The Omnifarium - Bowling/MyFirst300.html

My First 300 Game

Category: Bowling
Thu, 10 Mar 2005, 20:49

Occasionally, some significant moment becomes indelibly lodged into your memory. For me, such times include my wedding day, the birth of my daughter, and the evening I bowled my first game over 300.

In my league, my average puts me roughly a third of the way down from the best bowlers, who bowl just above 200. During the winter of 2003, I'd been doing relatively well. It was near the end of the season, and I had pushed my average up to 175.

The first game that evening was fine, seven points above my average. But the second game started inauspiciously. I threw my first ball and fell headlong into the lane. I struggled with the next few frames, and then someone suggested I fix the problem with my left shoe. After roughing up the leather sole with a wire brush, I resumed bowling and started doing well again. Well enough to reach my average in spite of the four lackluster opening frames.

My streak continued into the third game, and after eight frames I was sitting at 225. I was already pleased with that and expected a finish around 250. Ninth frame, strike. Tenth frame, another strike followed by a turkey. At that point, unknown to me at the time, I had already reached 299 with one ball left. I only needed one pin down to get past 300. My final ball left one corner pin standing for an additional 13 points, giving me with a total of 312.

I don't know what I did right that evening, and I'm very grateful no one pointed out to me how close I was getting to 300. I don't deal well with pressure, and knowing I had to avoid a gutter ball would have been the surest way to guarantee throwing into the gutter.

Hans

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