A fashion statement

By Rob Miech (contact)

Friday, Jan. 26, 2007 | 8:46 a.m.

What: Motel 6 Classic

Where: Strike Zone at Sunset Station, 1301 W. Sunset Road, Henderson

When: Today through Sunday

Prizes: $180,000

Tickets: $15 to $50 for Sunday's finals; 547-7467, www.sunsetstation.com, www.pba.com

On TV: 9:30 a.m. Sunday, ESPN

Today : 8 to 11: 30 a.m., Round of 32; 1 to 4:30 p.m., Round of 16; 6 to 9 p.m., Round of 8

Saturday: PBA Pro-Am session at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m.

Sunday: 9:30 a.m., Final 4

Maybe it's the pure drama of athletic competition that keeps Hollywood coming back to the bowling alley for inspiration.

Or maybe it's just the funky shoes.

To mark the PBA Tour's return to Las Vegas for this weekend's Motel 6 Classic at the Strike Zone at Sunset Lanes, we were going to list our Top 10 favorite bowling movies. But we thought we'd quit before "Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama" (1988) ended up on the list.

1) "The Big Lebowski" (1998)

Bowling takes on mythical status in this cult favorite starring Jeff Bridges and John Goodman. It's got a Raymond Chandler plot, Buzby Berkley dream sequences and great supporting performances from Steve Buscemi, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott, Julianne Moore, John Turturro and, music lovers take note, Flea and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Joel and Ethan Coen made a movie that gives Dude a good name.

2) "Kingpin" (1996)

Campy comedic performances by Woody Harrelson, Bill Murray and Randy Quaid. The Farrelly brothers ask you to suspend your disbelief (and your good taste) in a movie that combines themes from "The Hustler" and "The Natural." Belly laugh at a star bowler who loses his bowling hand in a disagreement with a rival and tries to guide a protege to the holy grail in Reno.

3) "A League of Ordinary Gentlemen" (2004)

This documentary traces attempts to bring the pro tour back to the glory days of the '50s and '60s. It focuses on former PBA chief Steve Miller and four pro bowlers: Walter Ray Williams Jr., Pete Weber, Chris Barnes and Wayne Webb.

4) "Ed" (2000-2003)

OK, this is a TV show, not a movie. But its heart and soul was Stuckeybowl. Tom Cavanagh plays a big-city lawyer who moves back to his hometown, buys the bowling alley and sets up his law practice where he can hear the pins fall. Stuckeyville was supposed to be an Anytown in Ohio, but it was filmed in New Jersey. Bet you $10 you can still find it in reruns.

5) "Dreamer" (1979)

Fresh out of "Animal House," Tim Matheson stars as a bowler in this "Rocky" ripoff.

6) "Mystery Men" (1999)

This tale of misfit superheroes includes Janeane Garofalo as the Bowler. We want her ball - a skull imprisoned inside golden Lucite.

7) "Racing with the Moon" (1984)

Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage play pinsetters waiting to join up in World War II.

8) "That Night" (1992)

Juliette Lewis goes to the local alley and falls for the counter boy, played by C. Thomas Howell. "Buffy" fans know this was the first screen role for Eliza "Faith" Dushku.

9) More old TV

A nod to "The Honeymooners," "The Flintstones" and "Laverne & Shirley" for having regular bowling content. For game shows, you couldn't beat "Make That Spare" and "Bowling for Dollars."

With the Professional Bowlers Association Tour stopping in Las Vegas this week, our thoughts turned to bowling's undeniable contribution to American culture - the bowling shirt.

And we immediately thought of fashion plate Randy Holtz, a veteran sports writer at the Rocky Mountain News. He's a fixture along press row at college basketball games in his colorful bowling shirts.

Holtz began collecting bowling shirts about 10 years ago. It was a hot summer, and he picked up a yellow-and-black one at a Denver thrift store. It kept him cool, literally and figuratively.

And a hobby was born.

"I started going to other thrift stores and going online for shirts," he said in an e-mail about his collection. "People I meet always are curious about the bowling shirts. One time, a TV station in Indianapolis did a feature on me and my shirts when I was there to cover the Final Four."

One of his favorites is a nifty dark-blue Hilton, trimmed in red and white. It was a gift from Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson, and Holtz wears it at Mountain West Conference games.

"To get under those people's skin," Holtz said.

Denver airport security once almost refused to let him board a plane.

"My ID said 'Randy' and my shirt said 'Vinny,' " he said.

Holtz could have told the security guard: "I have about 70 of them, all with different names. I have none that says 'Randy.' But I do have a 'Sal,' a 'Luther,' an 'Earle,' a 'Gus,' a couple of 'Bobs' and a 'Willie.' "

"Willie" is one of his favorites - because of the story behind it. Holtz explained:

" 'Willie's' a great, ultrathin, vintage Hilton brand shirt that's light gray, with red trim and red stripes on the shoulders. In addition to Willie on the front, there's a series of letters I never could understand. It says S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. On the back is stenciled, "FOX VALLEYAIRES."

"So I'm in a bar in downtown Denver a few years ago, wearing 'Willie,' when some guy who looked about 60 or so comes running up to me and hollers, 'That's Willie's shirt! You're wearing Willie's bowling shirt! Where'd you get Willie's bowling shirt?!'

"I told him I got it in a thrift shop, and he proceeded to tell me he was on a bowling team in Chicago many years ago, and they had the bowling shirts made up. Turns out the guys on the team were all in a barber-shop quartet, which explained the red stripes on the shoulders signifying a barber pole.

"The acronym on the shirts stands for Society for the Preservation and Enhancement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. I asked him if Willie was still with us, and he said he didn't know."

Holtz can blame his fascination with bowling shirts on his upbringing. He grew up in St. Louis, home of the International Bowling Hall of Fame.

"Being a nonbowler while living in St. Louis is not an option," he said.

He's been in a league for seven or eight years and carries "a pretty average average of 165 or so." He got hot one night, though, and produced a 612 series; his high league game is 254.

And then, Holtz added a final bit of philosophy that would make "Dude" Lebowski proud.

"It is my sincere belief that if there were more bowling alleys and bowling shirts in Iraq and Afghanistan, none of this stuff would've happened. Bowling makes you feel good and sets you free."