April 12, 2007, was one of my days off from work (I don't run this site full time yet),
and I had planned a trip to my home bowling center, Brunswick Wekiva Lanes in Apopka, Florida (near Orlando), for a day of bowling. Wekiva Lanes is not more than a 5 or 10 minute drive from my house. I'm visually impaired and don't see well enough to drive, so I used a paratransit service to get me to the bowling alley and back home. (And yes, I bowl and I'm visually impaired. I have about a 115 average, which if I do say so myself, is good for one who is blind in one eye and has about 20/70 vision in the other.) But the catch with this paratransit service is you have to plan your trips a day in advance, and once planned, it's set in stone and all you can do is cancel as little as three hours before the trip. And I was about to wish I'd called the bowling alley in advance and asked if there would be lanes available that day before planning the trip. It turned out that there was a tournament going on and I had no knowledge of it, and I was stuck there for three hours because of the way my ride works, so all I could do was stick around and watch. But it wasn't just any tournament, it was the NCAA women's college bowling national championships. An NCAA national championship bowling tournament at my home bowling center, not more than 5 or 10 minutes from my house? Oh my gosh! There was a lot of good bowling going on, and it was a really cool experience to be able to attend such a big tournament. The finals on the 14th were broadcast on ESPN2 the next day. I couldn't go to the finals because I had to work, but I did manage to tape it. But even if it was just the first day of the tournament, it was quite an experience. If there's ever an NCAA bowling tournament in your area, then go check it out if you get the chance. It will be quite an experience. But in case you never get to go to an NCAA bowling tournament, keep reading and I'll tell you all about my day at the tournament in enough detail to make you feel like you're there.
Continue reading "A Day at the NCAA Women's College Bowling National Championships"
