Bowling by the numbers
Stats, specifications and political implications…
In the United States, more than 50 million people bowl annually.
Bowling “center” is the term the bowling industry prefers for what most people still call bowling “alleys.” The industry for some reason decided that the word “alley” has negative connotations. (In BOWLING ACROSS AMERICA both terms are used interchangeably, though the author prefers “alley.” A smoke-filled, windowless room by any other name would smell as sweet…)
Bowling centers in America: 5,571, with a total of 115,197 lanes
League bowlers in America: 2,303.191
Dimensions of a bowling lane: 62’ 10-3/4” long by 42” wide. Pins are 60’ from the foul line. (Dimensions exclude the “approach” and the gutters that run along the 62’ sides.)
Bowling pins are made from a shaped wooden core coated by a 3/32-inch-thick plastic layer. They weigh between 3 lbs 6 oz and 3 lbs 10 oz, and make a great calling card with which to thank someone for lending you their couch for the night.
“Turkey” is the term for rolling three consecutive strikes, entitling—nay, requiring—the bowler to do an obnoxious dance while making gobbling noises.
Bowling’s predictive value in political races: zero. From Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone
“I just ran a quick correlation between the Bush percentage of the vote in 2004 and my index of bowling intensity (basically, bowling per capita, which is not the same as league bowling, but is probably highly correlated with that), and that correlation is essentially zero–that is, there is no link (that I can spot) between bowling and red/blue.
Some big bowling states are red and some are blue and some are purple.”
