Can’t handle the Rhino anymore

So last night after work we did something different, we went bowling with some friends of ours.  I haven’t done any actual bowling since 2002 when Ali and I joined a league in Naples in an attempt to expand our social network.  My last memories of bowling were both positive and negative.

  It was fun to eat shitty food, drink beer and hang out with people.  It wasn’t that much fun dropping 30 or 40 bucks every week in the process and the thick haze of choking cigarette smoke that filled the building was miserable.

I dug out our fancy double bowling ball carrier that we bought during our league days.  It has a handle and wheels, making it a piece of cake to transport two balls with ease.  I was surprised when I opened up the bag to find the final stat sheet from the league we bowled in.  Evidently I stuffed the papers in there after we finished bowling and the bag has not been opened up since for the past 7 years or more.  I saw that I averaged 176 for that league, about normal for me.  I think the most I ever averaged in a league was  the mid 180’s.

My bowling shoes had not held up well in storage over the years.  The white leather had developed a very sticky residue somehow.  The leather sole that you slide on was somewhat sticky as well which is not a good thing.

Bowling prices seem to have skyrocketed from what I remember.  For Ali and I to bowl 3 games each it cost $32.  I clearly recall $2 a game bowling.  They also no longer go by the honor system, instead they adopted a gas station-like pay first, pump second policy.  You tell them how many games you want to bowl and pay up front.  It used to be the opposite.  I guess there were too many bowl and bolt patrons that did not pay for their games?

So we started on our brief 5 minute practice session.  I still have muscle memory on how to bowl, hell I bowled all through out my child hood and in leagues for most of my 20’s.   I popped my thumb in and out of the hole a few times to warm it up, assumed my ready position, approached the line and PLOP, the ball slides into the gutter. 

My 20 year old Rhino bowling ball doesn’t fit my hand very well anymore.  Evidently my thumb has shrunk in size somewhat.  As a result I had problems all night with the ball dropping prematurely off my hand, causing it to drift left before going right.  I think I had at least 4 or 5 gutters as a result, something I NEVER would normally do.

My bowling muscles in general are not well developed.  Holding the 16 pound Rhino with a fingertip grip is tough on the hand and forearm if you aren’t accustomed to it.  This combination of issues piled on top of 7 years of rust resulted in a pretty anemic bowling performance for me.  I started off with a 120 something and followed that up with two games of 152 and 150, all three games woefully short of what I am accustomed to doing on the bowling lanes.

Neither Ali or our friends were accomplished bowlers so scores did not matter. We were there to have fun first although I couldn’t help but be disappointed in my inability to string together at least one decent game. 

We had a good time shooting the shit while bowling.  It was such a pleasant thing to enjoy some bowling without toxic smoke filling your lungs.  We finished up our three games of bowling a little after 10.  Everyone had a good time and I’m sure we will hook up again to bowl sometime in the future.