A bowling show is put on for my benefit at Spanish Springs Lanes

Contrary to what Ol’ Doc might want you to believe, my foray to the Sunshine State did involve looking for a bowling column. For sure, I did hit the links, but every year we make our way to the bowling establishment in Spanish Springs Town Center to see if something noteworthy might happen. I’ll let you decide if what I observed was impressive or not. My buddies and I ventured into Spanish Springs Lanes on three separate evenings with our last trip on Friday night. We had noticed the message board that gave the top scores for the week ending Jan. 1. One Missy Klug had recorded a 279 game and a 787 series. We hoped to see her bowl. One of my friends wandered down to the low end of the 32-lane house before the league was set to begin. He came back and said there was a bowler with the initials MK on lanes 5 and 6. Could it be her? Soon the man at the desk was calling for Don Ferguson to come up to receive an award for shooting an 803 series previously. Talk about good fortune. It turns out that both Ferguson and Klug were bowling on the same pair albeit on different teams. I made my way to that pair and promptly decided which bowler was Missy Klug. You could tell by the way she was dressed. When she threw her first warm-up ball, I knew I was correct. I chose a seat behind a counter and it happened to be some three feet from where Klug was going to stand for the evening. In front of her she had a little plastic box similar to a sewing box filled with tape, scissors and even a Sharpie. The last object may have well been used for signing autographs. In her first game Missy had five strikes and left five solid 10 pins. When she left the 10 pins she pulled her thumb insert from her strike ball and put it in her spare ball. She then calmly converted each spare. Her score after getting seven pins on her fill ball was 223. A good score for most people, she was not happy and given that her average is 234, I guess I know why. I decided to talk to her after that first game and I asked if her fill ball was used to search for a new line. She informed me that it was indeed an attempt to adjust to leaving the 10 pin. At this point I chose to leave and join my friends in the bar only to find that no seat was available. So I returned to the lanes and I am glad I did. When I came back Klug had started Game 2 with a strike, 8-spare and another strike. When she struck again in the fourth, she came back to where her husband was seated with a frown on her face. Since all 10 pins went to the pit on what appeared to be a pure pocket hit, I had to go over and asked why she was unhappy with her shot. She told me she had pulled the shot and felt lucky to carry it. As she returned to the lanes, I chatted up her husband who, it turns out, is a former Gold Coach for Team USA Bowling. In fact that is where he met his future wife. Sean Klug grew up in the Detroit area and bowling was his life. Missy is a native of Duluth, Minnesota, and has bowled on the women’s pro tour as well as having international bowling experience. After the fourth frame all she did was strike until the last ball when a solid 9 pin left her with a 279 game. In the third game Missy struck in the first seven frames. She was joined by Don Ferguson in that feat. All Ferguson had done was shoot games of 268 and 233. Now they were both perfect through seven frames. Ferguson soon broke his string and after leaving double pinochle in the 10th settled for 245 and a 746 series. The night, however, belonged to Missy Klug as she continued throwing strikes heading into the 10th frame. Sean told me, half kiddingly, that if she didn’t get the 300 it would not be a happy place he would go home to. “Seriously?” I asked. “You don’t know how competitive she is,” he answered. She threw the first two in the 10th when Sean suggested that she only needed eight pins for an 800 series. I looked at him and said, “No, she needs a strike for your sake, her sake and mine!” Hey, I was looking for a great story. The last ball was released and 10 pins went into the pit. Missy was congratulated by fellow league members who had come down to witness the final frame. She then got a hug and kiss from her husband before I had a chance to add my congratulations. Sean had told me that she had 13 or 14 perfect games in her career. When I told her what he had said she responded with “that’s about right.” Which is it? I asked. “Fourteen” she said without hesitation. Of course she knew how many. Every bowler does. So a perfect game and an 802 series! I think she did it just to show off once she found out I write a bowling column. I just might have to take credit for her feat As my friends and I were leaving the bowling alley and walking back to our hotel, we talked about how nice Missy and Sean were. One of my friends suggested that I should have taken a picture of her. I returned to the lanes and asked for the pic and she graciously agreed. I then shook her hand to congratulate her one more time and I could tell from her grip that she was still wired. So I asked her if it was still a thrill after having so many previous perfect games. She smiled and said “it never gets old.” Some pretty good bowling took place locally while I was gone as it always does. Topping the list at Heritage Lanes was a 266-288-216 for 770 series shot by Rich Yates Jr. Nice shooting, Richie. Next week I will get back to posting league honor rolls. This will continue weekly – that is at least until my next working vacation! Al Stephenson is The A-T’s bowling columnist. Read his blog at: www.advertiser-tribune.com