How a miracle shot helped bowls go global | Sport Explained
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- čas přidán 13. 02. 2020
- It was the shot heard around the world. Not at Augusta for Gene Sarazen’s albatross on the 15th in 1935. Not in New York for the home run that won the Giants the pennant in 1951. Potters Resort in Hopton-on-Sea was the venue, Twitter the medium, as bowls went global last month. And not just heard, but seen.
Nick Brett, 45, is a self-confessed “sports junkie”, the estates facility manager in the eastern region for three RAF sites (civil servant, he summarises). He was in the final of the open pairs at the World Indoor Championships. His partner, Greg Harlow, announced for all to hear that Brett had a gap of “about six inches” to thread through his Henselite Tiger II with a forehand draw from about 25 yards. The crowd laughed at the audacity of the challenge.
Brett released, smaller symbol on the left of the bowl representing its bias and the direction in which it will roll. It turned through the gap to perfection. “That is ridiculous,” the commentator said. Soon ESPN’s SportsCenter was tweeting out the clip to 36.2 million confused followers. “Not sure what this is but that was awesome,” reads the top reply, aided by a clip of Chris Farley, the former Saturday Night Live comedian. Argentina’s DeporTV shared it with the caption: “Todos: El tiro perfecto no existe. Nick Brett: [Trio of shocked, speechless emojis]”. You get the gist.
“It did shock me,” says Brett, the world No 1. He rates it a nought-out-of-100 shot, maybe one in a million. “Doing it without touching anything? It could take some time and effort,” he says. “I’m sure there have been better bowls over the years, and probably in that tournament. My partner Greg, he told me what he wanted me to do. It was: ‘All right.’ The crowd laughed. The commentary to go with it and then doing it, the package that went with it is what caught everyone’s eye. And not touching anything on its way in.”
Not since Barry from EastEnders sang (Something Inside) So Strong in the 2014 singles final had bowls dominated discourse like this. Brett had interviews with local media and with outlets from North America. The One Show wanted him but the scheduling stars did not align and they had to make do with Julia Bradbury and the Pet Shop Boys. “That particular week was manic,” Brett says. “It’s been a bit of a frenzy, which is not the normal life of a bowler.”
Social media and bowls are an incongruous pairing. Like Julius Caesar announcing that he had crossed the Rubicon on Instagram. Brett’s shot was a show of supreme skill, a reminder that there is no limit to what can capture the imagination.
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Never heard of this sport till 10 mins ago when I was on a random youtube short vine and i saw that crazy shot now im here. Looks like a fun sport
The only game where my performance actually improves with a couple of beers under my belt😊
2:36 look how happy all those santas are
Just saw the clip on Reddit, that lead me here. I bet this video gets a bunch more views soon.
If you want to see an example of some great sports administration, look no further than bowls.
In ten years they turned it from an old persons sport into one that is played by people of all ages.
Awesome
😯