The French Gambit

07-28 update. As I sit in my room here in Paris reading your questions, many of you ask why bowling hasn’t been an Olympic sport up to now. Although it was shortlisted for the Tokyo Games, once again bowling didn’t make the cut. The stated reason by the powers that be was that they associated bowling with blue collar bowling leagues. In their eyes, the Olympics was all about young, exciting athletes at the top of their physical and mental games, whereas bowlers were 50-year-old guys in Milwaukee named Sam and Vinnie, who struggled to balance their swing motion with their hefty pot belly, all the while smoking a filterless Pall Mall.

To battle this tired stereotype, the bowling federations launched a brilliant campaign: A sizzling wall calendar featuring the best 20-somethings in the sport, including world champions Kayla “Kryptonite” Marston and Kyle “The Cannon” Springstreet. In a master stroke, they posed the bowlers in various Paris street scenes wearing the hottest fashions from Dior, Givenchy, Lanvin, LV, Jean Paul Gautier and others. The calendar was a smash hit and was often spotted on the walls of Olympic decision makers. “The French Gambit” worked, and soon word came down that bowling was approved for the Paris Games.