didn't underestimate Kelly," Barnes said. "My main concern was that the TV pair was broken down differently pre-show, and that I was definitely going to have to play a line I hadn't had to play throughout the week. My focus was getting off to a quick start and winning another major."
But it was clear from the start of their match that Kulick no longer was in "feel-it-out" mode. She opened with four strikes, while Barnes got off to a very slow start.
"I remember - clear as yesterday - in the second frame, I missed inside of target a little, and I thought it was going high, but the ball ended up going light for a 2-pin combo. At that point, I knew I was in big trouble." Barnes said.
When Kulick got up in the fifth frame, she was already up 44 pins and had a chance to virtually seal the match with another strike.
"The shot I threw in the fifth was good, but it hit the pins a little flat and left a 7-10 split," Kulick said.
Barnes suddenly had new life. He made a good adjustment and hit the pocket on his next two shots, giving him hope that the match still could be won. After Kulick stepped up and threw two more strikes in the sixth and seventh frames, Barnes knew he had to strike or the match would be over. After getting one in the seventh he stepped up in the eighth and struck again, cutting Kulick's lead to 30 and exclaiming, "Not done yet!"
Kulick got up and coolly dropped another strike in the eighth, setting up a huge shot in the ninth that ESPN analyst Randy Pedersen correctly called the "Biggest shot of her career. Right here. Right now."
Kulick showed no deviation from the routine she'd gone through the entire week. She wiped off her ball. She shook her rosin bag. She stepped up on the approach. Took a deep breath. Put her fingers and thumb into the ball. Let out another big breath of air. Zoned in on her target. And went.
When professional bowlers are dialed in, they typically will see a small swath of area highlighting the path along which they are trying to throw the ball, which usually will have an inch or so to the left and an inch or so to the right of the intended line.
The shot Kulick threw on the "biggest shot of her career" was directly down the center of that path. If we measured her average ball speed over the course of that day, this shot would have been exactly the mean. The rate and angle at which the ball was spinning coming off of her hand was exactly what she intended it to be. Everything about this shot was as perfect as it could be. It struck.
Although Kulick let out a big burst of emotion immediately after the shot, she held off on a full celebration just yet because Barnes still had the possibility of striking out and forcing her to get decent count in the 10th for the win. When Barnes left an 8 pin on his shot in the ninth, all of the tension went out of Kulick's face, and she could begin enjoying the magnitude of what she'd just accomplished.
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After Kulick's win, tennis great and women's sports advocate Billie Jean King said, "Kelly Kulick's win at the PBA Tour's Tournament of Champions is not only historic, it serves as a motivational and inspirational event for girls and women competing at all levels all around the world."
The impact of Kulick's victory still is being felt today, as King's words have proven to continue to be true more than five years later.
"Seeing Kelly win against the men gave me hope to continue competing in the sport I love," said PWBA star Danielle McEwan, who recently became just the second woman in history to qualify for match play at the U.S. Open in 2015, against the men. "It showed what you can accomplish through hard work and by never giving up."
But Kulick's victory did not necessarily mean the fight was won. It merely signaled a step toward the rise of professional women's bowling, off of the canvas after the devastating blow that was the loss of the women's pro tour in 2003.
Another step toward continuing that fight was the re-launch of the PWBA Tour in 2015, and, despite the machinations of the watchful Greek chorus which, on the one hand rooted for the PWBA's successful return, while on the other quietly predicted its failure, the generation of women who were inspired by Kelly Kulick's unfathomable triumph, turned out in droves to make the first season of the relaunched tour a resounding success, with sold-out fields and pro-ams, excellent fan attendance and solid media coverage throughout the season.
And Kulick's T of C triumph continues to inspire her fellow tour players to have success against the men in PBA competition as, within the last year, Shannon O'Keefe, Diana Zavjalova and McEwan all took home titles in PBA regional competition, while Liz Johnson qualified for two more stepladder finals on the PBA Tour.
The raising of the bar even has led to stiffer competition for Kulick herself against the women.
In the first full PWBA season, Kulick failed to win a single title, despite finishing third in points and leading the tour in Championship Round Appearances with six for the season.
"These girls don't care if I have 'Kelly Kulick' on the back of my jersey. They're out for blood," Kulick said.
Kulick has become more than just "one of the girls" out on the PWBA Tour. She also is a symbol, much like the Rocky Balboa statue installed at the top of those iconic steps in downtown Philadelphia, where Rocky himself continued to train in the endless sequels to the original.
The story of women's professional bowling now is about to find out what sequels lie ahead. We all can hope they will be even better than the original, and it is all of our responsibility to ensure the story - and the fight - keeps on going strong.
Kulick showed no deviation from the routine she'd gone through the entire week. She wiped off her ball. She shook her rosin bag. She stepped up on the approach. Took a deep breath. Put her fingers and thumb into the ball. Let out another big breath of air. Zoned in on her target. And went.
