Bowling is known as the recreational activity that you either have your seventh birthday party at or where you have your seventh Miller Light.

For the longest time, bowling has been associated with drinking alcohol and playing poker with your buddies. But bowling has another side to it: sport bowling. It’s when you get to the level of college bowling and the centers change the amount of oil they put on the lane to make it a more difficult and intense mental game.

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) has a set of patterns they can put out at any time for any tournament. One of those PBA bowlers is Sean Rash, who has won seven PBA titles aid did an experiment with ESPN. They hooked up sensors to his body to show how hard the sport actually is.

The results, according to Sport Science, were amazing. They showed Rash can launch the ball up to 30 miles an hour with a swing height of about six feet. When he stopped at the foul line, his left knee experienced 1600 pounds of force, which is equivalent to a female black rhino for a split second.

Not only is bowling physically and mentally intense. It has a rich history. Bowling was once an Olympic sport back in 1988. Mark Lewis, the assistant coach of the Shocker Bowling team, was at the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea and won the silver medal for the United States.

Bowling is a fun time when you can kick back and drink some beer, but there is another side of bowling that very few know about — the “sport” side. Players compete for thousands of dollars all the time all around the country and few people have any idea that it is going on.

Many people don’t belive bowling is a sport because you don’t physically sweat or run ever. I think bowling is closest related to golf with the different courses being like different oil patterns and the same way people can hang out on the golf course and have a good time but at the same time, golf also has the Professional Golf Association for the players who want to be more serious and compete for titles.

Categorize bowling however you want, sport or hobby, but to me, after almost a whole year at Wichita State, I would definitely consider it a sport.