TOW #25 "The Most Amazing Bowling Story Ever" (article)

                The title of this prose is more or less self-explanatory. It is about the most amazing bowling story ever. It starts out with a narrative description of a competitive bowler by the name of Bill Fong executing a perfect—or to him, near perfect—strike. The author, Michael J. Mooney, uses descriptive language and imagery to his advantage to describe the short moment. He also notably compares a human’s desired efficiency to that of a robot. He then proceeds to inform the audience that bowling a perfect 300, or twelve strikes in a row, is not the best one can do. The best, in fact, would be bowling a 900, 36 strikes in a row, since bowling is played in three rounds. Apparently, there have only ever been 21 people ever to achieve this on record. This article tells the story of a time when Bill Fong almost made that number 22. Mooney’s use of descriptive language throughout creates a suspenseful mood and makes the reader really feel like they are watching ever little fleeting moment and movement of the scene being described. The article then goes through a biographical section that talks about Fong’s life a bit more in depth. This then leads back to the narrative of Fong bowling. Normally, an interruption of this sort would seem abrupt and ill placed, but Mooney does well to make it seem more blended together and less jumpy. Overall, the narrative sections do well to attract the reader and would make any sport, even bowling, appear to be incredibly intense.