almost perfect ...

Many people have asked "what are your plans?"; offhandedly, I suggested that I'll become a Professional Bowler. To which a co-bowler replied "I'm sure that Walter Ray Williams had a 126 average at one time in his life." Ouch -- that hurt! Especially since my high games are 206, 193, 177, 166 ... now, don't ask about consistency!

I wasn't able to publicize Todd-Bob's awe-inspiring 299 (bowling) a few weeks ago. About 6 or 7 frames into the game, we noticed that he was still hitting strikes on every ball. Along with most others, I began giving him some breathing room .. and when he finished the 10th frame and was still bowling strikes, most Everyone Knew Something Was Happening. A crowd began to form. I told someone: "hey, anyone can bowl 9 strikes in a row .. then "hey, anyone can bowl 10 strikes in a row .. then 11 .. knowing full well that this was indeed Art On Display. Finally, it was time for the last ball .. down the alley and WHAT?! the 4 pin was still standing .. Todd had bowled a 299 .. best game in his career. Very, very cool.

It reminded me of that day in Los Angeles when PJ and I watched - in person (28 July 1991) - Dennis Martinez of Toronto throw a perfect game (baseball) against the Dodgers (I moved to Dallas in 1993). Even though we lost 0-2, we knew that we were watching history being made. When he struck out our last batter .. 27 up and 27 down .. we all cheered. Very, very cool.

Not to take anything away from Todd's near-300 game, but .. perfect games are very rare (over the past 120 years, there have only been 16 of them) .. and there have been a lot more 300 games in bowling. Then again, there are many more bowlers than baseball pitchers.