Do any of you Outsportsters bowl? Hubby and I are bowling tonight in our gay league, as we do every-other Friday night.

Okay, so here's a little story I wanted to post: Wednesday night night we were in our local neighborhood gay bar and I was talking to a guy who recently moved to KC from San Francisco, and had lived most of his life in L.A. before that. When I casually mentioned to him that my partner and I would be bowling in our gay league on Friday night, he was aghast. "Bowling?!? Bowling. No really, bowling?" he kept repeating.

"It's all in fun," I told him, "We aren't really competitive, it's just a social activity."

"Yeah I understand that," he would reply, "but... BOWLING?!!!" Someone sitting next to me overheard and said to him, "Welcome to the Midwest!"

The new guy was shocked that there were enough gay people in our area interested bowling to form a league. Well, I told him I know of 4 gay leagues just within our suburban area of the KC metro, and several more in other suburbs.

Is this unusual? Is KC some sort of bowling mecca? Is bowling popular in your area, or do any of you guys bowl in a league?

Our league is called the Friday Night Cocktail League, if that tells you anything. The four of us on my team are terrible bowlers, with averages between 118 and 125. Most of the other teams average in the 140-160 range, a few of them higher. The league has an 80% handicap, but even with that we're still in last place. Tonight we bowl the first place team, which happens to be a group of our close friends. Our plan: Buy them lots of shots and get them drunk. Think it will work? wink

Anybody else out there bowl?

I don't bowl very often now. At various times my family has done it. My mom used to bowl pretty regularly. One of my brothers was very much into it and went bowling all the time before he passed away.

I've been told I bowl like my Mother.... eek! I'm usually cracking 100, a good game is 140. Haven't bowled in ages around here. It fairly expensive of a social activity, but probably less if there was a league.

maxallen, it does seem like nobody bowls here in L.A. I've only been once, and it was about 5 times as expensive compared to bowling in Montana. I do think it is more of a midwest activity. I have a couple other things from back home in that cause L.A. people to be in disbelief.

The gay bowling league here in NY is huge. I played for one year and enjoyed it, but the season is way too long. Starts in September and runs through early May. A few weeks off here and there, but still too much of a committment.

My softball teammates and I will have a bowling outing twice a year and have a ball.

Maxallen, I'm not sure why, but the US cities that come to mind when bowling is mentioned are Milwaukee and Buffalo, rather than Kansas City. One in the midwest and one in the east. There seems to be a sort of stigma about bowling, as if it is strictly meant for 'blue collar' types. Earlier this week, on Jim Rome's radio show, the topic of bowling came up. I didn't catch the entire segment, but I could almost hear Rome's eyes roll when someone suggested that if golf can be considered a sport, than so should bowling.

There are a couple of gay bowling leagues here in Calgary, although I've never gotten around to actually joining one. I used to bowl fairly often as a kid, and although I still enjoy the game (sport? wink ) it's something I now only do two or three times a year. I usually score around 160 in five-pin and 100 in ten-pin. Five-pin bowling is much more popular in Canada than ten-pin. I'm curious to know if this is the case in the US as well? I'm not sure if bowling is even played anywhere outside our two countries...come to think of it, I don't recall ever noticing a bowling alley in Europe (not that I was really looking for them).

BTW, there was a movie entitled The Big Lebowski a few years ago, starring Jeff Bridges, where bowling played a significant role. I can't think of too many others!

[ February 20, 2004, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: Marc ]

Gay Bowling Leagues are huge in Ft. Lauderdale. There are successful leagues at least 4 nights a week. My league on Wednesday night has a waiting list of people wanting to join. It's a great chance to do a little socializing in the middle of the week. The Gay Softball League is really big here too. My only disappointment is that there isn't a recreational volleyball game at the moment. Tampa has a great one up north, but thats a little too far for me to drive just to play volleyball.

I guess all the league activity is just a reflection of the huge gay population in south Florida, especially Ft. Lauderdale.

I'm so sad that no one bowls here in Los Angeles. I grew up in a family that bowled frequently (in Ohio), and I miss it here.

One factor against bowling in LA is the profit to real estate ratio. Bowling alleys take up way too much space to make as little money as they do, which explains why it's so hard to find one. Sadly, there are other sports that are being squeezed by the LA real estate economics - bowling, skating rinks, tennis. The main site for the gay tennis league in LA is likely to be demolished in two years time for development.

Sorry to get off-topic. It's just sad that more Angelinos don't support a fun social activity like bowling. I think the blue-collar stigma is especially harmful here.

I grew up in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The second I graduated I went to Oklahoma to go to college. The above post is just one of the reasons why I left.

There are actually two gay bowling leagues in the Philly area although they are not downtown. I belong to one of them on Thursday nights just to do something different during the winter. My only peeve is that the season is too long, from September to May. Consequently, I do miss several games during the season.

[ February 20, 2004, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

Never heard of five pin bowling here. But that doesn't mean it's not here.

As for bowling movies, I've never seen The Big Lebowski so I didn't know bowling was featured. But the best bowling movie ever (like there's much competition!) is "Kingpin" by the Farrelly brothers ("Something About Mary", "Dumb and Dumber") and starring Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid. Very very funny flick!

Hey Marc: correct me if I am wrong, but aren't your bowling balls up there a bit smaller than our version too?

Though I'm not a bowler--I can count on the fingers the numbers of times I have engaged in that activity--I'm surprised by those in the LA area who claim there are no places to participate in bowling. I pass two different bowling alleys on a regular basis--Matador Bowl in Northridge and Rocket Lanes in Chatsworth and both their parking lots are usually full. Granted, they aren't in the "gay ghetto" of WeHo but I'm sure many of the area's other family-centered suburbs also have lanes. You just have to search them out.

~Adam

Puckman, I'm glad you included the word 'bowling' in front of 'balls' in your question wink . If you are referring to the five-pin game, yes the bowling balls used are smaller and lighter-weight than in the ten-pin version, and there are no finger grips. In the five-pin game, which as I said is the more popular version up here, the pins are scored 2-3-5-3-2 (with 5 being the head pin), whereas in ten-pin each pin is worth only one point (I assume that is the same as the US). Thus five-pin results in higher scores (450 being the absolute maximum). And three balls are allowed per frame for each player, rather than just two in ten-pin. The same rules for scoring strikes and spares are used in both versions.

George, it's interesting that five-pin bowling doesn't appear to exist in the US, or at least nobody else has mentioned it yet. Maybe it's one of those uniquely Canadian things?

And Adam, who needs bowling in southern California anyway? You've got so many other diversions there, such as the beach, roller-blading, Disneyland, star-gazing, the Dodgers, the Angels, the Ducks, and of course the Kings! (maybe even curling? wink )

[ February 21, 2004, 04:28 PM: Message edited by: Marc ]

5-pin bowling is a Canadian thing (popular with families, as the balls are more manageable for kids and seniors--my 89 year old grandmother is in a seniors league), although I believe that duck pin bowling (using the small, 5-pin sized ball, but with 10 small pins) was invented in the U.S.... although I think it's more popular in Quebec.

I think there are a couple of gay bowling leagues in Toronto, but I've never been and don't know how popular they are. I'm a pretty poor bowler (I frequently end up in the gutter), but go (both 5- and 10-pin) a couple times a year.

Once while visiting a friend in Boston, she took me bowling with her family, and it was the oddest thing... It must have been that duck pin bowling you mentioned, canmark. The balls were small and lightweight with no finger holes, and the pins were thin and spindly (there were 10). To them, that was bowling. Uh uh, nope. Give me a 15-pound ball over those little bocce ball things any day.

Well, Friday night we didn't bowl against the first place team after all. Somone had the schedule mixed up. We bowled the second place team, a team of lesbians, and got our asses kicked. On a positive note, my partner who has a 115 average had a fluke game and bowled a 202 in the first game! I bowled below my average with a 116, 101, and 125. God, we're really bad.

That's candlepin bowling, Maxallen, which was invented in Worcester ("Wis-ta") Mass in the late 19th century. Its popularity is still pretty much confined to New England and the Maritimes.

Aside from the skinny pins and small balls, the other main difference from ten-pin bowling is that downed pins are left in place until the frame ends, so they become part of the strategy... or the problem.