The Wonderful World of Bowling
Article and Video by Bridget Corrigan
To some, bowling is considered an occasional night out. To Ithaca’s bowling leagues, however, it’s an important part of every week.
Bowl-O-Drome, located on Third Street, provides a space for these bowlers to meet, hosting different leagues every night of the week. Bowl-O-Drome’s walls surround one of these leagues every Tuesday evening at 5:30 for their season running from September through April.
Upon the entrance to Bowl-O-Drome, your eyes are greeted by a shoe wall to your left and bright lanes to your right. Your nose breathes in the smell of $7 pitchers and the aroma of bowling shoes, while your ears welcome the chatter and the sounds of the pins falling to the ground as all the bowlers try to knock them down. Tuesday night’s league includes The Keglers, Four Pitchers, Tradition, Haunters, Phive Engineers, Landkill, and Sandbaggers. Each has three teammates and compete for the highest final score of the night, which all eventually get tallied together to determine the champion for the season.
Like many sports, the seasons are broke up into Winter and Spring segments. The Winter session winner plays the Spring’s first place team, to decide the bowling league’s champion team for the year.
“The Keglers won the first half of the season, now they’re in second place. Tradition is in the lead for this half,” Bob Eastman, of the Hunters, says. The two highest scoring teams will play each other at the end of the 30 weeks, which is fast approaching.
An evening for the bowlers starts with a round of beers while the league members catch up with each other. The night
stretches over three games for each team, lasting about a half hour a game, ending the night at around 7:00.
The atmosphere that Bowl-O-Drome has created for the bowling leagues is full of support and lighthearted fun. To the outsider, the term “bowling league” might create images of die hard bowlers such as the serious players in Professional Bowlers Association, or the National Bowling League. Players committed to Ithaca’s bowling league do not take on such a serious outlook, however. Liz McCartney, a member of the Tuesday evening league, says “it’s more of a social thing.”
McCartney used to play volleyball competitively when she was younger, so she keeps that at the top of her list as her favorite sport. The bowling league creates more of an atmospheric event than a sport she takes too seriously. “I only come during the league times – I never practice on the weekends or anything.”
Although there are cash incentives for the winning team, the players remember above all to have a good time, and enjoy the friends they surround themselves with.
Four years ago, Ides Bowling Alley located in East Hill Plaza was torn down, leaving Bowl-O-Drome and the Helen Newman Bowling Center located in Cornell University the only two standing bowling alleys in Ithaca. The Ides league made the transition swiftly over to Bowl-O-Drome.
McCartney, who has been bowling with the league for ten years, comes mostly for the social aspect. Her team, the Hunters, have had the same three team members since she joined. One of the members, Bob Eastman, has been bowling in Ithaca since around ’75, while John Deraddo, the teams third member, has been playing since ’98.
The cost to be in the bowling league is affordable, with small increments paid once a week. “There’s a $25 sanction fee to join, and after that it’s on a weekly basis,” Dustin Burns, a member of the Lanekill team says. Every week, the league members pay the $13 admission fee to the bowling alley. $9.50 goes towards lane fees, and every $3.50 left over goes into the pot for the winners of the season.
Skills grow immensely in each player of the team through weekly practicing. The thuds of the bowling balls falling and gliding down the lanes are almost always struck by a loud crack, knocking many, if not all of the pins to the ground. “It’s all about balance,” McCartney says. Like any other sport, bowling has its own special tricks to perfect the game. Although Ithaca’s bowling league isn’t full of professionals, the talent shines through in every ball the players swing down the lane.
So if you’re looking to try on the sport and improve your skills with other interested people, Bowl-O-Drome invites anyone who desires to join. “Each league has eight teams, and anyone can join,” Bob Eastman, from the Hunters, says. “Leagues meet every night of the week, so there’s always space available.”
Try taking a walk in someone’s bowling shoes for a day down at Bowl-O-Drome, and see what all the fuss is about.
