| Only one
person deserves to be featured this week. That person is none
other than Dick Weber.
I don't feel I am qualified to tell stories about the
greatest Ambassador of our sport. I can tell you how special of
a person he was. Of all the great bowlers I have met I have
never met a finer person.
In our sport, knocking down pins is how bowlers are judged
but when you work with them day in and day out you begin to look
beyond the pins they knock down.
Athletes react differently to success. It is a real challenge
to live up to the expectations and responsibilities that goes
along with success. Bowlers are no exception, they loose a lot
of their free time. Many times success puts people in positions
they are not comfortable with. They are put on the spot with
questions and interviews that are difficult to answer. Along
with all the obvious positive comments being made about
successful people, there is a growing number of those wanting to
knock them off their pedestal. With each level of accomplishment
the requests increase and at some point most every person
reaches a level of frustration. Nobody in our sport has had more
requests than Dick Weber.
Every time I saw a request of Mr. Weber, I saw him handle the
request with the type of respect and sincerity that he would
want from others. Being put in a position of a celebrity may
sound like a pleasure and at times I am sure it is. But when you
start to loose your individuality and every body starts
expecting you to act a certain way it must feel very
restrictive. You find out the weaknesses of an individual when
they start feeling the pressure of expectations and
responsibility. These are the situations were Dick Weber stood
above the rest.
His accomplishments on the lane are what put him in the
position of a celebrity but to be recognized as the greatest
ambassador of the sport goes beyond the lanes. We can look at
the records to see his achievements but Mr. Weber will always be
at the top of my list when I look beyond the pins they knock
down. Of all the stories that can be told of Mr. Weber, nothing
can top the man he was. |
