More Than Pins Fell After Young Bowler Rolls Perfect Game To Cap Dazzling Series

A year and a half ago, Odin Johnson decided to give bowling a tumble. Monday, he accomplished something that has eluded bowlers who have spent a lifetime in the sport - he reached perfection.

Johnson, who turned 19 on Dec. 17, rolled a 300 game to cap a stunning 1,220 five-game series in the Silver Classic scratch league at Silver Lanes.

The Spokane Falls Community College freshman, who just last spring was competing in the high school league, was overcome with emotion. He sat down and cried.

“I wasn’t even thinking about a 300,” Johnson said. “When I sat down to change my shoes, and everyone came over and gave me ‘five,’ they (tears of joy) just came out.”

Johnson’s feat is all the more amazing considering that a birth defect left him with only one fully developed digit on his hands - his left thumb; the others are stubs - and with only half a right foot.

Does he have trouble getting a bowling ball to fit? “I drill it myself,” said the young man who works part-time at Silver Lanes.

Oh, yeah, the ball. It’s a new one. About a week old. One of the hot, new Piranha series.

The day before his 300, he rolled a thencareer-high 279 in the Inland Empire Bowling Association Doubles at Colonial Bowl. In his big series, he went 182, 266, 235, 234, 300.

After Sunday’s 279, Johnson “thought I had things figured out.” Then came the 182, and he said, “well, maybe not that well.”

He had another think coming.

Cross Country Idaho

Warm weather has put a chill on plans for today’s Cross Country Idaho festivities in the Panhandle.

Scheduled clinics and guided ski tours have been all but cancelled at Farragut State Park, where snow has been washed away by a week of rain.

“The trails are marked and ready,” a park spokesman said. “All we need is snow.”

As of Thursday, there was still enough snow to groom the 5 miles of trails at Priest Lake State Park. However, no organized events are planned. Decent snow cover is available at the Snow Creek area near Bonners Ferry for skiing.

Statewide, no Park ‘n’ Ski permits are required today at plowed cross country trail parking areas such as Fourth of July Pass.