I once wrote about the real power of the bowling gods in the Van-Port a long time ago and mentioned them in my previous column, you know those cruel deities that are the ones really responsible for those tough breaks at just the wrong time – pocket 7-10s in the 10th, ringing 10s at absolutely the wrong time 299 Pba50 West Regional Vanessa Brown Open (youtube.com). 

I wrote in that original column, the real power of the bowling gods though is their power to infect us so that we become bowlers for life. In my role as a bowling coach, I see it more and more these days. 

Bowlers are searchers just by our very nature. We search for the best ball with the best layout. We search videos to try and grasp special techniques and tips. We search for coaches to find secrets to good bowling. And, we have fun. 

These are all just symptoms of the infection the bowling gods bestowed upon us as bowlers.

Here’s the thing though, we’ve been through a pandemic. We’ve been through the horrors of infections easily spread. We know what it’s like to deal with all that and know that it is no fun – at all!

Yet here we are as bowlers, infected by the bowling gods with the lifelong affliction of becoming bowlers and yet we aren’t trying to inoculate ourselves from this infection. Instead, we embrace it by doing all those things I listed earlier.

Maybe I gave the bowling gods a bad rap in my initial piece by calling what they do an infection and should really give credit where credit is due and acknowledge that what I once called an infection is really a blessing. The bowling gods have blessed us with the desire to become lifelong bowlers, to constantly look for the answers, to pass along the virtues of what it is to be a bowler to non-bowlers.

Sure, the bowling gods have a wicked sense of humor, but they also bestowed upon us the gift of being bowlers and all that comes with it – competition, camaraderie, challenges to overcome, and just plain fun.

I work with youth bowlers, and I can see the blessing bestowed at an early age. I also work with some senior bowlers, some that are returning to the sport after years away and can see the reigniting of the passion for bowling caused by the blessing that once was bestowed.

I get it that I’m pretty far out in the weeds right now writing about the bowling gods, really, I do. But with the world so divided right now and negativity such the norm, and because I have this forum, this vehicle at my disposal right now, I want to take the opportunity to point out that there really are some positives out there in the world, places where we can come together, and bowling is one of those places. 

Whether it’s the bowling gods bringing us together or whether it’s just a way to get away from the sometimes harsh glare of life, bowling is a place that lets us just be bowlers, united in the common goal of knocking over the pins.  

Read whatever metaphors you want into that, for me though, I’m just glad to have a place that has brought me comfort whenever I feel like life’s challenges have become a little bit much.