Post by: JessN16 on May 20, 2008, 02:18:22 PM
I had a Visionary Slate Blue Gargoyle drilled three or four years ago to combat dry lanes. It's 14 pounds (I usually use 15 or 16), so I can sling it. But even though it's a polished urethane, that ball will hook and move on the backend.
I bid on a couple of Lane #1 crystal diamonds and XXXL Starbursts on eBay, but couldn't win for what I thought was a fair price.
And then I remembered the old bowling ball at my Mom's house. When I was 8, my dad and I had gone to a Kmart in south Alabama and bought bowling balls. He bought me an 8-pound Brunswick Black Beauty. He chose a silver Galaxie 300. For some reason, he let the guy sell him a 10-pound ball, probably because he feared for his bad back, which was injured sometime around the end of his service in World War II.
When I started bowling seriously as a teen, the Black Beauty no longer fit me, so naturally, the next ball I picked up was the closest thing available, Dad's old 10-pounder. I didn't realize until a couple of nights ago just how shoddily it was drilled. Finger hole pitches were all over the place, and the span was woefully short.
But at the time, it was a free ball and I did OK with it. I booked a big, fat 111 my first year in league as a teenager. (g) I very soon made the move up to 12-pound equipment, then to 16, and left the old Galaxie 300 in a box in a cabinet at my parents' house.
My Dad died in 2005. He had lived quite a life, nearly dying as a child from some horrible illness during the Great Depression. He then went off to World War II and served in Midway with Marine VMSB 343 dive-bomber squadron as an ordinance officer and tailgunner on SBD and SB2C craft.
I don't think he got to use that old Galaxie more than a half-dozen times before his health got to the point he couldn't bowl any more. My Dad was a good bit older than me (49 when I was born), so we never got to bowl much together before his back gave completely out.
I went back to Mom's house Sunday night and found the old ball in the box just where I left it. I had forgotten how beaten up it had become from those years of bowling at old Monroe Lanes, a 10-lane center in southwest Alabama that still has above-ground ball returns, unconverted Brunswick A-1 machines and a bug sprayer for an oiling device. The juke box is still allowed to play during leagues and there are Manhattan Rubber house balls on the rack, among other things.
The ball had gone from being a Blue Dot-esque silver to a scratched, matted gray. The engraving "F NICH" (Kmart apparently couldn't engrave Dad's entire name) was still faintly visible just below the thumb hole.
I plugged the whole thing and redrilled the thumb back in the original hole so as not to wipe out the engraving. I then resurfaced it to 4000 Abralon plus polish and it shone like a crystal ball at a fortune-teller's hut.
Tonight, I took it out for a test drive. In practice, I found it amazing the difference in timing needed to throw a 10-pound ball correctly compared to a 16-pound ball. But after a few errant shots, I got the hang of it.
I still used my 16-pound reactive equipment for strikes, but I shot all spares (except for double wood) with Dad's old Kmart special. I was 6-for-6 on spares including three split pickups (3-10, 3-10 and 3-6-7-10). I missed nothing.
I know this silly story may not mean much to anyone here but me, but for a few hours, I didn't miss my Dad so much.
And his old ball didn't miss a single spare.
Thanks, Dad, for introducing me to this sport.
Jess
Edited on 5/20/2008 11:41 PM
Post by: six pack on May 20, 2008, 10:41:14 PM
--------------------
The harder I try the harder they fall
Post by: psaunders300 on May 21, 2008, 08:20:28 AM
--------------------
Thanks,
Paul Saunders
USBC Bronze Level Coach
My web site: http://www.psaunders.net
Post by: baccala8872 on May 21, 2008, 08:27:18 AM
Sometimes you never know the impact your heartfelt shared stories have on others.
My dad introduced me to bowling. We don't get along so well, and don't speak much. But I do remember bowling together when I was very young, and I remember those as some fond memories. Maybe this weekend, I'll ask him to go bowling with me, and try to repair "things". I think I'll start by giving him my watch that I got for my first 300.
Thanks, Jess.
--------------------
If I ever saw an amputee being hanged, I'd just yell out letters. --DM
Post by: Phoneman on May 21, 2008, 08:43:57 AM
Post by: dicnic on May 21, 2008, 09:27:56 AM
Then it dawned on me that my Son had used a Blue Dot during his junior bowling years and if I remembered correctly, it was 14 lbs. I called him and confirmed that he still had it and it was 14 lbs. and he said he would send it to me.
I still use it, after having it plugged and redrilled. Works great!! Goes straight as a stick. He asked me the other day if I still had it. Since I bought it for him years ago, probably 1978 or so, I guess it is really mine.
--------------------
Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
Post by: BOWL119 on May 21, 2008, 09:56:47 AM
--------------------
Thanks in advance for all comments...
T.J.
BOWLING IS FUN NO MATTER WHAT YOU SCORE. BUT A 300 IS ALWAYS NICE.
Awesome Revs, Finish, Flip, LevRG, N'Sane, Onslaught, Bravo,
GOOD LUCK AND GOOD BOWLING!!!
Opinions are just that, opinions.
This is the LAND OF THE FREE because of THE BRAVE. THANK YOU, OUR MILITARY MEMBERS
Post by: laddog54 on May 21, 2008, 10:12:35 AM
He introduced me to bowling which allowed me to meet my wife whom I just celebrated our 13 anniversary together yesterday. We met at the same bowling alley that her grandparents met at almost 50 years to the day we met. We were bowling a doubles tourney, me with my dad, her with her grandfather. I called and thanked my dad yesterday. He didn't quite realize why but said I was welcomed. I have started collecting some of his really old stuff from when I was a kid for when he is gone. My wife asked me why I had all the old bowling balls I explained and she understood. Bowling and family a perfect combination!
--------------------
my vote for president is green nikes
Post by: on May 21, 2008, 10:35:12 AM
During his teenage years when we didn't always see eye-to-eye, we could ALWAYS put it all aside and go bowl together. Now, he's a young Dad, I'm a relatively young "Gwampa", and we're closer than ever. Our mutual love for bowling helped keep us from drifting too far apart during a few difficult days.
So whether you do it with bowling, golf, baseball, marbles, or whatever, find something that you can bridge that generation gap and start now. You're NOT too busy, it's NOT too expensive, but the day may come when it COULD BE too late if you keep putting it off.
A wise old saying says that: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today."
Thanks to JessN16 for the reminder.
--------------------
Lane Carter, Strike Zone Pro Shops - Salt Lake City, Utah
Brunswick Amateur Staff
Post by: Blackphantom1985 on May 21, 2008, 03:14:29 PM
Post by: satwater on May 21, 2008, 03:17:46 PM
Post by: JessN16 on May 21, 2008, 03:36:37 PM
quote:
Although my father is still alive, I lost my mother in August 2007 she was 44. I regret not having more photos of her with myself and brother. I only have one photo with the three of us when we were very young and maybe two or three from my brothers wedding in July 2007. Never think of these things until its too late.
Back in the late 70s or early 80s, legendary University of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant did a TV commercial for what was then South Central Bell (now, for all practical purposes, AT&T) for its long-distance service.
At the end of the commercial, he spoke the line "Have you called your mama today? I sure wish I could call mine." His mother, of course, had long since died.
Given that there were only three or four TV stations in any given household at that time, a lot of people saw the commercial, and South Central Bell reported its switching equipment almost immediately locking up due to high traffic just after the commercial aired.
Jess
Post by: satwater on May 21, 2008, 04:03:57 PM
Post by: LuvThatWhiteDot on May 25, 2008, 07:16:12 PM
--------------------
White Dot
I'm only as strong as the coffee I drink and the hairspray I use.
www.luvthatwhitedot.bowlspace.com
Post by: baltimora on May 25, 2008, 09:13:15 PM
--------------------
Post by: FastTracker33 on May 25, 2008, 09:22:43 PM
--------------------
-Brian
http://BeansProShop.com
Home of the Secret Sauce!