PBA Xtra
BONUS INTERVIEW To listen to more from the John Burkett interview, touch the play button above.
JOHN BURKETT “Whenever he comes around, I want to
talk baseball,” says O’Keefe, a Toronto Blue Jays fan. “But he’s always quick to shut me down. He wants to talk bowling. He just starts asking me bowling questions.” Burkett’s 16-year career included
contention for the Cy Young award in 1993 when he posted a 22-7 record. Today, Burkett is a retired 49-year-old with kids in college who needs something to satisfy the competitive fire that still smolders within him. Enter the Professional Bowlers
Association Tour. During a major league career in which he himself bowled competitively on the side, Burkett never missed a PBA telecast. In May, Burkett exhibited the fruits
of his ITRC training at the PBA Summer Swing. On a flat, 40-foot Bear pattern widely considered the most challenging of the Summer Swing because of its similarity to the U.S. Open shot, Burkett placed 48th, ahead of Chris Barnes (71st), Parker Bohn III (67th), and Walter Ray Williams Jr. (57th). “There’s no doubt he has a lot of
potential,” says four-time PBA Tour titlist Mike Fagan. “It’s just a matter of getting comfortable doing a few more things with the ball and his game could really develop quickly.” Burkett routinely trains at the ITRC in
pursuit of those few more things; he lives in nearby Southlake, Texas. He aims to bowl the 2014 World Series of Bowling and the PBA50 Tour, for which he becomes eligible on November 28th.
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