Bud may have known this for a long time, but as soon as I started wearing shorts, my athletic performance started peaking. Growing up, I always wore shorts. I wouldn’t take it quite as far as Bud, but it wasn’t until high school where the pressure of being normal caught up to me. Nowadays, I wear pants because I’m flat out cold. Back in the day, I thought shorts were cool. I recall a Detroit Pistons pair of shorts that were especially rad that I wore to every basketball practice. Today, I actually enjoy wearing pants as a change of pace from shorts. Which brings me to athletic performance.

Last night I rolled a 717 bowling series. 252, 213, 245. I’m not certain how many 700 series I’ve rolled in my life. It’s not 1 and it’s not a hundred. Probably a dozen or two. I even left 5 ringing tens, to go along with 1 Jersey strike, to give an idea of how often I was hitting the pocket. This almost felt like an accomplishment because it’s been so long since I’ve bowled regularly. It’s nice to know it doesn’t leave you.

Amazingly, the first day I wore shorts to golf in what feels like 6 months, I shot an 83. This is coming fresh off a lesson so it’s feasible to attribute it more to the lesson than the attire, but, facts are facts. I was considering what was harder a 700 series, or breaking 80, and it did give me pause. The 700 series happens under the right lane conditions, bowling with people who don’t push the oil straight down, and your ability to repeat the throw. Breaking 80 depends on the actual course, your ability to be consistent for 18 holes, and variables like the weather, green speed, course conditions, and lucky bounces. Cleary since I’ve passed 700 many times (and can do it with a year layoff), and only broke 80 once, it’s golf. Yet, am I better at bowling than golf? I’ve been doing both a long time, and it does feel like I haven’t peaked in either, but compared to humanity, where do I rank in both? I don’t doubt my graph will hit its zenith shortly, but as of today, I’m still expecting to do both a few more times. It depends if I can wear shorts year round like Bud.