# Anybody like bowling?



## unpecador (May 9, 2008)

I really enjoy the sound of the ball crashing into the pins, my best game is 255.


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## VegasEgo (Jul 10, 2006)

? random, but my best is a 300 on the nintendo WII


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

I suck, but I like it every now and then. Good family activity.


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## 220combat (Oct 26, 2007)

I really like the sound of the pin being hit by my bullets downrange.


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

I used to bowl alot when I was a kid growing up in the midwest. Now on the SW coast, we're not cooped up in the winter like we used to be.

Something weird about bowling. I always bowl the best after a 5 year lay-off. I'll roll a 200 game and think "this is fun" so try again the next week - then I suck, so I quit. Repeat the scene 5 years later.

BTW, do you consider bowling to be a sport?


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## fivehourfrenzy (Aug 12, 2007)

Bowling is most definitely a sport. It requires lots of time, practice, and technique to become proficient at.

I love bowling. I suck at it though.


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

fivehourfrenzy said:


> Bowling is most definitely a sport. It requires lots of time, practice, and technique to become proficient at.


Well, by that definition that makes chess a sport.


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## unpecador (May 9, 2008)

VegasEgo said:


> ? random, but my best is a 300 on the nintendo WII


I've been trying to do that for months on WII, very frustrating :smt076


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## unpecador (May 9, 2008)

> BTW, do you consider bowling to be a sport?


I would say yes, there are rules, a ball, a foul line, and it involves competition.


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## fivehourfrenzy (Aug 12, 2007)

Wyatt said:


> Well, by that definition that makes chess a sport.


Bowling also requires some physical strength. Some people aren't strong enough to hurl a 10-12 pound ball down the lane, and I sure as hell don't have the muscle in my forearm to spiral it.

Just don't do the following:

1. Bowl in the wrong lane while the scooper is coming down and put a huge dent in the middle of it.
2. Press the reset button in the wrong lane while someone is bowling and put a huge dent in the middle of it.
3. Get really drunk before a sorority formal, use a ball with a thumbhole that's too small, and get dragged halfway down the lane when you try to let go and your thumb is stuck.

Yes I've done all three and I don't recommend any of them.


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## niadhf (Jan 20, 2008)

Take the family a few times a year. Its fun, and even the 4 yo can do it (wit the ramp launcher lol). Used to bowl a lot, but, times have changed around here, and alleys are scarce.


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

This is kind of an age old debate, whether bowling is a sport or a game. It seems those that bowl tend to think it is. I suppose it comes down to your definition of a sport. On a Jim Rome show a couple of years back he brought this up. He says it is not a sport. There are various criteria he used to determine a sport:

- Somewhere during the competition you have to run.
- If there is no defense, it is not a sport.
- If you can't heckle, it is not a sport.

But this is the one he applied to bowling:

"Anything you get better at as you consume alcohol is not a sport." I know this is true in my case. :mrgreen:

I would tend to to think of it as a sport rather than just a game, though I don't know that I would consider it a sport played by athletes. And none of the reasons stated so far do it for me because again, they all apply to chess and I just can't call chess a sport. But I would say it contains an element of sport by virtue of the hand-eye coordination required to play it well. I play golf and I don't get particularly upset if someone considers that a game but not a sport. However, besides the hand-eye coordination golf properly played does have a "power move" in the proper execution of the swing in order to generate maximum club head speed at the moment of impact. Bowling doesn't have this power move.


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## unpecador (May 9, 2008)

We try to seperate a sport from a game but isn't it ironic that when a major sport is being played we refer to it as a game? 

Romey's the man:smt023


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## fivehourfrenzy (Aug 12, 2007)

Wyatt said:


> - Somewhere during the competition you have to run.


I'm calling BS on this one...

1. Snowboarding/Skiing
2. Luge/skeleton/bobsled
3. Boxing/kickboxing/MMA
4. Golf
5. Rock climbing
6. Whitewater canoeing/kayaking

I would put baseball on the list, but baseball players just never run during practice, which is why they can never get on base unless they have a great hit. If they actually did some serious running during practice they might get better.

Sorry, but I've played my share of baseball and I heavily look down on it. It requires little to no effort during practice or competition, most of the running during a game is done half-assed, players are way overpaid for not doing a whole lot, and most baseball players I meet tend to be assholes.

I would agree anytime someone is an athlete, the "game" should be considered a sport. Those who bowl, play golf, and play pool don't necessarily have to be athletes, but the "sports" still require skill, and those without will get their asses handed to them every time. Baseball players, for the most part, are not athletes, nor do they need to be extremely skilled or in shape to perform, but baseball is still "America's sport." I find it very fitting that America came up with baseball, automatic transmissions, and other activities/inventions that require less and less physical activity, and now I believe over 25% of our population is considered obese by generic standards. But to each his own. :mrgreen:


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

fivehourfrenzy said:


> Sorry, but I've played my share of baseball and I heavily look down on it. It requires little to no effort during practice or competition, most of the running during a game is done half-assed, players are way overpaid for not doing a whole lot, and most baseball players I meet tend to be assholes.


So exactly when did you turn down that contract with the Yankees?


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

*sport*: 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, *bowling*, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sport


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Originally Posted by Wyatt:
Somewhere during the competition you have to run.

Five-Hour-Frenzy:
Boxing and kick-boxing are sports, even though one doesn't have to run.

To which I add:
If I had to box, or if I had to kick-box, there would be a *whole lot of running* involved. That is, until I got myself out of the ring and away from the other boxer, anyway.


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## niadhf (Jan 20, 2008)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> Originally Posted by Wyatt:
> Somewhere during the competition you have to run.
> 
> Five-Hour-Frenzy:
> ...


:anim_lol::anim_lol:


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## teknoid (Mar 12, 2007)

unpecador said:


> I really enjoy the sound of the ball crashing into the pins, my best game is 255.


289 here... TWICE (278 once). Stupid ten pin :smt076

As for it being a sport, I'd say yes. Some sports take physical exertion, some take skill, and some take both. All involve a little luck. When I see a couple of non-bowlers walk into the alley and throw 300's, I'll change my mind.


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## fivehourfrenzy (Aug 12, 2007)

Mike Barham said:


> So exactly when did you turn down that contract with the Yankees?


It was actually with the Cubs, but Chicago just isn't my cup of tea.



Steve M1911A1 said:


> Five-Hour-Frenzy: Boxing and kick-boxing are sports, even though one doesn't have to run.
> 
> To which I add:
> If I had to box, or if I had to kick-box, there would be a *whole lot of running* involved. That is, until I got myself out of the ring and away from the other boxer, anyway.


I meant that all of the sports I listed were sports, even though running during competition isn't required.

Actually I take that back. Bobsleddng requires a brief period of sprinting for the push-start. But the rest, never really seen a whole lot of running during competitions.


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## fivehourfrenzy (Aug 12, 2007)

I might also add that my future roommate (lived with him in the dorm for a semester) tries to argue the dumbest point ever: "NASCAR drivers are the best athletes in the world. They have amazing control over fast cars, and drive for hours in intense heat."

Somehow, to me, that doesn't make someone an athlete. The amazing control usually constitutes driving in an oblong circle, unless you're Kyle Busch and zigzag until you cause a wreck. I think all of us have had to endure intense heat at one point or another. If you've worked in a factory, you know what I'm talking about. And the skill part? Drag racing, circuit racing, autocross, off-road, and drifting require a whole lot more skill in my opinion. In those, you actually turn the wheel more than 10 degrees in both directions.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

*Fhf*, I don't see you playing in the World Series or winning the Daytona 500. No need to bang on sports you don't like. All of them require skill, or else the people who play them at high levels wouldn't make millions of dollars. Simple supply and demand. I am sure there are people who think Rob Leatham isn't an athlete, too. 

I don't play golf, and think golf courses are wastes of perfectly good rifle ranges, but I recognize that Tiger Woods is a phenomenal athlete.


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## teknoid (Mar 12, 2007)

> I don't play golf, and think golf courses are wastes of perfectly good rifle ranges, but I recognize that Tiger Woods in a phenomenal athlete.


I used to think golf looked easy. Then, I tried it. I like the woods. I spend a lot of time just walking through the forest. Those little white balls sure are hard to find.


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## Wyatt (Jan 29, 2008)

Say what you will but IMO hitting a baseball successfully is the single hardest thing in sports. Consider that the guy who fails 7 out 10 times in his career will make the hall of fame.


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