Hey guys,

 

Last night had one of the scares of my life.  It didn't hit me last night, but this morning I woke up so sore that I didn't get my stuff together until about 11am.

 

Every Thursday night I bowl a double set, since I work kinda near the center and since I have an hour drive home from the center, it's really not worth bowling just 3 games and then leaving.  Regardless, I made it through the first set with good numbers and relatively unscathed.

 

Then came the second set.  Moved one pair to my left and warmed up just fine.  Had a good look, felt pretty good going in.  First frame, ringing ten pin.  Not a big shocker, so I lined up and went for the spare.  I stuck a little bit and looked down at my slide sock which had never let me down before.  Of course the slide sock had ripped right in the middle of the sole and I had to chuck the sock.  No problem.  The sole is a bit worn, but once I tried it out on the approach a little bit, I thought I'd be OK.  I tried to be as sure with my footwork as I could, but staying mindful that I might stick a bit.  Everything's going fine and I'm starting to forget about the lack of slide sock.

 

Then it happened.

 

Shocker of all shockers, another ten pin in the 9th of the first game.  I line up and approach the line.  Next thing I know..........WHAM.........I'm face first about 4 feet onto the lane.  My entire body hit at the same time......toes, knees, thighs, ribs, chest......thank god I didn't face plant onto the lane.  I did hold on to the ball though, darnit!!!  Being a little winded, I sat on the approach for a few seconds and then instinctually I looked at the bottom of my slide shoe.  A piece of the approach in the shape of Shazam's lightning bolt [reference for fellow comic book geeks] had splintered and wedged itself right into the slide sole on my left shoe, as one would get a  5-inch splinter in the bottom of their foot that never went deeper than an 1/8" under the surface of the skin.  Once the shard of wood got wedged, the wood-to-wood contact stopped me dead and I went flying.  Naturally, I saved the sole for posterity and it still has the shape/imprint of the shard of wood that got wedged in it.

 

When I finally made my ten pin about 5 minutes later , another bowler who we affectionately refer to as "Coach", said that it was a "good thing" that something like this, if it was going to happen, happened to me [one of the younger guys in the league at 39] and not one of the seniors, of which there are several in the league.  I agreed and counted my lucky stars that I didn't have to pick up my teeth off the lane.

 

But this morning.....wooowoooo.......was I a sore boy!!