Perfection Presented: After 30+ Years Glenn Allison Is Presented With a 900 Ring

By Michael Cousins

What started out as the sport’s greatest achievement quickly turned into one of the sport’s greatest injustices. Over thirty years later, thanks to some extraordinary people, the wrong has, in at least some ways, been righted, though the travesty can never be masked.

July 1, 1982. What seemed before to be an unobtainable feat was accomplished. Glenn Allison (La Habra 300 Bowl) bowled the sport’s first sanctioned 900 series, or, at least, what should have been the sport’s first sanctioned 900 series.

Due to what the American Bowling Congress (ABC) deemed as unfit conditions, Allison’s perfect series was not certified. What should have been forever recorded in the annals of bowling history was, in the ABC’s mind, voided.

Over the course of the past thirty plus years, many attempts have been made to get Allison’s 900 series recognized. According to Andrea Gage-Werren, General Manager of La Habra 300 Bowl, and the lead person behind Allison’s 900 series ring presentation, these attempts have been made as recently as 2013. All of which, though, have been to no avail; the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), formerly ABC, refuses to budge.

It was recently after the USBC’s decision to uphold its ruling on Allison that Gage-Werren first started looking into personalized 900 rings for Allison. According to Gage-Werren, though, the USBC was not happy with that. Eventually, after removing the USBC logo and replacing it with a La Habra 300 Bowl logo, the company began designing Allison’s ring, a process that Gage-Werren says took several months.

The 900 ring presented by La Habra 300 Bowl to Glenn on September 3rd.

When asked why she felt obligated to have this ring designed for Allison, Gage-Werren said that, to her, it’s not an obligation, but, rather, an honor. “I just feel that he is responsible for so much of La Habra 300 Bowl’s history,” says Gage-Werren, “and he continues to do so much for this bowling alley . . . it was really an honor for me to be able to give him the ring he deserved.”

Though she admits that it was an honor to be the one who had the opportunity to present Allison his ring, Gage-Werren states that, in her opinion, it should have been done by the USBC over thirty years ago. “The majority of the bowling world supports his (Allison’s) 900 as the first one,” says Gage-Werren, “and I can tell you that I am not the first one to offer such a thing (honoring Allison’s feat in some way).”

While what Gage-Werren and La Habra 300 Bowl did for Allison does not make up for the ABC/USBC’s decision, there is no denying that their amazingly generous act is a major step in the right direction and the selfless act that they have done is something to be admired.

The actual ball Glenn used is still on display at Columbia 300’s headquarters in Hopkinsville KY.