Why I Bowl (Because I HAVE To)

There's a bowling forum(www.mrbowling300.net) I frequent, and one of the discussions was opened with the question, "What is it that you like about bowling?" It's an interesting way to phrase the question, and I would expect a plethora of answers from a community of avid bowlers.

Here was my response:

I can think of so many things, but my enjoyment of the game must be hard-wired. I remember being a toddler and my neighborhood daycare mom bowled in one of those women's leagues where the center would have a nursery on site. She walked us kids past the lanes to the nursery.

It was the coolest sight I'd ever seen, and I really only remember her doing it once or twice, but I was so drawn to it. The pins looked not like they were set up in triangles, but just straight lines across, for my young depth perception from that distance must not have been developed yet. Seeing the grownups knock them down and watch them scatter about was amazing!

So I guess my answer to the question would be something about how the pins fly, and while ours is a game of repetition, we all know from experience how many different ways the pins can actually fly, topple, mix, etc. Don't tell us bowlers that there's no variety in this game; we know all too well the nuances.

I even liked the smell of the old bowling alleys as a child, stale smoke from the night before and all. Maybe because it's a unique smell that triggered a neurological association to something I really liked.

Anyway, I've "quit" bowling off and on over the years, but now that I'm mature enough (finally...at 45!) to handle the bad nights, I'm back for good. When I came back this last time, I remember saying, "You can take the boy out of bowling, but you can't take the bowling out of the boy."

I meant it. It's been in me probably since birth.

New Game Show

Of all the reality shows past and present, I think my favorite is Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Gordon Ramsay. Of all the modern-day prime time game shows (going back to Who Wants to be a Millionaire), my favorite was Minute to Win It. I have found a new one.

You Deserve It premiered on ABC tonight, and it was a cross between Deal or No Deal and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, with a little bit of Password in. Plus, it's every bit as fun to play along with as any game shows that let you feel smarter than the contestant, a la Wheel of Fortune.

Check it out if you get a chance. One word of advice, however: as with all prime time game shows past and present, the DVR is your friend.

Mid-life Crisis?

Whenever I'm in mid-life crisis mode, I listen to Bruce Springsteen's, "Girls in Their Summer Clothes." Not that I was ever a lady-killer, but the line, "And the girls in their summer clothes pass me by," sure hits home for this 45-year-old.

I don't know if I'll ever feel any older than 28 mentally, which I guess is good. But I always look older than I think I do whenever I see a photo. Still, I think I'm doing OK in that regard.

Terms of Endearment is on television right now. It was released in 1983, and ran while I was an usher at Har Mar Cinemas 11 in Roseville. It was interesting to see all of the teary-eyed patrons exiting the theatre and staring into the midday winter sun after a matinee showing. Out of curiosity, I went to IMDB to check the age of Jack Nicholson, who won an Oscar for his role in the film, a role, interestingly, which Burt Reynolds turned down. Oops.

Anyway, IMDB shows Nicholson was born April 22, 1937. That would make him 45 while filming the movie. Even though he looks much younger than today, he still looks a lot older than I feel, and older than I think I look when I check the mirror. No doubt I'm kidding myself, but hey, whatever works.

I read an interesting article today from this week's City Pages about the Acme Comedy Company's 20 years in the business. I found interesting one bit about how there was a time when much of the fresh new talent in local stand-up was guys having a mid-life crisis deciding they were going to chase a dream.

Yep, that sounds like me. Whether as a joke teller (I have a friend who would write them...even being a bit delusional, I know my limitations), getting back into radio announcing someday, or what have you, I know I'll be trying something fairly soon that I don't want to grow old not having tried.

Mid-life crisis? Perhaps, but I'd rather that than an end-of-life crisis.

Same Old Kayfabe

I can't believe it took me over a year to hear about this book, but I just picked up Minnesota's Golden Age of Wrestling at the Dakota County Library today after being told about it by a colleague at work. I was pretty excited, but skeptical as well. You see, the author is a local guy, George Schire, who goes way back with the AWA, to the years my high school friends and I were big fans. After the AWA folded, you could occasionally catch Verne or Greg telling stories about the business. But it was always in the context that the matches were legit. So I was skeptical that this would be anything but reminiscing about old matches (which would be good) as if they were real contests (which would be bad).

The book only occasionally breaks kayfabe ("kayfabe" is the "code" in pro wrestling that refers to acting as if the business is non-scripted or predetermined), and contains such rare shoot material (a "shoot" in pro wrestling is anything that is not a put-on, be it an interview, or a fight, or whatever else that may happen in the business) that the reader doesn't really know what to believe. Oh, I know not to believe that Stanley Blackburn actually stripped Verne Gagne of his title in 1981, but when you think you might be reading a shoot, you have to wonder, such as certain attendance figures it refers to regarding some of the shows.

That said, it's a must have for anyone who religiously watched All Star Wrestling at any time in Minnesota. The bios in the back of the book are fun to read, similar to Ross Bernstein's Grappling Glory: Celebrating a Century of Minnesota Wrestling & Rassling. It doesn't add a lot of insight into the business that you might expect from an "insider." It pretty much sticks to the facts of the wrestling, i.e., who won what belts against whom and in which city.

One of these days, when ol' Verne is gone probably, someone will offer up what working in the AWA was really all about in the glory days. That would be a helluva read. Until then, books like Schire's and Bernstein's will still do.