Way down lane 5 stands my beautifully obnoxious 5-7-10 bowling split.
For some reason, I was leaving a lot of splits up there on lanes 5 and 6 during my bowling league Thursday night. Three red numbers in a row in the first game, in fact.
One of them made me grab my iPhone to chronicle the moment. The other bowlers on the lane looked on strangely except for Steve, who knows all about me and my blog.
Standing in front of me were three pins. Somehow my first shot had left the 5-7-10 split.
Yes, the symmetry is kind of pretty, what with the those two corner pins joined by the guy smack in the middle.
I’ve left plenty of 7-10s. The bookend split is usually considered the toughest to convert in bowling. Me? Never.
In my decades of bowling, though, I do not recall ever leaving the 5-7-10. This one is pure Splitsville.
And quickly mulling over my strategy before rolling my second shot, I came to the conclusion that the chances of knocking these three pins down with one shot were likely to be less than the impossible-for-me 7-10.
I’m not tricky enough. I’m not precise enough. I don’t curve my shot enough. I don’t throw my ball hard enough.
Great pre-shot thoughts, right?
I aimed my right-to-left bender toward the extreme right side of the five pin, hoping at least to glance it into the 7 pin. Two out of three ain’t bad, right Meatloaf?
Curving, curving, curving … Nope. Missed to the right.
The 5-7-10 stared back at me until the alley sweeper brushed them to the pit.
Have you ever faced an impossible sporting situation? What was your plan?
Mark Bialczak 
At school I used to find hurdles impossible. The answer? Get in the outside lane and sort of loop your trailing leg around the edge. Problem sorted. Of course there is no rule to say you can’t run through the lot of them but I can’t imagine that the fierce teacher would have allowed that.
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Great plan, Rachel. You figured out how to get over the hurdles in life, fierce teacher or no!
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a bigger
bowling
ball 🙂
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Yes, one that goes from gutter to gutter. But might it get a bit boring when everybody threw a 300 every game, smilecalm? Ah, I’d take it.
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how wonderful
when everyone
is the winner 🙂
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Mark, I’m not the one you want to consult. I got a 180 when I bowled one night, but that was for a total of 3 games. Splitsville. I was no stranger to that. Hanging out with friends is always the best part of bowling. Oh, and the beer … if you’re a beer drinker. (I’m not. I prefer wine.) 🙂
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I do not believe wine is allowed in a bowling alley, Judy!
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That was also my beverage of choice at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Dee Klees swore I was the only wine drinker in the biker bar. 😉
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Yup!
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LOL! Sorry you missed but the photo of it was lovely!
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Yes, taking a photo at the alley made me more than a bit odd that night. Thanks PJ. I haven’t seen a blog entry from you in awhile. Everything OK?
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aw, i love the pic and i am a horrendous bowler, so i cannot even imagine a positive result in this situation, but you had hope and a great attitude and that is what counts )
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Yes, the lasting power of one wistful word in our language. Someday. Thanks, Beth.
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the 3 wise men, pretty sure I’ve left this once or twice in my career, I’ve got my own strategy for it, I just hope to never have to try it out again.
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Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, say hello to my bowling teammate Steve, who I am certain would have a better chance of converting this split than me. As would Randy, Tiny and Tom, for that matter. I hope never to have to see them try. Thanks, Steve!
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I love bowling! It’s been a sad, progressive shift that my Wii Bowling skills are much better than my real life bowling abilities. My skills, which were actually decent years ago, need to be worked on sooner than later. It’s amazing how those splits happen.
Steve, don’t let Mark do that again. It’s your job to keep an eye on him. Perhaps you should consider a Pavlovian experiment? No, I’m kidding, we–especially you–don’t need him wincing every time he releases the ball.
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That’s why those games are always so popular. Much easier than the real thing, right, Chris? As far as Pavlov goes, I do not think they allow either dogs or bells at our bowling league.
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