A perfect game

February 29th is a rare date. It only comes around once every four years.

What I saw on Leap Year night is much rarer.

Last night, I witnessed a perfect game of 5-pin bowling, bowled by Cranbrook's own Dave Wendell. I had to laugh, because only minutes earlier, I was proud of accomplishing a bowling milestone of my own, my first 300 game.

The perfect game happened during our Wednesday night mixed league, which is mostly just for players looking to have a good time and a few beers. You're not expecting to see too many bowlers here hit extremely high games. Some 300 games here and there, but nothing like this.

My team is made up of Shayla Brissette, Curtis Boudreau, Jay Mackinnon and Scott Wilmott, who was sitting in for Graine Wilmott that night. We were up against one of the better teams in the league, including Dave Wendell.

The third game began and we watched as Dave began to string together strike after strike. The game before, I had just thrown six strikes in a row, so I was excited to see this new energy coming from our opponent's team.

Then Dave hit his seventh strike and it dawned on me that he hadn't missed a strike yet.

The eighth frame began and Dave hit another one. Eight strikes in a row.

The night was beginning to wind down in the bowling alley, but a buzz was beginning to go over the crowd. That was intensified as Dave went up again and, once again, hit another strike.

Nine frames, nine strikes and only three throws left to go.

The tenth frame began and a hush fell over the entire bowling alley. Dave Wendell was up again.

His first throw was a strike. The star popped up on the score screen, signifying 10 strikes in a row.

Dave threw again, hitting his 11th strike. At this point, the star popped up again, with the word 'super' above it.

Still up for his final throw, Dave took a deep breath, paused and made his final throw.

Strike ball. Twelve strikes in a row. Perfect game.

The bowling alley went nuts. Our team, Dave's team, everyone in attendance couldn't believe what they just saw.

Now, I love bowling, but I will admit that witnessing a perfect game of 5-pin was not on my list of things I have to see for my own eyes.

That being said, I cannot deny how amazing that was to witness something like that. To put it in perspective, in Cranbrook's 50-year league bowling history, only 10 perfect games have been played. That's over 50 YEARS.

So congratulations to Dave Wendall. You have accomplished something that many bowlers over the years have strived to achieve.

As for my bowling, while I did hit my first 300 game last night, it looks like I have another milestone to aim for.