Perfection’s so nice, he bowled it twice

Oxford resident John Taylor bowled back-to-back 300 games at Collier Lanes Jan. 11. Photo by C.J. Carnacchio
Oxford resident John Taylor bowled back-to-back 300 games at Collier Lanes Jan. 11. Photo by C.J. Carnacchio.

For many bowlers, if they manage to roll a perfect game, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime feat

But not for John Taylor.

He did it twice in one night.

The 25-year-old Oxford resident bowled back-to-back 300 games Jan. 11 at Collier Lanes.

“Last night was my night,” Taylor said.

Bowling a perfect game means throwing 12 consecutive strikes in 10 frames to achieve a score of 300, the highest possible.

Taylor doubled that with 24 straight strikes. Actually, it was 25 if you count the first strike of his third game, but the streak ended there.

It was the first time in the history of Collier Lanes, which has been around since 1948, that a bowler rolled back-to-back 300 games, according to owner Jeff Collier, who’s Taylor’s uncle.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I have never seen anybody do it – not even on TV. It was unbelievable.”

These were Taylor’s first and second 300 games. “I’ve had a lot of 299s in my life,” said the 2009 Oxford High School graduate. “It felt pretty good to get that monkey off my back.”

He was bowling at Collier Lanes as a member of the Wednesday night Wildcat league (a men’s league). He’s part of a five-member team named “All or Nothing.”

During the first game, when the 10th frame came up, Taylor admitted he was “nervous.”

“It was definitely starting to get to me a little bit,” he said.

But he didn’t let the stress and pressure beat him. He persevered, concentrated on maintaining the consistency of his approach and in the end, perfection was his.

His reaction?

“Disbelief.”

“It was a did-that-really-just-happen moment,” he said.

Taylor certainly didn’t expect to do it again in the very next game, but he just kept knocking those pins down. “About the eighth frame, I was pretty nervous,” he said.

He coped with the situation by taking it “one frame at a time” and trying “not to get ahead of” himself.

“Don’t worry about the end of the game,” Taylor advised. “Worry about what you’re doing right then and there.”

While Taylor was focused on the game, everyone in the alley was focused on him.

“By the 10th frame, I don’t think anybody was bowling anymore. I think they were all watching,” he said.

“Everybody in the whole building quit (playing),” Collier said. “There was dead silence in here. I’m surprised it didn’t screw him up because it was so quiet.”

Taylor’s focus paid off with another 300 game. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to top that,” he said.

Taylor’s name will be added to a wall at Collier Lanes honoring bowlers who have rolled 300 games.

“He did a hell of a job,” Collier said.

Taylor bowled a third game that night, but lightning didn’t strike thrice. He bowled a 179.

“That one didn’t turn out so good,” he said. “I’d have been blown away if it had happened a third time.”

 

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