south hills bowl and the american dream

"If you can't handle bowling, how are you going to handle life?"
-Dave Stern

In 11th grade English we were introduced to a new concept on the first day of class. Our teacher, Ms. Hannah, asked the class if any of us knew what the American Dream was. Of course, at that time, we were 16 somethings that didn't know shit about how our great grandparents got here and really could care less, truthfully. After a series of incorrect guesses, Ms. Hannah answered the question for us. The American Dream was your right to pursue your dreams in any way you see fit. The thing that was great about the American Dream was that it was the first time in the history of mankind that people were truly allowed to have freedom. At no other time or place were people free to come and not only be awarded land but have the right to do whatever the hell they wanted with that land. That's what made and still makes America the greatest country in the world: the simple concept of complete freedom that was so revolutionary.

Earlier this week, a tragedy that you all know about occurred. It is not my job here to spit out random facts at you about the background of each person murdered at virginia tech. Instead, I'm going to point how this and the American Dream are related. First, the killer was an immigrant himself, who came here to study English of all things. If George Washington and Thomas Jefferson would have seen how great this revolutionary concept that they embodied was, they would be thrilled with the country that they help to found. The murderer was part of approximately 25 million immigrants that we have in our country today. As many people have noted, having such a black hole type of a country can be dangerous because anybody can come into our country. The thing that makes us so different from other countries is that there is no true "American" look or thought process. What makes this dangerous is that millions of people from many different parts of the spectrum come to this country. Throughout our 240 or so years of existence, we have tried many things to try to prevent certain types of people from entering(literacy tests, mathematics tests, reading tests). However, in the end, the fact remains that American will always be an open society because the danger is a factor in American society, the rewards that are reaped from this society are much greater.

This brings me to my next point. In the 1950's, people were first beginning to categorize the American Dream as millions of WW2 soldiers began to settle into new houses. In a fast growing, yet small town south of Pittsburgh, a bowling alley opened. I can remember reading the article that they always had posted about how South Hills Bowl was the "best bowling center" back in that day because it had automatic pinsetters and a snack bar. My own run in with South Hills did not begin until 2001 when I began bowling in a high school league there. I knew absolutely nobody there, although I quickly made my first and eventual best friend from the bowling team, mike bradburn. Throughout my four years of bowling there in the league to the thousands of hours of practice I put in there, I got to know the people and the place inside and out. I got my first real coaching lesson there(when Dave Stern told me if I worked at it, I could get as good as the current captain of the team). It's where we had our first really good match with justin walter and company. It's the place that spawned so many of my high school friends(mike roth, jesse sopko, alan davis, brian ricobelli, bethanne fritz, maura hilbert, lauren kramer, and the list could go on forever). It was a place that we would go when bradburn and I were seniors(and the four other starters were juniors) would go after matches and food to go hassle our coaches in their adult league. Above all this, there was a bond that formed between all of us, even between the most bitter of enemies. When we went to tournaments and wore that ragged South Hills Bowl shirt you better believe we wore it with pride. We knew we were from a rough place on a hill in a little town called South Baldwin. We were aware that the place had never truly been renovated since its inception in 1952. And, most of all, we knew that it was the only place(other than Dormont Lanes) on this side of the Mississippi that didn't have automatic scoring. Despite all this, for fifty plus years people kept coming back to this place. Eventually, people just got tired of the lanes breaking all the time and having to keep score themselves. In the end, South Hills Bowl created its own downfall because of its intense stubborness and unwillingness to change with the times. Nonetheless, here is a list of 20 things I will miss about South Hills Bowl(in no order):
1. The leaking roof
2. Ryan Obringer
3. Bill Glus' voice over the loudspeaker every Saturday
4. Denny's hatred of life
5. The competitive matches with Justin Walter's team
6. Me calling Mike Niro a daego every week
7. Bradburn's victory dances
8. Soft pretzels and the strike shot every week
9. Mike Roth and the "Kill Yourself" patch
10. The distinct black color your hands would be after bowling
11. Sitting on the pool tables with Bradburn, Jesse, Alan, Bryan, and Lauren on Wednesdays and Fridays
12. Bradburn breaking his finger bowling
13. The 50/50 and Star of the Week, both of which ended this year
14. Throwing Drew Kreigline on top of the vending machine.
15. The constant breaking of the lanes
16. The milkman
17. Maura's tendency to never want to be there
18. Chic Miller telling us if we made 75% more of the spares we missed that we'd win every game
19. The shitty sign on the hill
20. The building itself, with that uniquely ugly blue and white paint.

There you go, there is the list, and this concludes my post.

Until next time,
mh

last call

"What's my destiny mama?"
-Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump

13 years ago, Tom Hanks immortalized those words in what I consider to be his best film of all time. If you don't recall, he is sitting alongside his mother when he tells her that she is dying and will most likely not be there for much longer. At first, this leaves Forrest incredibly sad, but after he gets over the initial shock, he poses the age old question at the top of your screen. She, as any wise woman replies with "I can't tell you that. You're gonna have to find out for yourself." Gump gets to wondering as there is a long silence afterwards.

It got me to wondering too, how our destiny is exactly determined. I would have to say that we can determine our own destinies to a certain point, but there's sort of a randomness factor that truly guides to what level of preciseness those dreams are carried out. This is when I realize how dangerous it is to lock ourselves into one destiny because things change so rapidly. Me, I've always seen myself making it huge in poker and the business world, two areas that I hope to excel in. But then again, who the hell am I to say that I will be in the right spot at the right time to catch the big break to propel myself to the place i want to be at.

The title and the crux of the post were actually going to be talking about how we are coming down the final stretch in the school year, but as usual, I got sidetracked. As I thought it would happen, I feel myself coming on strong in calc and stats. In accounting, we have a huge test on monday that is worth 25% of my grade and I have yet to pick up the book to study it. Wish me luck with that as I go to study now.

mh

youth

"When I was young I knew everything."
-The Verve Pipe, The Freshmen

When I was cleaning my room over spring break, I found something interesting. It was a piece of paper dated February 28, 2004. It said something to the effect of "Nayhouse finally came through in the clutch when I needed him to. I couldn't be happier right now." This comment referred to him introducing me to this girl that I thought was really, really cute but one that I had no balls to talk to at the time. I was incredibly happy for about a month after I met her, but those feelings quickly turned sour because I realized that she wasn't interested in me at all. It was my first taste of the unrequitied liking of a girl, an experience that i still remember until now. I turned the piece of paper over and it was marked October 14, 2004. There was a very short message written on it saying "Yeah, thanks a lot for that one." Then there was a smily face after it. This story reminded me of two very important things. First, things can turn from very sour to very good in a short period of time(namely after the month of destruction(march) ends) and vice-versa. The more life experiences that I have I realize that events and people in your life move like a big circle. You cannot control what is going to happen to you that day, you can only control your attitude and how you react to both positives and negatives. However, at the end of the day, happiness usually breeds happiness; and sadness, well sadness. The second thing that this reminded me of was that no matter how much of a psychic you think you are, you can't really predict what is going to happen. Relationships remind me of those "spider holes" in Vietnam where some guy should have been holding up an "Enter With Caution" sign outside of them. I mean, you can peek your head in there, but the only way to fully immerse yourself in the good and bad of relationships is to take a chance and throw yourself into it. Naturally, I'm an optimistic person and looking at this from a different perspective now just changed my view of the whole event.

As for what is going on now, March was a rocky month. March kinda reminds me of the dropping of the bomb in that you can only see the true destruction when the cloud clears out. When the dust settles, you can get a better picture of where everything lies and start to pick up the pieces. Academically, I more than held it together. I'm incredibly proud of myself because when things got bad with work, home, relationships, and friendships I kept the ship on course. I have a 101% in Stat, a 90% in Accounting, and a 86% in Business Calc. I knew that the storm was going to come, and this time I was ready for it. Friendship wise, I've seen a lot of people come and go over the last six months. There have been a few constants and out of the whole period of time I've found a few people that I can truly consider friends. Next year, I'm kind of afraid that a lot of the friendships that I've developed over the last 19 years will fade to nothing. On the other hand, I'll be living with two of my best friends and another friend that I'm sure I'll get to know quickly. I can see those friendships being life long ones. Other than that, I'm not too sure what lies in store for the ones I have right now. Relationship wise, I'm really confused. I can openly say this because I have never not known what to do or what I want, but now I am more confused than ever. Part of the problem is that my wants change really quickly. One day I'll say that I want one thing and the next I won't want that thing anymore. This category is the one that I have yet to figure out. It's easier for me to understand optimization problems than it is to put a reason behind why girls do things. Apparently, there is one though. When I figure women out, I'll let you know.

That's about it for now. For the record, I'm out of here around August 23-25. August is a pretty packed month as I'll be out of town from August 4-11 and then I have packing, shopping, and my brother's birthday to do until I leave. In July I haven't decided when I'm going to Turningstone, but I'll definitely be there. If you play poker seriously and want to go to an actual casino, let me know. It will be around 35$ a night to stay there if anyone is interested. Other than that, I'll be working, playing basketball, playing soccer, and enjoying what could be my last summer of freedom. Alright, I'll try to give more frequent updates(maybe once a week), but I can't promise anything until I get more time(May 8th will be my last final). Until then, enjoy yourselves.

mh