LEESBURG - The calls, they have come.

And so have the letters.

Around 100 television columnists have called, as well as 50 radio stations. Then there are the friends and fans. They, too, have called.

All for Chris Schenkel.

"This phone has rung off the hook," he says. "I've had a lot of nice calls from people around here, but that doesn't surprise me. That's the way people are here."

Schenkel, who lives on Tippecanoe Lake, called action from the final Professional Bowlers Association tour on ABC Saturday. The network executives looked at their charts and decided the sport wasn't pulling its share.

So the ax cut bowling at ABC.

"I had a general inkling two weeks ago Monday (June 9)," Schenkel says. "The network had some difficulties with sponsors, ratings ... demographics things. Three executives called and said bowling was going off.

"I took that as my dismissal."

Schenkel then had to do what he now calls the "toughest thing I have ever done." After calling pro bowling for 36 years, he had to work ABC's final bowling broadcast.

As the broadcast neared the end, co-host Nelson Burton Jr. told Schenkel to take them into the "final frame for the final time."

Understandable things happened to Schenkel. His eyes watered. His voice choked up.

"That show was like a funeral, really, for a friend," he says.

Schenkel holds no ill will toward ABC, which he joined full time in 1964.

"I've had a great relationship with ABC," he says. "I can't knock them."

Not that he ever would.

Look up class act in the dictionary, you get a picture of Schenkel. If you don't believe me, believe the countless sports anchors on your television set who paid homage to Schenkel last Saturday and Sunday. Believe USA Today, which ran a Michael Hiestand story about Schenkel at the top of a page with the headline "ABC's Nice Guy Bows Out."

No, you have never heard anyone say a bad word about Schenkel, who's broadcasted the pro football New York Giants, college football, golf, bowling, horse racing and nine Olympic games. His career expands nearly 50 years, back to 1947, when he called Harvard football on television.

So many sports reporters today are no longer seen as "nice guys." More and more reporters are viewed as abrasive and jaded in their views.

Not Schenkel.

He tells his secret.

"I grew up on a farm in Bippus," he says. "Everybody helped each other. My parents always told me this: 'Don't knock anyone.'

"I love the way I grew up. People ask me if I could do it all over again, would I. You bet. I would go tomorrow. I would even if I had to give up everything I have now."

If Schenkel is known first for his positive approach, he is known second for his voice, the voice that has been described as "balmy baritone."

That voice will stay busy. He names off countless charity banquets, voiceovers and fund raisers.

"I'll be more busy than I want to be," he says.

Already Schenkel is lined up to emcee the Oklahoma International Gymnastics Hall of Fame induction ceremonies tonight. The only thing that may keep him from going is his battle with a case of the shingles, which came on two weeks ago.

All the big-name gymnasts will be in Oklahoma, including Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner and Mary Lou Retton.

When Schenkel's home, he'll bide his time by driving his classic cars.

"I love speed," he says, "but don't we all?"

Maybe that's why Schenkel shudders at the word "retirement." The man already in 14 Halls of Fame wants no part of it. "No way," he says.

Instead, he plans to keep on the run with freelance work. One of the biggest reasons for this is Michael Weed.

Michael, his 8-year-old grandson, is a high-functioning autistic.

"He's a wonderful guy," Schenkel says. "He will need some help down the road. That's why I want to work, to help make the pot a little fuller for him."

CBS is rumored to be interested in picking up bowling. Schenkel thinks the network should. He's heard about the demographics surveys, but he isn't sold on them.

"I was just in St. Louis," he says. "I had young people come up and talk to me about bowling. I know the demographics indicate one thing. But I know wherever I went, whenever I was in an airport, young people talked bowling.

"I hope CBS does pick it up. The national tournament is the showcase for the pro bowlers. This is their livelihood. This sport isn't like baseball, where if you play five or six years, you can retire."

The calls and letters keep rolling in.

"People," Schenkel says, "have really responded." [[In-content Ad]]