Last week, I was part of a four-person bowling team from the Banner-Graphic that participated in the Greater Greencastle Chamber of Commerce's Winter Bowling Scramble.

We were one of 14 teams. As I observed the behavior of the bowlers, it occurred to me that the difference between the sexes is never more evident than it is in a bowling alley.

I'm really a pretty laid-back person. I went into this event figuring it was a good way to get out into the community, talk to some folks, have a nice afternoon.

That's what I get for thinking.

I was the only female on our team. I warned my three teammates -- two of whom are my superiors -- ahead of time that my bowling average was 68 and that they probably shouldn't count on me for too much. My dad was a very competitive guy (he once yelled at my sister's friend for making a dumb move when we were playing Uno), and he soured me on bowling at an early age. When my family went out bowling, my sister and I could never just enjoy ourselves ... we had to concentrate on our stances and really LEARN about the physics of the game.

Turns out what I thought was just a quirk of my dad's personality may actually be some Y-chromosome thing.

Most of the men who came to bowl had their own bowling balls and shoes. My general manager would polish his bowling ball with a rag every time he went up to bowl. Some of the men had wrist-brace things.

My three teammates would keep track of the scores as they tallied on the electronic screen. They would tell me how many pins I had to knock down (they said "pick up," which I'm guessing is the same thing) to stay ahead of the teams we were bowling against or to get me closer to breaking 100, which was always my goal (that they imposed).

A woman bowling in the lane next to us the first game looked at me and said, "Hey, it's just for fun, right?"

I looked at my publisher, who was waiting for me to respond.

"Oh, no," I said. "It's not for fun. We're here to win."

Well, we didn't win, but we did come in third. I didn't help a lot ... I bowled a 75, a 105 and an 82.

All above my average, but nothing to write home about.

Here's my theory: Knowing that my teammates all possessed that primal male need to be victorious in this competition, having me there made them all step up their games and bowl better than they might have otherwise.

My general manager's theory is that I kept our team from getting second place.

I guess it's a perspective thing.