As an old guy I have been playing the game for over 50 years.  I used to spend some time on the old PBA board listening to guys telling me how bad the game was and how diseased bowlers were on house shots.  Occasionally some of those types showed up on this board, but not nearly so bad.

 The thing is tomorrow night I go out to bowl for the first time on the Tokyo pattern.  I am excited.  We have bowled on 7 different patterns this season.  Some of them have come easily to me, and some have been tough.  All of them have challenged me to bowl the best I can.  When I bowl in on a house shot ( not in a regular house shot league ) I even look forward to it since I don't compete on house shots much any more.

I guess I am just too easily entertained since I think the game is in some ways the best it has ever been.  Yes there are things I would change, to make it more amenable to longer formats.  I also recognize that not everyone has access to bowl and hone their game on sport patterns.  I wish they did, because the game is really fun in an era when we have the tools and the knowledge to build a versatile game that can give a guy a chance for success on a lot of different patterns. 

It's about finding contentment in the journey instead of the destination.

I enjoy trying to throw good shots, being among friends, and having fun with the game, and not merely the focus on scores.  Too many of us have our self esteem attached to our scores for the night, when frankly, if we're relaxed and having fun the scores often take care of themselves.   

I enjoy the "night before league ritual" of deciding which two reactive balls to throw in my three ball bag, along with my spare ball and I clean them up. On any given day it may not even matter which ones I take, but it's relaxing/fun for me.

So go ahead and look forward to bowling.  It's okay...

It's really satisfying getting to bowl on really different conditions.

^^^

As do I.

It tests your instincts as well as challenges one mentally (and physically to a point with hand position changes at release).