Calling bowling experts ... is this a 300 or not?

[mpcincal]

When I started working at the San Diego U-T in the '90s, we had a local bowling organization that sent in the top scores for the week. I was told beforehand that although we generally just used last names in agate for local stuff, we had to use both first and last for this particular bowling league, and I was like "OK, whatever."
Actually entering in the stuff wasn't a big problem, but I was annoyed that on the sheet they sent in they always had an canned introductory paragraph that ended with the desire for first and last names "... as requested by YOUR readers." (the all caps was theirs). Yeah, a group of readers that made up 1-5 percent of our circulation.
After I made a comment about that to one my co-workers, he told me how that originated: Before I worked there, they had a guy who worked the same job (low-level clerk), was an avid bowler and friendly with the people who ran the league. They complained about the first-name thing, and our editor said that's how all agate was done and would continue to be done, so our employee told them to organize a bunch of bowlers in the league to incessantly call the sports desk to complain about it. After a couple of days of getting blitzed with calls, the editor sent out a memo saying full names would be used with the bowling results, and only the bowling results.

 

[Starman]

Last time I bowled, I threw a 206.

Never mind it was 38 years ago. Yay me!

As far as the 95-year-old lady, give it to her. What the heck.

Although it does remind me of several moments at some of the various rinky -dink papers I've worked, involving bogus/ bullshirt 300 games in bowling and holes-in-one in golf.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

View attachment 8964

Clearly Bill Simmons's ball.

 

[The Big Ragu]

He's got bigger balls than that.

 

[Moderator1]

One of my college buddies got a job with a sporting goods store and they put him in charge of bowling and suggested he join a league to get to know, you know, bowlers. So he grabbed a bunch of us, gave us cool shirts and we bowled in a league for two years. I loved every second of it.

We sucked but we had fun. The second year, we improved a bit and actually took some cash out (money league, not a trophy league). We had a bowling pin piggy bank and you had to put a nickel in if you had an open frame and a dime when someone on the team posted consecutive strikes. We had a party at the end of the year with the money we collected.

I won most improved, increasing my average 31 points from year one to year two. I got a belt buckle for that. Wish I still had it.

Shirts were free. Balls and bags we got at cost. I can't remember what kind of ball I had but my wife swore I liked it more than her. And, at this stage of life, I do miss the bowling ball more than her.

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

I have a Columbia 300. Bowled a 199 twice with it but still have yet to cross the threshold.

My preference is duckpin, though (so you have a 1-in-3 chance of guessing the state where I live). Have a set of brown-and-orange swirl duckpin balls that I've used for years. Sadly, two of the three duckpin houses within an hour's drive of me have closed and one was demolished recently, so now I only have one remaining. And it is exactly an hour away.

Here. Instead of getting all worked up over politics tonight, watch this instead (taped from the Holiday Lanes in Manchester, which closed permanently last month):

 

[MileHigh]

My sister-in-law has been in a league for several years. Goes to Vegas and Laughlin for tournaments. She's pretty good, but it's mostly for fun.

I'm OK, but better when we take the nephew and nieces with my grandparents and we can plug those gutters.

 

[playthrough]

I have a Columbia 300. Bowled a 199 twice with it but still have yet to cross the threshold.

My preference is duckpin, though (so you have a 1-in-3 chance of guessing the state where I live). Have a set of brown-and-orange swirl duckpin balls that I've used for years. Sadly, two of the three duckpin houses within an hour's drive of me have closed and one was demolished recently, so now I only have one remaining. And it is exactly an hour away.

Here. Instead of getting all worked up over politics tonight, watch this instead (taped from the Holiday Lanes in Manchester, which closed permanently last month):

The hipster part of town here has duckpin bowling, have been a couple times. Seems to me like it should be easier but instead it's maddening as heck.

 

[Chef2]

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

The hipster part of town here has duckpin bowling, have been a couple times. Seems to me like it should be easier but instead it's maddening as heck.

A 300 has never been rolled in duckpin. Highest I think is a 287.

(Keith Jackson voice) John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson are credited with inventing duckpins, I'll have ya know, because when a ball hit the cut-down pins, they scattered like ducks.

 

[BTExpress]

We had a bowling pin piggy bank and you had to put a nickel in if you had an open frame and a dime when someone on the team posted consecutive strikes.

The one and only . . . Pin-Money Pete.

 

[Moderator1]

The one and only . . . Pin-Money Pete.

THAT'S IT!!! Thanks - you made my morning.
The first year, when I really sucked, I'd go to the bank and get rolls of nickels. I was always open.
The next year, when I was a star on the rise, I cost my teammates lots of dimes.