Two weekends ago anyone in the know was not watching the cricket, nor the various codes of Rugby. Even the England Argentina footie game lacked the requisite drama provided by the only sporting choice of the congniscenti.
That’s right. The Weber Cup.
The easiest way to describe it is the Ryder Cup of Ten Pin Bowling. Pretty much because that is exactly what it is. Oh, some of the rules are different but basically it is a team of Europeans vs a team from the US, competing til 18 games are won, in mano e mano ten-pin bowling. Sound dull? That is what we thought when incredulously the pub we were in (Mabel’s Tavern) chose it as the Friday night sport of choice over the Under 21 international. We assumed that everyone would play pretty much perfect 300 games and wipe the floor with concept of entertainment. Sure people just get very, very good at bowling like they get very good at pool or darts.
The answer is yes, they do, but perfect games are less common than perfect check-outs in darts and more common than perfect breaks in snooker. And watching the strikes suddenly go awry made it a fascinating competition. Like snooker, each frame was the perfect length for you to “just watch one more”. Friday night saw us cheering the Europeans and boo-ing the Yanks, and at the end of the night Europe was 4-2 up. But there was a long way to go…