We were just talking about how bowling is nearly non-existent any more. Not like compared to when we were kids in the 60s and 70s.

I grew up in Cleveland, which was a bowling capital. Back then, the mayor's wife was invited by the First Lady, to attend a special dinner at the White House for mayoral first ladies around the country. She turned it down, because it was her bowling night (I accidentally wrote "blowing night," which the mayor would have enjoyed).

Every morning, my mom watched Bowling For Dollars, even though she NEVER bowled. It was a local live game show (they had stuff like that back then) in which local bowlers could win money depending on how many pins they knocked down.

Saturday afternoon often had big national bowling tournaments on pre-cable TV, which were as popular as major league sports. The big bowlers got famous, and there was even one guy that cultivated a "bad guy" persona, like a wrestler.

Now it's almost non-existent. I can think of one small alley in my town, and I'm not even sure that's still there.

However, I've seen a few bowling events on TV lately, and it sounds like it may be coming back. They'll ruin it of course. Bowling was supposed to be a cheap, affordable sport for the masses, not like golfing. Now they'll Yuppify it, and jack the prices up, blast disco music, and ruin it for everybody.