Marshall Holman

Marshall Holman
Born	Marshall Holman September 29, 1954(1954-09-29) Medford, Oregon
Occupation	Ten Pin Bowler, Bowling Broadcaster

Marshall Holman (born September 29, 1954 in Medford, Oregon) is an American professional bowler primarily known for his success on the PBA Tour throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He also served as a color analyst alongside Mike Durbin on several ESPN and ESPN2 bowling telecasts from 1996–2001. From 1998-99, he worked for CBS Sports and was teamed with Gary Seibel for telecasts when that network briefly showed PBA events.

Holman's last PBA title came in 1996 at the PBA Ebonite Classic. This came eight years after he had last won a title. In this event, he defeated Wayne Webb in what turned out to be a very emotional battle that came down to the final frames. The first bowler on the PBA to surpass $1.5 million in earnings, Holman won 22 titles (11th all-time) -- including two U.S. Opens and two Tournament of Champions titles. He was the youngest-ever winner in the Tournament of Champions, topping the field in the 1976 event when he was just 21 years old.^[1] He was named PBA Player of the Year in 1987, was a three-time winner of the George Young High Average award, and has earned nearly $1.7 million on tour.^[2]

Holman was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. He is also a 2010 inductee to the USBC Hall of Fame in the Performance category.^[3] He was ranked 9th on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years."

Earlier in his bowling career, as once mentioned in the American Bowlers Journal magazine in the 1980s, Holman had a girlfriend from the state of New Hampshire. He would occasionally try the sport of candlepin bowling, popular in his acquaintance's state of residence, while visiting there.

Holman has received several commissioner's exemptions to participate in the PBA's Medford Classic, even though he is no longer an active PBA member.

After several years out of the booth, Holman has returned to the broadcasting arena. He served as a color analyst at the 2007 USBC Queens tournament and was in the broadcast booth (along with Nelson Burton, Jr.) for ESPN's five-week coverage of the 2007 and 2008 U.S. Women's Open events. He also provided commentary, alongside play-by-play man Dave Ryan, for the 2009 U.S. Women's Open telecasts.

Holman and his wife currently reside in Medford. They own two Liberty Tax Service franchises there.

Personal

Holman's father, Phil Holman, was a disc jockey at a local radio station in Medford. He was nicknamed "Holman the Poleman", as he once did a radio show while pole-sitting. Marshall was then dubbed a similar nickname "Holman the Bowlman". (Information provided by color analyst Nelson Burton, Jr. during a PBA Tour telecast on ABC, February 2 1985.) He has also been called the "Medford Meteor."

References

1. ^ Thomas, Jason. "Top 10 Moments in T of C History." Article at www.pba.com on August 16, 2010.[1]
2. ^ Hall of Fame bios at www.pba.com, official website of the Professional Bowlers Association and Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour
3. ^ http://www.bowl.com/news/xmlburner.jsp?xa=./webapps/ROOT/news/main/data/111309HallofFame.xml

Persondata
Name	Holman, Marshall
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 29, 1954
Place of birth	Medford, Oregon
Date of death
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