Matt White kept a simple mantra rolling in his head as he stepped up to the line on Lane 4 at Lincoln Lanes, one bowling ball away from a personal milestone:
“Don’t throw a gutter ball. Don’t throw a gutter ball.”
And he didn’t.
His third and final ball of the 10th and final frame in Tuesday night league action Dec. 6 just missed the head pin by an inch, knocking down a side combination two-three pin for a score of five, and a game score of 400 – the first such milestone in White’s long bowling career.
White’s magic game started with two strikes, a spare, then eight consecutive strikes before rolling a five with his last ball.
“I looked up (prior to last ball), the scoreboard screen was already flashing eight (eight straight strikes) and I took a side glance at the screen,” said White, 36, who began bowling at age five in the youth bowling program at the old Polson Bowling Centre in Vernon. “I thought I saw a score of 395 but I wasn’t 100 per cent sure. For whatever reason, I knew I had to hit pins (with last ball). I was saying ‘don’t throw a gutter ball, don’t throw a gutter ball.’
“After the seventh strike, I waited and let somebody else have their turn. I didn’t give myself a breather between the eighth strike and the last ball. I should have given myself time to calm down, but it worked out okay.”
With the 400 game confirmed, White instantly became very shaky.
“Everybody in the lanes around us was going nuts,” he laughed. “The closest I’d ever come before was a 391.”
Asked if he thought about the 400 score during the game, White said, “Not really.”
“I was looking up at the scoreboard and was realizing how fast the points were coming up,” he said. “I didn’t really clue in (about 400) until near the end. I always had it in my head that I could roll a 400 game, especially after throwing a 391 a few years ago.”
His accomplishment was witnessed by his Tuesday night Team X Factor mates, wife Crystal and uncle Rory White. Teammates Brent Selver and Kyle Buchanan were away sick for the evening.
The 400-game was sandwiched around two other milestones for White, who bowls in two adult leagues. On the Thursday prior to the 400 game, he rolled his first career 800 triple (combined scores of the three league games on the night). On the Thursday after the 400-game, White rolled games of 257, 373 and 271 for a 901 total, his first-ever 900 triple.
“Merry Christmas to me, for sure,” chuckled White. “It was a helluva couple of weeks.”
White receives a 400 Club bowling shirt and a plaque for his milestone game. His current average is 214 on Tuesday evenings, and 208 with his team, Alley Cats, on Thursdays.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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