April 22 - Alley-Gations

I completed my Team Bowling season this week. It was the first time since 1995 that I pulled on the FUBAR bowling shirt. When we last left FUBAR, it was a four-man team in Sacramento. Since then, two members have moved to Ohio and one to New Hampshire. The last member is MIA.

The new team is based in Northern Kentucky. I finished the year with a robust 144 average, down 20 pins from my California days. Jim (middle-155 avg.) and Gary (right -173 avg.) welcomed me with open arms to their established team.

A new term that I learned in Kentucky is “White Meat”. Now I heard this several times when I lived in California, specifically in San Francisco. Its meaning in the Kentucky Bowling vernacular is that you have just rolled two consecutive strikes and are going for a “Turkey”. Hence, the white meat reference. (I’m personally partial to the thigh and leg at Thanksgiving.) It is everyone’s goal for you not to get that third strike, because they have to pay a quarter should you complete the turkey. They clap, yell, and throw things to distract your bowling, hopefully preventing that third strike. Sounds absurd, but it’s quite funny.

I look forward to he next season that starts in the fall. Until then, “White Meat, on Vacation.”