Judge, 1922-12-30 · page 6 of 37
Judge — December 30, 1922 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of "All Down But Nine" This is Heywood Broun's sports satire column featuring bowling sketches by Weed. The title references bowling's scoring system (pins knocked down). The sketches humorously depict bowling culture of the era: - **"The Rivals"**: Two competitive bowlers, one upset - **"Ladies' Night"**: Women bowling, presented as a novelty event - **"English on the ball"** and **"The southpaw"**: Technical bowling jokes about spin and left-handed players - **"The thumb thumb-times catches"**: A mishap illustration The accompanying text discusses Drake's historical dismissal from the Spanish Armada narrative and ties it to bowling's modern popularity as an American sport requiring efficiency and precision. The satire gently mocks both bowling's growing genteel acceptance (particularly among women) and competitive bowling culture's earnestness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Heywood Broun’s Sport Page All Down But Nine HERE is a tradition that bowling I as first devised by one of the kings France. We know that Drake was bowling when the news came of the approach of the Spanish Armada and that he insisted on finishing the game before he did anything about it. History, which is grossly careless of all the important rtails in such incidents, has neglected to ate just what lead Drake had at the time or how big was the bet on the mate. The Rivals. English on the ball. Sketches by Weed Miter a drew only salary fightin Spaniards. Such as he could pick up at bowling we nature of velvet. With four straight strikes for a starter it is small wonder that he sent the message which has thrilled every Anglo-Saxon schoolboy for cen- turie 1 those Spaniards to wait. T'll be down in a minute. But the game which Drake played on a lawn was not exactly the sport which we know now, American efficiency has molded it into a different form. Even on the smoothest lawn it is difficult to find a spot where a beer glass can be set without ger of disas! Moreover, it is ob- vious that as lo outdoors somebody would have to waste an chormous amount of energy going into the t d coming out and going back again and so on endlessly. s the game remained The thumb thumb- times catches. The southpaw had speed but no con- trol.