lit a candle 2h agoThis one hit different. Lost my dad two years ago, same kind of thing, sudden and nobody really talks about what it was. I keep thinking about Randy saying dead flush perfect like it was nothing, twenty five years of that voice in the background of my whole adult life. 64 is nothing.
Their story
Randy Pedersen was an American professional bowler and sportscaster whose second career as the voice of the PBA Tour lasted a quarter century and made him one of the most familiar figures in the sport. Born on 28 May 1962, he grew up in Southern California, later settled near Orlando,…
Randy Pedersen was an American professional bowler and sportscaster whose second career as the voice of the PBA Tour lasted a quarter century and made him one of the most familiar figures in the sport. Born on 28 May 1962, he grew up in Southern California, later settled near Orlando, Florida, and won 13 PBA Tour titles including the 1987 PBA National Championship. He entered the PBA Hall of Fame in 2011 and the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 2025.
On the lanes Pedersen broke through with the 1986 AC-Delco Classic and took his lone major the next year in Toledo, beating future Hall of Famers on the way to the National Championship. He won three titles in 1989, finished with 34 top-five finishes and a 13-4 record in title matches, and earned his last Tour title at age 40 in the 2002 Pepsi Open, crossing $1 million in career earnings. He also endured two of the Tour's most famous one-pin heartbreaks, in the 1995 Touring Players Championship and the 2005 Tournament of Champions. In 2008 the PBA ranked him 35th among its 50 greatest players. On the PBA50 Tour he won the first event he entered, the 2013 Dayton Classic.
In 2001 Pedersen moved full-time into the broadcast booth after early work as a lane-level reporter. For 25 years he was the Tour's lead color analyst across ESPN, Fox Sports and CBS Sports Network, plus Xtra Frame, FloBowling and BowlTV webcasts, outlasting partners from Lon McEachern and Mike Jakubowski to Rob Stone, Dave Ryan, John Fanta and Dave LaMont. Fans knew his catchphrases - Dead flush perfect, Winner winner chicken dinner, BAD mammal - as well as calls of Kelly Kulick's 2010 TOC, Pete Weber's 2012 U.S. Open and Jason Belmonte's majors. After Fox's deal ended he was replaced for 2026 telecasts; the PBA later named an oil pattern the Randy Pedersen 43.
Pedersen died on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, at the age of 64. PBA Commissioner Tom Clark called him a force and a giant, and said there will never be another Randy Pedersen. He is survived by children Chad and Savannah from his marriage to ex-wife Becky.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); Professional Bowlers Association (Nolan Hughes); USBC / BOWL.com Hall of Fame profile.
In their own words
“Randy was supremely talented in everything he did. Bowling, golf, comedy, broadcasting, anything. He was a force, a giant in sports and on TV.”
PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, 16 September 2026.
“There will never be another Randy Pedersen. Please hug the people you love.”
Tom Clark, PBA announcement.
“I want to convey to the viewing public that they are watching the best bowlers in the world.”
Pedersen on his role as PBA analyst, quoted on Wikipedia.
Photos
2Randy Pedersen in August 2017
Aug 2017 · by People Forever
Randy Pedersen portrait used in PBA remembrance
by People Forever
sorry for your loss, both of them