ALPERT STILL SUCCEEDING IN BOWLING.Byline: Nevin Barich Nevin Barich (born August 6, 1979) is a former American sports journalist now working as the Senior Editor of The National Notary, a trade magazine based in Los Angeles with a circulation of more than 300,000 nationwide. Daily News Staff Writer It took a bold, irrational decision to help Bryan Alpert grow up. The year was 1987. Alpert, fresh out of high school and with a feeling of invulnerability in·vul·ner·a·ble adj. 1. Immune to attack; impregnable. 2. Impossible to damage, injure, or wound. [French invulnérable, from Old French, from Latin that only a teen-ager could have, decided to become a professional bowler. Basic ideas like going to college and questions like ``What will you do if you don't make it?'' were but mere words to him. Not once did the thought occur to Alpert that he might not make it to the top of his game. ``When I went on tour when I was 18, I thought I was invincible,'' said Alpert, now 31 and owner of three pro bowling shops, most notably the one at Brunswick Valley Brunswick Valley, New South Wales, Australia is located just north of Byron Bay. It is a valley consisting of the towns Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby, Billinudgel and Brunswick Heads. Bowl in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . ``I didn't really work it out in terms of what I would do if I didn't make it. I never thought about college or anything like that. I never thought about my future. I simply figured that I would go out and make it on tour.'' And at the beginning, Alpert did. Soon after turning professional, in a nationally televised Pro Bowlers Association tournament in Dublin, Calif., he won the Kessler Open in impressive fashion. Suddenly, Alpert was ranked among the top 50 or 60 bowlers in the nation. He was met with a crush of reporters everywhere he played. He was being recognized on the street. Nothing could go wrong. And then it did. After a few weeks, Alpert just couldn't get his game going again. And soon, the reporters stopped swarming swarming 1. a phenomenon observed in cultures of Proteus spp. on solid media in which there is progressive surface spreading from the parent colony. 2. the periodic bee migration of the old queen and accompanying workers and drones from a full original hive which is him. His face quickly became another of the seamless masses of town. His ranking slowly slipped down to where no one took notice. Simply put, reality had set in. ``A couple of years into it, I was already considering something else,'' said Alpert who is the only bowler in history to have bowled a 299 game, a 300 game and an 800 series with each hand. ``Something that I could do with my life.'' At the time, Alpert wasn't sure what that ``something else'' was. All he knew was that he wanted what he should have wanted a few years before: a future, security and to not become one of those bowlers who play because they have to, not want to. ``It's almost a saddening experience to see the same guys playing on the tour simply for the purpose of staying alive,'' Alpert said. Ironically, it was his second and last television appearance that helped Alpert make the final decision to leave the pro scene in 1990. Despite not winning the ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. Masters, Alpert's performance convinced him that he could still compete with the best. His mind, for the first time in 18 months, was at ease. ``Before that (the ABC Masters), I was really uncertain about my game,'' Alpert said. ``How could I not be? I hadn't played well in so long. But in that tournament, while I didn't win, I realized that I could still play this game at the level that I wanted to. And that solidified my feeling to move on. It gave me an inner peace, so to speak.'' What followed was a dozen or so jobs that never panned out for Alpert. So he decided to come back to the sport where his dreams were dashed, but this time in a slightly different way. In April 1995, Alpert bought a pro shop at the Brunswick Matador matador In bullfighting, the principal performer, who works the capes and attempts to dispatch the bull with a sword thrust between the shoulder blades. Most of the techniques used by modern matadors were established in the 1910s by Juan Belmonte (b. 1894–d. Bowl in Northridge. In the next few years, he would also purchase shops at Valencia Lanes and, finally, the one in Simi Valley where he bowls league games. He was finally able to achieve the security that he was so uncertain of eight long years before. In that time, his love for bowling returned and he began lighting up the lanes in Simi Valley on a regular basis and realizing the love for it that he had lost. ``Now, I was bowling more for recreation,'' said Alpert who averages 238 with his right hand and 219 with his left in league play. ``It was a lot more fun.'' Now that he had what he wanted, Alpert decided to try the pro scene one last time, this time for the pure joy of it. Last June, he competed at the Showboat showboat. In the early 19th cent. entertainment was brought by boat to the pioneers that settled along the western rivers (especially the Mississippi and Ohio) of the United States. At first companies only traveled by boat, performing on land. Invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. , finishing 45th out of 160 bowlers. ``He's just a great, great bowler,'' said Sherie Kawaguchi, the general manager of Valencia Lanes where Alpert also occasionally bowls. ``The way he bowls with both hands is just amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. .'' Alpert plans to play in another tournament in September in Watsonville, just south of San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. ; a little older, a little wiser and with a teen-age sparkle back in his eyes. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) After leaving pro bowling in 1990, Bryan Albert is now owner of three pro shops, including Brunswick Valley Bowl in Simi Valley. Myung J. Chun/Daily News |
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