SPORTS

HIGH SCORERS!

These avid keglers won't let tenpins get in their way.

HOWARD ROSS

Special to The Jewish News

Photos by Glenn Triest

T

Barry Fishman works hard to achieve this form.

hey file deliberately
into West Bloomfield
Lanes a little after 9
o'clock on a late-winter Thurs-
day night. The processional is
made up of pairs and small
groups; the conversation
centers on sports and
business — men's small talk.
The tempo picks up as they
shed their coats, revealing the
black V-neck shirts and red
lettering that spells out their
common bond. The friendly
taunting, side bets, male bon-
ding and camaraderie — not
to mention numerous spares,
strikes and even converting a
few unbelievable splits — will
reach a crescendo about two-
and-a-half hours later,
sometime between the third
game and second beer.
These are the men of B'nai
B'rith Pisgah Lodge. And this
is bowling night.
The tennis boom may have
gone bust. The aerobics
crowd, devoted as it is, seems
to be dwindling if recent
health club closings are any
indication. Even golf — which
since the late '80s has shed its
once regal pretensions for
newfound popularity as the
game of the masses — may
have peaked.
But bowling, though not as
widely practiced as it was
during the Eisenhower era,
manages year after year to
hang onto its status as an in-
door recreation contender.
Especially among metro
Detroit Jews.
The secret of the sport's suc-
cess, according to bowlers in
several Detroit-area men's
and women's leagues, lies at
least partly in the fact that
they can bend the game to
meet their interests. Their
participation can be on
athletic, competitive or social
levels. Or even a combination
of all three.
"We have guys with 120
averages and guys with 200
averages bowling on the same
lane," says Mitchell Lefton,
secretary of the 83-member,

22-team Pisgah Lodge Bowl-
ing League. "And I don't
think either guy minds that
at all."
An example: the Pisgah
Lodge bowlers include in
their ranks Paul Bensman,
who carries a 143 average
and says it takes him "half a
season just to learn how to
bowl right" and Barry
Fishman, who usually bowls
over 200 and harbors serious
thoughts about joining the
professional tour.
It's the same for the women.
"I'm a good bowler," says
Karen Minc, who carries a
170-175 average for B'nai
B'rith's MGM Women. "But I
don't consider myself a
serious bowler.
"For me, it's definitely more
for the socializing, seeing
friends," Minc says.
Minc, 38, of Farmington
Hills, has bowled in the

The secret of the
sport's success,
according to
bowlers, is that
participation can
be on athletic,
competitive or
social levels.

women's league for the last
six or seven years. Before
that, she bowled in a mixed
league.
"I really look at it as a
casual activity," Minc says. A
natural athlete who also
plays tennis, Minc says people
learn her average and
mistakenly figure her in with
the heavy-duty bowlers.
"I started when my kids
were small. It was something
to keep me busy during the
days," she says. She has since
given up afternoon bowling to
work in the office supply store
she and her husband own.
Now her 13-year-old
daughter is following in her
footsteps, bowling in a
weekend league for teens.
Cidnie Herold of West
Bloomfield has bowled week-
ly with B'nai B'rith Gallilee

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 51