Missing A Once In A Lifetime Chance

I was watching an episode of Hazel today. Hazel and George were in a bowling tournament and they both bowled a number of strikes.

I used to bowl but was never an expert and my average was mediocre. However there was that one day…

I was volunteering at the Great TV Auction on a public TV station in the DC area. One auction item I won was a bowling party for 10 people, along with snacks. Since I was working at Hewlett Packard in Rockville Maryland at the time, I invited 9 friends and co-workers. It was my birthday too.

I seem to remember we had 3 games that night. I was doing better each game but stopped to give one employee a tip that instantly fixed a problem he had of rolling gutter balls. I think it was his first time bowling.

In my last game, I made strike after strike. I was on fire! I tried not to think about the slim possibility of a perfect game, just to break my record would have been enough. So I get into the last frame and got my last ball. A strike now would give me a perfect game and would be in front of people who never quite believe the stories I tell.

As I started my approach and lifted the ball behind me, the guy I had helped earlier yelled “Watch Out!”. It was too late. The ball left my hand as I twisted around to see if I was close to hitting someone with the ball. It turns out the guy thought it would be funny to holler at that moment. Needless to say I missed my only chance at a perfect game.

Since that time I have had shoulder problems and have bowled very little since. I am now pretty sure I have peaked and it would be all down hill.