A Bowling Muse

MUSE: 1) a guiding spirit; 2) a source of inspiration.

I would like to introduce, acknowledge, and recognize a person who deserves a lot of credit for giving me ideas for my articles - my brother Myron, who lives in Mesa, and he is one of my bowling muses. He is the epitome of many a bowler who quit within the last twenty-five years and is now coming back to the sport. Very simply, he was, and to some degree, still is, "hard-headed" about his version of bowling. He didn’t used to believe a lot of the advice I gave him about the way that new technology has changed the game.

He oftentimes wants to argue with me about things such as lane conditions, making adjustments, and the need for using a spare ball, just to name a few. He, with his, "this is the way it was in the 1970's," and me with my, "forget the past, you've got to adapt in order to bowl better," make for some really good discussions. I am, however, slowly winning him over to some of my basic ideas. The more he practices and the more he gets involved with his league competitions, the more he sees that "my older brother's points might - just might - have some merit to them."

Of course, my basic ideas started from the early 90's when I, myself, came back to bowling after an 11-year hiatus (I totally missed the Urethane Revolution). Lucky for me, that was at the dawn of reactive bowling balls and synthetic lanes, so I have pretty much grown up with this "new era" of bowling technology. Lucky for me, also, that I quickly decided to do a lot of studying to make up for the lost time away from the game and have also kept up with my learning and studies of the sport of bowling.

Since I am the older brother, and since sibling rivalry is what it naturally is, I know that he will continue to be a source of ideas and suggestions for my writing. It's been about 15 months since I started writing these bowling articles; and although I can't pinpoint exactly which of them were inspired by our prior discussions, I do know that he can be held responsible for more than just some of them. It's a good thing for a writer to have such a great and wonderful resource so close to him.

Thanks, Myron, and in the future, you will be properly introduced whenever it is your idea or suggestion that prompts the article.

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)