WEBVTT - Why Bowling is Awesome 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of I 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:13.240 Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.520 and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. All of us are 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:18.760 wearing bowling shoes, are feet hurt, they look kind of weird, 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:22.200 and we're ready to go. I want to shout out. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:27.680 This was a genuine listener suggestion. Oh nice, what listener 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:35.040 Mark bowls? No, not b O w L. It's b 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.320 O L e s. But still kind of funny since 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:43.680 we're talking about I watched a video on automatic pin 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:48.320 setters by a kid name While a guy named Matt Boland. 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:53.920 He's a pin setter technician. So there's some some weirdness 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:58.360 going on here. I had a dentist named Dr Tuggle. Mmm, 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.920 that sounds painful, like you just made my scrotum shrink 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.800 up into myself. And I had a h My proctologist 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:12.440 is Dr Fingering. But what his first name finger in, 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.200 his middle initials in, and then his last name is 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.319 but no, his whole last name. I think his name 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:21.280 is Robert Fingering Butt, And I think, oh, yeah, doctor Fingering, 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.200 but yeah, maybe Finland or something. I don't know. I 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:29.840 just call him Robert Bobby Bobby Fingers. Yes, but Chuck, 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.040 the hilarious thing is, we're not talking about proctologists right now, 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:35.080 not at all. As a matter of fact, I'll be 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:37.399 very surprised if they come up again in this episode 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.840 because instead about talking about bowling. That's right, and big 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.039 thanks to Mark Bowls for this. He just simply wrote 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:46.480 in and said, hey, I bet you bowling has a 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:50.440 pretty interesting backstory, and it kind of does. I think, yeah, 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.720 it does. Mark Bowles was lazy, uh and wanted us 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:55.400 to do it for him, and here we are. And 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.600 we want to also give an even bigger thanks to 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.600 Ed Grabinowski for helping us out with this one. Yeah, 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.000 and before we get to that interesting history, though, bowling 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.360 seems like the kind of thing we could just say, hey, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.120 we're doing one on bowling. Everyone knows what that is, right, 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.160 but at the risk of not covering our bases, we 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:16.880 can very quickly just sort of describe the game, right. 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:20.440 Oh yeah, I think that's a good idea because ten 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.000 pin bowling, which is what we're talking about. There's tons 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.280 and tons of different variations on bowling, but ten pin 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:28.360 bowling is specifically what we're talking about, and it's an 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.560 American invention. So it's entirely possible that there's people out 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:33.920 there who listen who have never played ten pin bowling. 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.720 Who knows I'm making it up, but it's a good guess, 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:39.520 I think. All right, So what you do here, and 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.960 it is keen to point out and we'll also get 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:44.440 to this in the history that bowling is is a 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:48.480 variation of just a game, which is it seems like 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:50.560 kind of one of the earlier kinds of games, which 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:56.640 is throw something at those things, whether it be corn 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.520 hole or horse shoes or any kind of rolled object 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.760 at a club or a pin or something. And tin 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.720 pin bowling is a variation of that where there are 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:11.399 tin pins arranged in a triangle starting at the headpin. 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.200 So you got your one, and then you've got two pins, 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:16.280 and then you got three pins, and then you've got 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.120 four pins, all in rows. So it forms a nice 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:23.280 little triangle. And you throw a bowling ball down a 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:27.000 lane that is forty two inches wide and sixty ft 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:31.040 long from the foul line to the headpin. Yeah, and 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.360 the entire lane itself is sixty two ft and ten 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:40.000 and three sixes long. To be precise, something that one 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.280 ever needs to know right, well, I mean, somebody put 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.480 it out there. I wanted to know, so I hats 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.360 off too. I can't remember what site helped me, but so. Um, 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:50.480 at the end where you're rolling the ball, where you 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.880 the player the bowler is standing, there's a line. It's 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.080 a foul line, and if you cross it, you just 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.560 gave up any points you might have accrued for that 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:02.800 shot up. Yeah, and then just to make it even harder, 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.920 to make it that would be amazing, kind of like 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:11.440 a running Man version of bowling or a squid game thing. Yeah, 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:17.240 the new running Man, frankly bring it into the modern era. Yeah, yeah, um. 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.440 And then to make it even harder in addition to 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.120 the threat of exploding if you cross the foul line, 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.120 there um these troughs on either side of the lane 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.440 that your ball can easily move into. They're called gutters, 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.720 and balls are usually about eight to eight and a 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.880 half inches in diameter. Gutters are a nice snug fit. 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.000 They're usually about nine and nine and a quarter inches 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.280 in diameter, so there's a little bit of room for 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:42.560 the ball to move along, but it's snug enough that 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:44.520 it's not coming out of the gutter once it goes 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.240 in there almost always. I've seen some aggressive bowlers have 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:50.880 one pop out of the gutter if it gets a 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:55.560 nice rock going. But you know, I think like that's 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:58.640 sort of like kitting a sevententh split. But you would 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:03.560 have been in that, Yeah, exactly. Bow nice foreshadowing. And 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.800 even if you had never bowled, you've probably had at 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:08.240 least heard the term gutter ball. It's just kind of 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.400 a catch all term for things that stink that happened 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.960 to you, whether you like it or not. Yeah, And 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.320 these days they have if you go bowling with your 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:20.279 younger kids or just someone who really wants to make 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.760 the game a lot easier, they have these little uh 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:27.440 gutter guards, little gates that lift up automatically if you 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.760 so choose, are not automatically, you trigger it to and 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:32.960 then that way, your six year old can throw a 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.120 bowling ball down and it'll just go side to side. 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.880 Hitting those things all the way today. Yeah, and they 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.599 might get lucky and ricochet it right into the pocket, 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.760 which is the sweet spot between those pins, between the 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.320 first pin and either one of the two behind it, 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.240 depending on whether you're a left hand or right hand bowler. Yeah, 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:51.800 I mean it's good that you brought that up that 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.000 if anyone ever didn't bowl much and thought, well, why 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:59.960 did those pro bowlers and uh and certain jerks at 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.839 regular bowling alleys really try to spin that ball hard, 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.800 so it's like kisses that gutter and then flies at 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:11.599 an angle. That's you know, they discovered that is the 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:13.479 best way to knock down all ten pins for a 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.320 strike is to come in at that sort of diagonal 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.440 between the headpin and the pins behind it. Right. They're 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.200 not doing it just because it looks cool. No, No, 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.479 that's basically how you bowl. If you're actually trying to 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:31.719 do you try to spend. I haven't bowled in a while, 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.720 but yeah, I definitely tried to try to spin, because 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.080 you don't want the ball to just skid along without 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:41.920 rolling on the on the the lane you wanted to spin. 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.480 You know. I never tried to spin. I was I 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:48.000 was never strong enough or good enough, but I was 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:52.320 an okay bowler in my bowling heyday. Same here. I 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:56.240 definitely peaked at bowling in about six to seventh grade, 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.159 when I was actually in an after school bowling program 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.600 that was much later. Okay, well, I also peaked at 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.920 basketball in second grade when I played on the Maroon 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.120 team in the Royal Blue team at the y m 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.720 c A. Were you taller earlier? No, it was just 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.560 I was less afraid of getting an elbow in the face, 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:17.840 so I was way more aggressive taking it to the 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.720 to the basket. My whole secret when my bowling game 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:22.640 was on, and you know, I wasn't going out there 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:24.440 and bowling like a two twenty or anything like that. 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:26.600 But you know, if I walked out of there with 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.640 like a one eight on a any game, I've considered 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.960 that a really good score for me. Yeah. My whole 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.400 trick was to just bullet really really straight. I was 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.880 pretty good at that, and to not launch it three 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:42.880 or four ft down the lane. It was a very 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:46.320 smooth action, making contact with the floor kind of right 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:48.840 at the foul line, and it all resulted in just 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:56.000 a pretty true throw. Nice, non professionally good. Okay, but yes, 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.200 one eight is definitely I mean, I wouldn't go around 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.880 boasting at it in some random bar you just walked into, 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.200 but it's still you could probably impress your closest friends 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:05.920 with that, you know. I mean, that's probably like my 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.400 best score, just to be clear, got you okay? Um 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:13.600 And speaking of scores chuck uh. Today, if you go bowling, 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.320 a computer keep score for you. You don't have to score. 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:18.720 And that's actually a huge relief for a lot of 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:24.760 people because scoring in bowling is really complicated and there's actually, 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.400 um I've seen a theory or hypothesis. I guess that 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:31.800 one of the reasons why bowling has become less of 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:35.240 a thing in America over the years is because it 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.880 is computerized scoring and people don't understand the game like 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:44.160 they used to when you had to keep score yourself. Well. Yeah, 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.520 but the goal for every single time you throw the 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.000 ball is to knock the pins down, right, But if 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.400 you don't, then you've got a problem on your hand. 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:53.640 And even if you do knock all the pins down, 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.320 you don't so that's a strike. By the way, for 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:58.720 those of you who have never played ten pin bowling, 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.760 if you knock all all ten pins down in your 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.680 first throw, you get two throws per frame. There's ten 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:09.640 frames per game, right in any given frame, you have 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.920 two possible throws. If you knock all ten pins down 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.120 with your first throw in a frame, that's a strike 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:19.360 and you're done. Okay, No, you're you're Are you done? Well? 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.640 You're done, if it's until your next if it's if 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:24.440 it's one through nine, you're done. And the in the 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.719 ten frame you get those bonus balls, which we'll get to. 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:29.840 Got you, So it's scoring. Since you knock called ten 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:33.120 pins down, you think, okay, you get ten points per frame. 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.679 If you bowl the strike in every frame, you'd have 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.559 a hundred points, like that's the maximum number of points. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:44.000 It's actually not correct. There's bonus points in bowling, so 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.680 that if you bowl a strike in any given frame, 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:49.800 then the number of pins you knocked down in the 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:54.040 next two frames affect your score in that first frame 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.319 that you you bowl the strike in. Okay, I told 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:03.040 you it's really complicated, and ian scoring strikes is easier 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.760 than scoring spares, which I'm hesitant to even get into. 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.319 But the upshot is there are there are bonus points 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:12.520 and scoring a spare and a spare, by the way, 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.840 is when you knock down all ten pins. But it 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.520 takes you both of your throws in a single frame, 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:21.920 right right, which can happen. You can knock down one 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.240 pin and then nine pins, or you can knock down 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:28.800 nine and then one, or any combination therein. Yeah, as 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:30.880 long as all of the pins are knocked down by 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:33.880 your second throw, right, that's a spare, and then your 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:37.160 next throw in the next frame, those points get added 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:40.000 to that frame previously where you threw a spare the 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.960 frame before. It's way more nuanced than that actually, But 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.800 that's Frankly, I'm very relieved because that's a pretty good 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:51.079 overview of scoring and bowling. Yeah. And in the old days, 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:55.800 when we were growing up, pre computerized scoring, I felt 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:57.600 like there was always somebody in the group that knew 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:58.760 how to do it. They were kind of the de 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.559 factove scorekeeper, and you would indicate a strike and it's 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:06.280 still indicated via computer with an X and a spare 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:10.200 with a slash mark through the square. Uh. And of 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.720 course now with a computer thing, you can you know, 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.760 when you bowl a strike, they flash your name up there, 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:20.080 so people inevitably list their names, you know, Chewbacca or 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:24.280 fart Face or something, yeah, something really fun. Yeah, yeah, 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.640 I mean it's it's kind of incumbent upon you to 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:28.439 come up with a silly name unless your name is 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:30.560 ductr Finger. But and then you definitely just use your 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:36.000 real name. Right, So you've got like the scoring with 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.640 the spare scoring with the strike. Those are exceptional. Those 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.280 have bonus points. If you take two throws in a 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.040 frame and you knock down two pins and then in 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.680 your second throw you knocked down five, there's nothing special 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.320 about that. That's seven points for that frame. Boo. But 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:52.920 the thing is um, if you if you notice when 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.760 when you throw a strike, the next two frames scores 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:00.600 are added to your that's that phrase where you scored 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.520 a strike. If you score a strike in every frame, 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.160 it just keeps going down the line to where you 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.079 end up eventually with thirty in each frame. And then 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:12.440 by the time you get to the tenth frame, since 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.040 if you roll the strike in that tenth frame, you 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:19.000 actually get two more throws because you're basically adding two 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.240 more frames or one more frame. And um, if you 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:24.600 bowl a strike in every single one of those, including 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.440 your two extra throws, you will have just bowled twelve 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.360 strikes in a row, and you will have accrued a 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.120 score of three hundred, which in bowling is considered a 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:37.320 perfect game. That's right, uh, And bowling is all about 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.560 those strikes and spares and those bonus points. If you 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:42.480 want to score high because if you think about it, 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:44.800 if you if you knock down nine out of those 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.000 tin pins, you might think that's pretty good, But if 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.360 you do that ten times, you've only scored a ninety. 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:53.520 So you really need to hit those strikes and spares 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.120 or ideally a turkey, which is three strikes in a 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.120 row at least at one point during the game, and 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:02.680 you really really want to that money ball is that 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.440 last frame, Like that's where you can really, um add 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:09.600 a lot to your final total, right exactly. So, I 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.080 mean this isn't meant to be like an exhaustive primer 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.520 on bowling scoring. I think if this episode like gets 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.320 you into bowling, like you'll probably need to look up 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:21.640 some more you know, explanation of the rules or have 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.800 it taught to you or something like that. Um, But 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.200 that's that's generally like how it works, and it is 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.600 really really kind of difficult to understand. But it also 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.760 like kind of to me it's a throwback of when 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.080 the general public was a little smarter because we didn't 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.200 necessarily rely on computers for stuff like this. We had 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.640 to do it ourselves. Like now, if you can type 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:46.439 in Chewbacca, then you can bowl. It's misspelled. There's like 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:50.080 a capital letter randomly in the middle of it. All right, 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.680 I think that's a good break, right. I think so too, Chuck. 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:55.680 We're in sync right now. Yeah, let's do it. So 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.280 we'll come back and we'll talk about oh, all kinds 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.360 of fun stuff, bowling gear and and more. Right after this, 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:24.920 all right? Uh, ed Is uh wisely points out that, um, 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.400 there's quite a bit of bowling gear for a game 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:32.120 that you can play in short pants while drinking beer. Uh. 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:35.360 We'll talk about the ball in a second. But well, 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:38.360 let's go ahead and talk about the ball. Yeah, what 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.200 are you waiting for? I don't know. Uh. The original 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:45.960 bowling balls were would It was a hardwood, uh, native 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:50.360 to the Caribbean in South America, called lignum. I even 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:56.280 looked it up. Vit Yeah, or the um gia con 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:00.160 gia coon tree. Oh? Is that is that the tree? 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:04.000 That's the tree? That's the Yeah, you said the taxonic name. 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.760 I think one of the common names is kei khn okay. 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:11.480 But it's very hard, you know, dense wood. And that 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:13.160 worked out for a little while, but then the twentie 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.880 century rolls around and they said, hey, we got new 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:19.960 things like rubber, so let's make them out of rubber. Uh. 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.640 And they had a core which was either one or 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.920 two piece that would be connected by pegs and then 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:29.680 like a one inch outer shell and then bruns. What 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.680 came along the rubber men was the crew that worked 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:36.480 on this project and developed something called a mineralite bowling 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:40.560 ball in the nineteen tens, which ED couldn't figure out 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.120 what that was. And from what I saw, I don't 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.000 know if you didn't digging, I found that it wasn't 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:49.880 a substance, but it was more of a process, right, Yeah, 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.560 And I think that the process resulted in a hard 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.440 rubber ball, right, but it was a ball that floated 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:01.440 in liquid mercury that they would continually kind of uh 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.640 used to tweak the ball. Is that right? I didn't 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.400 see that. That must have been amazing and dangerous. Well 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.800 that's what I saw, because you know, mercury would be 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.720 the mineral. So I think it's it's a process of 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:17.320 making the bowling ball using this uh liquid mercury. And 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:19.640 we should say bowling balls didn't used to be made 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.240 out of like bouncy rubber. That would be an entirely 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:25.000 different game from what we're talking about. This is like 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:28.320 hard rubber, like a hockey puck. Yeah, not or flubber 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:34.080 you know what that? Oh no, no, chuck. And by 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:35.800 the way, if I'm wrong about the mineral ie, it 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:38.160 is pretty hard to find out a lot about that 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:42.000 for some reason. Yeah, I don't know either. Uh if 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:43.680 someone had, If I was wrong in that and someone 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.760 knows what it is, please let me know, right, um. 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.920 And then also chuck, they're the balls eventually were made 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:55.240 from plastic polyurethane UM and then resin took over in 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:58.960 the nineties, and the nineties were a decade Like each 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.840 decade basically brought along a pretty big sea change with 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:05.960 bowling balls, but the nineties are arguably the decade of 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.600 the most change because with that reson they started um 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.960 messing around with different codings on the outside of the ball, 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.400 the resident. They called it um reactive Resident, I think, 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.120 and it would actually kind of grip. It would give 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.119 the ball some grips and all of a sudden you 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.840 could control that ball way better. And because of that 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:30.200 um that change in balls, Chuck, the number of perfect 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:34.720 games exploded starting in the nineties. Look at this. Yeah, 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:40.600 in the nine nineteen sixty nine season, the US Bowling Congress, 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.640 which is this umbrella or umbrella organization that covers all 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.000 bowling from people who just show up at a lane 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:50.040 to you know, the highest paid pro bowler the The 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:53.919 USBC recorded nine d and five perfect games in the 0:17:54.840 --> 0:18:01.960 sixty nine season. Okay, thirty years later in season, there 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:07.520 were thirty four thousand, four hundred and seventy perfect games. Yes, 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.800 and not only that, so that's at increase. But not 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:15.480 only that, there were two thirds fewer bowlers bowling in 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.800 that season than there had been in the nine season 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.119 bowling tech thank you, right, Yeah, I mean that. But 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.280 that's what the change in the balls did. It just 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:27.760 completely revolutionized the game. It made it way more easy. 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:31.119 You could also say a lot more fun, um for 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.840 the average casual bowler. Yeah, I would say so. Uh. 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:38.080 It's interesting if you look inside a bowling ball on 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.840 the internet, like a cross section. They do have a core, 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.280 but uh, it's it's not round, and it's really kind 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:48.040 of strange. There's some interesting and kind of odd shapes 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:52.159 uh that are inside bowling balls. In different shapes of 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.919 the core will give it different characteristics as it rolls 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.320 or is uh spun or not spun? What do they 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:04.719 call it? Uh? Um uh hooked hooked. Thank you hooked 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:09.520 down the lane. Uh. And then you've got your cover stock, 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:11.920 and that is the final outer layer that is now 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:17.439 that reactive resin that apparently changed the game. Yeah, totally. Um. 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.680 And if you want to make sure your bowling ball 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:23.160 is regulation, you want to get yourself one of those 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.640 things they used to measure. Um, what's it called a caliper. 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:28.760 You want to get a caliper and you want to 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:31.359 measure and make sure it's between eight point five o 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:35.359 o and eight point five nine five inches in diameter. 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:39.440 That's a regulation size bowling ball. There's no minimum weight, 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.240 but the maximum it can weigh sixteen pounds, which hurts 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:45.080 my elbow just thinking about that. Yeah, we're a heavy 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:48.960 ball guy, or not medium for sure? Medium to light 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:54.040 yeah I was. I was light to medium okay, Yeah, 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:55.439 well I think it's the same thing. We were just 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.920 going in opposite way. I mean, I definitely preferred lighter. 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.360 I was in still am a weakling so a big, 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.119 heavy bowling ball just it was no good for me. No, 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:05.879 it's it's not that fun. Um. And then the last 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.720 requirement for regulation bowling ball is that it has to 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:14.000 be gaudy. Yeah, I mean some of them are kind 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:16.600 of crazy looking. I mean, you can get all kinds 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:18.960 of Like if you're a real bowler and you want 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:21.200 to buy some weird specialty bowling ball that has a 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:25.359 crystal skull in it, you can, um but you know, 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.119 they have the plain black ones. But they also have 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:30.840 all sorts of fun marbleie colored bowling balls, and those 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:33.199 are always kind of fun. I found the one that 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:37.760 um Bill Mark Bill Murray bowled with um on in Kingpin, 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:40.960 the clear one with the rose in it. Okay, was 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.640 it a rose? I couldn't remember. Yeah, and you can 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:45.920 get it for like two fifty bucks online. I mean, 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:48.479 not the one he was bowling with, but you know, 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.640 a remake of it, but it's it's out there for sure. Okay. 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:54.760 I just might add that to the old Christmas list 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:59.720 for special podcaster nice. I hope you're talking about me 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:04.680 and pin bowling. Been bowling, right, Yeah, and my mind 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:09.480 just went there. That's funny. Should we talk pins? Yeah, 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:12.239 there's not a lot of interesting thing about pins as 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.080 far as I'm concerned, except for the fact that they 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:16.080 have to replace them about once a year because they 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:18.760 get so beat up. Yeah, and they're not a single 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:20.880 piece of wood. They used to be a single piece 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.120 of solid maple carved out, but since the fifties they've 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:29.520 been glued together in sections right um and then uh. 0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:34.119 Also the lane itself is um its own kind of 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.840 piece of master work because it looks like you know, 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:40.840 individual pine boards. And the reason that it looks like 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:44.919 that is apparently they it's an homage to how lanes 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:48.040 actually used to be built, which was individual pine and 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.040 then maple boards. Depending on what part of the lane 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:53.480 you were talking about, you put maple at either end 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:56.560 because that's where most of the heavy action was going on, 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:58.840 and then in the middle you would make it pine. 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:01.119 But they were a little any links of boards that 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.320 were nailed down and screwed down to um like plywood. 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:08.119 Basically that was on top of heavy beams and that 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.600 was your your lane, and you had to varnish it 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:13.520 and then sand it and varnish it and varnish it again, 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:17.000 maybe once or twice a year, just to keep the thing, 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.600 you know, intact from all the wear and tear. Yeah, 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:22.679 and we should say that they use pine in the 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:26.840 middle because pine is really soft. If we have heart 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:30.320 pine floors from the nineteen thirties and our house, and 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:32.880