01x02 - Hot Headed

[bunniefuu]

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[forklift beeping]

[electric motors whirring]

[rubber squeaks]

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[light upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- This is one of my
secondary homes, basically.

Get some side money,
some pocket money.

[chuckles]

[upbeat western rock music]

I think bowling's
kind of a unique sport

where you don't need to be
the strongest guy in the room.

We're not exactly
the most athletic.

♪ ♪

So I just started doing this.

I think today's going to be

like the sixth day
I've done this.

Six-day active streak.
Whoo-hoo.

So I was having uh,
back problems last season,

so kind of a sign to, like,
start taking care of myself.

They're just, like, small,
random stretches.

When I saw
some of these names,

I'm like, what
the f*ck is this?

My shoulder blades have been

really appreciative
of this one.

♪ ♪

Now we're almost to the toes.
That's kind of nice.

[upbeat hip-hop music]

♪ ♪

narrator: The 2025 U.S. Open
in Indianapolis

already saw last year's
champion get eliminated.

Now, the remaining bowlers
who did make the cut

will compete
to make the show.

- The show.
- The show.

- TV show.
- TV show.

- The TV show.

narrator:
Or the telecast

featuring the last
nine bowlers standing

battling it out
over two days on TV

chasing that big payday,
an oversized trophy,

and of course,

the second-most coveted
green jacket in all of sports.

♪ ♪

[wind whistling softly]

- From Las Vegas, Nevada,
Anthony Simonsen.

[applause]

- So I grew up
in Mesquite, Texas,

just outside of Dallas.

[upbeat western rock music]

It was rough at times.
We had very little money.

And throughout the years,
there were times where

my mom would drop me off
when she worked

right around the corner
from the bowling alley.

For me, it had kinda
turned into a daycare.

And I moved up as an
adult bowler at the age of 16.

- 2016 Masters Champion!

- I broke the record to
become the youngest person

to ever win a PBA major title.

But throughout
my nine or ten years now,

there's always a challenge

and I knew it was going
to be a long, grueling week.

So on these events where
they do two telecasts,

my main goal is
make the top four.

f*ck.

Ah, you f*cking dumb f*ck.

[sighs]

How do we get a strike
over here?

- Similar but different
to golf in a way,

we have caddies.

They're ball reps.

narrator:
Now to be clear,

a ball rep doesn't
hold your ba*ls

like Happy Gilmore's caddie
holds Happy's clubs.

- Hey, give me a club.

I'll get it.

narrator: But a ball rep
does help a bowler

read the way the oil's
transitioning on the lane,

and can recommend which ball
might work best accordingly.

- I was tired of struggling.

I had thrown a shot,
and I had either gotten

a 4 or 5 or
a split through the face.

That was real f*cking useful.

I was, you know, asking my
ball rep for a little bit help,

and we couldn't really seem
to get anywhere.

So you have any ideas?

Or are you just going to let me

f*cking get five
every f*cking time, I guess?

- I mean, I barely f*cking--
you know what?

f*ck you.

Don't help me
the rest of the week.

[clears throat]

[pins crash]

All right, I'm going
to smack Rob in the face, OK?

- OK.

- Like, I barely f*cking
touched the holes.

So I said, are you going
to give me some f*cking ideas,

or are you going to keep
letting me get fives?

Well, if you're going
to throw like that,

you're going to get fives.

I'm going to f*cking
bust his a*s one f*cking day.

I-I don't like
that f*cking guy, OK?

I don't like him at all.
- OK.

- It's f*cking bullshit.

He's going to get
f*cking punched in the face.

That's f*cking--
that's bullshit.

- All right.
- Can't f*cking do that.

- No.

[suspenseful music]

- I'm going to do
what I want, OK?

- I'm going to do what I want.
Thanks.

I actually am.

- Then go write me a fine
and I'll sign it.

- Please do.
Thank you.

Some of the things I've gotten
fined for, equipment damage.

God damn it, man.

Unbecoming of a professional,

which can mean
a lot of different things.

Hey, all you haters.

Y'all didn't think this
would happen again, did you?

- No comment.

- No comment.

The most is probably profanity.

Yeah, f*cking reset,
you f*cking ignorant f*ck.

Any f*cking idea would be nice.

Eh, go f*ck yourself.

Bowled three f*cking games,
nobody said anything.

Not one f*cking thought.

Sometimes it's aggressive.

How f*cking hard is it
to just not f*cking do that?

f*cking impossible, I think.

Sometimes it's not aggressive.

Can we speed these
m*therf*ckers up?

Please?

Throughout the years,

I don't know if anybody's
been fined more than me.

[tranquil classical music]

One for you and one for you.

How about that,
f*cking piece of sh*t?

f*cking panels bounce, f*cking
pin's nowhere near on spot.

My only comment is no comment.

They don't want to hear
what I have to say.

- Anthony Simonsen, he can say
some pretty outlandish stuff.

- Suck my f*cking left nut.

- If he's bowling bad,
put the earplugs in

for the kids.
[chuckles]

- Fiery.

He's not afraid to say
what he's thinking.

- Yeah, just f*cking
make up your mind.

Like they've never f*cking
set up a bowling show before.

- But it's exciting to watch.
[laughs]

- f*ck!

- Uh-oh.

- Oh, never mind.

- Well,
let's not walk him down.

I didn't know it was that bad.

And he usually beats the world.
- And he wins. [laughs]

[laughter]

[tense rock music]

- And then from then, we were
able to get comfortable

and then bowl some better
scores to end the block.

What if I throw it
like that, dickface?

Is that better?

[machine beeping]

All right.
I think I'm done.

We'll find out

if we come back in 30 minutes
and it's not done.

There as you can--
the last couple days,

you can tell when
bowling has started,

uh, 'cause, you know, 8:00,

And then come back just after
lunch when you're done,

and there's nobody here, so.

[door opens]
- Oh! Hey, guys.

Oh. [laughs]

Oh, that scared
the sh*t out of me.

Oh, my goodness.

Where did they come from?

How you guys doing?
Just coming to get some boxers.

Let me put some pants on.

I've known Simo
for a couple years.

He's really played
that big brother role.

And, um, when my boy,
Keven Williams,

didn't make it to the top 24,

Simo was like, hey,
do you want a room?

And I was like, duh, yeah.

- There are normally
three roommates this week.

- This is more
than enough room.

Look, I can stretch out
and everything.

Come on, now.

- The staff here at the hotel
has taken great care of us.

- Yeah, I mean, like,

this is pretty good,
this is pretty good.

It's better than sleeping
on the couch, right?

[upbeat western rock music]

After you, Big Dino.

[tools whirring]

- We'll go 15 pounds.

All right.
Stay right here.

We'll get a--

- See?
This is why we love ball reps.

They just--they love us
so much, sometimes.

- I don't know about all that.

- Dino--last year, Dino clowned
me for not knowing my PAP.

I didn't know it.

And as a professional bowler,
that is...

[whispers]
Embarrassing.

[laughing]
So he always clowned me for it.

But now, we're out here
drilling stuff together.

Look how time flies.
[laughs]

- What is your axis?

- Bingo.

- My man.
- [laughs]

- 5 1/2 and 2 3/8 down.

narrator:
PAP, axis points.

- So we're doing a 4-inch pin.
- Yeah.

narrator:
You might be wondering,

do I really need
to know all this?

[suspenseful orchestral music]

Well, the language of bowling
can be just as confusing

as dialogue you hear
in a medical show.

- Start dopamine at 10 and
titrate to a systolic of 90.

- Yes, sir.
- Get a 12-lead EKG.

- Right away, Doc.

- Overhooks, it goes Brooklyn.

- And he went split-split.

- Into a turkey.

[turkey gobbles]
- 2-10 split.

- Four- or five-bagger.

- Or vice-versa, for a lefty.

- Big four.
Big split.

- That split is, like,
the show-off split.

- To aim Brooklyn.

- You want to hit
the 1-3 pocket.

- Three-, five-,
and six-baggers.

- A 7-10 split.

- Two Brooklyns
in the same game.

[pins clattering]

narrator: So sometimes, these
guys might say some things

you're not gonna understand.

And that's OK.

♪ ♪

- When I first talked to Cam,

I said, how the hell
do you not know your axis?

He was like, you don't know
your f*cking axis point?

- I don't know about--
- You're a pro bowler.

[imitating indistinctly]

I was like, damn, bro.
Come on, Dino.

- What'd I tell you?
- And now we cool.

- What'd I tell you?
You think this a game?

- It's not no game.

Hey, I understand
it's not no game anymore.

[soft upbeat music]

♪ ♪

They help us out with anything
we need when it comes to ba*ls,

layouts, drillings,
lane play, what they're seeing,

they go and scout other pairs,
they go and help us out.

He's going to give me a massage
when we're done. Absolutely.

- Ain't no happy ending
to that, I promise you.

- [laughs] Ah, well,
it ain't about you right now.

[laughs]
- You right.

- It's about me. [laughs]
No, I'm kidding.

[dramatic rock music]

♪ ♪

- Yo.

f*ck off.
f*ck off.

- So we had a couple people
with me throughout the day.

Obviously, my mom,
my ball reps,

and then we had my boy,
Keven Williams.

My goal every tournament
is to win,

but I mean, I knew who
I was going against.

[peaceful music]

I was like, oh, my goodness.

Like, this is--it's, like,
I didn't expect this to happen.

- You as well.

Belmo, obviously,
he's the GOAT.

He's my GOAT.

[energetic rock music]

- Jason can do anything
with a bowling ball.

- Unbelievable.

- He may be the greatest
we've ever seen.

- He's got 15 majors, and
nobody else is close to that.

- Like this Tiger Woods
on the PBA Tour.

- Yes!
Yes! Yes! Yes!

- For the title.

Got it!

- Yes! Yes!

♪ ♪

- Yeah!

- He's the greatest!

He's! The! Greatest!

[power chord blasts]

[indistinct chatter]

[pins clatter]

- Thanks.

- Although it was cool,
like, I wasn't thinking, like,

holy sh*t,
I'm bowling Belmo.

Thinking, like, finna
beat his head in, you know?

He's a good dude, great dude,

but he's the guy
I'm trying to beat.

narrator: Winning a match
in the qualifying rounds

is about more than
just bragging rights.

It also adds 30 bonus pins
onto your total score.

[bowlers exclaiming]
- Good shot.

- All right, g*ng.
- Come on.

- I got to hear that all week?

Every frame?
Like a cheerleader?

Like a college coach
in the back?

- Yeah.

- [claps twice]
All right, kid. All right.

Oh, I got to hear it?
- [laughs]

- All right.
Let's go, kid.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[sighs]

♪ ♪

Come on.

Yeah, I bowled
a little below average.

And at the U.S. Open,
average is never good enough.

And so I knew I needed
a pretty solid session

to make it
into the top nine.

- The new one's down there.
- Yeah.

Cameron, you can throw a shot,
mate.

I've got to go get
another ball from down--

- Take your time, bro.
- No, no, no, no, no.

I got to go get another ball.
- Oh, another ball.

- So you can
finish your game on.

- OK.

narrator: Bowling,
like all sports, has rules,

one of which is the protocol

that says you don't
leave a lane midgame.

- Doing his sh*t.

narrator: But rules
are meant to be bent.

And for some bowlers,
it's just--

- Strategery.

- He's trying to prove
that he's still relevant

and he's trying
to show you something.

Go get his a*s.

- Like, there's no defense
in bowling,

so the defense has
to be your mind game.

- Go.

[polite cheers and applause]
- Good shot.

- Great bowling, man.

Great bowling, baby.
- Hey, you too.

- Yes, sir.
- Good luck for the rest.

- You as well.

I ended up winning the match,
I guess.

But--[chuckles]
That was cool.

- Yeah, I don't know how
you're going to survive all day

with those two guys behind you
going like little babies.

[baby talking]
Like, come on, Cameron.

- [laughs]
- Come on.

- Hey, guys.
Just a reminder.

You need to bowl when it's
your turn and not wait, OK?

- Kirk, had to go get a ball
from the paddock.

So I could either
let him wait

for me to run down there
or let him finish the frame.

- Is that the reason?
Is that the reason?

- Well, of course.
That's why I'm here.

- Well, I wasn't here
to see that.

All I saw was the result
and a complaint, so.

- There was a complaint?
- Sure.

- Cool.

- Before you went to
the locker room, yeah.

- I checked off what?

- You checked off
with your opponent

before you ran to the locker
room, right, and came back?

- Yeah.
- To use the ball.

- I let him bowl.
- Got you.

- Can we take the conversation
to a different pair than mine?

Please?
- We're good.

- Thank you.

- Cameron, I'm going to go
to the paddock and get a drink.

Do you want one?
- No, thank you.

- All right.
- Appreciate it.

- Doing his sh*t.

[imitating]
I'm going to go get a drink.

- I think it's all bullshit.

Like, if you're going
to have the ba*ls

to put in a complaint, then
you can't make it anonymously.

I think that's bullshit.

But I'm glad it's squared away
with the tournament director

and I'm glad
Cameron knows that

I was trying to help him,
not harm him.

And whoever that
anonymous fan is...

yeah.

He can suck it.
[chuckles]

[upbeat soft rock music]

- And we welcome you
to Woodland Bowl.

That parking lot's
gonna be a lot thinner

in eight more games because
15 bowlers will be leaving us.

We'll be down to nine by the
time you get to your lunch.

♪ ♪

Ooh.

Come on. We're not dead.
Come on.

See?

[groans]

I had one crazy game.

I made those moves,
figured them out.

Unfortunately for me,

everybody else
also figured 'em out.

[sighs]

Oh, my God,
I lost 279 to 280 one game.

That didn't really
help the morale.

Oh, my God. I f*cking
hate bowling sometimes.

Come on, Cameron.
Finish your game.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

and another freaking loss.

Good job.

I'm letting people
who throw it slow

tell me to go throw it slow.

I can throw it harder
than everybody on Earth.

Everybody back there,
they said,

no, you got to move right
and just throw it slow.

[soft upbeat music]

What the f*ck do
I have to do to win a game?

I'm burning this building
to the ground.

I'm thinking about it.

When I was younger,

I had my dad talking in my ear
every shot.

So I just turned
into my father.

That's really it.

Stop listening to these
f*cking people sometimes.

Your gut is better than
everybody else's gut.

Remember that.
Remember that.

f*cking do it.

[indistinct chatter]

- Mm.

- Happens to me a lot, Mom.

This is why I don't win
tournaments, actually,

in Chicago all the time.

So it's nothing new.

♪ ♪

[upbeat music]

[camera shutter clicking]

- Thank you so much.

- Oh, boys.
It's now or never, isn't it?

Now or never.

I'd had a couple of pretty
average sessions before,

so I knew I needed a pretty
solid session in there

to make it.

♪ ♪

Just so soft with it.
Why?

Many a time, I've been--

well, I think most people
would consider

dead in the tournament,

and I've held the trophy
at the end of it.

[pins clatter]
f*ck off, man.

f*ck.

God, Jason.

Are we doing this again?

So if it's
mathematically possible,

I'm always going to have
that internal belief

I'm going to make it.

I'm thinking to myself,

I'm going to give it
everything I got every time.

So in the moment when things
aren't going great,

my head is still thinking,

we're gonna
win the tournament.

And I did get
on a little bit of a run.

I got on a couple of wins.

And it got me to
the point where

it came down to the last
shot of the tournament.

- f*ck!

- Uh-oh.
- Oh, what happened?

- Something caught Belmo.
- What happened?

- Something caught Belmo,

and it's going to cost him
the show.

- [laughs]

Thank you, Graham.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

- Because you've never done it
yourself, mate.

f*ck' d*uche.

- Yeah, now--

- Oh, that was Simo.
- Wow.

- Things are getting kind of
tense down here right now.

narrator: It's hard to know
if Graham's outburst

was an intentional tactic
to throw off Belmo,

but with both bowlers
so close to making the show,

it might have just
been strategery.

- Belmo kind of
barked off at Graham

and I didn't really like it
just because

Graham's normally one of the
nicest guys out there on tour.

I don't know if there's
many more people

that are nicer than him.

Take your time, bro.

I'm the guy, I guess,

that would be the least one
to get involved

because I'm normally
the guy causing problems.

But yeah, it was just
kind of one of those things

that struck me wrong
and I told him to f*ck off.

- A 75 for Belmo.

- [sighs]

- And that, I don't think,
will do it.

- So what we can
officially say

is Graham Fach is going
to be on the show.

Belmo is not going
to be on the show.

[quirky tense music]

- People. People annoy me.
I've had enough of--of it all.

I'm going to live on my farm
by myself.

I'm not talking to anyone
for, like, 23 years.

♪ ♪

- One, two, three, and four

are off for
the rest of the day.

- And Simo will be
the top seed tonight,

which is what
he did not want to do.

His goal was to bowl tomorrow.

narrator:
At the U.S. Open,

the top four bowlers in the
show automatically move on

to the second day of
the telecast.

[bell rings]

But the fifth spot
is left open to grab

in an additional show...

[somber music]

- Damn it.

narrator: Giving
the other five in the field

no time to rest.

- Bowling on an extra TV show
is nice.

Only having to bowl one TV show
is significantly better.

The adrenaline is hard
to come down from.

And then you've got to get
through that adrenaline rush

to wake back up the next day
and do it all over again,

which can definitely
be a little taxing,

especially with back problems.

This is so dumb.

There shouldn't be
a f*cking second show.

It's a waste of f*cking money.

Oh, you guys are so good.

We're on TV 30 f*cking times,
but you bowl 14 events.

f*cking got the blind
leading the blind

is what we got around here.

- Thanks, bro.

- Fifth.

- Like a f*cking loser.

- f*cking have to
get myself loose for one game.

That's awesome.
- [laughs]

- Nothing to be happy about.

- Our number five seed has
16 tour titles, five majors.

He's the 2022 U.S. Open champ.

From Las Vegas,
Anthony Simonsen.

[suspenseful rock music]

For tomorrow's telecast,
there are a number of--

- Body hurts.

I definitely
would have liked to have

the next however
many hours off.

Getting myself loose
for the TV show

is going to be
quite difficult.

♪ ♪

I got a little heat pad on

and, uh, we're just trying to
throw as many shots as we can

between now and when we go on
and see how loose we can get.

♪ ♪

- No interview.

- Uh, I'm feeling OK.

It's just--
it's way cozier to lay down

than it is to sit down.

After I sit down, I get
really stiff pretty quickly.

So I figured I would just lay
down and be more comfortable

because then I could sit
in one spot longer.

- Hell, no! I'll answer that.
- [laughs]

- Why would I have sympathy?

- The same way
I ain't got none for him.

- When I'm out here,
I'm only worried about me.

You know,
Simo's only worried about him.

We can sit here
and be friends and stuff,

but where he's at in the
standings, I don't care.

I'm worried about me
and that's it.

And he's the same way.

And if you're not that way,

honestly, it's kind of
a disservice to yourself

if you're worried about what
place someone else is in.

- I would agree.

[cheers and applause]

- FS1 welcomes you
inside Royal Pin Woodland

for the first major
of the young PBA season.

The headliner today, though,

without a doubt,
is Anthony Simonsen,

and he's looking for

his fourth straight
top five finish here

at one of the most demanding
tournaments on the tour.

No stage is too big for him.

And if you go back to the
year 2022, at the age of 25,

he became the youngest
to win the U.S. Open.

[pensive music]

- So I was 15 when
I dropped out of school.

Having to support myself
at 15, 16,

it's something that obviously
is not normal for most people.

My dad, he was laid off
right around 2009.

My mom and him,
they were separated.

♪ ♪

I had, like, $7 to my name.

I knew it was
a way to make money.

I was bowling to survive.

♪ ♪

And then my mom passed away
in 2015.

♪ ♪

It was almost just kind of
like, all right,

you got somebody
to bowl for now.

- Come on.
- Come on.

- 2016, I guess, would really
be considered a breakout year.

- Anthony Simonsen is going
to make history here today.

As rough as it gets at home,
leaving school,

turning to bowling
for friends, for competition.

What a moment.

[peaceful ambient music]

♪ ♪

I mean truthfully,

without bowling,
I'd probably be homeless.

It's been a long time coming
from that.

[sighs]

Definitely, I mean, I just--
forever grateful.

I mean because without bowling,

I mean,
I don't have anything, really.

♪ ♪

- I know it's been
a challenging week for you

and you just missed tomorrow's
show by just a few pins.

But you've worked
hard to get here.

How were you able to do that,
even with the back pain?

- You know, I've been doing
a lot of stretching.

Starting and stopping
hurts a little bit,

but other than that,
we're ready to go.

- All right. Good luck to you.
- Thanks.

- So Simonsen now chasing
his 17th PBA Tour title

and his sixth major.

The winner of this one
moves on

to tomorrow's
championship round

live on Fox at 4:00 Eastern.

[energetic orchestral music]

- I would say the frustration
probably did carry over.

I'm kind of irritated

that I already have to bowl
this show in the first place.

Because it's like, well, if we
were doing a traditional show,

I'd only have
to bowl one show.

But sometimes,

getting a little worked up
can be a good thing.

Sometimes you got
to get in that moment

where you almost essentially
stop thinking about bowling

and just kind of let the body
do its natural thing.

♪ ♪

[energetic upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Simonsen moves on.

22-pin win for Simonsen.

- Ooh, my favorite place to be,
Woodland Bowl on Sunday.

See you tomorrow.

[bright tone]