Opinion
Bowl for Barack a bust
By: Jeff Dufour
Editor at Large/Columnist, "Yeas & Nays"
11/25/08 12:05 AM EST
Lame lanes
Although Barack Obama gets credited for running a fairly impressive presidential campaign, he did make one serious misstep: Deciding to bowl in Pennsylvania.In March of this year, Obama did his best to hang with Pennsylvania's regular folk by bowling at Pleasant Valley Recreation Center in
Altoona, Pa. Footage from that event caused Obama endless grief, since the then-candidate had a hard time keeping the ball out of the gutters.
The Center decided to put its 15 minutes of fame to good use by auctioning off the whole package: Lane 21 and 22, the gutters, ball returns, pin setters, scoring system, etc.
Unfortunately, however, the auction's results are nearly as embarrassing as Obama's original bowling buffoonery: The eBay auction,
which closed on Sunday, didn't meet the minimum reserve ($50,000). In fact, no bids were registered at all.
All of which hammers home one crucial lesson: It's things like Lane 21 and 22 that make us realize why there's a Smithsonian Institution.
