We Could Use a Little More Road Bowling

Do you know what I think this country is missing? Road bowling. I think Matt and I could stage a fierce battle between Glendale and Cedarburg.

You may have seen road bowling on the ESPN show "Gaelic Games" which appeared on ESPN sometime in the 90's. I think this was a weekly show where they showed Irish sports, with the focus usually being on the week's top hurling match. However, it was the road bowling segment that really sparked excitement in the Goldy household, which is strange because my family is a bit of every nationality, mostly Scottish and Croatian, however, no Irish slipped in there.

To me it looked like a bunch of drunk people throwing a ball down a road from town to town. This is a sport I can support! The excitement came when the people on the side of the road got hit by the ball. It was awesome. However, according to wikipedia, there is much more to road bowling than what I just described:

A 28 ounce iron and steel cannonball the size of a tennis
ball (a "bowl" or "bullet") is hurled down a country lane. The player or
team with the fewest shots to the finish line wins.
A road shower advises the
thrower about the throw [or shot] much like a caddy, whilst another helper
stands ahead of the thrower, feet apart, to show the best line or path in the
road.
The thrower runs to the throwing mark and, in the Northern or County
Armagh style, extends the arm and bowl behind him as he runs. At the throwing
mark the arm is snapped forward by arching the back and shoulders, releasing the
bowl underhand before stepping over the mark.
In the Southern or County Cork
style, as the thrower runs to the mark the arm and bowl are lifted up and back,
then whirled downward into an underhand throw, releasing the bowl before
stepping over the mark.
Wherever the bowl stops (not where it leaves the road
surface), a chalk
mark is made at the nearest point on the road and the next throw is taken from
behind that mark.
Over tight curves, or corners where two roads meet, the
bowl may be thrown through the air (lofted). The loft must strike the road or
pass over it. If the loft fails to reach the road, it counts as one shot, and
the next throw must be taken again from the same mark.
If two players or
teams approach the finish line with equal shots, the winner is decided by which
throw goes farthest past the finish line.

Seriously, doesn't that sound like fun? There is drinking and gambling involved. I think we need to start a Milwaukee area road bowling league. Chuckie Hacks will supply the shirts.