Next week is my bowing leagues Christmas party. I'm the guy who arranges for the pizza delivery, brings some extra cold ones for the guys, and stuffs the envelopes with cash prizes, and gets a few bottles of cheap wine so that everyone goes home with something.

Candlepin bowling is a charmingly New England thing. Three balls, little balls, the dead wood stays in the lane. It is the most frustration sport I've every played. I suck as a bowler, I am one of the worst in my league. But I work hard to try to keep the group together. Strangely enough, I feel like I am doing God's work here Bowlers are mostly working guys. Once a week we get together, throw back a few beers, talk crap, and let off some steam. A relaxing respite from the pressures of modern life.

Candlepin bowling is dying. Every year another bowling ally closes down. The land they sit on has just become too valuable around here. We had to move the league to another town a few years, the old alley is a…