(Note: I originally wrote this entry in December, 2009, and forgot to publish it. Only today did I discover my error. I have added a couple bits about Chris Barnes and Brad Angelo, and Big Bang Theory to make it more timely.)
I just finished watching a lame Saturday Night Live sketch about bowling. As a long-time bowling geek, I appreciate the subject matter. But they've just committed one of my all-time pet peeves of bowling-themed shows, movies, etc., especially when it is supposed to be professional bowling, as in this skit.
It's not the lack of believability in the characters' skills. I get that they are actors and can only do their best. But when they show someone roll the ball, then switch the shot to the pins getting knocked down, and you see a "Brooklyn" strike, followed by the player's reaction of expecting it, it pisses me off.
Brooklyn strikes occasionally happen even among the pros, but whenever they do, the pro always reacts with body language as if to say, "Whew....sure got lucky on that one!" Or perhaps in a satirical cocky manner, clearly not meant to be taken seriously (e.g., Brad Angelo against Chris Barnes in the 2010 Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open, although perhaps Barnes did take it a little too seriously). Next time you watch the movie Kingpin, look for Bill Murray's character to do just what I'm complaining about. You should also see one in the recent Big Bang Theory episode in which bowling was a central theme (also Wil Weaton's second cameo, if that helps you Google or YouTube it).
They even have "bowling consultants" for these programs, which makes it all the more inexcusable. OK, maybe SNL didn't, but I know that a recent CSI episode that featured pro bowlers did. That episode had lame bowling as well, but what really torqued me off about it was the ending: A championship match finishing with one guy (the killer in the story, actually) needing to convert a 7-10 split to win, which he did, acting cocky like he "had it all along."
For you non-bowlers, that's as bad as a movie or show featuring a poker showdown that ends with one guy beating four aces with a royal flush, and then acting like he knew he'd win because he's such a better poker player.
Yeah, sure, happens all the time.
Key to the City: London
1 month ago
2 comments:
I never realized this. As a purist myself in many things, I feel your frustration. I've always been bothered by Goodman's poor swings in The Babe.
I would add just about every actor portraying a pitcher in a baseball movie.
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