You may not know his name but you certainly know what he said.
Pete Weber is hands down one of the most successful professional bowlers in history. He won 37 titles on the PBA Tour (4th all-time), ten major championships (tied for second all-time), won the U.S. Open a record five times, and is one of only nine players to win the PBA Triple Crown (U.S. Open, PBA World Championship, and PBA Tournament of Champions in the same year).
He’s also the son of Dick Weber a certified superstar who was a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) and went on to pretty much dominate the league for the entirety of his decades long career.
While I’m sure the Weber’s would much rather discuss the wins and championships taken home by their family members, without question the reason Pete Weber is well known today has nothing to do with his storied career but the fact that he once yelled at a kid who’d been chirping him during the 2012 U.S. Open…
Weber, who was attempting to break his father’s record of four U.S. Open’s, found himself in a tight battle with Mike Fagan as the final frame was approaching. Weber got the ball last, but he faced very improbable odds to win, needing three strikes in the final frame to take home the victory.
Well, he went 10 up, 10 down in the first two and it all came down to a final throw. If it was a strike he won, if it wasn’t he lost.
In an interview with Storm Bowling, he said:
“When you know you need a strike to win, that’s every bowler’s dream, is to get up in the 10th frame to win. The U.S. Open, the tournament of champions, the national championships – It doesn’t matter. It’s every bowler’s dream to throw a strike to win. I got that opportunity, and I took full advantage of it. I was just ecstatic. I didn’t really know what to do after that.”
Take full advantage of that opportunity he did, smashing all the pins and securing his fifth and final U.S. Open Championship.
But it wasn’t that clutch gene that got people talking. No, it was what he did, more specifically what he said, in the moments following the throw that forever burned him into the memory of sports fans everywhere.
In a passionate cry, he yelled out:
“Yes! Dammit, yes! That is right I did it. I… Number five, are you kidding me? That’s right.
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM”
It was that final line, that iconic line, that made everyone a Pete Weber fan.
9 years ago today, we were graced with the greatest moment in sports history. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, I AM" @StevenWTRF pic.twitter.com/IEgEpeEPw2
— John Lynch (@JohnArdenLynch) February 26, 2021
BUT, as if that story and saying alone isn’t enough, the background and who he was directing that towards makes it even better.
In the previously referenced interview, he gave a little context for the outburst:
“I had a kid rooting against me in the match and he was doing it loud enough, just loud enough for me to hear. And it kinda made me mad. People know don’t make me mad on TV cause I’ll just get better.
But what I really wanted to say was “Who do you think you are rooting against me? I’m the man of this tournament.””
He was yelling at a kid… A KID!
Unreal story from start to finish and hands down one of the greatest moments in sports history, and the greatest moment in bowling history, because let’s be real, can anyone name another one? Sorry to all the bowlers out there, that was rude, but for real… I can’t think of a single other moment other than another Pete Weber line.
Right before he made his final throw on the PBA National Tour, he dropped the mic with another absolute zinger:
“Hate me or love me, you watched. That’s all you could do.”
Tell it like it is, Pete!
Naturally, he finished it out with a closed frame, a strike into a spare, because legends don’t leave one open on their way out the door.
The post 13 Years Ago Today, Pete Weber Dropped The Most Iconic Line In The History Of Bowling first appeared on Whiskey Riff.Pete Weber has bowled his final frame on the PBA National Tour. pic.twitter.com/a6KYfYzsKB
— FloBowling (@FloBowling) March 17, 2021