store, and I think their pizza is really good. I don't generally love chains, but a small VT-based one operating mostly in New England (they have one outpost in Hawaii) is okay by me. (I like Maine's Otto, too.)

Bowling!

By capecoddah on Tue, 02/14/2017 - 7:49pm.

I took my girls to Lanes and Games in Cambridge last Sunday for one last visit before they close and the place was jam packed. There was a waiting list for a lane and they have over 50 lanes. I am glad to see the cost/sq. footage is not too prohibitive to keep the sport alive.

I was a big fan of the arcade at Sammy Whites in Dedham. The free game knocker on Bally's 1977 Lost World was the loudest I have ever heard to this day.

If I recall correctly...

By Allstonpete on Tue, 02/14/2017 - 9:31pm.

....Lost World was one of the first pinball machines that had a digital readout instead of the old fashioned tumblers.
I used to live at the old Lucky Strike in Fields Corner

Miss Both...

By Suldog on Tue, 02/14/2017 - 9:50pm.

Lucky Strike and Sammy White's. I used to bowl all over - Wollaston Bowladrome, Superbowl in Quincy, East Milton, Boylston Street, Weymouth, Boston Bowl in Dorchester (never cared for their candlepin lanes, for some reason - always recorded my worst scores there), the huge 55-lane place that used to be (no kidding) under Symphony Hall, Mattapan, the (I think) 16-lane establishment under South Station, the joint that used to be near Packard's Corner, Kenmore Bowladrome near Fenway Park, South Boston Bowladrome, and many others. Lucky Strike and Sammy White's were the two I frequented most, though.

Used to enter the occasional "roll-off" for the Channel 5 shows, at both Lucky Strike and Sammy White's, but never won one. I was decent, but not really good enough - held averages around 105 or so in a few leagues - and won a few bucks in some very minor ten-string tournaments once in a great while, if I had a hot night and the real pros weren't entered :-)

I am very happy to hear of a new candlepin place opening, rather than one closing. Just about every one I mentioned above is no longer extant. Boston Bowl and South Boston are the only two, I think.

I've never understood why candlepin didn't become the more dominant sport, rather than tenpin. It's a harder game, which is usually the one that becomes more professionally dominant - think baseball as opposed to softball, for instance. And it's a much easier game for kids to start playing, what with not having to heft a huge ball.

Sorry for going on for so long. I really love the game.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

People whine, "It's too hard"

By Gary C on Wed, 02/15/2017 - 9:49am.

You are 100% correct that candlepin is so much easier for kids to "pick up" than "big ball bowling" (as my kids call it.) On the other hand, it IS hard to get strikes and spares, even with 3 tries. The fact that no one has ever rolled a perfect candlepin game still amazes me. You'd think someone would have just been in the zone, one time, to get that 300.

Local Limitations

By Suldog on Wed, 02/15/2017 - 10:46am.

I've always imagined that a 300 might have been thrown by this time if candlepin had become the dominant worldwide game. As it is, the participation has been limited almost wholly to New England and the Canadian Maritimes. With a larger pool of participants, all averages, single strings, triples, etc., would of course be higher.

Still, it is a damn tough game. Even with world-wide participation, that perfect game may not have happened. The record now is 240, as I recall. My high single was 156.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog. blogspot.com