For the love of the games

Mike Becker, Arizona sales rep, beats spinal cord injury, continues competing on the golf links

Six years ago while playing racketball, Mike Becker popped a disc in his neck, which pressed against his spinal cord and threatened to paralyze him. Only an emergency operation could keep Mike from living the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
   “Needless to say, it was a very scary time,” Mike says. And even after his surgery—which was successful—the doctor warned him not to make any sudden movements for a period of weeks or he could reinjure himself.
   It was a tough time in his life—his dad passed away the day after Mike injured his neck. He would need to heal both physically and emotionally.
   Mike battled back, regaining 80% of his mobility, enabling him to rekindle his passion for golf, his favorite sport. His many years as an athlete, competing against all kinds of odds, carried him through.

A multisport high-school athlete

Mike was a star athlete in Indiana at Elkhart Central High. He was a two-year letterman in both football and baseball and he wrestled as a sophomore.
   On the gridiron, he played defensive back, punted, and ran back punts and kickoffs. The team capped a perfect season by winning the 5-A state championship against South Bend Adams during Mike’s senior year.
   “We were down 10-0 at halftime,” he remembers. “But we stormed back and won 16-10.”
   After high school, Mike ventured to Arizona where he played baseball and football at Mesa Junior College. He bulked up to 225 pounds and played fullback.
   “When I went home after my freshman year, my mom didn’t even recognize me,” he says.

A natural on the bowling lanes

While Mike was attending Mesa JC, he took a job behind the counter at a bowling alley. Although he never bowled as a youth, he began studying good bowlers and took up the sport himself.
   He never had a lesson. Mike’s natural ability carried him all the way to PBA tournaments in Toledo, Ohio, where he participated in several Pro-Am events. Three of his most memorable bowling partners were Earl Anthony, Johnny Petraglia, and Dick Weber, Sr.
   One year, during the first eight-game qualifying set, Mike bested Dick Weber, Sr.
   “I got hot for a few games,” he says. “It was a big thrill to have that kind of run against a legend of the sport.”

“Perfect” success

Several years ago, Mike traveled to a National Elks bowling tournament, but inexplicably he’d forgotten his bowling ball. It was at home 200 miles away. He rushed into the pro shop of the bowling establishment, while the national anthem was being sung to kick off the tourney.
   “I asked the owner how long it would take to drill a new ball,” Mike recalls. “He said, ‘When do you need it?’ and I answered, ‘As soon as this song is over.’”
   Mike got his ball and rolled a 738 series—with a high game of 268—and won the national championship.
   One time Mike spotted a friend 100 pins on a one-game bet. The friend rolled a 199 (299 with the 100 bonus pins.) But Mike rolled 12 consecutive strikes for a perfect 300 game. That was just one of many perfectos that Mike has racked up.

Golf—the toughest game to master.

These days Mike devotes much of his free time to perfecting his golf game. “It’s a humbling sport,” he says. “Some days I play really well. At other times I look at the club in my hands and ask myself, ‘What’s this?’”
   Mike didn’t start playing golf until he was in his twenties. But the second time he played—on a par 3 157-yard hole—he drove a tee shot that sliced badly but took two fortunate bounces and landed in the cup.
   While his playing buddies whooped and hollered, Mike coolly and calmly walked up onto the green, retrieved his ball and said slyly, “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”
   Mike laughs at the memory and says it’s the only hole-in-one he’s shot.
   “In golf, you never have the same shot twice,” he explains. “The wind and weather are always different, there’s a different pin placement, and the greens don’t always run the same.”

Grateful to be able to continue playing.

Even on days when Mike is struggling to make par—he sports a 2 handicap—you won’t see him toss a club or throw a tantrum.
   “Popping that disc and going through spinal surgery was a frightening experience,” he says, “but it helped me put things in the right perspective.
   “I’m thankful just to be able to be out there swinging a club. Anything else is gravy.”

Postscript, January 2006

Over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Mike shot not one but two holes-in-one at the Sanctuary golf course in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mike aced hole number 5, a 161-yard par 3 and hole number 17, a 191-yard par 3.