Behind The Awkwardness: Balls Out
November 8th, 2010
“My Brother-in-Law, Norbert (second mullet from right), is a semi-professional bowler and used to bowl in many different state/national leagues and tournaments. This photo was taken at the big Las Vegas National Bowling Stadium Championship Tournament back in 1985. This was the man and this was his team and they didn’t mess around.”
(submitted by Annie)
I see that a few people keep asking if the first man to the left is Kevin Smith, It’s not him. I am not sure of this either but I think it is/looks like “Tinker” (John Young) He played in the movie Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze. In the end on the movie “Tinker” gets scared because a stuffed polar bear falls on him.
you people aren’t even worth it.
These actually look like some cool dudes
They take their bowling as serious as their mustaches. Rock on!
I never thought I’d say this about anyone in a random blog/website….but I know the guy in the middle!!! That is crazy!!!!
I know the bowler in the middle. He is a manager of bowling alley in Minnesota.
Never thought I’d see someone I know on this site.
Looks like he was out clubbing the night before. Still has the stamp on his hand.:)
I didn’t know Kevin Smith was on a bowling team!
The first thing I thought was…KINGPIN.
Business in the front, party in the back!
This would have been a great submission for the mullet competition.
the third guy is my daddy ((:
This is a glimpse into the future of my five nephews.
although this picture is awkward, no one finds it really awkward that there is a National Bowling Center.
Serious question: What’s a mullet?
A mullet is a hairstyle. Short in the front, and long in the back. Famous for his mullet back in the day was Billy Ray Cyrus, for example.
Dictionary definition: 1. pl. mullet or mul·lets
a. Any of various stout-bodied, edible fishes of the family Mugilidae, found worldwide in tropical and temperate coastal waters and some freshwater streams. Also called gray mullet.
b. The red mullet.
2. A hairstyle that is formed by cutting the hair short on the the top and sides and allowing it to grow longer in back.
To expand on the second definition (the one that is in context here), it’s just as someone said already: “Business in the front, party in the back” (being the official slogan of the Mullet hairstyle, as I know it). Those who sport this highly criticized fashion statement may argue it’s the sweetest hair ever.
I am strangely turned on…they rock that look! Rawr
Is that Kevin Smith on the left?
This photo was definitely from 1995..unfortunately. I was actually on this team and in this photo (big man on the far right). I was the ONLY one that didn’t have a mullet…I went with the mohawk look instead. I still bowl with one of the guys in the pic..I’ll need to bring this to our league tomorrow and show him how famous we are! Haha!!
I love the fact that the league is still going strong!
OMG, I just choked on my spit reading the title! TOO FUNNY!!
The men behind the ‘Balls’
Semi-professional, I will say that again, semi-professional bowler. Shoot for the stars, and some day all your dreams will come true!
Steee RIKE!
Those are some mighty fine ball hugging, mullet sporting hunks of manliness.
I may have to print this photo out and carry it around in my wallet or frame a copy and put it on my desk at work, when people ask, who is in the photo, i’m just gonna smile and say Roy Munson. Priceless!!!!!
Apropos of nothing, why are all the little cartoon bowling balls skiing?
I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out! Thanks! I love the randomness of it.
you haven’t LIVED until you’ve hit the Reno Slopes!!!
The open collar ensemble to display the gold chains, the classic 80s stash and mullet combos, the arrangement by height, the hands draped over their balls, the blue M&M skiers and the random number 21 handle showing on the bowling photo op sign, the white Sears curtains for a background, ….yes, this one belongs in the next book.
And vintage 80s eyeglasses with lenses the size of mayonnaise jar lids.
Not too mention that “national” was too expensive to spell out completely
Possibly the best part of this is in the description…….Norbert! Priceless!
I was madly in love with a Norbert when I was in 7th grade – I think he was in 9th grade. My Norbert had surfer hair, not mullet hair.
They’ve got big balls
And they’re all BLUE!
These guys mean business!
and yet they managed to pose for their pic in size order.
Total awesomeness!
So if you’re making the sign, why not spring for the extra letters and spell out “National”?
lmao – totally
If I remember correctly, Ernie McCracken won that tournament.
Don’t you mean Phil McCracken?
Everything about this picture screams awesome.
I understand why they have them in order of height but I think it would have been more fun to have them in order of mullet growth – we’ve clearly got several distinct stages of “mulletness” going on here.
I coloured my mullet in Reno once just to watch it dye.
Always wondered why the crime was done in Reno, but the time in California!
score!
LMAOROFL!!!!!
Nearly wet myself, whoops!
Love the identifier — 2nd mullet from right -lol
1985, 1995 — This photo is ageless!
Indeed!
The national bowling stadium is in Reno, not Las Vegas, and to Reno residents there’s a big difference, although I live in Vegas.
I have family in Reno and I was there one weekend at least 15 years ago when they were having a big tourney of bowlers. Talk about casinos full of mullets and beer bellies!!
Business in the front, party in the back.
ROTFL
And I thought us Australians grew the best mullets……..I was totally wrong! Absolute classic!!
I have traveled far and wide over the last 15 years, the mullet is everywhere!
This is the most epic picture that has ever been submitted to AFP.
This Nevada photo is a hoot & it surely belongs in AFP…
Being the looser I am…. lol I looked up the 100th Anniversary of the ABC (which has now been renamed and it was in 1985 in Reno NV)
So… wow… I am glad it is 85′
Well, uh no. It was 1995. But anyway. A great picture!
so YOU looked up the date? Sir John III?
They ALL had blue balls?!
Good one!
mmmmhhmm…
Just because they have mad bowling skills, hot hair, rockin’ bods, and great ‘staches, does not mean they always get the girl. or maybe it was just the excitement of the game and then no release on that last ball…
How frustrating it must have been trying to bowl in that condition!
The sign says Reno, 1995.
It *does* say Reno…but it *could* say 1985.
…it could also say “1885″…
Sorry y’all, it INDEED states 1985. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s my brother in law.
As a native Renoite, I’d like to point out (like so many others) that the National Bowling Stadium is in Reno. The sign says Reno 1995. But I agree with Just Sayin’, it could totally be 1985. Poor Reno, always lagging behind the times and always overshadowed by Vegas.
As a fellow Renoite, I agree. The two cities are 450 miles apart. Not at all the same…
Founded in 1895 as the American Bowling Congress, a national tournament didn’t being until 1901 in Chicago with only 41 teams. The tournament reached 100 entries in 1904, surpassed 1000 entries in 1922, and set the all time record of 17,285 team entries at ABC’s 100th anniversary during the christening of National Bowling Stadium in Reno in 1995.
btw
I have actually been to this tournament, I’m sorry to say, and yes, it is in Reno.
Thank you RosiePosie for that history lesson. You can clearly see that the sign says 92nd Championship Tourney, not 100th. So do the math, it’s definitely NOT 1995 in that picture. To all yall that just have to kill the laughter with your over analyzing, I pray you wake up in the barber chair only to realize you have just been given a BRC mullet.
even worse: over-analyzing the over-analysis and being WRONG. The sign says its the 92nd TOURNAMENT, but it the 100th ANNIVERSARY of the ABC. I know nothing about either, but i CAN read. LOL