Kenneth W. McBride
In 1951, at the tender age of 12, a young boy lied his age to manager Don Janowiak of Bob-Hi Lanes, to get a job setting pins. That young boy was Ken McBride and he knew at the time that bowling was going to be a big part of his life. Ken was so enthralled with watching the King of the Hill bowling show on TV that he knew all he wanted was to bowl!.
Ken started bowling in league play as a junior in high school. His first year was in the Suburban league and he ended up with a 179 average. That launched a career that has had many accomplishments, both individual and team oriented. By 1959, Ken had improved his game so much that Brunswick hired him to test bowling for them, and they got paid according to how they scored.
In 1960 he joined the West Michigan Master's Traveling League on a team sponsored by Stroh's. That team had some top notch bowlers from the Muskegon area including George Nietering, Vern Plichta and John Peoples, all current Hall of Fame members, as well as Orrie Lauretti, Mike Sarade and Tiny Kowalski. Ken bowled with the powerful Wolverine Express team for seven years, starting in 1961. That team included Nietering, Peoples, Bill Liefer (also a Hall member) Glen Grow and Ed DeGraaf. In 1965 the team placed fourth in the ABC National Tournament and Ken bowled well enough to finish in 8th place in all events.
In 1964, Ken joined the PBA and competed on the tour in the summer of 1967 and the summer and fall of 1970, representing his hometown of Muskegon.
In 1966, Ken attained his highest average in Muskegon, ending the season at 207, highest in the city.
His first, of many, award scores was a 299 game which he rolled at Pincrest Lanes, on June 7, 1971. He also has two other 299's along with one 298 game. His proudest moment in bowling happened in 1972 when he bowled his first of seven sanctioned 300 games, in the finals of the Michigan Majors, in Lansing. Ken also has six sanctioned 800 series, with 827 being the highest. Two of those came during the same tournament, rolling a 812 and 801, back to back, on different pairs of lanes!.
Ken was the 1972 Saginaw State Lanes Invitational Tournament champion. To win this event you had to bowl a 24 game qualifier and then 28 games of match play, making it a tough tournament to win! Needless to say, this has been the highlight of Ken's tournament bowling.
He has won many individual titles in the Muskegon area, however, the most memorable to many are the doubles titles he won with friend Fred Erpenbach, in the early 70's.
Ken has been a member of the Michigan Majors Bowling Association for over 25 years, and has served as the West Michigan representative for 15 years, as well as doing some of the commentary for that group. He has helped many bowlers, young and old, over the years improve their game with his coaching ability, in his "spare" time.
All this happened because someone wanted a job setting pins!.