Bad Bowlers for Obama

I'm a terrible bowler. Really. I like sports, and I'm capable at most of them, but bowling...it's always been my achilles heel. Habibi and I went bowling when we were dating - he's a terrific bowler - and I think the final score was him: 160, me: 43. Instead of getting better, I got worse as the game went on. People who know me know that I'm fairly competitive, so losing by that score made for a sour afternoon. The only thing worse was when I shot a 9 on a par 3 mini-golf course (with Habibi the weekend we got engaged).

I went bowling about two years ago in Cairo. Now that's an experience. No bowling shoes required, intermitent power outages on the lanes, dirt and dust everywhere. I bowled against one of my best friends, and it was close for about 8 frames. Final score: her - 70, me - 69. I should add that was on lanes with bumpers on them. Painful. Very painful. We bowled again about 3 months ago, and while I forget the final score, she beat me. AGAIN. The weird thing is that I bowled a strike in the first frame of both games...I'm not a closer I guess.

I saw this story on MSNBC this morning, and I tell ya', I felt Sen. Obama's pain. I've been there. Not even breaking 50 with 19 rolls is tough...but it spurred me to think that maybe I could start my own subgroup of Obama supporters. "Bad Bowlers for Obama". There's got to be more than just me who likes Obama and can't break 80 ON A LANE WITH BUMPERS!

In all seriousness, Sen. Obama's bowling episode says a lot to me. He's not afraid to do something he's not especially good at, and he can make fun of himself. His comment that his "economic plan is better than his bowling" makes him seem like a real person. He laughed about his experience and came across looking like a regular guy.