If you’ve followed my work here on PBA.com and Xtra Frame long enough, you’ll know that I’m one of the world’s biggest fans of the TV show “Lost”, which ended last night. (That sound you hear is me, weeping…and trying to figure out what to do with the extra 3-5 hours a week I normally spend on watching/studying/talking about Lost). Lost references have slipped into many of my TV Recaps, blogs, episodes of “The Bowling Show” and, most recently, onto this week’s tip with The Most Important Chair in Bowling.

As far as I’m concerned, “Lost” was the best non-cable TV show in history, and last night’s finale not only means that I now have a free slot on my calendar every Tuesday night at 9pm, but also stimulates a great deal of thought on the themes of the show…namely, survival, redemption, and being a part of a community of people you care about. Which, of course, leads me back to bowling, where nearly all of these things reside in my own personal/professional life.

So, as a tribute to both my favorite TV show and my favorite sport/life pursuit, I thought it’d be cool to make a list of what people/places on the PBA Tour are the equivalent characters/places on Lost. Here goes nothing.

MINOR SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t watched the Lost finale, you may want to skip this list…although I promise I’ll try not to make it too spoil-ery.

#1 – JACK SHEPHARD = DICK WEBER
Jack was the show’s main protagonist and leader of the island’s castaways, ultimately sacrificing his own life for the castaways’ (and possibly the world’s) ultimate redemption. No one exemplifies these virtues more than the great Dick Weber, who, since his passing in 2005 has left a gigantic spiritual void in the bowling world that the sport is still looking to fill.

#2 – HUGO “HURLEY” REYES = NORM DUKE
On Lost, nearly every episode centered around a specific character. The last episode to focus on Hurley was titled, “Everyone Loves Hugo,” a sentiment which not only reflected the theme of the episode, but also the way in which Lost fans universally enjoyed the character. The current PBA equivalent of this is Norm Duke, who enjoys a huge base of fans wherever he goes, and the familiar chants of “DUUUUUUUUUKE!” whenever he makes it to the TV show.

#3 – JAMES “SAWYER” FORD = PETE WEBER
Lost’s lovable bad bay was Sawyer, a rogue career con man who constantly vacillated between self-interest and genuine self-sacrificing heroism. PDW embodies the bad boy persona on the PBA Tour, with his take-no-prisoners mentality and numerous emotional outbursts out on the lanes. Sit down with Pete off the lanes, however, and you will find that he is one of the most down-to-earth, giving people you’ll ever hope to meet.

#4 – JACOB = EDDIE ELIAS
The mysterious caretaker of Lost’s island setting was revealed late in the series, but played an instrumental role in protecting the things the island ultimately represented. He was also tasked with passing on that caretaker role to another (ultimately Jack) when the time came. PBA founder Eddie Elias did exactly the same thing for the PBA when he founded the league in 1958, ultimately passing the torch to the current ownership group in 2000.

#5 – BENJAMIN LINUS = CHRIS BARNES
Is he a bad guy? A good guy? Victim or perpetrator? That would be Ben Linus in a nutshell, as Lost coyly hid the motives and the morals of the show’s slipperiest character up until the very end. Fans feel very much the same way about Barnes, not sure whether to cast the talented 12-time champ as a hero or a villain in the PBA drama. Part of the problem may be that Barnes certainly displays both sides of his personality on the lanes…the intense desire to win at all costs no matter who or what might get in the way, then the good-guy, charity boosting, family man – often all during the same telecast. I like to believe that, in the end, CB will end up a good guy like Ben.

#6 – “THE ISLAND” = PBA HEADQUARTERS
The island was the show’s picturesque, mysterious setting…bequeathed with the ability to travel through time, move throughout the globe and even disappear completely. The PBA headquarters, (where I actually worked for four years) shared many of these qualities (especially the moving…four times since 1958 by my count). And the mystery and scrutiny with which every PBA decision is pored over by the fans mirrors Lost fans’ obsessive thirst for unraveling the mysteries of the island. (Although I can confirm that there are no four-toed statues in the PBA office in Seattle.)

#7 – DANIEL FARADAY = JEFF “THE BOWLING DOCTOR” MARK
Lost’s resident physicist/time travel expert Faraday had all the answers during the show’s heavy, high-concept time travel period. Kind of like “The Bowling Doctor” on our Xtra Frame broadcasts.

#8 – MAN IN BLACK/SMOKE MONSTER = PBA MESSAGE BOARDS
The Man In Black, otherwise known as “The Smoke Monster” terrorized island inhabitants for more than two-thousand years and represented “evil incarnate” in the Lost saga. While the message boards may not be that bad, they can definitely cast a cloud of black smoke over your day if you happen to jump onto the wrong topic.

#9 – DESMOND HUME = JASON BELMONTE
Lost’s “uniquely gifted” healer of lost souls Desmond, played the key role of facilitating enlightenment in the castaways to help them reach the next step of their life journey. Like Desmond, Belmonte certainly possesses unique gifts with respect to what he can do to a bowling ball, and, as every bowling fan hopes, may be the one to help heal the sport (the name Jason actually means “healer” by the way, don’t ask me how I know that) and enlighten legions of new, uninitiated fans.

I could write more (a LOT more), but I wanted to leave the rest of the list to all you Lost/PBA fans out there. Did I get any of these wrong? Who is the PBA’s version of John Locke? Kate? Juliet? Walt? (I vote for Kamron Doyle.) Comment below.

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