Bowlers Journal International - January 2008 - (Page 26) UPCLOSE A GLOBAL LEGEND IN WAITING WALTER RAY WILLIAMS JR. ISN'T REALLY WAITING FOR ANYBODY TO BE DECLARED THE BEST BOWLER IN THE WORLD. AT THE AGE OF 48, HE'S GOTTEN HIS SECOND WIND TO BECOME THE TOUR'S WINNINGEST EVER. IT'S BEEN AN AMAZING YEAR for Walter Ray Williams Jr. At a time when most athletes are headed to the nearest rocking chair, he's kicking his game into turbodrive. He won his 43rd title in Taylor, Mich., then, just as the fans were catching their collective breaths, chipped in #44 a few weeks later in Wyoming, Mich. Before he won that 44th career title, BJI's Jim Dressel talked to the 48-year-old man ESPN analyst Randy Pedersen had already been calling the greatest bowler ever. Randy Pedersen continually praises you as the greatest bowler of all-time. Agree? Umm, I think that might be a bit strong, but I appreciate the sentiment. I once thought that kind of adulation embarrassed you. I don’t think embarrassed is the right word. I still believe Earl Anthony was the best ever. But it’s hard to say, because Don Carter was a great player; unfortunately, his [best days were] before the PBA Tour, and the standards were a little different, though the bowling writers named him [Bowler] of the Year six times. One thing that has contributed to my extra success is my longevity. Earl was a little more dominant than I was. Whether that’s because the players are better now, I don’t know, but it’s really hard to compare eras. I think he would have been a great player now, and I would have been a great player then. Well, you're officially number one in PBA career titles with 43 (Note: he would win his 44th later). Do you look 26 bowlers journal international at it as 43 vs. 43 instead of 43 vs. 41? According to the PBA, I’ve got more titles officially. I know he [won] a few events that weren’t official PBA tournaments then. You can argue all day about that, though. The difference is that I bowled in over 600 tournaments, and he bowled in under 400; that speaks for itself. That’s what I meant by my longevity. Had Earl bowled against somebody with 43 or 44 titles before he retired, I don’t think he would have retired. He had such a big lead over anybody else; he didn't need to prove anything. I think he retired because he thought, 'I want to go out on the top and there is no rea- son for me to keep doing this.' I also think he wanted to perform at a top level, and my personal understanding is that he didn’t want to put in as much time as he needed to in order to stay at the top of his game. He felt like he'd done enough, and reached most of his goals. But if Dick Weber or somebody else had 43 titles at that time, I’m sure Earl would have kept bowling. I mention Dick Weber because there wasn't a Tour until he was 31 or so. [If PBA had been around earlier], he could have had another 20 titles. Even so, Carter, Weber and Anthony are the ones usually mentioned as the greatest ever. Pedersen now is touting you that way, and frankly, a lot of people are starting to agree with him. I appreciate that. That’s one of those things you will always have debates about. I do feel I've been the greatest player for the past 20, 25 years, but for the whole period, there have been a lot of years when I wasn’t. If you take a quick look at your record, you can come away thinking that, since 1993, it was like, wow, hold this guy back, what’s he been eating? I bowled pretty well before that. I went through a stretch like Chris [Barnes] has been having the past couple of years. He’s making a lot of TV shows, and he has some wins, but he doesn’t have as many victories as he might have [considering the times he's been on the telecast]. I was in that same situation. Then something turned around. Fortunately, it’s gone a little better since. At KYLE NOSAL PHOTOGRAPHY JANUARY 2008
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