VSP Blog

Sara P. is part of the Altair sales team.

They meet behind closed doors, talking in low tones about tonight’s strategy: Who should start? Who is the closer? How are they going to maintain their average without sacrificing a single pin? After all, they do have a record to maintain and there’s no way they’re going to risk it all by making one single mistake. Their name: Balls of Fury. Their game: bowling. The team: Altair employees Oscar Martinez, Sara Shults, Matthew Gibson and Bianca Castellanos. The record they keep: 10 wins, 22 losses in the VSP bowling league. And until one day ago, they held the honored position of Dead Last Place.

I admire this team and give them major credit for the fact that they keep going and won’t give up. They meet faithfully every week at Crestview Lanes with renewed conviction in the fact that they CAN, they WILL do better…only to be crushed in defeat again and again. Although they’ve only won 10 games, they are bonded in their cause and have built their team with laughter, camaraderie, and beer.

Is it possible this team could turn itself around and build a winning record? At this point in the season, very doubtful given the number of games left and the utter lack of bowling skills as exemplified by the following video of Sara “Twinkletoes” Shults.

At the time of writing, it’s been rumored that the team has splintered into 2 factions: those who believe that team shirts would have contributed to a winning record vs. those who think team shirts don’t equal bowling skills. Only time will tell what happens to Balls of Fury-the pressure of a long, losing season would be too much for most teams to handle. But, my hunch is that being Altair employees, this team will adhere to the Altair mantra of being the team that never gives up-even when they’re up against the longest of odds.