Wii Bowling Score a Hit on Facebook

As you may remember from a recent column, I am now on Facebook. I’ve actually been on it for a while, but just have been hesitant to admit it. But my shame has long since subsided. Several fellow deacons from my church and the pastor’s wife Facebook now. Even Billy Graham is on there and I am one of his 56,268 fans. Because of Facebook, I can claim to be friends with a high profile professional golfer, a cast member from the Survivor television series, a Nashville recording artist, a major league pitching coach, and Miss California. (And for the record, each responds when I send him/her messages.) But I digress. The true purpose of this column is not to impress you with my list of friends. Okay, the pro golfer is John Daly, but that’s the last time I’m going to drop names. The subject at hand involves something I posted on my Facebook site recently. Unlike many of my “friends,” I don’t change my profile picture every week or so. It’s been the same one pretty much the whole time. Also unlike most of my friends, when I download pictures to share, they are usually ones with some relative substance to them like family gatherings and mission trips. That kinda stuff. I broke that pattern and joined the silliness by posting a cellphone picture of me in front of a television a few weeks ago. In that picture, I was pointing at something on the television. It all started when I accompanied my kids on a visit to their grandparents and the Wii game was allowed to tag along. Before I knew it, hotly contested games of Wii bowling erupted. And to be honest, I stunk. (Or is it stank? I can’t remember). Upon our return home, the kid’s enjoyment of Dad’s humiliation led us to the playroom to continue our rivalry. Suddenly the tables turned. Ole’ Dad got in a zone and all of sudden, I couldn’t miss. Eight strikes in a row at one point. When the game ended, I had bowled a Stroupe family high of 279. Unheard of. Out of sight. All that jazz. I needed permanent evidence. So there I am in the picture, pointing at my score on the television. So proud was I that I displayed it for the world to see on Facebook. Within minutes I had received eight friend comments congratulating me on my accomplishment. One of them said something like “this just blows me away,” which I’m counting as a positive. On top of the gaming world was I. At least until I showed up to work at Gardner-Webb the following Monday. One of my colleagues informed me that he had seen my picture on Facebook. “Impressive,” he said, “but not as impressive as the 300 I bowled.” Despite the pin my colleague inserted into my balloon, I have decided to leave my Wii picture on Facebook. Although the score has been surpassed by a so-called friend, my picture remains- primarily as a taunt to my children. Plus, John Daly is impressed.