Bowling For Geeks

Bowling has the potential to do for geeks what golf does for management types. It's an opportunity to talk shop in a relaxed setting. For geeks, bowling presents these advantages:

Not physically demanding, so the fact that you sit at a desk staring at a computer screen all day is not a serious handicap, as in basketball or tennis.

Actually, if you become a real addict - it is demanding. I started out bowling 2 to 3 games during my lunch hour. There was something about bowling that served as an antidote to the whole MonitorZombie thing. However, now that I'm out of work, I'll bowl 6 to 12 games at a time. It's great therapy and definitely works up a sweat! -- RachelStruthers

Played indoors, curtailing pesky sunburns and squinting. In fact, the lighting at bowling alleys tends to be the same flickery fluorescent light that we have in our cubes.
Scored by computers, facilitating discussions of various possible approaches to implementing bowling scoring software, like ObjectMentorBowlingGame.
- Then do you end up with a StrikeSolution?
Goes great with beer!
Leaves plenty of time for people to sit around and talk geek stuff.
Good exercise for wrists. Strong wrists prevent CarpalTunnelSyndrome.
Much like software development, bowling is team oriented.
Bowling shirts are very retro. Just the thing for the fashionable geek (oxymoron?!?)

Several of the items on this list suggest that the bowling environment is a lot like the work environment. I think this makes it unsuitable as a fun, relaxed, social activity. The major attraction of golf for suits is that it gets people out of the office (see GettingOut). But maybe I'm just not enough of a geek anymore to appreciate the joys of sitting under fluorescent lights. -- KrisJohnson

It is very suitable. I bowl with a group of people who aren't geeks which is a nice change of pace. I also BowlAlone?. The advantage of the BowlAlone? thing is that you get into the ZenOfBowling. All that matters is throwing the ball. You forget about things like PointyHairedBosses and MicromanagingSadists. -- RachelStruthers

How ever, unlike Golf (GolfForGeeks?) or Geelf(RulesOfGeelf), Bowling still makes us geeks look like vampires. Until we have more outdoor bowling lanes, I think I'll try and find other forms of geeky fun.

Jason Ritchie rules the "All Sorts" League with an Iron Fist - supported by the trusty Gutter Pimps. Watch out, Larry, here we come!

A true MonitorZombie writes a bowling game! See RonJeffries articles at http://www.xprogramming.com/xpmag/ for suggestions.