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Sports.

At their best, they evoke tradition.

History.

Legacies passed down through generations.

Pageantry and glamour.

And the notion that a single moment of glory can last a lifetime.

And then... Well,

there's bowling.

Which embodies all those ideals as well.

Work it, work it. In its own way.

Bowling began in ancient times.

Seriously, Egyptian pharaohs bowled, as did feudal

lords in Britain.

And then it found its way to America.

It became a cultural pastime.

You can learn to bowl and enjoy it too.

and its popularity skyrocketed into the modern media age.

Let's bowl.

From Al Bundy to Fred Flintstone, Biggern McCracken to Balky, even Nick

Cage in that one movie where he was a family man.

Celebrities and U .S. presidents, Ronald McDonald and the Dude, all helped make

bowling the unofficial sport of the everyman.

Or woman.

Or Superman.

Wolfman. Even Jesus himself.

Nobody fucks with the Jesus.

But it's the game's genuine athlete.

It's professionals who truly have the balls to compete for glory.

To be a professional bowler is the height of athleticism.

Can I also get four chocolate chip cookies?

Every year, the very best in the game come together for a grueling four -month

season to battle each other and a common foe. Ten big fat pins just

asking for it.

Only a select few get to live this life.

The glamorous life of a professional bowler.

Leaving the U .S. Open and sleeping on the couch majority of the week.

This is home.

These boots are so soft.

This is more than enough room.

Gotta have the air fryer. That thing's important.

You got open ketchup packets.

Do you live in your car? I guess.

They travel thousands of miles, paying their own way. Did a couple guys in

Checkout process, dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

So you guys will sometimes sleep two in a row?

Yeah. All in the hope of some big checks.

Yes, there is Dr. Pepper available.

Or at least enough to quit their day jobs.

Which only victory can deliver.

These guys aren't paid salaries by the PBA. The PBA only pays prize money. This

is their livelihood.

This is where they put food on the table for their families and pay their

electric. Made some money this week.

And got some W -2s.

Too bad the money didn't equal the W -2s.

5 ,000 years of bowling evolution has led to this.

He's going to get fucking punched in the face.

An unforgettable season. God damn it.

Starring the men.

who put the professional in professional bowling.

What if I throw it like that, dickface?

Here, do you want a beef stick?

From my sponsor? Hey, they're good. They're protein. Like, I will not eat a

stick. No?

No.

I turned pro when I was 15.

You know, I had my PBA card. I was a professional bowler, but that by no

meant I was a profitable professional bowler.

My first job at 16 was working at Wendy's.

I managed Wendy's for about seven years.

I won my first title in 2015.

Back to work to following wheat. People were like, hey, I've seen you on TV.

That's awesome.

Like, thank you. Here's your Frosty. We have the taste of Wendy's cake.

And when you're playing well, you kind of have a signature move with the pick.

Yeah. I mean, you've got to pick the hair out. This would be the celebration

lot more frantically, but I'm just making sure my hair is looking good for

camera.

I guess I'm the Bob Ross of bowling.

From all of us, happy painting.

Hello?

Oh, yeah.

Sorry, I'm doing a documentary with these guys, but let me put you on hold.

I just love doing that.

That's where I kissed it. You can kind of see my lip print a little bit.

I think your dog just took a shit.

Jesus Christ.

Really?

Where would you rank the top five bowlers?

EJ Tackett's got to be number one.

I'm sure I'm not the only bowler who's tired of seeing him win, but hats off to

EJ. Anthony Simonson is number two. I would put myself third, fourth.

Delmo, you know, he's been a little lax the last couple years, but, you know,

the man's got the records.

And, you know, that fifth spot is really up for grabs.

Nasty, Mia.

Mama's back to bowling, too. She bowled yesterday for the first time in eight

months.

It's better if your significant other is a bowler because you just understand

the support level better. Be there for them during the downs. Be there for them

during the highs.

When we're gone away from our families for two straight months, that's just

it gets tough.

All right.

Ready, girl?

Yeah. Aubrey. She's been my life for the last couple years.

She's a ball of joy.

Oh, okay.

Look who came to bowl.

I grew up in a bowling alley pretty much all my life.

My father had me on the lanes at a very young age.

What do you think of Dad? Is he going to win the next match?

Yeah.

He started throwing the ball eight years old. They always pick up my 15

-pounder. But the ball was so heavy.

He ended up putting his other hand on the ball and learning how to bowl two

-handed.

You know, traveling around with my dad. He was one of the most popular bowlers

throughout the 80s and 90s. He was a bowler of the bowlers. The crowd was his

people.

My father, Guffy Truth, is an eight -time titleist, 42 regional titles.

The main thing on tour I was known for was the pants.

He had the crazy pants back in the 80s and just his character.

Some people know me because I hammer the competition.

Bowling was quite different compared to now.

My dad liked to party back in the day.

I spent as much time in the bar as I did on the lanes, maybe more.

He always wanted to entertain fans.

You know, he was very outgoing.

He was a showman of showmen.

You know, I learned a lot from him.

Oh! Right there, baby!

Hey, Joe. How you doing?

I'm good.

Oh, my gosh. This is the man I need to see.

This is my coach.

You can kind of tell when someone has the it factor, for lack of a better

You can tell when someone has the it factor.

He's been a superstar since he was in high school.

I think it's up to you with this.

So I did every sport when I was younger.

Bowling really sucked because I was like, whoa, I'm pretty good at this.

keep trying it.

Me and my dad, our first ever tournament, we bowled together.

This was cool.

We won.

Was that 9 at the time? 9 or 10 at the time?

He threw the 300 so much in practice.

Once he fell off his 300 game, he would want to start the game over again.

He was as good at throwing 300s.

We are two of the most competitive people. We go at it in everything.

Cameron, he's buddies with everybody.

You know, you don't have to game face.

But it works for him because he's very charismatic.

Why is this young man dead?

Yeah, no, the game face, a bit Korean, it's not a game face that Michael would

enjoy or Tiger would enjoy.

Okay.

I used to practice all the time. Like, after school, my dad

would pick me up and he would take me and my sister to go practice.

I actually, like, shied away from talking about bowling a lot.

When I was in high school. And people knew that I chose bowling over

So they were like, why'd you do that? Like, that's not cool.

And I thought the same shit. I was like, that's not cool at all. No.

But funny enough, it used to be a bowling alley. Five minutes away from my

house.

I used to coach there.

So I made a deal with them. Like, they didn't even have to pay me. They said,

just give me free games and we're good.

So I took advantage of that a lot.

They let me stay in there.

They would give me the key sometimes.

I shouldn't say that legally. Sorry. You know what? Cut that out.

This is my first PBA season.

Now I'm practicing for about six hours, five, six hours a day.

I work really hard and hard work's paying off.

So I'm like, you're here for a reason. Like, show them why the fuck you're

Like, show them what you're about.

Is it me? Let me burp. Sorry.

Oh, no, I don't have to burp. We're good.

First tournament.

We'll call it a coming out party.

The Pro Bowlers Association season stretches four months from January to

and features 19 tournaments, including five majors that each offer their winner

a $100 ,000 prize.

Kyle, what are your predictions for the 2025 season for yourself?

We pretty much got one prediction or one goal, player of the year.

I'm back from my spot. Sorry, EJ.

I come out on the tour to win championships and win players of the

That's why I'm here. It's the whole point.

My mindset is I have to go out full and beat the best players in the world.

Leading up to the season, I was dealing with kind of a back injury, but I

promised I want to win every event, major, non -event.

500 bucks, 50 ,000, and I want to win them all.

Coming from Australia to the U .S., like, jet lag is miserable.

I'm exhausted from traveling, but it's never an excuse.

I very, very rarely am worried about someone else winning.

You know, excited for the tour to start, but then, you know, get three, four

weeks in, and it's like, oh, gosh, here we go again.

This is my second home. I probably drive 30 ,000 miles a year at least.

A lot of guys drive because we have a ton of bowling balls.

About 21 in the back of the car right now.

Can't fly with that unless you're paying $2 ,000 or $3 ,000 in baggage fees.

That's just the grind. The grind's a little different as a pro bowler. The

major of the PBA season is the U .S. Open in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Home to David Letterman, the Indy 500, and...

Well, this year's Bowling U .S. Open.

The U .S. Open being the first major, I only live an hour and a half from Indy

now, so I get to go with my family.

That's a blessing in itself.

That tournament means a lot, especially winning it the year before.

In 2024, the morning of the U .S. Open show, I felt more peaceful than most

finals.

Had my family there with me.

I'm an Aubrey. Pulled out an Afro wig.

That moment is, you know, what we live for, though.

You know, on TV with the crowd cheering, chanting your name.

The other thing was that tournament, like, I probably missed that cut six or

seven times in a row in my career.

Me and my father. I made the final in 1984.

Gumpy troop must strike on this ball.

They lost by 1 -10.

So, you know, it felt like a chance at redemption.

we did it

those

emotions yeah you

can't you can't stop that now i'm super excited coming in as defending champion

I get to see my face on the banner.

So confidence, all -time high.

I have my go with the pro sign. I've got to finish it one second because I

can't see with the pencil line. It's going to have a pro around the bowling

ball. More than 100 of the world's top bowlers will be vying for the U .S.

Open's coveted Big Eagle trophy.

And that one size fits the winner green jacket.

Which is not exactly identical to the master's green jacket.

Or is it?

Doesn't matter.

The winner also will take home that big $100 ,000 payday.

Just a hair under what you get for winning that other green jacket.

But with that newfound fame and fortune, They can also attract new sponsors,

like bowling ball companies, or beef jerky, or male

-marketed hygienic products.

How do you wipe?

All in all, winning this tournament can truly define a player's career forever.

The U .S. Open is such a tough test.

I believe this is probably the toughest tournament on tour to win.

It's a lot of games.

There's a lot of frustration that happens. Oh, no!

It's hard.

There are many challenges that you encounter with the U .S. Open that's

different from any other tournament. You know, like pulling on four different

oil patterns throughout the event.

That's right.

Oil.

Oil. Oil.

That geological mineral that fuels wars and crashes economies is pro -bowling

secret obstruction.

Each lane in the alley is coated with streaks of wood oil laid out

in an invisible, elaborate design.

A pattern that challenges the competitors by changing ever so slightly

time a ball rolls down the lane.

Not a good shot.

Don't see it out there.

So, though the pins never move, the path to them does.

Constantly augmenting the degree of difficulty and forever frustrating the

bowlers.

Cameron is a big confidence guy, but if I had to rate him on actual ability to

rap, it's like a 2 .4 out of 10. Out of three. Cameron is this big vibes guy.

He's not actually a good rapper, but he has a good time.

I'll put a 16 for y 'all right now. Give me a beat.

Let's go.

What?

I'm in the car dealing with the crew.

Me and Kevin, Kevin really do.

Really do?

You want to rock it with it?

Okay.

Professional bowling is a crazy job, I'll tell you that.

There's some events where you stay out there for three weeks to a month, and if

you don't make any money, you're not just in the negative, you're in like a

hole. It's going to take a while for you to recover from.

To bet on yourself.

We are at the house, B &B, basically.

For the guys, for the geese.

Y 'all about to meet all the cats.

You room with a couple bowlers, save a little bit of cost.

You got it?

Yeah, I forgot it already.

We have my boy Kevin Williams.

He's really easy to get along with, so I'm rooming with him.

When it comes to the game, he's really intelligent, so it's good to just have

somebody in my corner.

I'm healthy now. This is comfortable.

Whose blanket is this?

I'm over you.

Get out of my Airbnb.

Whose blanket is this?

Kevin.

He's also a professional rapper.

Whenever guys

make telecasts, they usually ask for like two or three songs to play when

strike, whatever to kind of kill some of the dead noise.

And I had like 25 guys as like strike songs.

I made one with Kyle, and we did, like, the Pick It Out song.

Damn, son, where'd you find this?

I've never heard this. You've never seen this?

It's a full music video.

Pick it out, pick it out, pick it out, pick it out, pick it out.

Switch it up?

In the middle?

This is going to be crazy.

Is that ketchup and mustard? Uh -huh. Too much sauce. You get it?

This is when you started making all the telecasts and you were getting big and

whatever. And it was fun to do.

You want a water?

Yeah. There's a faucet right there. Okay.

Fuck you asked for.

Hey, that liquid IV, oh my god, were you drinking? No, dude, I just like to be

hydrated. Try to get the sponsorship.

Lock in.

Blue Chew, hit me up. No, not Blue Chew.

I actively tell the PBA and Fox that Blue Chew should be a sponsor for the

What is it?

Blue Chew, the dick pill.

I think it would be a hit in the bowling community. You've got to think it's a

bunch of old, grumpy men who...

Think hard, be hard. Bluetooth.

Bluetooth.

That's hard.

Like that.

What the fuck?

All right, from hipster to bowler. The double life.

From a cool guy in a cropped shirt to a damn bowler.

Day three of the Open determines who makes the cut.

Every pin knocked down over the past three days is added up, and only the top

move on.

It's me versus the pigs. That's what you always got to do.

All right,

all right, I'm starting to strike. I'm starting to pop it like I'm talking

Now I'm in my sweet spot.

Everything felt right.

You're a bad dude, man. Sometimes.

You're a bad dude.

Y 'all watching me.

Somebody's excited.

Oh, man.

Literally, when I tell you block of my life, block of my life.

You know, let's look. You're going to make this cut, okay? I know you said

on wood, but you got enough score. You got enough wood. You can breathe easy.

You made this cut.

I'm at a loss for words right now. At the beginning of today, I started in

By the end of today, I'm in the top ten.

We got more work to do, so we're going to celebrate this for the next 20

and back to work tomorrow.

Great ball. Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it.

Thank you, guys.

Bye, guys.

We still got our name in that hat for that green jacket, which is what we're

going for.

Even though the day's bowling isn't finished, Cam already qualified in the

of 24.

Thank you, Mama.

Meanwhile, Kyle Troop, the reigning champ, needs a solid final game to make

cut.

Hit a couple rough

games early.

It was mentally a roller coaster.

The ability to perform under pressure is essential for any bowler.

Kyle has his own strategy for staying locked in.

I do love Sudoku.

That was the trick. My mental game was calm and relaxed.

So when he doesn't use his phone, doesn't worry about who's bowling around

and what they're bowling, he does fine.

I was comfortable. I knew how the oil patterns from the lanes were

transitioning.

Go to the last game.

I knew I was going to be close.

I noticed there's a lot of cheering going on somewhere else. Somebody else

making a run.

I can't help but know the math.

Going home tomorrow, girl.

I missed the cut by two pins.

Just lack of focus early, lack of being calm.

Probably could have got two pins somewhere.

You can always find two pins just about anywhere after 24 games.

Yeah, well, I didn't make the cut.

I just found two pins.

Before you get worried you won't see Kyle again this season, relax.

Remember, there are four more major events on the season.

Events that will push all of them to the limit.

Damn it. Oh, come on, man.

I'm burning booty to the ground.

Fuck you. Fuck!

Shove your camera up your ass.

But as far as the U .S. Open goes, the final round is set to be an all -out...

I don't trust him one fucking bit. In knocking wars.

For the big check.