International Gay Bowling Organization Tournament
Nov. 9-12
Clover Lanes, Livonia
http://www.igbo.org
Zak Mohler takes another swig from his beer mug.
While teammate Tracey Harmon, 27, fills up her glass from their beer pitcher, she tells him, "The more I drink, the better I bowl."
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case tonight at the Ypsi-Arbor Bowl, where their team is nearly 60 pins behind their opponents in the fourth frame.
"It's hard to smile when I'm bowling like shit," Harmon tells Mohler, 27. "I'm very competitive."
Finally, she scores a strike. Then another.
"There's the Tracey we love!" Mohler shouts, giving her a high-five.
The Rainbow League, which meets Wednesday nights, wasn't intended to be a competitive sporting group when it was established in 1993. The organization could almost be any bowling league. Except team names like "Strike-A-Pose" and "Dick and Dyke" would be substituted for something a little less gay.
"It gives people an environment where they can be themselves," said Don Hubbard, who decided to start the association with a friend when they realized all the gay leagues were in Detroit.
Although Hubbard may not participate in the International Gay Bowling Organization Mid-Year Tournament, an international event attracting about 480 gay and lesbian bowlers from as far as Australia, he still plans to attend the event.
"It's not about the competition," says Shawn Trahan, IGBO Mid-Year co-director. "It's mostly about the camaraderie."
Making new friends
Randy Albright and Bob Cruz hadn't bowled much before moving to Detroit in 1976. In fact, the last time Albright bowled was while cutting high school classes.
After meeting a couple of guys at a Detroit bar, Cruz joined the league in 1977. His partner of 40 years, Albright, signed up a year later.
"It seemed (like) a good way to meet people of the gay community in this area," Albright says.
Albright, 73, and Cruz, who's in his mid-60s, continue to bowl with the Betterment of The Individual, one of America's largest and oldest gay bowling leagues, at Fairlanes Bowl in Madison Heights. The couple will also participate in the IGBO Tournament.
In Albright's experience with other leagues, he doesn't see much difference between gay and straight ones. "Gay leagues do tend to spend more money on 'liquid refreshments,'" he says.
Mohler, who's now socializing with teams of The Rainbow League on other lanes, agrees this association has allowed him to meet people outside of bars. But that doesn't mean he won't have a drink – or three.
For years Mohler tried getting a 500 series, but couldn't do it. Finally, he was one pin short of his goal. Then a few weeks later he continued to loom around his goal with a 498. But by the end of the season he exceeded his expectation with a 512 series.
"Everyone was buying me drinks," he remembers. "It was very cool, a little too cool as I was unable to make it in to the office the next morning, but cool just the same."
Open bowling
Mohler began bowling as a kid with his brother and father, but he didn't join a league until he was 19. But the Farmers League in Adrian wasn't quite the same as the one he's been on for three years now.
On this league, in place of high-fives, some bowlers choose to slap each other's rears. And one bowler, Tim Dzon, sports a shirt that reads "Plays Well With Bears."
"They can be with their friends, talk about whatever they want to talk about. Maybe they want to hug somebody and they don't have to worry about everyone looking at them. It's just been really good for the (gay) community," Hubbard says.
Suzanne Gray of Ypsilanti joined The Rainbow League for three seasons as a change of pace to her typical grind and also to make new friends.
"It's a good thing to help get you through Michigan's winter," says Gray, 42. "There's a lot of camaraderie. It's fun to meet up with these people every week and see familiar faces."
Gray stops and focuses her attention on a teammate who barely missed a strike. "Ooh!" she shouts in shock before sauntering up to the lane for her turn.
"Gay people are no different than anyone else when it comes to sports," Albright says. "Gay bowling leagues are a great place to meet new friends plus share weekly good times with others in a somewhat social setting at a reasonable cost."
