Settling an old argument...

Is bowling a sport?

It's certainly a question that has plagued many a philospher throughout the years. My friends, below lies the answer.



What you are looking at is my 10 pin bowling scoreboard from Friday night. My score is the bottom score on the list. (Here is the official scorecard and a zoomed in view of the score from the official scorecard.)

You'll notice the score: 229. An amazing feat, and one I am proud of (7 strikes, 4 spares, and no open frames.) What's more incredible about this feat is that it was performed after a 2 hour nomihodai (nomihodai = all you can drink session), and I was "wearing the wobbly boot".

Surely a 229 is a good amateur score, but what about the pros? As you can see from the list, the top professional bowler in the world: Walter Ray Williams Junior has an average of 228.

That's right. Me, as good as the top pro in the world. Stumbling around the lane. I've (10 pin) bowled one time in the last 4 years. I bowled a score that any professional bowler in the world would be happy with.

I don't think a pretty good golfer could get hammered and be competitive with Vijay at Pebble Beach. I doubt a good basketball player could keep up with A.I. in a pickup game. But if Walter Ray Williams Jr. had the guts to show up at a bowling alley in Japan, I would have given him a run for his money on that fateful night. I think that pretty much puts an end to that argument. Bowling is not a sport.

Now, imagine if I had my own ball and a wrist guard! Watch out Walter Ray...I'm comin'!