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Bowling with bouncs
By JACKIE RIPLEY, Times Staff Writer TOWN 'N COUNTRY -- Who would have thought bowling could be hip? Or that on any given Saturday night, you would need a reservation to get a lane before midnight? But then, who would have thought of "cyber bowling," where black lights, swirling colors and haze machines transform an otherwise middle America sport into something resembling an acid flashback? Don't worry: Drugs are not involved. But there is something intoxicating about the scene at Crown Lanes, 5555 W Hillsborough Ave., where cyber bowling takes hold from about 1 p.m. Friday until closing. The action cranks up again Saturday about 9:30 p.m., when the lights go down, the music goes up and a bowling lane, well, rocks out. "I like the flowing colors, the music, all of it," said 27-year-old Jeremy Mayfield, who cyber-bowled for the first time three years ago in Germany. "I grew up around bowling alleys, but it was a bunch of old guys smoking and drinking." This is not your grandfather's bowling alley. A Friday afternoon might start with Wilson Pickett's warning to Sally to "slow that Mustang down." As the night wears on, Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl segues into LeAnn Rimes' Can't Fight the Moonlight. "Oh yeah, we love it," said Ria Smith, who works behind the concession counter. "But the seniors say it's too loud for their eardrums." No doubt, when the spotlights bounce to the beat and the bowling balls and rental shoes glow in the dark, the ambience has a certain '70s disco appeal. "It's fun, with all the lights," said 14-year-old Matt Miulli, who almost skidded down the lane but got a strike anyway one recent Friday afternoon. "We call it cyber bowling but it's been called cosmic bowling or galactic bowling," said Greg Pietz, general manager. "We have a fog machine and show lighting that amplifies the light." The black light and steady beat also appealled to a group of regular lunch-time bowlers from Classic Carpet. "We do it on our lunch break two or three times a week," said Rich English, who lives in Temple Terrace. "We compete, the music's going, it's soothing, it's fun." At the other end of the cavernous bowling alley was a group of about 65 employees from Outback Steakhouse who were bowling as part of a team-building exercise. "It's difficult if you spot bowl because you can't see the spots," said Dawn Spradlin, who works in the company's accounting department. "We've done team-building in the past, but thought bowling would be fun." Cyber bowling happens every Friday, from about 1 p.m. until 3 a.m.; every Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. "We have a DJ on Friday and Saturday from 9:30 to midnight," Pietz said. "It's family night, we play oldies and we encourage young children." After midnight, the music is contemporary and the crowd skews to young adults, Pietz said. The bowling alley also can be reserved twice a month on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for birthday parties. Cost to bowl:$3.50 a game $2.25 shoe rental. For more information, call (813) 884-1475
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From the Times |
