I have seen “The Big Lebowski” at least a dozen times. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore play out the mistaken identity of a bowling bum for a millionaire, and the subsequent events are hilarious. The movie deserves its cult following, but my point is not to praise this film.
I went to Lucky Strike Bowling Alley, which is one of these new, hip alleys popping up all over the country. It’s a combo of a bar and bowling alley with private party rooms, a full menu, club lighting, swanky couches and chairs, and hip-hop and rap music videos playing on huge screens above the lanes. It was a fun night, a little expensive, but undoubtedly fun — despite the fact that I was trying to reconcile my image of what bowling should be all night.
To invoke a character from the movie, “The Dude” wears a bathrobe and boxers to league games where everyone takes bowling so seriously that firearms are used as enforcement tools. But Lucky Strike was filled with men with gelled hair wearing suits and ties and women in heels that would have made it completely impossible to pick up a spare. The juxtaposition of the two elements – the utter silly, humble nature of bowling, sometimes called the “America’s paunchy pastime,” with the poshness and expense of a Scottsdale bar — was the strangest thing I have experienced in a while. And it’s not just Phoenix that’s trying to upscale a modest hobby — the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2006, bowling alley attendance increased 3 percent and has been rising with the advent of these newfangled nightspots.
Sure, the drinks are expensive and the wait time can be immense (we had to reserve our lanes three days in advance to ensure we could play on a Friday night), but there was something about this new venue of entertainment that was inspiring — once I stopped expecting to see Walter and Donny walk through the door. Despite the fact that I’m generally anti-fancy and favor the laidback, simple pleasures of cheap beer and clown shoes, there was something really fun about combining the two in a way that made for good conversation, entertainment, bangin’ shoes and some pretty terrible bowling scores — though perhaps that had something to do with $3 Peronis.
Reach the columnist at alesha.rimmelin@asu.edu
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