Developing a comfortable bowling stance for myself started when I was two. I experimented with a squeezable rubber ball and by the age of 10 I settled in with a hard plastic 10-pound bowling ball which I used in my first junior league. I was Diana Cramer back then, a feisty youngster who loved to bowl. The bowling average was 110 the first year and continued to increase by 10 or so pins every year. My competitive fire was ignited during my Dad's seven year Air Force Tour in Germany. We were stationed at Ramstein AFB. Nearly every base had a team in the Junior Travel League. I bowled for Ramstein and realized that I loved to bowl competitively. It was not until 1979 when we returned to the states that I saw professional bowling on television. I remember thinking how exciting it must be to bowl before a crowd and millions of T.V. watchers. "This is what I want to do", I said to myself. It would take seven years to realize my dream. 

  After graduating from high school, I was averaging only 178, far from pro tour material. I went to college at LSU in Shreveport to get a degree in Computer Science. I needed something to fall back on if my professional bowling career didn't pan out. In 1983, I married Lee Davenport. He was supportive of my bowling dream and took me to bowl in my first National LPBT tournament in Dallas. Boy, did I have a lot to learn, for starters how to bowl on heavy oil. I averaged a measly 158 for the 18 games of qualifying and went home to finish my college. I was fortunate to have the support of friends and family. My parents, Dee and Joe Cramer encouraged me and kept my dream alive. Being very involved in the game of bowling for many years, they stayed busy operated the world's largest traveling league. My Dad has been the president of the T.C.B.A since 1981. I am currently working on the organization's web site. 

   In the fall of 1987, I bowled for the first time as a bona fide member of the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour in a tournament in Grafton, Virginia. It was there that I made my first television appearance. The remarkable thing was how I made it to the Top 5. With just 8 games of match play to go, I was in 16th place, not a likely candidate for the T.V. finals. After a blistering final round were I won all my matches, I qualified 5th for the live ESPN show, a dream come true. My first experience on television was memorable but not victorious. The beaming, scorching lights on my face, the absolute silence, and the unrecognizable surge of adrenaline pumping through my veins were all sensations new to me as I bowled my first game before a live television audience. Bowling the hottest bowler on the tour, Betty Morris, I scored a pitiful 158 game. There was more for me to learn about winning on the LPBT. If I were going to win a National title, I would have to adjust to the T.V. atmosphere.

  One year later, my marriage to Lee Davenport ended in divorce. I later met my current husband, Larry Teeters. Larry and I soon found out that we were meant for one another and married in November of 1992. We decided to get married at the Excaliber hotel in Las Vegas the Saturday before the Sam's Town Invitational tournament. Several friends from the tour witnessed the sharing of our vows and the next day we bowled our practice session and pro-ams. It was business as usual. It turned out to be a great week for Larry and I. I bowled very well in the tournament and went on to make the show and finish 4th.

  Two years later in Ft Pierce, Florida, it would be my night on ESPN. After defeating the great Aleta Sill in the semi-final match, I out bowled Jeanie Maiden 176-169 in an unusual title match. I threw my opening ball into the right channel, fouled in the seventh frame, missed a 10 pin, and left a 2-4-8-10 split. Working on a strike in the ninth frame, I had to throw the first two strikes in the tenth to win my first LPBT championship. This was a scenario that I had played out in my mind many times while practicing back home. This time it was real. I struck out to claim the title and a signature banner, which would hang amongst the other champions' banners at every national LPBT tournament in the future.

  While bowling in my first tournament on tour in nearly a year, I surprised everyone and myself by qualifying 4th for the 1995 U.S. Open finals. The finals were held in an arena. Bowling for the U.S. Open championship before close to two thousand noisy bowling fans was the most exciting moment of my career. Starting with the first 6 strikes in the first game against Sandra Jo Shiery seemed to get the crowd behind me early. I went on to beat Sandra Jo and then Wendy McPherson. The next match against Cheryl Daniels proved to be my undoing. Chopping the 3 pin off the 3-6 spare in the tenth frame to end my chance of winning a major title proved to be the most disappointing moment of my career. Cheryl went on to defeat Tish Johnson for her first U.S. Open crown.

  I thought I was down for the count this time. Did I have the strength and courage to attempt another comeback? I thought not until I received a call from a friend from San Jose. It was Larry Mathews, my teacher, my coach, who convinced me to get up and take action. If I didn’t do all that was possible in making this comeback attempt, I would always be haunted with the question “What if?” So for the first time I considered surgery as the answer to enable me to return to the game. After seeing a new doctor and trying physical therapy one more time, I had surgery on my shoulder in November of 1997.  The surgeon used an orthoscopic procedure to fix the impingement problem. It took 4 months of extensive physical therapy to get to a point where I could throw a bowling ball. For starters, I had a 6-pound house ball drilled for me and headed out to the backyard to throw it. After a week of backyard bowling, I was ready to head for the lanes. I have continued to increase the weight of the bowling ball by 2 pounds every two weeks. Currently in a 10 pounder, we are fine-tuning my grip. I want to be sure to eliminate as much stress on the elbow and shoulder that is possible. Loosening the armswing and relaxing the grip should accomplish this. I will keep you updating on my comeback progress here on my web-site. 

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