Bowling (Ryan Blog Excerpt from when we met)

**NOTE** I'm going to be posting some of the blogs that Ryan did on his Myspace page after we met for the first time, and the ones he posted after we started dating. He loved to go on Myspace and post blogs for me to read, and sometimes, posted them to see where we stood...like whether or not he should tell me he loved me! :) In an effort to keep these postings for our future posterity (meaning our chitlins someday) I'm posting them on our family blog so I can print them out and save them in our family journal. And I'm sure his mom hasn't read any of these either, yet...I thought she might get a kick out of them. I loved reading Ryan's blogs...I hope you do too :)** PAM

This first blog was written by Ryan 3 days after we first met at a bowling alley with some friends...

Monday, June 18, 2007

Bowling is perhaps one of the most misunderstood sports of all time. The game involves a ball the size of your head, ten pins that vaguely resemble punching bags (Could this be the result of latent stress on behalf of the inventors?) and a lane. Legend has it that the orignal game of bowling did not involve a lane. Instead of rolling the ball toward the pins, prehistoric bowlers launched the bowling ball toward the pins shot put style. The lane was added by a scrawny Irish man who wasn't able to lift the ball over his head.

A common misconception about bowling is how the game is played. Most individuals (I was one before I saw the light) believe that the object of the game is to use the ball to knock down all the pins. This is not the case. Along with the ten pins there are two gutters that run along the sides of the lane. The odds that you will hit a pin vs. a gutter make it quite clear that the goal of the bowler should be to hit the gutter. 10 vs. 2...Hello, do the math!

Since the goal of a good bowler is not to knock down all the pins, one must ask, what is the purpose of bowling? The legendary Fred "Twinkle Toes" Flintstone asnwers that question. His unique style shows us that in order to bowl well, one must bowl with style. Yes, style is the key to being a good bowler.

Now we all know that I bowl with style. The last time I went bowling, I managed to achieve a style score of 12,567,924.23 points while only scoring a 58. That takes skill! Skill that I have spent almost none of my life perfecting. Inspite of that impressive show of athleticism, I got showed up! Pam dominated the bowling scene with unsurpassed ability to hit gutter after gutter with smoothness and precision. It was incredible! By the end of the night I was begging Pam to let me at least use her ball so that I might salvage some of my reputation. She was nice enough to let me borrow it for a few frames :)

All in all, Bowling is awesome, as long as you bowl with style. The pins are just a gag meant to distract you from what is really important.