Local Hall of Fame a family affair for Rays
Little brother got there first, but big brother will soon join him.
Tom Ray, 73, will be inducted into the Greater Dayton United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in August for meritorious service, joining brother Ken, 68, who was inducted for bowling achievement in 2008. Bowling is definitely a family affair as several of Ray’s children, grandchildren and, even great grandchildren bowl.
“I’m sure my son Steve will be in the Hall of Fame someday too,” Tom said.
While he has posted several honor scores over six decades, Ray’s contributions to the game go beyond strikes and spares. As a manager at McCook Bowl in the early 1970s, he established a league for bowlers with disabilities, the first of its kind in the area. That McCook league was the precursor of the Social Club that still bowls at Capri Lanes.
Ray continued to pave the way for people with physical challenges as he created a league for blind bowlers when he became a manager at Fairvilla Lanes in Orlando in the mid-1970s. Ray also served as a youth coach while in Florida.
“I just wanted to help people enjoy the game,” he said. “I love bowling — it’s in my blood — and I wanted other people to have a chance to enjoy it as well.”
His work behind the scenes didn’t hinder his success on the lanes as he tallied six 300 games, a career-high series of 804 and posted a high average of 221. He competed in numerous city, state and national tournaments and qualified for the televised finals of Bowling for Dollars twice.
The Springboro resident still competes in a league, but camaraderie, not high scores, is the focus now as his teammates include his son, Steve, and grandson, Nick.
“If I was bowling for scores, I probably would have quit a long time ago,” he said with a smile. “Most of the friends I’ve made have been from bowling and to have a chance to bowl with my son, my grandson and good friends is just the best.”
Ray struggles to describe what the Hall of Fame induction means to him.
“So many of the bowlers I’ve bowled with or against are in the Hall of Fame and so is my brother,” he said. “Joining them is such a great feeling, I almost don’t have the words.”
Ray will be recognized at the Aug. 5 awards brunch at the Presidential Banquet Center.
Local bowlers 50 and older can vie for a PBA title at the upcoming PBA50 Fairborn Central Classic. The PBA50 regional event will be held July 18-20 at Bowl 10 Fairborn with an estimated 60-80 competitors in the event’s first year. Bowl 10 proprietor Dave Flemming is encouraging local bowlers to compete in what he hopes will become an annual PBA50 event.
“We have so many good bowlers, it would be great to see them come out,” he said.
Entry information is available at www.pba.com.
For those who would rather bowl with the pros than against them, a pro-am event is slated for July 18 at 7 p.m. For information, call Bowl 10 Fairborn at 937-878-9521.
Bowl with the pros:
It didn’t take long for five-star defensive end Brenton Cox, from Stockbridge, Georgia, to get to the heart of the matter when asked why — ultimately — he committed to Ohio State over his family’s favorite school.
“I want to be the No. 1 pick overall pick in 2020,” Cox said last week about why he didn’t choose his family’s preferred school, Georgia. “Larry Johnson and Ohio State is the most likely to get me there. I know you’re not supposed to make a decision based on one coach, but I know he’ll be there and that was my decision.”
Johnson’s track record speaks for itself, of course. College football’s godfather of defensive line play has been producing NFL talent for decades, and it seems he’s only getting better.
“He’s been doing this what, 30 years?” Cox said of Johnson. “I know he knows what he’s doing. I trust that, and I see it in the way he’s developed guys like Joey Bosa lately. Yeah, Bosa had a ton of talent, but he needed help getting there. There are three NFL defensive ends he’s coaching right now, and none of them were Bosa-type talents, but his work has made them even better. His coaching has done that.
“I’ve got that kind of talent, and he can help me take it to the next level. He’s going to help perfect my game.”
While Cox’s decision seems like an easy one when you break it down that way, there are things to consider beyond football. His family, for example, was and still is pulling for him to go to Georgia. The pressure not to leave the South for school is a bit different from anywhere else.
“The SEC is kind of different, and everybody knows that,” he said. “Man, my whole family loves Georgia. My dad has stickers on his truck. It’s hard, but I just have to stay focused on me and why I’m making this decision. I just don’t let myself get into it like that. I am doing what’s best for me and my goals.”
The goal for the 6-foot-4, 245pound Cox? It’s not to get his dad to change the stickers on his truck, but rather to just understand why he’s making the choice he made.
“It’s my dad, my uncle, my other uncle,” Cox said. “That’s their decision, but this is my decision. They can’t play for me, they can’t put in the work for me, so I don’t care what is on their car. I have to do this all for myself. I know they’ll support me when the time comes.”
Cox picked Ohio State over Georgia in late April, but Georgia and other schools have continued to recruit him.
“Georgia, Alabama, LSU, they’re all still recruiting me,” Cox told Bucknuts.com last week. “It hasn’t really stopped. But for me, my mindset, I’m going to Ohio State. I’m locked in.”