Deeron Booker, Beat The Odds In Vegas And Made His Dreams Come True. Seeing Deeron Booker beat the odds in Las Vegas and make his dreams come true was great. They say “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”, well that is not going to be the case in this instance. The odds were definitely against Deeron last week. With the odds of about 1,000-1 against him, achieving the improbable seemed unlikely. But that is what under-dogs do. Beat the odds.
How Deeron Booker Beat The Odds.
The battles that Deeron fought to win the USBC Masters were not stacked in his favor. Booker, a regional professional in the South West Region has never won on the national stage. That is only a small part of it. He is what is called a “tweener”, which means he does not throw a big hooking ball. This style does not have the rev rate, ball speed, or big hooking ability that most of the PBA players today possess. His is a more traditional game.
He beat the odds using that style to dispatch the top three professionals on the tour today. He defeated Anthony Simonsen in the second round of match play by a score of 623-589. Not an easy thing to do with the two-handed power of Simonsen. He then went on to take down two-time Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award winner and PBA Titlelist Jake Peters with a score of 681-672.
Building momentum to make the show.
He defeated the one-handed power of E.J. Tacket in the bracket rounds by rolling a 300 game and scoring 784 to Tacketts 632. But he wasn’t done yet. He then defeated two-time PBA title holder Sam Cooley 673-603. Deeron kept momentum on his side in match play. Booker then defeated Patrick Dombrowski 639-603 to take the top spot in the televised finals.
To put it in simple terms. He went undefeated by dispatching two future Hall Of Fame bowlers with a total of 36 titles between them. Both have rev rates nearing the 500 mark and with ball speeds approaching 20mph. With Booker’s classic style, he only has about a 390 rpm delivery with a ball speed of about 17 mph.
On the show, he had only to beat the number two seed, Patrick Dombrowski again. Which he did. He demonstrated that heart, drive, determination, and self-belief can sometimes be enough to take down Goliath.
Deeron Booker Beat The Odds and is an inspiration to many.
Booker became only the third black man in PBA history to win a title. He was not even born yet when George Branham III won his first title. Both Branham and Gary Faulkner Jr. won major championships on the PBA tour. That, I am sure will be an inspiration to many young black boys and girls to go for their dreams, whether it is in bowling, track, or whatever, the underdog can beat the odds. That is because the theory of competition does not follow the survival of the fittest.
Booker said in an interview “What this does is keep inspiring me to keep inspiring others to do this, to get here, to be here. When I get back home, come and see me. Let’s do this together,” Booker said. “There are people out there that need help, that want help, that want inspiration. This win is going to help inspire them.” (source PBA.com)
To me, he is an inspiration in some ways too. As a senior bowler, I do not have the ball speed or the high rev rate that today’s younger players have. Deeron showed me that you do not have to have those tools in your arsenal. You need to be consistent, determined, focused, and inspired and you can beat anyone on any given day.
This was not Deeron’s first time on TV, or even winning on TV. However, his first time on TV was not for bowling. It was on the game show, The Price Is Right. That explains his strike song. Yep, you got it, The Price Is Right theme song. How fitting for a man with the personality of Deeron Booker.
How did he do it?
“I was able to channel a level of myself that I didn’t even know I had,” Booker said. “Bowling against arguably one of the best bowlers to do this game, I said to myself, ‘DeeRonn focus, but let’s really focus.’ I was able to be so focused that to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t even about the 279 or 300. It was about focus and keeping myself in the moment. I can’t miss against (EJ) because he can throw a nine-bagger at any moment.” (source PBA.com)
The $100,000 prize money will allow Deeron to stay on the tour full-time. It will allow him to keep reaching for his dreams and to work to inspire others. The win also earned Deeron an exemption into the WSOB and April’s PBA Tournament of Champions.
I am hoping to see Deeron on more telecasts and to see him win more championships. Seeing the classic style win makes an old man’s heart feel good.
Brad is a Certified Webmaster with over 25 years of experience. He is the webmaster/writer/editor of On The Move with Sportzkelz.
He is a content creator and owns the Facebook page Big Rad Bowling, and the YouTube channel Big Rad Bowling
Brad has covered many top bowling events such as the NCAA Women’s Championships in Columbus, Ohio. He has also covered the PBA 50+ event at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, and the Mega event at HP Lanes in Columbus.
He is an accomplished senior bowler holding one Senior Singles League Championship. He is the current year average leader for the LBA Seniors singles league.
