''A League of Ordinary Gentlemen'' is a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about

ten-pin bowling Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler bowling form, rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned Tetractys, evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten Bowlin ...

that was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on March 21, 2006. It was written and directed by Christopher Browne and stars

PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for tenpin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Reg ...

players Pete Weber,

Walter Ray Williams Jr. Walter Ray Williams Jr. (born 6 October 1959) is an American professional bowler and competitive horseshoes pitcher. He has won 47 standard PBA Tour career titles, the most in the tour’s history, and has earned over $5 million in total PBA ea ...

Chris Barnes Chris Barnes may refer to: * Chris Barnes (actor) (born 1965), American child actor *Chris Barnes (bowler) Chris Barnes (born February 25, 1970) is an American professional Ten-pin bowling, bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Associat ...

, and

Wayne Webb } Wayne Webb (born August 4, 1957) is an American professional bowler from Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He was known for his success from the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Webb is one of only 17 players in history to win at least 20 PBA Tour ti ...

. It was first televised nationally on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

'' on April 25, 2006.

Synopsis

The documentary takes place in the 2002–03 PBA Tour season, and follows four professional ten-pin bowlers who are at various stages of their careers. The

Professional Bowlers Association The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and currently owned by the Lucky Strike Entertainment Corpor ...

had been recently purchased by a trio of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

programmers, who then hired Steve Miller, a

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

marketing guru, to revitalize the sport.

Cast

* Steve Miller *

, a 20-time champion and 1980 PBA Player of the Year who has fallen on hard times * Pete Weber, son of legendary bowler

Dick Weber Richard Anthony Weber (December 23, 1929 – February 13, 2005) was an American professional bowler and founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Along with Don Carter, Weber is widely regarded as professional bowling's fi ...

and renowned "bad boy" of the PBA who was serving a disciplinary suspension when the PBA Tour was purchased *

, the dominant player on tour, with 36 PBA titles; he wins his 37th title near the end of this film and, in an iconic statement about the life of a professional bowler, celebrates by shoveling snow off the roof of his motor home *

, a comparatively young pro trying to support his

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

and newborn twins

Soundtrack

The documentary features the song by comedian Stephen Lynch called "Bowling Song (Almighty Malachi, Professional Bowling God)." This track is featured on Lynch's second official album, ''

Superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

'', released in 2002.

DVD features

* Deleted Scenes * PBA TV Spots * Skills Challenge Highlights * PBA Event Clips * Dexter Approach: Tips and Techniques (Hosted by 13-time PBA Tour titlist and current

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (branded on-air as FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 airs an array of live sporting events, including Majo ...

(FS1) TV color-analyst

Randy Pedersen Randy Pedersen (born May 28, 1962) is an American sportscaster and former professional Bowler (ten-pin), bowler as a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He is currently a color analyst for Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports ...

.) * Theatrical Trailer

Featured bowlers after the film

Wayne Webb never won another regular PBA Tour title after the completion of the film. He now runs Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, and for several years ran a

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

business on the side. He later joined the PBA Senior Tour (for players age 50 and older, now named the PBA50 Tour), and made a splash by winning the 2008 Senior U.S. Open. In 2010, he was named PBA Senior Player of the Year. Chris Barnes earned his first-ever PBA Player of the Year award in the 2007–08 season. He twice won what was (at the time) the biggest prize check in the history of televised bowling ($200,000) by winning the Motel 6 Roll to Riches events in 2005 and 2006. Barnes was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 2018, and won his 19th PBA Tour title later that year. In September, 2006, Walter Ray Williams Jr. surpassed

Earl Anthony Earl Roderick Anthony (April 27, 1938 – August 14, 2001) was an American professional ten-pin bowling, bowler who amassed records of 43 titles and six Player of the Year awards on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. For over two d ...

for first place on the PBA's All-Time titles list with his win over Pete Weber in the

Dydo Japan Cup ROUND1 Japan Cup is an annual PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) and JPBA ( Japan Professional Bowling Association) bowling event sponsored by ROUND1. In its earlier years, the tournament typically featured the top 16 bowlers from each organiz ...

. Walter earned 47 PBA Tour titles (the most all-time), with his final title coming at the

USBC Masters The USBC Masters is a championship ten-pin bowling event conducted by the United States Bowling Congress. The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) began recognizing it as a title event in 1998, and it was designated one of the four majors in 2000 ...

in February, 2010. He retired from the standard PBA Tour in 2021 at age 61, but still participates on the PBA50 Tour. In August 2021, Williams won his 15th PBA50 Tour title, surpassing

John Handegard John Handegard (born May 18, 1938) is a retired professional ten-pin bowler who has spent time on both the PBA Tour and the PBA Senior Tour (now PBA50 Tour). For over two decades, he ranked as the all-time leader in PBA50 Tour titles with 14, until ...

for the most titles all-time on that tour. He won his 16th PBA50 title at age 63 in the 2022 season, and continues to bowl on the PBA50 Tour as of 2024. As of 2023, Pete Weber is fourth on the PBA's all-time list with 37 titles, with his most recent title coming at age 50 in the PBA Tournament of Champions on March 31, 2013. At the time, that victory tied Weber with

for the most major championships in PBA Tour history (10). A year earlier (2012), Weber won his record fifth

U.S. Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

title.Vint, Bill. "Pete Weber Wins Record Fifth U.S. Open to Surpass Father Dick Weber and Don Carter." Article at www.pba.com on February 26, 2012

Like Williams, Weber retired from the regular PBA Tour in 2021, but continues to compete on the PBA50 Tour, where he has won 14 titles.

Legacy

The seventh episode of the 2015 series of

Documentary Now! ''Documentary Now!'' is an American mockumentary television series created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas (director), Rhys Thomas, and premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC. Armisen and Hader star ...

(IFC), "Any Given Saturday Afternoon", is a mockumentary of A League of Ordinary Gentlemen.

References

External links

*
Official WebsiteOfficial PBS website of first national showingRotten Tomatoes list of reviews of the documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:League Of Ordinary Gentlemen, A Ten-pin bowling films American sports documentary films