16 THE JEWISH CHRONICLE FEBRUARY 1, 2007

Style
JEWS AND BOWLING
A bigger shidduch than you may think
for couples, so I figured why not give it interfere with Hebrew School or SAJS Kundin said. “I’ve got about eight cou-
a shot. They’re just doing it to socialize. schedules. He placed an ad in the Jan. ples, mostly people that I knew. That
JONATHAN Forward Lanes makes it easy.” 25 Chronicle and was a little surprised kind of surprised me. Maybe Pitts-
The league will start on Sunday, Feb. at the lack of response. burgh Jews don’t
MAYO
The Chosen 1s
11, from 3 to 5:30 p.m., timed so it won’t “I thought it would be a lot better,” like to
bowl.”

B e -
lieve it or
not, Jews and
bowling have a long history togeth-
Joel er. Samuel Karpf and Louis B. Stein
Kundin helped start the American Bowling
surveyed the Congress back in 1895. It was Stein
Squirrel Hill scene who set up 300 as the score in tenpin
and realized something important was bowling and established the official
missing from Jewish life here — bowl- weight of the ball at 16 pounds. If
ing. you go to the Bowling Hall of Fame
You heard me. See, when Kundin (a must stop in St. Louis, by the
lived in Charleston, W.Va., years ago, he way), you can see Jewish legends
played in a Jewish couples bowling like charter member Mort Lindsey,
league and enjoyed it immensely. He Phil Wolf (ABC champ in 1928) and
and his wife, Peggy, used to hit the Sylvia Wene Martin (woman bowler
lanes when they were dating. of the year in 1955 and 1960). Nor-
“Let me put it this way. If you can man Meyers, Al Cohn, Mark Roth,
date someone in a bowling league, you Marshall Holman and Barry Asher
can deal with just about everything,” are all there as well. That’s right,
Kundin joked. “We got married despite there’s a minyan at the Hall of
the bowling league.” Fame.
Now, years later, with a daughter at Kundin is nothing more than a ca-
Allderdice High School and a son in sual bowler these days. But back in
eighth grade, he’s looking to fill the day, he owned his own shoes and
that void in his life. An attor- ball. He bowled all the time — there
ney who came to Pittsburgh isn’t a whole lot to do in Charleston,
to go to law school and nev- he explained — and he even had a
er left following his grad- favorite bowler.
uation in 1992, the Con- “When I was bowling way back
gregation Beth Shalom when, my favorite pro was Roth,”
board of trustees mem- Kundin said. “He had a wicked
ber is starting a league curve. I always hoped he was Jew-
for Jewish couples of all ish. Everybody liked Dick Webber,
shapes and sizes. Prior but I liked Roth.”
bowling experience is not
essential. (Jonathan Mayo, the Chronicle’s
“It occurred to me that sports columnist who also writes for
my parents had bowled in a MLB.com, can be reached at mlb-
Jewish couples bowling league mayo.com.)
on Sunday nights in Schenectady,
N.Y.,” Kundin said. “I was surprised
here in Squirrel Hill there was nothing Chronicle illustration by Jane Muder