Tenpin bowling: Ball maximum weight is 16 pounds. Diameter must be at least 8.5 inches, but not more than 8.595 inches. Players can roll twice in one frame. Downed pins are removed after first roll.

But then again: even if we know nothing about bowling, we do know what 10 pins sound like when a heavy rolling ball hits them exactly right. They sound like victory.

People have been bowling perfect games in tenpin since the turn of the 20 th century; nobody has ever bowled a perfect game of candlepin, a strike every ball for an unthinkable score of 300.

Traditional bowling, commonly referred to as tenpin bowling, is played from coast to coast, although you may know it as “big ball” bowling if you’re from New England.