On The Gutter
A bowling podcast where we bring on guests such as professional bowlers and people within the industry to talk all things bowling. We will be covering current events in the bowling world along with any trending topics.
On The Gutter
Remembering Jakob Butturff and his legacy. Episode 195
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It only felt right of us to have an episode remembering Jakob. Butters was a friend of ours and many. Jakob left behind a legacy and many memories with friends, family and fellow competitors. He will forever be missed and always remembered. We miss you already.
It would be the 28th all-time 300 game on TV for Jacob Butterf in qualifying in the PBA tour finals. Going for perfection here for Buttr. Get it. Perfection.
SPEAKER_05Hi everyone. And uh welcome back to another episode of On the Gutter. Um this episode is is different. This episode is a shorter episode, so we appreciate everyone listening. Uh, of course, this is DJ. I'm joined by J Mo. Um, tragedy struck the bowling world. Um the the PBA tour specifically, but we lost one of the best bowlers, one of the best competitors, one of the nicest people I've ever met uh this last week, and Jacob Buttriff um unfortunately passed away at the age of 32. J Mo, you and I had the opportunity to compete with and against Jacob. Um, so we wanted to come on and do a memorial episode um just honoring Butters and everything that he gave to the game. So, JMO walk us through how you knew Jacob and you know what what your fondest memories of him are.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so um I actually grew up bowling against him. Uh he was one of the one of the Vegas kids, right? And uh we we had no idea how good he actually was. Um you know, I mean, imagine, right? You're you show up to go bowl a tournament, and that's there. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's the this person he throws the ball in a way that you've never seen. How could that prefer to be competitive, you know? And it's just you're almost giggling to yourself, right? And then you just head in over and over and over and over again, you know, like that's it's truly just obviously through the ball unlike anybody else, right? Yeah. But I mean, you know, uh people who are people who are blessed with that level of talent for the most part are not uh are not always the most approachable people on the planet. And uh Jacob never got that memo. Yeah. Jacob was a funny question, one of, if not the nicest person out there when it comes to skill to like approachability and just genuine kindness as a whole, that ratio is ridiculous. Um you know, it's just I remember the very first time I ever bowled a 300, the first 300 I ever had. I was uh 17 and we were bowling a JBT event at Texas Lane. Uh or Tex Texas Texas Star Lane, sorry. Um Texas Station, Las Vegas, Nevada. Um and you know, obviously I'm throwing the ball, so I don't really you know it you're just whatever is happening is happening, right? You're throwing the ball and you know, you come back and watch the video. And one thing I noticed is that if there was one person who is so ridiculously invested in me throwing that last strike, it was Jacob. And I mean you could hear him, he's like, Come on, Jameson, come on, you can do it. You know, and it's just like this is this is somebody who at the time is 19 years old. And when you're 19 and you're on top of the world, you've won eight billion JBT titles. And uh, you know, you just again you're you're kicking everybody's head in. You have every reason to be cocky or you know, just but it just never was. You know, it was just unlike anyone else I've really ever interacted with.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Butters was selfless, and you know, um, since Friday, you know, we we scroll through social media and you just see post upon post upon post about like how like nice of a guy uh Jacob was, like, you know, different stories about what he did for people, you know, his support for other people, him messaging other people saying, Hey, good luck, you got this. And it was it was just truly like he supported everyone that was around him. Um, and like I met Butters in college when he was bowling for Arizona State, and it was like him and Ben Canfield, Russ Oviat, um, Andrew Hall, like a bunch of great bowlers. But Jacob, like you said, was always the one that stood out because you're like, How's this guy throwing this bowling ball right now? And then you look up at his score and he's got 250, 260. You're like, is this real? And it just continued to happen and happen over and over again. Um, and then I like I met Jacob, my I think it was his junior, senior year of college, and like he said, Hey, like, good bowling, so on and so forth. And then him and I were both signed to 900 Global. And when I bowled my first tour stop in 2016 or 2017, I was in the paddock, like getting ready. Like, obviously, I could, you know, I was a little bit nervous. And at that point, Butters had already bowled quite a few events, and I think he probably had a couple regional titles at that point. And he came over and was like, Hey man, like how's everything going? Like, how was the practice session? Like, did everything go okay? And like we sat there and chatted for like an hour, and he just wanted to make sure I was doing okay, wanted to make sure like I was aware of stuff, like to keep an eye out. And um, obviously, him and I threw the ball extremely different, not even close to one another, but he was there to make sure I knew what to expect, you know, on the lanes. And um, ever since that moment, like every time that he's been in town, we've been near anybody, he's come up and he's always given me a hug. And you know, um, obviously the Masters is in uh Detroit every year, and I it's it's gonna be painful not seeing him there. Um, and I I think that a lot of people share that same feeling, knowing that you know, whenever they used to run into Jacob, like it's it's gonna be a memory that we want to hold on and cherish to. Um, yeah, this is it's it's tragic. I mean, I think that there's not a lot of dry eyes in the world when you hear people talk about Jacob um and everything that he did. And I just want to highlight his uh career. Um, obviously, it's it's way more than just titles, and like I said, just amount of things that he's given to the game of bowling and others. But um, he had seven standard titles. His last one, uh the 2023 PBA Scorpion Championship. His first one was uh 2016 Lubbock Sports Open. Um he won the USB C Masters in 2019, uh bowled the 28th televised 300 game, uh, which was incredible. Uh, you know, we've seen a lot of replays of that. Uh won the 2019 PBA Clash. He was a three-time Northwest Region player of the year, uh, set the record with the nine regional tour titles in 2016. He was an owner of 27 career PBA regional tour titles, uh, seven-time member of Team USA. He was also finished third in all events at the 2016 USB C Open Championship. So keep in mind, like he would have been a senior in college, so maybe 20, 21 years old at that time. Um, and then he also won the 2015 New Mexico Open whilst he was in college. So, like his accolades, his career is, you know, one to be admired. And like I said, um, it wouldn't have felt right if we didn't do an episode for Butters and everything that he accomplished and the mark that he left on on both Jameson and I. And um, you know, he was uh, I think on episode 31 of the podcast, he was super excited, super nice, like made sure he had time uh to chat anytime he was around. And like I said, I think that a lot of people share the same feeling, is like they knew that he would make time to talk to them. Our our thoughts and prayers are with his his family, his close friends, uh, his girlfriend, and and everyone like that. Because this is it, it it shocked the bowling world in the worst way possible. Um, and it's insane because bowling, you know, we don't see a lot from bowling in the general public, but like TMZ, ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, People Magazine, they've all posted articles about butters, so it just makes you feel like he is truly larger than life. You know, the impact that he had on the game of bowling is is gonna be forever remembered by everybody in the community and everybody in the world. Um, right now I want to play some clips from his TV shows that he uh was on, uh, some of our favorite moments. So uh make sure you guys uh you know give a second and listen to all these. Jacob Butra.
SPEAKER_03One shot away from possibly winning again, capturing title number eight.
SPEAKER_04Put into words what this means to you.
SPEAKER_01I'm speechless. I think after the the second US Open, that was that was it it was hurting because uh back to back years, and I'm just like, am I ever gonna get an opportunity like this again? And today it it all changed, and uh I can't thank everybody all enough for the support.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, um, like I said, uh Butters is and always will be a great friend of ours, a great friend of the podcast, and and a great person for bowling. Um J Mo, any closing remarks uh about um the loss of of Jacob Man, it's it's just so crazy.
SPEAKER_02You know, he was one of the last people I saw when I was in Reno. Um you know, and it's just it has not been that long. I have not it has not been so long since I've been home, you know. Yeah. Um seeing him just in the last month, and you know, going on Facebook is hard right now, you know, and that's I've never really had that experience before, you know. Um you know, unfortunately death is a part of life. It's it's natural, you know. And uh, you know, this is just this is one of those things where nothing feels natural about this. It just it doesn't sit right with me. You know, I four months ago I lost my grandma, and you know, that like my absolute best friend, right? But she was 97. So you know, I don't want to say that felt right, but like there was a peace there.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I just don't feel that with this, you know, it's this is so unbelievably unfair.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Um unfair is uh a great word. Um like I said, uh just a an absolute sweet human being, um, gone too soon. And like I said, I think uh I think a lot of people share the same ideology when it comes to to Jacob and just the kind of human being he was to a lot of people. Um so if you guys are listening to this, um please drop a comment and let us know your favorite Jacob Butcher moment, whether it was just watching him win on TV or an interaction you had with him or a story you heard about him or saw or whatever it may be, you know, we want to continue his his legacy. We want to, you know, always remember him for the great person that he was and the great competitor that he was. So um we would be uh honored and would love to hear a lot of these stories and see, you know, what some of the best memories everybody else has of Jacob. Um like I said, you know, just we're gonna miss him. Um he's a he's a great person and uh yeah, we'll forever be remembered as one of the best bowlers of all time. So yeah, that being said, we appreciate you guys all listening to this episode. Um, we'll be back next week with hopefully a better episode and and uh a little bit more to talk about, but please just take this time to um you know maybe call your friends, check in on them, make sure everybody's doing okay. Um, and and of course, you know, keep Jacob and his uh family and friends close to your heart. Uh thanks everyone.
SPEAKER_00With something like bowling, that's always been so special to me, and I just gotta realize that I have to weigh the pros and cons. And I feel like there are times where I let my head get the best of me. But then I realize that, you know, Jacob, you want you don't want to do it just for yourself, you want to do it for the the people around you. And I feel like the more I can motivate someone to do something, I feel like I'm accomplishing by pushing the sport more forward.