Bloomington bowling alleys develop community, skill

Some come for the sport, some come for the camaraderie, but all come for a good time. Bloomington's bowling lanes have been home to just about everything the sport of bowling could offer, and Bloomington residents have been enjoying its unique mix of sport and camaraderie for years. \nWalk into Classic Lanes on a weekday afternoon around 5 p.m., and it may resemble that of a local dive bar, as no more than a dozen people converse in several groups over a beer, with no more than one active lane in the entire alley. There is no music on the jukebox, the bartender sits and chats with anyone who will listen and the pool tables and arcade are empty.\nBut as the evening nears 6 p.m., an air of excitement overcomes the once vacant bowling alley. Whether it is the joy of the end of a work day, the hope of today being a first 300-point game or just the anticipation of getting back with teammates, league nights fill the bowling alley with Bloomington residents ranging in age and talent. The one thing being equal is their love for the game.\nThe main difference between league nights and student nights at Classic Lanes is that there is an air of amateurism among the students that is absent among the local crowd. Some students are either first-timers or haven't bowled in awhile. They are also more interested in the drink specials and arcade area. But there are some students who regularly head out and bowl a few games every week, and these players hold down some solid scores.\nFor student Troy Hitchcock, a senior, a recent night at Classic Lanes turned into a surreal one. \nHis first game was something of a forgetful one, as he struggled early. Three strikes to finish the game gave him a very mediocre score of just 125, but the strikes didn't stop. \n"I was bowling awful at first," Hitchcock says. "Everyone was making fun of me, but I just started feeling a groove toward the end of the game." \nAs the strikes kept piling up, a buzz of excitement began to grow throughout the alley. \n"After the 7th strike in a row, people started coming over to watch," Hitchcock says. "There were about 20 people there from my house, Sigma Pi, and then there were another 15 or so that I knew, and they started to crowd around."\nAs the excitement grew more and more nerve racking, Hitchcock says it was his friends crowded around who were beginning to lose their heads, but he stayed focused.\n"I was on some pain medication at the time, Ibuprofen, and it affected me," he remembers. "The last few frames were bowled over the intercom in the alley."\nAfter the magic strike to bowl a 300-point game, something many bowlers go an entire lifetime without achieving, the bowlers in the alley erupted, and Hitchcock was tackled to the floor by his friends. \nHitchcock started off the next game with three more strikes, making it 18 in a row. But the streak ended after he bowled two spares, and then followed those up with two gutter balls, finally proving that he was mortal after all. \nThough a night of bowling may not always be this exciting, it can be a fun way to relax and get to know people.\nOn co-ed league night the competition and atmosphere is not as stiff, but these teams aren't slouches. Gary Miller and his wife Beth, along with their sons Richard and Ben, are all skilled bowlers who all have impressive averages; impressive enough to be the league's first-half champions for the season.\nAnchored by their parents, who have been bowling for over 25 years, are the newcomers, Ben and Richard, both 24, who have been bowling for just a year or so. Despite their inexperience, they are already posting solid numbers close to 200. But everyone in the family will tell you that it is the bond and the good times, beyond the ball and pins, that brings them to the alley twice a week for leagues and at least once more on the weekends.\n"My favorite part is the fellowship," Gary says. "It brings everyone in the family together a couple nights a week." \nRichard says, for him, bowling is a fun way to spend time with his family.\n"It mixes fun, family, music, winning, a little bit of alcohol, everything," Richard says. \nEvery sporting ground has its legend, and for Classic Lanes, that legend may be Freddy Ball. Traits in a legend include amazing skill, age, honor, and of course, charisma, but Ball adds parachute pants and a large, red afro to this equation. \nBall embodies the sense of community that brings regulars together every week. Ask anyone at Classic Lanes about him, and an instant smile will come to their face. \n"You can't go anywhere with Freddy without him knowing someone," Beth says.\nJust a few lanes down from the Millers, Steve Bastin has been bowling regularly since high school and sees bowling first as a sport and second as a social gathering. He is in a co-ed league, as well as the men's league. He got his start in this game many years ago right where he is today -- at Classic Lanes. \n"We were just a bunch of juniors and seniors looking to have a good time," Bastin says.\nForty years later he's seen all kinds of oddities, from more than fifty 300-point games, to even more bizarre incidents. He's seen balls shatter lights above the pins, dozens of people slip on the lanes and fall, people slide all the way down the lanes, and so on.\n"One time, 10 or 15 years ago, I saw someone throw a ball over the gutter, into the next lane, and get a strike in the wrong lane," he says. "It didn't count though."\nSophomore Adam Levy says he enjoys bowling, but doesn't leave campus to enjoy the sport very often. Levy does most of his bowling at the IMU Back Alley, due to its convenient location. \n"I don't have a car on campus, so coming to the Union is pretty convenient," he says. "It's the easiest way."\nLevy, who bowls both solo and in groups, says both have advantages, but prefers the competition of bowling with friends over bowling by himself. Competition is what got him cut from his high school bowling team, his most memorable bowling moment. \n"I bowled my highest ever score, 226, and thought I would make it easily, but the kid next to me bowled a 300, which ended up getting me cut," he says. \nNo matter where a game is played, the sport of bowling lends itself to plenty of amazing memories and a sense of community. What makes the memories so great is that they can happen anytime you strap on a pair of shoes and roll your first ball. Whether it be the memories of a joker in parachute pants and an afro running up and down the lanes, or bowling the game of a lifetime, it's the joy of the unexpected on just an ordinary night that keeps the people of Bloomington and students of IU coming back for more.