Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Best Bowling Game of the Week

Today, in my Tuesday noon bowling league, I rolled games of 258-219, which are very good games for me.  We only bowl 2 games.  Up until I got my new bowling ball, I had gone a long time without a game in the 250s, but I've had 4 games of 256 or higher since I bought my ball.  Note that I've only rolled about 30 games with the new ball.

But, that wasn't the best game of the day.  A guy bowling on the pair of lanes next to my team rolled a 296 the first game.  That's 11 in a row to start out, followed by 6 on the last ball.  I still have never seen a 300 game...and I've been bowling regularly since I was 12.  The 296 was great, but it wasn't the best game I've seen this week.

So you're probably thinking, what's the best game you've seen this week Jake?  Well, I'll tell you...it's the 124 that my son, David, bowled in his junior league on Saturday.  Up until David joined this league, he hadn't bowled 10 games in his whole life.  But he's really taken to bowling, and he's really listened well to his old dad giving him advice (maybe too much advice), and even more importantly, he's listened to his coach at bowling league who does a great job.

Before Saturday, David had bowled a 99 and a 96, but other than that, most of his "high" games were in the 70s.  David has made steady improvement all year, so I figured a 100 game was coming, but I didn't expect it so quickly, or so easily.  He started off the game with a strike (a rarity), then he doubled (2 strikes in a row) in the 3rd and 4th frames, and he got a patch for that.  Bowlers love their patches.  He surpassed 100 in the 8th frame.  And then, for good measure, he picked up a spare in the 10th frame and pushed his score over 120.

David was so proud of himself, and I was really, really proud of him.  David isn't a big "sports" kid, but it looks like we've found one sport we both like and can do together.  I just have to watch myself and make sure I don't become "that dad".  You know, the dad who is overbearing and ruins the sport for his kid.  I don't want to be that dad.  I do want to be the dad who gets to watch his kid have fun and do well at something though...I like being that dad. 

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