I grew up bowling. Literally, as far as my memory goes, I remember either being with my Dad bowling at Phillips or Red Apple, or a tourney in KC, Wichita, Springfield, etc., or bowling in one of a variety of leagues myself. I remember bowling as a teen, working the Phillips 66 tournaments as an official 'scorekeeper', a lost art now replaced by computer scoring. I remember earning trophies and patches out the wazoo; plus having all of the accoutrement's required for the sport, which included various balls for the lane conditions, gloves, shoes, chalk, etc. I loved it.
In July of '77 I got married to Pam. Not long thereafter she became pregnant with Jackie. We joined a fall bowling league, and our team name was "The French Connection" because the other couple we bowled with also had a French name. Pam was miserable bowling, not that she was bad; just that the waddle to the foul line as a 7,8,9 month preggo was quite uncomfortable, and not enjoyable. Jackie was birthed in April of '79, and our season ended a few weeks after that. So did my bowling 'career'.
I was decent, carrying an average in the 190's for most of my older bowling life (please remember, I was only 22 in '79, so I'd not yet had a very long life), never did have a 200 season average, and never did have a 300 game, but somewhere in the 190's is not a bad game. My Dad though was always very good, carrying right at a 200 average for most of his bowling life.
Then, something happened. After Jackie was born, I pretty much walked away from bowling. I had grown tired of the smoke and beer smells, mainly the smoke. Over the last 34 years, I know it is not a stretch to say that I probably have not bowled 12 games total, maybe not 9 or 10 games; it could easily be in the single digits.
Until yesterday.
As part of my take back my life campaign, I joined a Super Seniors league in Broken Arrow bowling on Thursday afternoons. Don't laugh just yet. Bowling Seniors start at 50, and while I am still a spry 55; the average age was definitely around 70. The place was full, with 18 teams of Seniors bowling in this league. There are so many Seniors in south BA that they had to have two leagues. The other senior league is on Tuesday afternoons, and it too has 18 teams.
I knew I was destined to walk into the land of 'denim on denim', but to my amazement, there was not a single bowler yesterday dressed in that garb. Not one. Still surprising.
So, how did I do on my first day back after a 34 year hiatus? Well, I did 'okay'. I did not embarrass myself. I had an average score of 165. Well below what I used to bowl. I had secretly hoped to have an average of at least 125, so I was pleased with the average of 165. Not being too boastful, but I think I can make it to 180 by the end of this 3 month season. Yesterday was the first time I had used the ball in this picture, and I need to get used to it. See, this ball is my Dad's ball. By today's ball standards, it is a relic. An antique. It does nothing fancy. But, it's still got plenty of strikes left in it, and if I can make it to a 180 average with a 45 year old ball, after a 34 year layoff, then I'll be happy.
My 165 average was the best on my team, and on the team we played; but I really never thought that an average like that would be considered at such a high level of play. 5 lanes down from me was a 72 year old man, who 'rolled in' with 4 bowling balls. He started each game with 5 strikes in a row, had a high score of 269, and rolled a 713 series for a 238 average. He bowls in 5 leagues a week. One of the geezers I was bowling next to said that this man usually shoots about 210 in most leagues.
72 years old, with a 210 average, and today with a 238 average. Wow, now that is impressive.
My Dad just retired from bowling, and he gave me his ball. He said it was hurting too much to bowl, so he walked away from a game that he'd enjoyed for 75 years.
I had the ball re-drilled last week to fit my hand, and decided out of nostalgia to continue the family tradition. Week one in the books. Thanks Dad.
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