Bowling's timeless appeal in Ohio schools

Technology is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, none of the advancements ever include time travel, which would allow us to go back to when things were simpler – and often more fun.

The heir and his classmates recently began their physical education unit on bowling. Remarkably, up to 70 million Americans bowl at least once a year, according to Bowl.com, keeping it the No. 1 participation sport in the United States, a distinction it has maintained since the beginning of time – or perhaps 5200 BC, by which time bowling may or may not have been invented.

So while learning the ins and outs of kegling might not rank up there with readin’, writin’ and ’rithmatic, teaching its fundamentals is still worthwhile. It’s not likely to take a whole lot of time to cover the coursework, either.

There are pretty much three elements, if you don’t count renting shoes. There’s the first ball, the second ball and keeping score. Four elements if you count buying a pitcher of beer.

Sometime between the late 1970s and early ’90s, while the rest stayed the same, the scorekeeping element became somewhat obsolete. Electronic scorekeepers suddenly were the norm and nobody had to know how to add the next ball onto the 10 pins from a spare in the prior frame.

I’ll always remember going to Stonehenge in Akron during my formative years and gazing at the wonder of my X showing up in the box on the screen above the lane. At the same time, the disappointment of not getting to fill in that X myself and add my next two rolls to that strike might have canceled out that awe.

Once electronics took over, plenty of folks could no longer understand the mystery of how it took 12 strikes, and not 10, to record a perfect game. And forget about the simple arts, like circling a number to indicate a split.

So why teach scoring now in a gym class? Like all other math-oriented pursuits, after all, who’s ever going to use this in their lifetime?

That, of course, is sarcasm. If you know, you know.

And as one who later figured out the answer, while the math may not have been mathing for a lot of us when we were sitting in the math class, it’s all around us later in life. Math is about problem-solving, which, not coincidentally, also is what adulting is about.

Who knows? Maybe someday, that automatic scoring system won’t be working quite right. Even if that never happens, though, a competitive bowler should probably understand why a score is what it is.

As for bowling itself, it’s one of those rare things that doesn’t change much over the generations. Other than the advent of the two-handed style, which gained popularity a couple decades ago, the sport hasn’t remained remarkably unchanged.

It still calls for ugly shoes and, in many cases, ugly shirts. The playing field and equipment, though, have remained pretty constant – along with the enjoyment level.

It’s still something an entire family can do. It’s still a great centerpiece to a kid’s birthday party. It’s still a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Other than the lack of dense clouds from people burning heaters from start to finish, a practice banned a quarter-century or so ago, bowling alleys in 2026 would be very recognizable to a time traveler coming from either direction.

No matter when that would be, it would add up to a good time. And makes it a great thing to learn about.