RIP Glenn Allison

[jr/shotglass]

There have been a few -- very few -- 900 series since. But he'll always be the first, doing it with a plastic ball and conventional grip in an era before honor scores were prevalent. RIP to a bowling great.

 

[Gutter]

Shame on USBC for never certifying the 900 while he was still with us.

 

[HanSenSE]

Has someone notified Webby?

 

[qtlaw]

900 is amazing. I remember rolling my first 200 (6th grade), magical feeling then. (Coke and fries too!). I loved taking bus to bowling league after school.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

900 is amazing. I remember rolling my first 200 (6th grade), magical feeling then. (Coke and fries too!). I loved taking bus to bowling league after school.

You bowled a 200 in sixth grade?! That's incredible! *Fran Tarkenton voice* Did you ever think of giving it a shot professionally? I didn't get into the 200s until college. And my only skill remains throwing the ball as hard and as straight as possible.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

My best is a 198. I bowled in junior leagues and had around a 150 average. When I was an education reporter, I golfed with the president of the teacher's union in town and found out he wanted to be a professional bowler. Apparently that's like golf, where the best of the best have pinpoint accuracy and control and can adjust to any oil pattern.

I did just roll a 225 on the Nintendo Wii, so there's that.

 

[jr/shotglass]

I bowled for about 30 years in two parts. First were my young teenage years, where I bowled in a local youth traveling league. I etched out something like a 145 average. But hitting all the area lanes in a two-county area was a lot of fun.

Then about 10 years later, I joined the newspaper's Wednesday morning league and got serious about it for a while. At my best, I was averaging 195 and bowling every Sunday in a "King of the Hill" competition against the area's top bowlers.

I had a good Hammer 16-pounder, drilled fingertip with rubber plugs. It felt malleable in my hand. I could crank it and get the revolutions and lift for that hard finish at the end. There were few better feelings than seeing the ball build up for that left-hand turn 10 feet from the pins. I had a 289 once with 10 strikes -- solid 10-pin on the 11th ball. (So obviously, I never got over that 300 hump.)

Then came the two hip replacements. And the first time I tried to pick up my 16-pound ball and roll it, I knew that bowling was no more. I lost two things with my hips -- my ability to run, and my ability to bowl.

 

[justgladtobehere]

I bowled for about 30 years in two parts. First were my young teenage years, where I bowled in a local youth traveling league. I etched out something like a 145 average. But hitting all the area lanes in a two-county area was a lot of fun.

Then about 10 years later, I joined the newspaper's Wednesday morning league and got serious about it for a while. At my best, I was averaging 195 and bowling every Sunday in a "King of the Hill" competition against the area's top bowlers.

I had a good Hammer 16-pounder, drilled fingertip with rubber plugs. It felt malleable in my hand. I could crank it and get the revolutions and lift for that hard finish at the end. There were few better feelings than seeing the ball build up for that left-hand turn 10 feet from the pins. I had a 289 once with 10 strikes -- solid 10-pin on the 11th ball. (So obviously, I never got over that 300 hump.)

Then came the two hip replacements. And the first time I tried to pick up my 16-pound ball and roll it, I knew that bowling was no more. I lost two things with my hips -- my ability to run, and my ability to bowl.

'****' is banned, but that Penthouse Forum letter gets through?

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Maybe this guy can take his place.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

He looks like a superstar! He'll probably be a secretary of something or other very soon. Or a new moderator here.

 

[qtlaw]

You bowled a 200 in sixth grade?! That's incredible! *Fran Tarkenton voice* Did you ever think of giving it a shot professionally? I didn't get into the 200s until college. And my only skill remains throwing the ball as hard and as straight as possible.

Yep, got a patch for it too! Which was very cool until I got to Junior High (7th Grade). I wasn't even spinning it back then either simply straight balls with a slight wrist turn, it was a 10 lb ball that I got for Christmas one year with my own ball bag and shoes.

 

[qtlaw]

Maybe this guy can take his place.


View attachment 20927

That's DeWayne Schintzus!!! (Sweet touch and good footwork)

 

[dixiehack]

That's DeWayne Schintzus!!! (Sweet touch and good footwork)

And handy with a tennis racquet.

 

[maumann]

I started bowling at 7 and was in junior leagues for a number of years, averaging between 120-140. I got my first custom ball for Christmas in 1974 (my parents waited until my fingers were just about done growing).

As a lark, two years later, my friend George and I entered the USBC Youth Bowling Championships at Walnut Bowl (in the Senior High School Handicap division) and were both surprised to make the regionals in San Leandro, given that neither of us put up a great three-game set. My guess is there weren't a lot of bowlers competing, so we were added to pad the field.

However, I bowled perhaps the best six games of my life (up to that point) in the regional, starting off with a 206 and totalling 1,210 with the handicap. I then bowled another 200 in league play the following week to earn "Bowler of the Week" status at Walnut Bowl two weeks in a row.

That sent me to the 1976 NorCal finals in Stockton, where I reverted back to form. However, I got an Ebonite Gyro (medium rubber) for my 18th birthday present and took high score and high series in a league at Fresno State.

After college, I was averaging 187 with that ball at my house lane and thought I was hot stuff until I got in a scratch league in Pinole Valley with the top bowlers in the area, including PWBA Hall of Famer Nikki Gianulias, who was coming off her 1982 BWAA Bowler of the Year award. I got absolutely smoked every week, pretty much ending any thoughts of turning pro.

I then hurt the knuckles on my right hand in a skiing accident and couldn't grip the ball for a year. By then, the technology and price of the equipment made it impossible to keep up and I haven't really bowled much since. The Gyro is actually out in the front garden as an ornament.

My personal best was a 258 (10 strikes, two solid 10-pin leaves) and a 660 series.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

That sent me to the 1976 NorCal finals in Stockton, where I reverted back to form. However, I got an Ebonite Gyro (medium rubber) for my 18th birthday present and took high score and high series in a league at Fresno State.

Reminds me of the medium rubber I (did not) received for my 18th birthday.

 

[jr/shotglass]

It's crazy, but the only time I've seen the actual bowling experience approximated has been the 1-2 times I got to try Wii bowling. The hand reactions to create lift and rotation were amazingly true to form.