In a league of his own: 100 year-old bowler still rolling along

James Simpson is not a bad bowler, by most accounts. 

He rolls every Monday as a member of the Bowl Dogs, a team in A League Of Our Own at Bowlero Gulf Gate. “He always bowls better than I do,” said his friend, David Wright. 

“He usually saves the team,” said one of his teammates, Jesse Yap. 

Simpson was throwing a few warm-up frames on a recent Monday, hoping he would do better than the day before. “I didn't bowl very well last night. I only bowled 149,” he said.

Not bad for someone who can't see the pins because he suffers from macular degeneration.

Oh, he's also 100 years old.

On Oct. 7, the league celebrated Simpson's 100th birthday with a cake, a huge card and a bowling pin signed by everyone in the league. 

"He bowls really well and makes us try harder and stay humble," said bowler Susan Atwood.

"He's very good and consistent, but he practices," she said, every Sunday. Atwood says it's inspiring. "Living long, staying active, body and mind. I think he's a testament to that."

Simpson was an interior designer in California for 40 years and moved to Florida with his partner to retire in 1995. "We had friends who lived here, and we would come down and stay in their house while they went on cruises," he said.

"And one Sunday, we turned on the television set and looked at houses and so forth on the television and said, 'We can move here.'"

Simpson said they were not deterred by people warning him about Florida heat. "I moved here in, let's say April or May ... and they said, 'Don't you realize it's going to be hot when you move there?' And coming from the desert, I said, 'You don't know what hot is."

Wright has known Simpson for about 10 years. "Jim and I actually met on a cruise, near Norway, on his 90th birthday,” he said. 

"Yeah, they threw me a party on board ship when I was 90," Simpson said. 

"And I've known him ever since, harassed him ever since," Wright joked.

Simpson said he was invited to start bowling by friends when he was 85. "I lost my partner, and they came to me and said, 'Would you like to bowl?' And I said, 'Sure, if I can. I don't know whether I can.' So I've been bowling ever since."

Fifteen years ago, he said he often bowled well. "Oh, 190, but not much over 200," he said.

Since then, macular degeneration, a disease that affects a person's central vision, has forced him to adapt his game. 

Simpson says he can't see the pins at the end of the alley but knows where to stand to roll his first ball.

If that ball wasn't a strike, he looks at a large video screen above the lane to show him what pins are still standing. 

"Then he goes up, and he lines up to his mark," Susan Atwood said. "He's got it all memorized. He knows where to go, where to stand, what his mark is. It's really amazing to watch."

Simpson shows few signs of slowing down, even at 100. "Oh, it's fun," he said. "As long as I can get around and do things, that's the important thing."

He said he enjoys the friendships he's made. "It's a nice group. I mean, they come here to bowl, they don't come here to drink, and that makes the difference."

The feeling is mutual. "He's wonderful, he's very high spirited, he's lively, he's awesome," said teammate Adam Bell. "That's amazing. Hey, man, to be 100? He's a good guy, for sure."

Photo by Jim DeLa