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45 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, December 13, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 5, 2004 Name change surprising to some By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune He hemmed and hawed. He stammered. He picked through words as he might a bowling ball rack, looking for just the right one. Marshall Holman seldom struggles to express himself, be it in competition or away from it, but this time he did. "It’s kind of, um, different," the Hall of Fame bowler finally said. Holman had been asked his feeling about the Professional Bowlers Association tournament in Medford — a town he helped put on the map with his own stellar and flamboyant career — being renamed the Earl Anthony Medford Classic after the sport’s all-time victory leader. Anthony died abruptly in August 2001 from a fall down stairs. Subsequently, the Seattle-area PBA event staged near his birthplace was named for him. But the PBA revamped its schedule this year and dropped that tournament. Advertisement Anthony’s name needed a new home, and Medford was the lone remaining Northwest stop. It was logical enough to dock his name to it, and no one — especially Holman — wants to disrespect Anthony’s legacy. When it was renamed, I remember thinking this is, um, different. I wondered what Holman thought. I already knew Tom Clark’s view. The USA Today and Bowlers Journal writer, long a champion of Holman’s, wrote there should, indeed, be an event named for Anthony, but not one at the home of the Medford Meteor, as Holman was known. Holman, Clark wrote, was one of Anthony’s greatest rivals and one of "such a profound talent that he played a large role in the evolution of the sport." It was like naming a baseball field in Commerce, Okla., "Willie Mays Park," even though Mickey Mantle was the Commerce Comet. Holman appreciates the sentiment but offered his own. "To say that Earl Anthony deserves to have a tournament named after him is as large an understatement as you could make," said Holman. "I don’t care if Walter Ray wins 50 titles. Earl won 41 in a very short amount of time. He was the best there ever was." Holman’s reference was to Walter Ray Williams Jr., who is one win shy of matching Anthony’s career total. "It’s difficult to talk about without coming off in the wrong way," Holman continued. "The last thing I want to do is offend the Anthony family at all. Earl was the best, and I was a part of that era. This is as close as any place on tour to his home, so in that regard, it’s the most logical place to have it. Being that I’m from here, it gives it, I guess, a twist." In fact, Anthony’s widow, Suzie, and son, Mike, will attend the tournament next week. Holman did not go overlooked. The 22-time tour winner received the commissioner’s exemption. He will open bracket play Thursday against the No. 6 seed. Pete Weber is sixth this week, but that could change pending the results of today’s finals in Lakewood, Colo. "Marshall is a natural for the event down there," said PBA Commissioner Fred Schreyer. Then he chuckled and said, "I don’t think I’m dumb enough to screw that one up." Naming the Medford tourney after Anthony made more sense, said Schreyer, than doing so with abutting events in Colorado and Fountain Valley, Calif. "There was no affront intended at all to Marshall or the fans of bowling in Southern Oregon," said Schreyer, "and I trust people understand that. To me, it’s a statement about how successful that event has been. It’s more a testimonial to Medford and how it has supported the event. "We get the irony of it, but I have to admit, it’s not something we spent a ton of time ruminating over when we were doing it." IN THE MID-1970S and through the ‘80s, Anthony, Holman and Mark Roth proved a formidable triumvirate. Those with designs on winning a tournament likely had to go through one of them. Next week could be a blast from the past, albeit in a different vein, if Weber maintains his position as the sixth seed. Weber, the Medford defending champion, competed against Holman for more than a decade. The bouts between two of the most colorful players in the sport’s history were anything but tame. "If that’s the matchup next week," said Schreyer, "I would not want to miss it. That would be right there with ‘must see.’" Holman and Weber have thought about the possibility. The pairings won’t be available until after the finals today in Lakewood, Colo. This week, Weber faced another former tour star in Randy Pedersen, the broadcast color analyst who owns 13 tour titles. Weber won the best-of-seven match, 4-2. What about Holman next? "The teacher and the student," laughed Weber, recalling when he joined a tour on which Holman was already established. "I have the utmost respect for Marshall, don’t get me wrong. But if I have to bowl him, he gets no special preferences over anybody else. "I’m there to win, I’m there to beat him. And he’s not there to just go away. If it happens, and me and Marshall get hooked up, it’ll be a very interesting match." Holman, too, would relish the opportunity to bowl against his longtime friend. Holman enticed Weber to play in Chad Cota’s celebrity golf tournament at Eagle Point Golf Course in June, and the two last hooked up in a celebrity golf event in Jamaica three weeks ago. "There’s so much history between Pete and myself as competitors and friends," said Holman. "I’d really enjoy bowling against him." It would be a treat for the rest of us, too. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? 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