Hi Ho, Hi Ho...
Posted by BowlerCluke Saturday, February 21, 2009 7:52 PM

It’s off to Keene we go. Just keep on bowling all day long, hi ho, hi ho.

That will be the theme this Saturday when Factor X heads for Keene, New Hampshire in search of big scores at the 2009 edition of the Northeastern Open. Keene is stop number three of eight on Factor X’s tournament schedule this year. Back in December, Matt Coe took home a very nice paycheck for himself (albeit not as a member of Factor X) for his performance in the brand-new New England Classic tournament in Brattleboro, Vermont, and then in January it was Henry Caouette stepping up to claim the GGUSBCA singles and all-events handicap championships. Hoping that the third time’s the charm, Factor X is looking for strong showings at both the team and individual levels, a feat that has eluded them thus far in 2009.

“It’s as much about respect as it is about making money,” Tom Clukay said of his team’s return to the Northeastern. “Some of our bowlers, especially me have really struggled with consistency this year. I feel like we’ve lost some peer respect as a result, and I’d really like to get it back. Speaking personally, I’d just like to prove to myself, to Gardner, and yes, to some of the Keene bowlers too that even though I don’t take the game as seriously as I once did, I can still bowl well from time-to-time and have fun doing it.”

Saturday’s events will open with a doubles event bright and early Saturday morning at 9:00a, immediately followed by the singles competition. In what could be considered a bit of a unique pairings twist, Matt Coe will team up with Jimmy Girard in doubles, while Tom Clukay joins forces with former roommate Todd Tetreault who will be making a cameo appearance with the team in the Northeastern.

“I decided to optimize our chances of making money this year,” Clukay said of the unorthodox pairings. Historically when I bowl with Matt or Jimmy, if I bowl good, they struggle and visa-versa. That’s partly because their games are so different from mine; their ‘A’ game is by ‘B’ game, while my ‘A’ is their ‘B’. By putting the guys with similar games together, there’s a better chance that somebody will cash.”

The team event will take place at noon, and will feature Todd Tetreault leading off for the team, followed by Tiny Coderre, Tom Clukay, Jimmy Girard and finally Matt Coe at anchor. Lefty-heavy Factor X will include four lefties and one righty, with Tiny Coderre being placed in the unique position of having to make fewer game-to-game adjustments than all of his other teammates.

“It’s either gonna be really, really good for us, or really, really bad,” Clukay theorized of his team’s over-abundance of lefties. “Historically, Keene has been pretty lefty-friendly most of the time, which bodes well for us. That said though, if we all start pushing oil down past our breakpoints, things could get a little bit ugly in terms of pin carry.

“Based on the oil graphs Jeff has posted on the tournament’s web site, you’d think that me and Todd will probably be swinging around third arrow, while Jimmy and Matt will opt for something a little harder and straighter, closer to second [arrow]. Tiny’s biggest concern may be that if he gets too close to the gutter, the shot looks like it flattens out. He may have to come in closer to second arrow and try to stay a little softer than normal with his ball speed. All that said though, until we actually get out there and see how the lanes play, who knows?”

The day will wrap up with one more set of unique doubles pairings following the team event, as Girard pairs up with friend and Keene native Rich Hayes, and Tom Clukay joins childhood friend and long-time doubles partner Kevin Youngman for one more trip down memory lane before Youngman presumably retires at the end of the season.

Clukay/Youngman – One Last Trip Down Memory Lane

They grew up in Keene together in the early seventies. Both loved bowling, and both bowled Saturday mornings at Yankee Lanes in Keene. Both became respected local bowlers early in their careers. They developed a friendship early on, and became one of the most talented doubles tandems in Keene. With plastic and rubber bowling balls as the only weapons available to them at the time, each attacked the lane from a deep outside line; Clukay from the left, Youngman from the right. And while many bowlers around them struggled to get their plastiballs to hook and carry five pins, neither Clukay nor Youngman worried about such trivial issues with their big-hook approach to bowling.

“I remember me and Kevin having a huge laugh one of our first years in Saint Johnsbury,” Clukay recalled. “We were just out of junior league. Kevin had just thrown his first ball and one of the guys from the other team pointed to Kevin’s Yellow Dot and said, ‘Look at that. That ball’s gotta be illegal.’ Kevin just looked at him with this puzzled look on his face and said, ‘Why? Because it hooks?’ Then someone said ‘Guess they haven’t heard of hook balls up here yet.’ Me and Kevin just looked at each other and started laughing. You probably had to be there to appreciate it, but it was really pretty funny.”

The duo was practically inseparable through the seventies and early eighties. They bowled leagues together. They bowled tournaments together. They bowled countless NEBA tournaments together. They even got together on Saturday afternoons for the well-known ritual of the time: watching the Professional Bowlers Tour at 3:30p on ABC TV. They had many successes, both as teammates and as individuals. One of their biggest accomplishments came in the winter of 1988, when as Northeastern Doubles partners they won the scratch title with a blistering 1521 series – it was the first time the 1500 mark had been broken by a doubles tandem at Yankee Lanes.

Since then, time has slowly but surely taken its toll on each. Age, physical conditioning, and a revamped sense of priorities have all contributed to slow their respective games. For Youngman, it’s his knees. In Clukay’s case, he’s never quite looked the same since undergoing shoulder surgery two years ago. For each, scores that once came with regularity now trickle in but once or twice a season at most. In Clukay’s case he has put up with the subpar scoring – albeit begrudgingly – for the time being, but Youngman has suggested that, with 2009 marking the year he’ll receive his plaque commemorating his 25^th year of participation in the Men’s Nationals, this may very well be it for him.

 Last year, Clukay barely tipped the average scales at 201, and he is nearly 10 pins below that mark so far in 2009. Youngman’s numbers tell a similar story; half his games last season were above 188, half were below. But while neither’s bowling game has stood the test of time, their childhood friendship most certainly has, even if from a distance. And it is that 35-year friendship, combined with an equally-lengthy love for the sport of bowling, that will bring them together at the bowling center they grew up in – the site of their biggest doubles triumph – for quite possibly what may be the duo’s final doubles trip down memory lane.

“This one isn’t about winning, shooting big scores or anything,” Clukay suggested. “This one’s about four old friends getting together one last time: Me, Kevin, [the sport of] bowling, and the center that was our home away from home growing up. It’s hard to believe that this may be the last time the four of us get together like this, it feels like I’m closing the book on a memory I’ve cherished for what seems like forever. I think it’ll be kind of emotional for me.”

Through the years, Clukay, Youngman, and good ol’ Yankee Lanes have had their shares of ups and downs. Kevin’s ascension into the role of Yankee Lanes manager, followed by his parting of ways with Bowl New England. Clukay’s fiery, competitive attitude stirred up his fair share of controversy, too; those who were close enough to him to understand him thought highly of him, while those who couldn’t see past his demonstrative Pete Weberish on-lane spirit often preferred ridicule to sportsmanship.

But for Kevin and Tom, and for one magical hour this upcoming Saturday afternoon, the low points of their hot-and-cold relationship with Yankee Lanes will fade away.  For one magical hour, two longtime friends will relive the earliest days of that friendship and the start of their passion for the sport that brought them together. For one magical hour, it will be 1975 again.

Here’s to 1975, then… one last time.