Original subtitles

This is one of my secondary homes, basically.

Get some side money, pocket money.

I think bowling is kind of a unique sport where you don't need to be the

strongest guy in the room or not exactly the most athletic.

So I just started doing this. I think today is going to be like the sixth day

I've done this.

Sixth day active streak. Woo -hoo!

I was having that problem last season.

So kind of a sign to like start taking care of myself.

There's like small random stretches.

When I saw some of these names, I'm like, what the fuck is this?

My shoulder blades have been really appreciative of this one.

Now we're almost to the toes. That's kind of nice.

The 2025 U .S. Open in Indianapolis already saw last year's champion get

eliminated.

Now, the remaining bowlers who did make the cut will compete to make the show.

The show. The show. TV show.

TV show. TV show. Or the telecast, featuring the last nine bowlers

battling it out over two days on TV, chasing that big payday, an oversized

trophy, and of course...

the second most coveted green jacket in all of sports.

From Las Vegas, Nevada, Anthony Simonson.

I grew up in Mesquite, Texas, just outside of Dallas.

It was rough at times.

We had very little money.

And throughout the years, there were times where my mom would drop me off

she worked right around the corner from the bowling alley.

For me, it had kind of turned into a daycare, and I moved up as an adult

at the age of 16.

I broke the record to become the youngest person to ever win a PBA major

But throughout my 9 or 10 years now, there's always a challenge, and it was

going to be a long, grueling week.

So on these events where they do two telecasts, my main goal is make the top

four.

Fuck.

Ah, you fucking dumb fuck.

How do we get a strike over here?

It went fucking dead sideways over there.

Wrap our hands.

But then it doesn't tick up.

If we need something, it doesn't glue up in the middle of the line.

Similar but different to golf. In a way, we have caddies. They're ball reps.

Now, to be clear, a ball rep doesn't hold your balls like Happy Gilmore's

holds Happy's club. All right, give me a club.

I'll get it.

But a ball rep does help a bowler read the way the oil's transitioning on the

lane and can recommend which ball might work best accordingly.

I was trying to struggle. I had thrown a shot, and I had neither gotten four or

five. It was split through the face.

It was a real fucking useful.

I was, you know, asking my ball rep for a little bit of help, and we couldn't

really seem to get anywhere.

So you have any ideas?

Or are you just going to let me fucking get five every fucking time?

You're going to throw them like that. They're going to get five every time. I

barely fucking. You know what? Fuck you. Don't help me the rest of the week.

All right, I'm going to smack Rob in the face, okay?

Like, I barely fucking touched the hole. So I said, are you going to give me

some fucking ideas, or are you going to keep letting me get past it? Well, if

you're going to throw it like that, you're going to get past it. I'm going

fucking bust his ass one fucking day. I don't like that fucking guy, okay?

I don't like him at all.

It's fucking bullshit.

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

That's bullshit.

You can't fucking do that. No?

I'm going to do what I want, okay?

I'm going to do what I want, thanks.

I actually am.

Then go write me a fine and I'll sign it.

Please do. Thank you.

Some of the things I've gotten fined for, equipment damage.

God damn it, man.

Unbecoming of a professional, which can mean a lot of different things. How

exhausted do you feel right now? No comment.

Sunday, ready for the show?

No comment.

The most is probably profanity. Fucking reset.

Any fucking idea would be nice.

Go fuck yourself.

Bold three fucking games. Nobody said anything. Not one fucking thought.

Sometimes it's aggressive.

Fucking hard is it to just not fucking do that. Fucking impossible, I think.

Sometimes it's not aggressive.

Speed these motherfuckers up.

Please.

Throughout the years, I don't know if anybody's been fine more than me.

One for you and one for you. How about that?

Fucking piece of shit.

Fucking panels bounce. Fucking ends nowhere near on spot.

My only comment is no comment. They don't want to hear what I have to say.

Anthony Simonson, he can say some pretty outlandish stuff.

Fuck my fucking left nut.

If he's bowling bad, put the earplugs in for the kids.

Fiery.

He's not afraid to say what he's thinking.

Yeah, just fucking make up your mind. Like they've never fucking set up a

bowling show before.

But it's exciting to watch.

And then from then, we were able to get comfortable and then bowl some better

scores to end the block.

What if I throw it like that, Dick's face?

Is that better?

All right, I think I'm done.

We'll find out if we come back in 30 minutes or it's not done.

The last couple of days, you can kind of tell when bowling has started because,

you know, 8, 9 o 'clock, the parking lot is packed.

Come back just after lunch when you're done, and there's nobody here.

Oh,

hey, guys. Oh, that scared the shit out of me. Oh, my goodness. Where did they

come from?

How you guys doing?

Let me put some pants on.

I've known Simon for a couple years.

He's really played that big brother role in my boy Kevin Williams.

Didn't make it to the top 24.

Simon was like, hey, do you want a room?

And I was like, duh, yeah.

There are normally three roommates this week.

This is more than enough room. Look, I can stretch out and everything.

Come on now.

The staff here at the hotel has taken great care of us. And, like, this is

pretty good.

This is pretty good. It's better than sleeping on the couch, right?

After you, Big Dino.

You know, uh, 15 pound?

All right, stay right here.

See, this is why we love ball reps. They love us so much sometimes.

Dino, last year, Dino clowned me for not knowing my pattern.

I didn't know it. And as a professional bowler, that is... He always clowned me

for it. But now, we are drilling stuff together.

Look how time flies.

What is your action?

Bingo.

My man.

Five and a half, two and three -eighths down.

Pat, access point. So we're doing a four -inch pin.

You might be wondering, do I really need to know all this?

Well, the language of bowling can be just as confusing as dialogue you hear

medical show.

Start dopamine at 10 and titrate to a systolic of 90. Get a 12 -lead EKG.

So sometimes these guys might say some things you're not going to understand.

And that's okay.

When I first talked to Cam, I said, how the hell do you not know your accent?

He was like, you don't know your fucking attitude.

You're a pro bowler. I was like, damn, bro. Come on, Dino.

What did I tell you? Now we cool.

What did I tell you? You think that's a game?

It's not no game. Hey, I understand it's not no game anymore.

They help us out with anything we need when it comes to balls, layouts,

trillings. Lane play, what they're seeing. They're going to scout other

They're going to help us out. He's going to give me a massage when we're done.

Absolutely. There's no happy ending to that, I promise.

It ain't about you right now.

It's about me.

No, I'm kidding.

No.

Fuck off.

Fuck off.

I got scared. I was funny. That was some ho -ass shit. I shouldn't have done

that. Get another ball.

So we had a couple people with me throughout the day.

Obviously, my mom, my ball reps, and then we had my boy Kevin Williams.

My goal every tournament is to win, but, I mean, I knew who I was going against.

I was like, oh, my goodness, like, this is, like, I didn't expect this to

happen.

All the best.

You as well.

Domo, obviously, he's the GOAT.

He's my GOAT.

Jason can do anything with a bowling ball.

Unbelievable. He may be the greatest we've ever seen.

He's got 15 majors, and nobody else is close to that.

Like this Tiger Woods on the PBA Tour.

Yes! Yes!

Yes! Or the title.

Yes!

Yes!

Yeah!

He's the greatest!

Shot. Thank you.

Although it was cool, like, I wasn't thinking, like, holy shit, I'm Bowling

Belmont. I'm thinking, like, I'm going to beat his head in, you know? He's a

good dude, great dude, but he's the guy I'm trying to beat.

Winning a match in the qualifying rounds is about more than just bragging

rights. It also adds 30 bonus pins onto your total score.

I've got to hear that all week, every time.

Like a cheerleader, like a college coach in the back.

All right, kid.

I got to hear it.

All right.

Let's go, kid.

Yeah, I bowled a little below average.

And at the US Open, average is never good enough.

And so I knew I needed a pretty solid session to make it to the top nine.

It's down now. It's the wrong one. That's the dull one. The new one's down

there? Yeah.

Cameron, you can throw a shot, mate. I've got to go get another ball from

Take your time. No, no, no, no. I've got to go get another ball so you can

finish your game off.

Okay.

Bowling, like all sports, has rules.

one of which is the protocol that says you don't leave a lane mid -game.

He does this every time. He's doing his shit. He'll be like, I don't got to get

a ball, and then he'll forget where he put the ball, and then not grab the

But rules are meant to be bent, and for some bowlers, it's just... Strategery.

He's trying to prove that he's still relevant, and he's trying to show you

something. Go get his ass.

Like, there's no defense in bowling, so the defense has to be your mind game.

Good rolling, man.

Good rolling, buddy.

Hey, you too. Good luck for the rest. You as well.

I ended up winning the match, I guess, but that was cool.

You know, I don't know how you're going to survive all day with those two guys

behind you going like little babies like, come on, Cameron.

Come on.

Hey, guys, just a reminder, you need to bowl when it's your turn and not wait,

okay? Kirk, I have to go get a ball from the paddock.

So I could either let him wait for me to run down there or let him finish the

frame. Is that the reason? Well, of course. That's why I'm here. Well, I

here to see that. All I saw was the result and a complaint.

There was a complaint?

Sure.

Cool. I checked off what? You checked off with your opponent before you ran to

the locker room, right? He came back.

Yeah, I let him bowl.

To a different pair than mine, please. We're good.

Cameron, I'm going to go to the paddock and get a drink. Do you want one?

I don't want his shit.

I'm going to go get a drink.

I think it's all bullshit. Like, if you're going to have the balls to put in

complaint, then you can't make it anonymously.

I think that's bullshit.

But I'm glad it's squared away with the tournament director.

I'm glad Cameron knows that I was trying to help him, not harm him.

And whoever that anonymous fan is...

Yeah. You can suck it.

And we welcome you to Woodland Bowl at Parking Lot. It's going to be a lot

thinner in eight more games because 15 bowlers will be leaving us. We'll be

to nine by the time you get to your lunch.

I'm just trying to shoot the 20 every game.

20, I think I can get to them. I see.

Come on, let's go do it.

Keep working, yo.

Come on, you're not dead. Come on.

I had one crazy game. I made those moves, figured them out.

Unfortunately for me, everybody else also figured them out.

Oh, my God, I lost 279 to 281 game.

That didn't really help the morale.

Oh, my God. I hate bowling sometimes.

Come on, Cameron.

Finish the game.

5 -0. The last two for a loss and another freaking loss.

Good job.

I'm letting people who throw it slow tell me to go throw it slow.

I can throw it hard, dirtier than everybody on earth.

Everybody back there says, you got to move right to throw it slow. No, I'm the

best in the world at hugging them.

What the fuck do I have to do to win a game?

I'm burning this building to the ground. I'm thinking about it.

When I was younger, I had my dad talking in my ear every shot.

So I just turned to my father. That's really it.

Stop listening to these fucking people sometimes. Your gut is better than

everybody else's gut.

Remember that.

Remember that.

Fucking do it.

You gave me the good run. That's okay.

Okay. Huh?

It is what it is.

Yeah. Give me the good run.

You did good for me here, right?

No. I wanted to win.

Happens to me a lot more.

This is why I don't win tournaments, actually, in Chicago, all the time.

So it's nothing new.

Oh,

boy,

now or never, isn't it?

Now or never.

I'd had a couple of pretty average sessions before it, so I knew I needed a

pretty solid session in there to make it.

Where the fuck was it? Why?

Many a time I've been, well, I think most people would consider dead in the

tournament, and I've held the trophy at the end of it.

Fuck off, man.

God, Jason, are we doing this again?

So if it's mathematically possible, I'm always going to have that internal

belief, I'm going to make it.

I'm thinking to myself, I'm going to give it everything I got every time.

So in the moment, when things aren't going great, my head is still thinking,

we're going to win the tournament.

and I did get on a little bit of a run.

I got on a couple of wins, and it got me to the point where it came down to the

last shot of the tournament.

Fuck!

Something caught Belmo.

What happened?

Something caught Belmo, and it's going to cost him the show.

Thank you, Graham.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Because you've never done it yourself, mate.

Fucking douche.

Things are getting kind of tense down here right now. It's hard to know if

Graham's outburst was an intentional tactic to throw off Belmo.

But with both bowlers so close to making the show, it might have just been

strategery. Belmo kind of barked off at Graham, and I didn't really like it just

because Graham's normally one of the nicest guys out there on tour. I don't

if there's many more people that are nicer than him.

Take your time, bro.

I'm the guy I guess that would be the least one to get involved because I'm

normally the guy causing problems, but yeah, it's just kind of one of those

things that struck me wrong and I told him to fuck off.

75 for Belmo.

I don't think we'll do it. So what we can officially say is Grandpa is going

be on the show.

Belmo is not going to be on the show.

People annoy me.

I've had enough of it all.

I'm going to live on my farm by myself.

I'm not talking to anyone for like 23 years.

One, two, three, and four are off for the rest of the day. And Simon will be

top seed tonight, which is what he did not want to do. His goal was to bowl

tomorrow.

Fuck, man.

Now I'm on the dumbest fucking show in bowling. A show that shouldn't exist.

At the U .S. Open, the top four bowlers in the show.

automatically move on to the second day of the telecast.

But the fifth spot is left open to grab in an additional go.

Damn it.

Giving the other five in the field no time to rest.

Bowling on an extra TV show is nice. Only having to bowl one TV show is

significantly better.

The adrenaline is hard to come down from, and then you've got to get through

that adrenaline rush to wake back up the next day and do it all over again,

which can definitely be a little taxing, especially with that problem.

This is so dumb. There shouldn't be a fucking second show.

It's a waste of fucking money.

Oh, you guys are so good. We're on TV 30 fucking times, but you bowl 14 events.

Fucking got the blind leading the blind is what we got around here.

Come on, bud.

Thanks, bro.

What'd you get to?

Oh, no.

Fucking loser.

Oh, no.

Fucking have to get myself loose for one game. That's awesome.

Yeah, I know. It sucks.

At least you're on the show. Be happy about it, right?

Nothing to be happy about.

No.

You sound like me.

And I'm pissed off below you.

Our number five seed has 16 tour titles, five majors. He's the 2022 U .S. Open

champion. From Las Vegas, Anthony Simonson.

If my body hurts, I definitely would have liked to have been next however

hours off.

Getting myself loose for the TV show is going to be quite difficult.

I got a little heat pad on.

We're just trying to throw as many shots as we can between now and when we go on

and see how loose we can get.

Samuel, how are you feeling?

I'm feeling okay.

It's just, it's way cozier to lay down than it is to sit down. After I sit

I get really stiff pretty quickly.

So I figured I would just lay down and be more comfortable. And I could sit in

one spot longer.

EJ, do you have any sympathy or empathy for Simo? Hell no, I'll answer that.

Why would I have sympathy? The same way I ain't got none for him.

Well, I'm not here. I'm only worried about me.

You know, Simo's worried about him. We can sit here and be friends and stuff,

but where he's at in the standings, I don't care.

I'm worried about me, and that's it.

And he's the same way.

And if you're not that way, honestly, it's kind of a disservice to yourself if

you're worried about what place someone else is in.

I agree.

One of the most demanding tournaments on the tour.

No stage is too big for him.

And if you go back to the year 2022, at the age of 25, he became the youngest to

win the U .S. Open.

I was 15 when I dropped out of school.

Having to support myself at 15, 16, it's something that obviously is not normal

for most people.

My dad, he was laid off right around 2009.

My mom and him, they were separated.

I had like $7 to my name.

I knew it was a way to make money.

I was willing to survive.

And then my mom passed away in 2015.

It was almost just kind of like, all right, you got somebody to vote for now?

2016, I guess, would really be considered the breakout year.

Anthony Simonson is going to make history here today.

As rough as it gets at home, leaving school, turning to bowling for friends,

competition. What a moment.

I mean,

truthfully, without bowling, I'd probably be homeless.

It's been a long time coming from that.

Definitely,

I mean, I'm just forever grateful because without bowling, I mean, I don't

anything really.

I know it's been a challenging week for you, and you just missed.

tomorrow's show by just a few pins, but you've worked hard to get here. How are

we able to do that, even with the back pain?

You know, I've been doing a lot of stretching.

Starting and stopping hurts a little bit, but other than that, we're ready to

go. All right. Good luck to you. Thanks.

So, Simonson now facing a 17th TVA world title in his sixth major.

The winner of this one moves on to tomorrow's championship round live on

4 Eastern.

I would say the frustration probably did carry over.

I'm kind of irritated that I already have to bowl this show in the first

Because it's like, well, if we were doing a traditional show, I'd only have

bowl one show.

But sometimes getting a little worked up can be a good thing.

And sometimes you kind of get in that moment where you almost essentially stop

thinking about bowling and just kind of let the body do its natural thing.

Simonson moves on.

22 -10 win for Simonson.

My favorite place to be was the ball on Sunday. See you tomorrow.