Looking down a long lane covered with stripes and arrows, aiming for those ten pearl ladies dressed in red stripes.

Sweat beads running down the side of an anxious individual, running faster as the crash of the black sphere is heard tumbling down the strip.

Crash, rejoice, as all the ladies fall to ground. The sweat stops, cheering is heard.

This is the scene every great bowler dreams about as he prepares for a game, but also a scene that Rob Rasmussen, a freshman mass communications major, knows well.

Rasmussen is from Wallingford and has been bowling for the last six years.

“I tried every other sport until I found one that I was in love with,” said Rasmussen. “Bowling is an amazing sport.”

Rasmussen did everything to get his game up to par. He went to bowling camp for one year and ended up meeting his future coach.

“At Kids Kamp I was put into Bill Hall’s group,” said Rasmussen. “He was everything I could have asked for in a coach, because we had the same style of bowling.”

Hall became Rasmussen’s regular coach and he still trains with him today.

“I see Bill as much as possible,” said Rasmussen. “Whenever he come back to New York, I always bowl with him.”

Hall is also the trainer of the bowler Rasmussen looks up to.

“Norm Pulk is the bowler that has inspired me,” said Rasmussen. “It is great because we have the same technique as well as the same coach.”

As of now, Rasmussen is involved in many leagues including a Saturday morning league in Milford (the junior bowlers league) and the New England Conference League, a traveling bowling league.

“I can be in the MBA [the Milford league] till I am 21,” said Rasmussen. “I am pretty good. My average is anywhere between 200-210 per game.”

As for the Quinnipiac team, Rasmussen was just a walk on.

“I showed up there without a team, but as soon as Nick Wormley, the head of intramurals, saw me, he started talking about me,” said Rasmussen. “Then a group of five seniors said that they wanted me on their team, and here we are.”

These seniors are Glenn Giangrande, Jay Bisogni, Joe Auriemma and Vito Bianco.

“Bowling with Rob is like talking bating practice with Randy Johnston. He is bowling personified,” said Giangrande. “I only hope to be one tenth of the bowler that he is in my lifetime.

After the first week of bowling, their team is on second place. Intramurals will last about two and a half months.

The league that Rasmussen is the happiest to be a part of is a league called The Junior Olympic Gold. This is a league where bowlers of all categories compete to make Team USA.

“Although, I have not made Team USA yet, it continues to be one of my goals,” said Rasmussen.

Rasmussen’s greatest bowling moment happen to him on June 1, 2001. It was during on of his games in the Milford league.

“I took three weeks off of bowling because of a back injury,” said Rasmussen. “It was my first time bowling and I ended up getting a 300. That means that I got all strikes. Since it was during the league season, I ended up getting a ring.”

One of Rasmussen’s dreams is to become a professional bowler.

“I would love to do this on a professional level,” he said. “But, since I can’t I would love to be a part of the Professional Bowlers Association.”

Rasmussen may not be able to become a professional bowler because of his back injury.

“After getting an MRI, I discovered I had two herniated disks on my lower back,” he said. “They said that it was from the amount of sports that I played. The only cure up to this point is back surgery, but it hasn’t reached that point yet.”

Rasmussen said the only other thing that he would want to do is teach others to bowl, but he is already willing to do that.