Overall, Weber has won 36 PBA Tour events, including nine major titles. His 36th tour win on February 26th, 2012 came at age 49 in the 69th U.S. Open. :an_clap:
Peter David "Pete" Weber, nicknamed “PDW”, [3] (born August 21, 1962 in St. Ann, Missouri), is a famous bowling professional on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. Weber is one of the sport's most popular active players and is well known for his maverick, rebellious personality. Weber is also featured in the ten-pin bowling sports documentary A League of Ordinary Gentlemen.
Despite Weber's talent, he was not popular with his bowling peers and was even denied Player of the Year honors in 1987 despite winning the Tournament of Champions and leading the tour in earnings; the award was instead given to Marshall Holman.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference">[2]</sup> By 1989, Weber had won 13 PBA Tour titles and had reached over $1 million (USD) in earnings, but his personal life was plagued with problems. By the mid-1990s, Weber had been through two divorces and suffered from alcoholism.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">[3]</sup> At the same time, the PBA tour itself was in decline.
In 2000, the PBA Tour was sold to three former Microsoft executives; Weber was not on the tour during this transitional phase, as he was still serving a six-month suspension given by the former PBA leadership in 1999 due to behavior related to his drinking problem. The new tour ownership saw Weber's flashiness as a potential tool for marketing the PBA to a new audience. By the 2001-02 season, Weber had his career back on track, winning three titles in all. On December 4, 2005, Weber overcame a year of trying times both personally and professionally by clinching what was, perhaps, the most emotional title of his career at the 2005 Bowlersparadise.com Classic at Stardust Bowl in Hammond, Indiana. This marked the first television appearance for Pete Weber in 666 days, and it was his first title after the death of his father on February 13, 2005. Pete honored his father after the victory by looking into the ESPN cameras and pointing at the "DW" patch on his sleeve.
Bowling Style and Personal Information
- His style is a power stroker, which combines the high backswing and rev rate of a cranker with the smooth timing of a stroker.
- He wears sunglasses while bowling on television to reduce the glare of the TV lights.
- When he gets a strike, he sometimes does the D Generation-X crotch chop.
- Pete's bowling idol growing up was not his father, but Mark Roth, one of the game's original power players who inspired Pete to hook the ball much more than his father ever did.
- Pete dropped out of high school in the 10th grade, opting to work behind the pins at a local bowling center and refine his game during time off. He got his General Equivalency Degree (GED) at age 17, just prior to joining the PBA Tour.
- He has been married to third wife, Tracy, since 1997. They have three children together.
- Weber has many superstitions when bowling, including: sitting in the same spot the same way when bowling well, not having his wife Tracy wear red on TV, and folding his towel the same way.
- Weber's most embarrassing moment came on national television on April 13, 1991. As Pete explained to Sports Illustrated on November 7, 2006, "After I won the 1991 [BPAA] U.S. Open, I went to lift the trophy over my head. The eagle toppled down and busted into a million pieces. People came up and grabbed pieces to take home."
- He likes to follow all the St. Louis professional sports teams: Cardinals, Rams, and Blues.
- In an interview after winning his first title of the 2001 season (Great Lakes Classic), he addressed the bowling world with the statement: "I want you to take a look, I'm back and I am P.D.W." During the telecast, Weber shot 299, leaving a 4-pin on the 12th ball after eleven straight strikes.
- He has written on BowlSpace, the social networking site for bowlers, that he is a big wrestling fan, particularly of the WWE. His favorite wrestler is Triple H, and when Weber gets spares and strikes on TV "The Game" by Motörhead (Triple H's entrance music) plays through the speakers.
