PBA Xtra “I wish I could say that I changed my //////////////////////////////////////
NO MYSTERY: Angelo is honest about his game and his approach, a refreshing change in an ego-driven sports land- scape.
game,” Angelo says. “That tournament, that day, happened to be one of the times that I matched up. I think that’s about all it can be.” In a pro sports landscape where ath-
letes are governed as much by ego as they are by money or fame, there is something refreshing about a guy who chalks up his latest title to coincidence. That is the hon- esty of a 43-year-old man and 11-year PBA Tour veteran who knows who he is, knows
ANGELO AT A CROSSROADS
make another cut,’” Angelo says. “I thrive on that type of challenge . . . and it’s very nice to be able to have that sweet revenge. You can look at them and feel like they didn’t know what they were talking about.” The tale Angelo has to tell about his
second PBA Tour title is a tale of redemp- tion, a tale of standing at the crossroads of your life and facing the hard questions you have to answer before you can know which way to turn. And if revenge truly is what Angelo sought on the 2012 Viper
“I WISH I COULD SAY THAT I CHANGED MY GAME,” ANGELO SAYS. “THAT TOURNAMENT, THAT DAY, HAPPENED TO BE ONE OF THE TIMES THAT I MATCHED UP. I THINK THAT’S ABOUT ALL IT CAN BE.”
who he has tried to be, and no longer mis- takes one for the other. “I wish I could have a high-speed rev
rate,” Angelo laments. “I wish that the game hadn’t transformed the way it has. I am just not nearly as talented and as dedicated anymore.”
Angelo may be facing the hard ques-
tions any PBA Tour journeyman ultimately confronts, but he also has some answers. That 2012 Viper Championship was one of them. “There’s more than one person in the in-
dustry who has said, ‘Well, he’s washed up. He’ll never win again,’ or, ‘He’ll never even
Championship show, it was the sweetest revenge a pro bowler could dream of. On a show that featured the reigning
PBA Player of the Year in Sean Rash, the previous Player of the Year in Mika Koivu- niemi, and a guy who arguably had the most dominating season last year in Mike Fagan, it was Angelo and his lone PBA title, and not any of those marquee stars, who bowled the show as the top seed. And it was Angelo who stepped up in the 10th needing a double and eight pins to win and did precisely that to shave off the title by a single pin, 233-232, over Koivuniemi.
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