The guy I knew was someone who bowled in the recreational league we have on Saturday evenings. He wasn’t special in any way that I’m aware of, and perhaps that’s the very thing that strikes me the most. He was just your average guy.
Which means that, by default, he was just the average person who likes to relax, have fun, drink a beer or two, and bowl. He, by far, represented the great mass of bowlers out there who love and play the game. The people who actually keep the game alive.
He threw an old, plastic, blue sparkle Rhino. He had a three hole grip in it, but he only put one finger in the thumbhole, and palmed the ball when he threw it.
He couldn’t tell you the first thing about RG ratings, or CG placements. I’m sure he had probably never even heard of C.O.R or C.O.F., and probably only knew the term “mass bias†from having heard it thrown around nonchalantly by other people.
He wasn’t out to cheat anybody out of anything. He wasn’t out to gain some strange advantage by throwing his ball the way he did, nor was he trying to cheat the system by having three holes in the ball and only using one of them during his delivery. He wasn’t turning the ball around nine different ways to get different reactions from it.
He was just a guy, out doing what was fun, and enjoying life as much as he could.
Just about a month before he died, he actually shot a 299 game with his old plastic Rhino, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone any happier, or surprised, than he was at that moment. He averaged about 190, and had never shot a 300. Now, for some reason, I find myself wishing that damn tenpin would’ve fallen over for him.
But back to perspective.
I’ve think mine is a little better now. Not everybody is out to be a P.D.W., Wes Malott, or W.R.W. Some, if not most, are just out to have some fun, drink a beer or two, and bowl. They couldn’t care less about CG’s or RG’s or MB’s, or any other technical aspect of bowling that we here seem to be capable of cussing and discussing about for hours on end, as it just doesn’t even matter to the vast majority.
So, at least for a while, I’m getting off my soapbox about rules and regulations as far as technicalities go. Yes, there are some basic rules you should observe like staying behind the foul line and not lofting the ball 15ft, but right now, I just find it really hard to give a damn about hole counts and placements, or how many hands you throw it with. I just feel lucky to still be here, and be able to bowl, period.
R.I.P. Michael Goss.
You’ve taught me more about bowling than I had learned in a long time.
