Shown Up

Papa Bear and I met each other many, many moons ago while both involved in youth bowling. Say what you want, I loved to bowl and still do. A few years ago a friend invited us to join an adult mixed league. We had lots of fun and the next year invited friends to join.

This year a few more spots opened up and I thought my newly retired father might enjoy a night out and he too enjoys bowling. Daddy-O was a 5-pin bowling coach and bowled with my brothers and I in special family bowling tournaments but never as part of a league. He did however bowl in a 10-pin league for a number of years several years ago.

Daddy-O was pretty eager to join and was there nice and early for our first night. I was a little worried about how this might go down. Daddy-O is not a young man - not like he's pushing 100 or anything but he is no spring chicken either. I just hoped he didn't break a hip or trip or throw all his balls in the gutter in front of the rest of the bowlers because that would be embarrassing for him and I both.

My fears deepened a bit when he did indeed throw his first ball right down the gutter. It was at this point I hoped for him to at least break a score of 65. It turns out I should have been more worried about my own rusty game than his. It seems it was quite easy to tell I haven`t stepped foot in a bowling alley since the end of May.

After a few shaky frames I thought Daddy-O was shaping up to bowl a beginner like game but after making "a minor adjustment" as he said he started throwing strikes. He ended up with a respectable 180 for his first game will I, his seasoned daughter bowled a 151. What the f--- heck?!

The second game was worse...for me... I don't know if watching him on his way to throwing a very impressive 228 was what distracted me from my game but I ended up with a shameful 112... Whatever. I was going to show him in the last game...or not.
He summed up his third and final game of the evening with a 216 and I finished with my highest game of the night -a 184...

I guess I was right to be embarrassed but not for my dad but by him while he thoroughly and fully kicked my ass! I really hope this was a case of beginner's luck or I am really going to have to step up my game to save face. I think for tonight I'm going to go with my mother's suggestion that I am such a good daughter that I threw all 3 games so he could look good. Sounds good to me but really great games Daddy-O! Rematch next week. :)

Sports, Sports, Sports...

Papa Bear loves his sports. He watches them on TV. He watches them in person. He plays a few. He reads about them. Heck, he probably even dreams about them. I, on the other hand would rather chew on a rock.

His favourite sport to watch on TV is hockey. I can stand to watch a bit of this sport, usually in the last period when all the important stuff happens. He watches Football, Baseball, Bowling, Tennis (yawn) and Golf (double yawn). He also watches Curling on TV. I can not stand to watch this "sport" for more than about 30 seconds. I usually spend that 30 seconds wondering what kind of whacked out "sport" calls each round an "end" when in fact they are no where near the actual "end" of the game.

I may not really consider Curling a real sport but I did try it twice and it isn't as easy as it looks. I ended up with a pulled groin muscle and a giant bruise on my knee. Curling is Papa Bear's "winter sport". He loves it and devotes one to two nights a week to this "sport".

Papa Bear's "summer sport" is baseball. Technically he is a member of a baseball team but I haven't really seen him actually play in a game for more than a few innings. Usually he just stands by a base and makes hand gestures at the batters. He's either telling them to bunt or to eat s@*# and die. Either way he's not going to hit any home runs standing out there. I sometimes go to the ballpark to support the team but rarely to see Papa Bear play. I used play baseball until I took a ball to the head resulting in a concussion and bruised brain. The doctor said if I was going to continue to play I had to wear a batting helmet in the outfield...forget that, I quit!

I used to Figure Skate for years. I skated from about age six up until I found out I was pregnant with Little Bear. Oh how I miss it but I still enjoy lacing up to skate on our homemade ice rink in the yard in the winter even with the bumpy, uneven ice and occasional deep crack. Figure Skating is one of the few sports Papa Bear does not watch or take part in.

The only sport Papa Bear and I participate in together is Bowling. Though I don't like to watch Bowling on TV I do enjoy playing the game. Bowling is also where Papa Bear and I met each other for the first time many, many moons ago. After about a ten year rest from the sport for me and about fifteen for Papa Bear, we joined an adult league with some friends. Papa Bear is a little bit better than me - but don't tell him I said that.

Soccer is the only sport that nobody in our household plays, watches or even really talks about. Apparently if you are a baseball player Soccer is the devil. I don't really know too much about this but I do have a Soccer ball hanging from the rear view mirror of my van but that is kind of a inside joke.

Living with four males, I should probably get used to the channel being set to some sort of sport whether I like it or not. All I can say is thank goodness we have more than one TV in this house. I'm sure it won't be long before Papa Bear has three more "men" to help him chant, "sports, sports, sports, sports, sports, sports, sports, sports...SPORTS!"