I was the guy that owned his own bowling balls (yes, plural) and shoes. In my twenties. Mostly because it was near impossible to find a ball that had the right weight and hole size.
But I have a story: I went to an Evangelical university in the early 2000s. Start of sophomore year they held a bowling tournament at the local alley. So me and two friends signed up. But we first went to the thrift store and bought cheap polyester suits and enormous aviator sunglasses, aiming for something out of the “Sabotage” music video. Our other friend decided to dress up like he was our “muscle” by wearing an outfit like you’d see in the background of the “Beat It” music video. We walked into the alley (which had not been updated since probably 1981, other than the scoring screens) and decided to take on personas like we owned the place, talking trash and generally acting like we existed in a different plane from everyone else. I kept an unlit cigarette in my mouth the whole time. I was the first of our team to bowl and, quite magically, I got a strike right out the gate.
All these church youth-group types were our competition. They had no idea how to deal with us. We won our match and then went to the bar, ordering Miller High Life and pretending we were regulars. Then the guy who held the event came up to us. Apparently drinking alcohol at a university sponsored event is a VERY serious no-no. Even though the official stance was that students of legal age were allowed to drink (at extremely moderate levels), alcohol was not allowed on campus nor, apparently, at events. Oops. Perhaps because we were having a good time they let it slide (I was also an RA at the time, which probably helped). Either way, we finished 3rd.
I was the guy that owned his own bowling balls (yes, plural) and shoes. In my twenties. Mostly because it was near impossible to find a ball that had the right weight and hole size.
But I have a story: I went to an Evangelical university in the early 2000s. Start of sophomore year they held a bowling tournament at the local alley. So me and two friends signed up. But we first went to the thrift store and bought cheap polyester suits and enormous aviator sunglasses, aiming for something out of the “Sabotage” music video. Our other friend decided to dress up like he was our “muscle” by wearing an outfit like you’d see in the background of the “Beat It” music video. We walked into the alley (which had not been updated since probably 1981, other than the scoring screens) and decided to take on personas like we owned the place, talking trash and generally acting like we existed in a different plane from everyone else. I kept an unlit cigarette in my mouth the whole time. I was the first of our team to bowl and, quite magically, I got a strike right out the gate.
All these church youth-group types were our competition. They had no idea how to deal with us. We won our match and then went to the bar, ordering Miller High Life and pretending we were regulars. Then the guy who held the event came up to us. Apparently drinking alcohol at a university sponsored event is a VERY serious no-no. Even though the official stance was that students of legal age were allowed to drink (at extremely moderate levels), alcohol was not allowed on campus nor, apparently, at events. Oops. Perhaps because we were having a good time they let it slide (I was also an RA at the time, which probably helped). Either way, we finished 3rd.