Ten-pin bowling

Just took up ten-pin bowling and am enjoying it. It's a great sport
and can be addictive too. Only trouble is if you throw the ball
down the gutter, it's akin to throwing money down the drain and
it's not a cheap sport.

Before I went any further, thought I'd do a little research on the
game. Did you know that bowling has been around for ages?

Who then invented bowling?

Archaeologists have discovered bowling balls, pins and other
equipment in an Egyptian child's grave dating back to 5200 B.C.
In Germany, back in A.D. 200, village dances and celebrations
included a similar form of the game -- they rolled stones at nine
wooden clubs called kegles. Bowlers in Germany are sometimes
still referred to as "keglers." Bowling was
recorded in England as early as the 1100s. In the Netherlands
people took up a related game, and it was the Dutch who
introduced the sport to America in the 1600s -- it was called
Dutch pins. In what is now New York City, Dutch residents
bowled in a section of the city still known as "Bowling Green."

In America the game became very popular. But people began
to gamble on the sport, and for a while it was looked on as an
evil event. The state of Connecticut outlawed "bowling at nine
pins," as it was described. To get around that law, residents
added an additional pin and this was the beginning of the 10-pin
game played today! By the mid-1900s, the sport was once again
an accepted form of family recreation.

The American Bowling Congress, which was organized in 1895,
established standard playing rules and regulations.

Bowling has been termed a mental game as it involves having
the right mental attitude and confidence to do well. Unlike other
sports which involve a physical opponent, bowling is just between
you and the bowling pins.