♪♪
Alex Voice-Over: I Guess You Wouldn't Know It
From What I Wear...
But My Name Is Alex.
I Live In The Metropolis Of West Appleton.
It's A Nice Town, And I've Got Great Friends Here.
That's...
Coming Out
Of Nancy's Old-Fashioned Diner.
Here's Ken, The Music Guru.
He Loves All Kinds Of Tunes...
As Long As They're At Least 50 Years Old.
This Is The Very Stylish Elisa,
Queen Of The Poodle Skirt And Bobbysocks.
But Don't Let Those Clothes Fool You.
She's A Great Bowler.
Last, But Not Least, Is Delia.
She Makes Up In Brains What She Lacks In Bold And Brawn.
After Breakfast, We Head Down To My Dad's Bowling Alley.
I've Got The Keys To The Joint.
So In The Morning, We Crank Up Those Swinging Tunes
And Roll A Few Frames To Start Our Day.
Sweet, Huh?
I Love The Smell Of Rental Shoes In The Morning.
This Is The Way The World Should Be All The Time.
[Band Plays, Crowd Cheers]
But Then There's School.
You See Todd Mclemore?
You Know, The One With The Winning Smile.
This Is His World, The World Of Serious Athletics.
The World I'll Never Understand.
And You Gotta Figure It's Always Gonna Be That Way.
The Biggest Thing In Todd's Charmed Life Right Now
Is A Big Hunk Of Metal
Called The Mighty Apple Trophy,
Which Is Only Interesting To Me
Because It Slightly Resembles A Bowling Ball.
If Mclemore Can Lead The Mighty West Appletonians To Victory
In Basketball, We Will Tie Up The Fight For The Mighty Apple.
It's Simple.
We Win Tonight,
And The Battle For The Mighty Apple Is All Tied Up.
Yeah!
Yay!
Whoo!
But If We Lose Tonight...
The Trophy Goes To East Appleton Forever.
[Crowd Boos]
But We Are Gonna Win Tonight
And Tie Up The Battle For The Apple!
What Do You Say To That?
[Cheering]
10 To One Odds, The Golden Boy
Blesses Us With A Speech.
I Don't Know, Alex. A Spotlight. People Cheering.
I Thought The Golden Boy Hated Attention.
All Right! We're Gonna Win Tonight!
I Promise, I Won't Let You Down.
So See You All At The Game.
Alex Voice-Over: How Would Todd Mclemore's World And Mine Ever Collide?
I Just Don't See It.
Ken: I'm Gonna Be Late Tonight.
I Gotta Go To The Game With My Dad, Or I'll Be Disowned.
But I'll Sneak Away Early.
We'll Be Waiting, Slim.
Hey, It's The Strange Dudes.
Yeah, It's The Strange Dudes.
Hey, You Coming To The Game, Strange Dudes?
Why Would You Want Us To Take Up Seats
When There Are So Many People
Who Really, Really Want To Go?
Where's Your School Spirit?
Oh, Mine's In A Box In My Locker.
Where's Yours?
Wouldn't You Like To Know?
Come On, Guys. Don't Waste Your Breath.
You're Too Cool For Us?
Huh?
Maybe I Should Whup You In Some Basketball
To Show You A Thing Or Two, Huh?
Excuse Me.
You, Me, One Game Of Horse.
You're Kidding, Right?
I Arc My Jumpers At 48 Degrees,
Launched With 14 Pounds Of Force.
I Bank Most Of My Shots Off The Backboard
Using The Simple Formula Of Tangent-X Times Cosine-Y
Where X And Y Relate To The Height And Angle
Of My Initial Shot.
Using The Backboard As A Matrix, Of Course.
And If You Accept My Challenge, Mr. Smart Mouth,
You Would Lose To A Little Girl. Am I Right?
You're Right.
Come On, Leo. It's Not Worth Your Time.
I Could Beat Her. I Could, You Know.
I Know.
Delia, Have You Ever Shot A Basketball?
Wouldn't You Like To Know?
Sportscaster: Ball Inbounds To Mclemore.
Mclemore Bringing It Up Between The Rings,
Dribble Over Half Court, Into The High Post,
Give And Go To Mclemore! Oh, My! Easy Deuce For Mclemore!
That's My Boy!
There Is No Bigger Fan In The Stands
Than His Proud Father,
West Appleton Mayor Jeff Mclemore.
He's Coming Back, Perimeter Passing.
Round The Outside. Shot's No Good.
Mclemore Coming Back With The Ball.
Going In For The Hoop...
Easy Lay-Up For Todd Mclemore!
Folks, Todd Mclemore Is Playing Huge For The Wildcats Today.
Mclemore With A Steal!
Driving To The Hoop, And He Lays It Up And In
For A Bucket Of West Apples.
Oh, My!
Alex Voice-Over: Sweet Lou
Is The Heart And Soul Of Appleton Sports.
This Guy Can Get Excited Over A Spitting Contest,
As Long As The East And West Were Involved.
Sweet Lou: This Place Is Going Crazy.
East Appleton Back Now.
East Just In With 2 Points Now.
West Bringing The Ball Back.
[Whistle And Buzzer]
Wow! Halftime Here.
And, Folks, I Can Just Feel The Thrill.
I Know You Can Feel It Where You Are, Too.
Radio: How Can You Not Be Excited
With West Appleton Fighting For The Mighty Apple One Last Time?
Hah! I Love It!
A West Win Tonight, Of Course,
Ties Up The Battle With No More Scheduled Events.
There Are Tiebreaking Procedures In The Mighty Apple Charter.
But Since There's Never Been A Tie,
I've Got No Idea What They Are.
And If The West Doesn't Win, I'll Never Know.
Going Into Halftime, And West Appleton Trails By 6.
This Is Sweet Lou On...
Mr. Thompson, Do You Think You Could Turn That Off Now?
Oh, Come On.
Give An Old Man His Town's Spirit.
...Jeff Mclemore...
Oh, In That Case...
[Broadcast Stops]
Ah, Blessed Quiet. Now I Can Bowl.
That Remains To Be Seen.
Nice Shot.
Come On, Alex. I Want To Practice
On Getting Strikes, Not Spares.
10 In A Row Is Enough.
Fair Enough. I'll Press The Reset Button.
Dad? The Reset Button's Broken Again.
Oh, What, Again?
Well, There's No Money In The Repair Fund, Alex.
Better Work Your Magic Back There.
You Think We Get No Crowds
'Cause The Alley's Falling Apart?
Or Is The Alley Falling Apart 'Cause We Get No Crowds?
I Don't Know, Pal.
[Sound Effects Play]
I'm Wide Open On Ideas To Get The Folks In Here.
But Until That Happens,
Your Mechanical Genius Is What We Need.
Hey, Cool Cats, What's Happening?
Oh, Hey! I Thought For A Second
We Might've Had A Paying Customer.
Are You Kidding, Mr. T? Everybody's At The Game.
Oh.
Would You Put This In? It Helps Me Bowl.
"Swinging Hepcats."
All Right, Who Are You Kids?
Where Do You Come From?
Wow! West Appleton Time Out.
East Appleton Leads By One Point With 3 Seconds Left!
Have Mercy, I Beg Ya.
Wow. West Is Gonna Get The Ball With Time For One Last Shot.
Now, You Gotta Think That Todd Mclemore Is Gonna Get The Ball,
But The East Has Gotta Be Thinking That, Too.
All Right, They're Gonna Have You Triple-Teamed, Todd,
So We Should Think About Someone Else--
Give Me The Ball.
I'll Be Open.
Give Me The Ball.
Hello, Mayor Mclemore.
Oh, Mayor Hanburger.
Well, Looks Like The Mighty Apple's
Coming Home To Me And East Appleton.
Yeah, Well, Don't Be So Sure.
Stop Being An Optimistic Parent For A Second
And Look At The Scoreboard.
Well, Todd Thrives Under The Pressure.
[Buzzer]
All Right, 1, 2, 3 West!
Come On, Kids!
[Crowd Roars]
Sweet Lou: The Ball Goes In To Flip Willett.
Willett Is Bringing It Up Court.
Mclemore Cutting In Off A Pick,
Takes The Ball, Jumps! Shoots!
[Buzzer]
West Appleton Wins! West Appleton Wins!
The Grapple For The Mighty Apple Is All Tied Up!
Whoo-Hoo-Hoo! Oh, Wow.
This Place Is Absolute Pandemonium!
[Swing Music Plays]
Yes! Yes!
West Appleton Wins! God, West Appleton Wins!
West Appleton Wins!
Yippee.
Oh, Guys, Come On.
Guys, This Is The Last Year Of The Mighty Apple.
We Want To Keep It In This Town, Right?
Right? I Mean, It's--It's The Glue
That Binds Us West Appletonians Together.
Yes, It Does.
It's A Silly Trophy, Dad.
Oh, Yeah, I Know, But It Has Meaning.
It Proves That We Can All Strive For What We Want, Right?
Huh? I Mean, It Proves That We Can All Unite For A Common Good.
Oh, My Gosh, My Heart. Oh...
I Mean, I Played For It.
I Was Proud.
Oh, Boy.
Well, Anything That Makes A Big Shot
Out Of A Kid Like Todd Mclemore
Is Not A Good Thing At All.
I Know. I Just Don't Know Why Everyone Cares So Much About It.
Talk To My Dad And You'll Understand.
He Played For That Trophy.
He Reminds Me About It Every Day.
Twice A Day, Whether I Need To Hear It Or Not.
The Mighty Apple Is Ugly.
Ok, Guys, One More Game. Winner Pays.
But You Always Win, And Your Dad Doesn't Charge You.
Nice Arrangement, Huh?
It's All Tied Up, Jeff.
Fun, Huh?
We'll Check The Charter
For The Tiebreaker Tomorrow, Mayor,
But The Momentum Is Ours.
He Knows Something. I Can Tell.
Hey.
Now, That Was A Fantastic Finish, Huh?
Sweet Lou Wants To Interview You Tomorrow,
And I've Set Up A Meeting With Appleton News Again.
It'll Be Just Like When You Won
The Baseball Championship With That Homer! Mmh!
Maybe I'll Call Around
And See If We Can Get Some Regional Coverage.
Whatever, But Let's Go Home.
I'm Beat.
Oh, I Am So Proud Of You!
Thanks, Mom.
Last Ball In The Tenth Frame,
And Alex Thompson Needs A Strike
To Win The U.S. Bowling Open.
Good Release...
Steady And True...
See? I Can Make The Big Shot, Too.
Maybe You'll Turn Pro One Day.
Nah. Not Interested. Thanks.
Come On, Champ. Let's Go Home.
Alex Voice-Over: I Got My Love Of Bowling From My Dad,
But Sometimes Love And Money Don't Go Hand In Hand.
I Would Be Really Sad If We Had To Close The Place.
Nobody Seems To Want To Bowl Anymore.
Hey, What's Up?
Right On, Baby.
Right On.
All Right, Todd.
It Was Nothing. It Was Nothing.
All Right. Thank You. Thank You.
Hey, Todd.
You Were So Great Last Night.
We've Been Talking About You All Day.
Yeah?
So, Are You Coming To My Party?
Wouldn't Miss It.
We'll Be There.
No Doubt, Man.
Great. See You There?
Definitely.
Ah, Mr. Morris. So What's Gonna Happen
To The Mighty Apple
Since We Ended Up Tied?
We're Not Gonna Be Tied For Long.
What, They're Gonna Finally Throw Out
The Girls' Cross-Country Score?
Those Slimy East Appleton People.
They Called, They Spoke.
And What Did They Say?
Bowling.
[Bell Rings]
[Mouths Word]
They Can't Get Away With This.
We'll Sue The East! We'll Sue Them!
It's Only A Trophy, Jeff.
After All Of Todd's Hard Work This Year,
We're Gonna Lose The Mighty Apple Because Of Bowling?
I Can't Allow It!
You Saw The Charter.
Both Schools Have Bowling Clubs.
And Bowling Is The Only Tiebreaker Listed
Where We Both Have Teams. We Have No Choice.
All Right, We'll Hold Tryouts.
We'll Load The Team With Talent.
No Tryouts. We Have To Field Our Team
Based On Who Signed Up For Bowling Club
At The Beginning Of The Year.
Oh...
On The Plus Side, We Won The Coin Toss,
And We Get Home Alley Advantage.
Anyway, Maybe The Team Will Be Good.
Oh, Yeah, Right. Think Of Our Alley.
Think Of Kevin Thompson, For Pete's Sake.
Then Ask Yourself, What Type Of Losers
Are Members Of The Bowling Club?
[Groans]
Why Does It Matter Who Else Signed Up For Bowling Club?
We're The Only Ones Who Ever Show Up.
The Club List Is Here Somewhere.
You Guys Don't Think We Can Beat The East.
Is That What's Going On?
We Never Said That.
We Simply Wish To Explore
And Find Out All The Options.
Mr. Morris, We're Good.
Oh, Hurrah, Hurrah, And Yay!
There's A Fifth Bowler.
Todd Mclemore Is On The List.
[All Laugh]
Golden Boy's In The Bowling Club?
I'm In Bowling Club?!
You Signed Up At The Beginning Of The Year.
Have You Forgotten?
I'm In Bowling Club?!
This Is Fantastic And Good News.
Maybe We Can Beat East Appleton After All, Huh?
I'm In Bowling Club?!
Flip Made Me Sign You Up. He Made Me.
It Was Leo's Idea. Honest.
You Know, This Is Great News, Alex.
This Is Not Great News.
Your Mom And Her Dad Think It Is.
You Know, Grandpa Might Be Out Of The Hospital
In Time For Them Both
To Make It Back For The Match.
Plus, It Could Be Big Things For The Alley Here.
But I Like Bowling Because It Isn't The Next Big Thing.
Never Has Been And Never Will Be.
When I Was Your Age, Bowling Was The Thing To Do.
It's Only Cool To You Now, My Friend,
Because It Was Cool To Us Then.
I Guess So.
If It's Good For The Alley, Then Fine.
Sweet Lou Back On The Air Here
At Wwap With Todd Mclemore.
Todd, It Appears You Have No Time To Rest On Your Laurels.
The Mighty Apple Is Gonna Go
To The Town Whose School Bowls Best.
I've Led Our School To Victories In Basketball,
Baseball, Tennis, Football, And Track.
I Don't See Why Bowling Will Be Any Different.
Ok, Spoken Like A True Competitor.
But Let Me Ask You, Can You Bowl?
Do You Bowl?
Have You Bowled?
Come On, Sweet Lou. Everyone Bowls.
I Can Do This. Trust Me.
Good Job, Alex.
Another One?
You Gotta Be Kidding Me.
Alex Is Pretty Good There, Jeff.
Think Your Son Can Keep Up?
Oh, We Mclemores Have A Long History
Of Rising To The Challenge.
Unlike Some People I Know,
Mr. Oops-I-Dropped-The-Ball.
It Was A Bad Throw.
Alex Voice-Over: Do You Know What They're Talking About?
I Don't.
Every Time My Dad And The Mayor Get Together,
I Get A Weird Vibe,
Like Something Major Happened To The Two In The Past.
But You Can't Ask Them What Happened.
They Never Want To Talk About It.
Oh, Well, Anyway...
Come On, Todd.
Show Us What You Got.
[Laughs]
Way To Go, Todd!
Ha Ha Ha.
I Guess Our Principal
Is Easily Impressed.
Yeah.
Hey, You Guys Bowl Strikes Every Time?
No. We're Not That Good.
I Didn't Think So.
10 Frames With All Strikes Is A Perfect Game.
It's Pretty Rare,
Like Hitting 3 Homers In A Baseball Game.
That's It?
By The Time We're Done, I Guarantee You
I'll Have Bowled A 100.
Whoo!
Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Hey, Don't Laugh At Me!
You Know I'm Gonna Be That Good.
A Perfect Game Is A 300, Slick, Not 100.
That's Like Hitting A Single.
But You Just Said--
Look, A Strike Scores 10
Plus The Next 2 Balls You Roll.
So You Could Score 30 Points, See?
Think Baseball. 3 Strikes.
A Spare Is 10 Plus The Next Ball You Roll.
So If I Said, "Hey, You Got A Spare Ball..."
Strike 3, Spare 2.
That's How Come 100 Is Nothing Too Special.
Got It?
Whatever.
I Just Need Some Practice.
Well, Things Are Going Well.
He Has No Form, No Style.
I Think He Was Nervous. Just Give Him A Chance.
Yeah, Like He'll Give Us One.
[Door Bell Tinkles]
Hi.
Hey, My Favorite Customers.
Hey, Nancy. Can We Get The Usual?
I'm Way Ahead Of You.
Come On, Eat Up.
You're Gonna Need Your Strength To Win The Mighty Apple.
Whoa. I Thought The Golden Boy Only Mattered.
That's What Everybody Else Is Saying.
Yeah, Some People Say That.
And Some People Say The Moon's Made Of Cheese.
It Doesn't Make It True.
The Moon's Not Made Of Cheese?
Yeah, Well, It Just Goes To Show You,
You Can Learn Something New From Everyone.
Hey, Good Afternoon, Ladies.
Hey, Todd.
Hey, Todd. You Know That Alex Kid?
What's With Those Clothes?
I Heard He Found Them At The Back Of A Bowling Alley.
Yeah? Well, I Hear He's A Great Bowler.
Is That True?
Hey, Bowling Is Not So Hard, Ok?
Just Leave It Alone.
What Are You Gonna Do? You Gonna Quit?
Quit? Hah!
No Way. If We Lose This, Nothing Else Matters.
So I'm Gonna Teach Those Guys
How To Bowl And Triumph.
But It Will Still Be Bowling.
Hey, I'm Gonna Work On That.
I Promise You, I'm Gonna Win Us The Apple.
So The Mighty Apple's Fate Is Up To Us.
Hah. You Gotta Admit, It's Pretty Funny.
No Kidding.
Maybe This Will Make People Care For Bowling
Enough To Save The Alley.
Yeah. I Hope So.
I Mean, Sometimes I Think The Only Reason Your Dad
Keeps It Open Is Because You, Me, Ken, And Delia
Love Bowling So Much.
Don't Let Him Fool You.
He Loves It, Too.
He's Got Me And Mom To Think About.
And He's Gonna Sell The Alley Unless, You Know.
Man, I'm Already Nervous.
I Mean, We're Bowling For The Mighty Apple.
Mighty Apple, Schmighty Apple.
How Can It Not Be Fun If We're Bowling Together?
Yeah, It's True.
I Mean, We'll Probably Be Talking About It Forever.
We'll Be Legends.
At Least To Each Other, Anyway.
Yeah.
Yeah!
That Is Gonna Be Cool, Man.
Yeah!
All Right, Guys. I'm Going, Man.
Later, Leo. Later, Flip.
Evening, Dad.
So, Todd, How's The Bowling Team?
Better Now That I'm On It.
Well, Todd, Everything's Gonna Change Next Year
When Our Schools Combine With East Appleton.
Whoever Wins The Mighty Apple This Year
Will Keep It Forever.
Yeah, I Know.
I've Already Cleared A Place Out For It
In City Hall.
It's Our Legacy.
What Do You Want Me To Say, Dad?
Do I Ever Let You Down?
No, Son, You Don't.
Yeah, Mayor Hanburger?
Jeff Mclemore Here.
Yeah. You Want To Make This Bowling Match
A Little More Interesting?
Well, If You Win,
We'll Give You 40 Gallons Of Our Best Apple Cider.
Yeah, The Pride Of West Appleton.
And If We Win,
You Give Us 40 East Appleton Apple Pies. Deal?
Great! I Can Taste Those Pies Already.
Uh-Huh. Bye.
The Apple Is Coming To The West.
Yeah! Yeah! That's The Way!
The Apple Is Coming To The East.
Great Strike! Yeah, Let's Go!
[Rock Song Plays]
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Hey, Louise ♪
Hey, Todd.
Hey, Lauren.
So How's The Bowling Thing Going?
Ok.
I Hear Alex Is A Really Good Bowler.
Maybe The Two Of You Could Win Us The Apple?
Maybe, But I Tell You What.
My Teammates Don't Care About The Apple.
They Don't Care About Winning.
That's Because They've Never Been Winners.
You've Got That Right.
I'm Sure You'll Teach Them, Todd.
Uhh!
Missed It By That Much.
Great Torque, Though.
Great Torque, Todd.
Uhh.
I Think You're Doing Better.
Soon You'll Learn You Don't Have To Throw The Ball So Hard.
It Took Me A Long Time To Learn That.
I Just Need Practice. I Told You That.
Well, Maybe You'll See That The Ball Follows Your Thumb.
If It's Pointing Straight After You Let Go Of The Ball,
The Ball's Going Straight.
Whatever.
See Ya.
She Was Trying To Teach You, You Know.
Duh. You Think I'm An Idiot?
Nah. You're The Golden Boy.
Smart, Talented, And Perfect.
Uh, Gifted, Too. You Forgot Gifted.
Actually, The Way I Hear It,
You're Mark Mcgwire,
John Elway, And Michael Jordan All Rolled Into One.
You Forgot Tiger Woods And Wayne Gretzky.
But You're No Guppy Troupe.
Guppy Troupe?
He's In The Professional Bowler's Hall Of Fame.
Anyway, The Way I Hear It,
You're The Best Bowler In The Town.
The Town, The County, And The Entire Country.
Yeah, I Heard That One, Too.
Is That True?
Not Yet. But Then Again,
I Bet It Took Guppy A Little Time
To Learn To Swim.
You Know What I Hear?
I Hear You're Just This Strange Kid
Who's Obsessed With Bowling,
Hates All Other Sports,
And Dresses Like You Found Your---
Like I Found My Clothes
In The Back Of The Bowling Alley.
Yeah, I Heard That One, Too.
Is It True?
Look, I Love Bowling,
I Don't Like Many Other Sports,
And It's A Lie That I Found My Clothes
In The Back Of The Bowling Alley.
That's A Lie?
Yeah.
I Found My Clothes In A Catalog
That I Found At The Back Of The Bowling Alley.
Whatever.
[Swing Music Playing]
Oh, Sweet. Check Out Those Shoes.
Maybe We Can Find Them
When We Go Thrifting.
What's With That Music?
That's Good Music.
Haven't You Ever Heard Of Backstreet Boys,
Savage Garden, Aerosmith?
Haven't You Ever Heard Of Keely Smith?
Louis Prima? Sergio Mendez?
So Why Are We Having Practice Here?
Come Here. Just Take A Look.
Oh, I'm Real Impressed.
Computer Bowling? Wow.
Strength Plus Finesse Beats Sheer Speed Every Time.
You Know, You Could Learn Something From That.
It's A Computer, Guys. It's Not Real.
Hello, People?
Don't You Know That We Have
Less Than 4 Weeks To Be Ready
To Beat East Appleton?
Are You Saying We Need Work,
Or Are You Saying You Need Work?
Oh, I'll Be Ready.
I'm Just Worried About You Guys.
You Guys Need An Attitude Check.
We Need One?
Yeah. You've Got To Want To Win.
I'm Not Seeing That.
It Can Give Your Team The Advantage.
You Know, I Always Thought That Bowling Well
Gives Your Team The Advantage.
Hey, Funny Guy.
Yeah?
Attitude Matters.
Now, I'm Sure The East
Is Doing Everything They Can
To Get An Edge.
An Edge? Slick, This Is Bowling.
What Can They Do?
[Sighs]
[Siren]
Hi There, Coach. Welcome.
Hey, Todd, Wait Up.
I've Been Watching You Bowl,
And I Think I Can Help You.
It's Up To You If You Want To Listen.
Really? And What's In It For You?
Are You Joking?
I Thought You Might Want To Win.
And I Don't Know, Maybe If
You Get Excited
Other People Will, Too,
And My Dad Can Save His Alley.
Look. Teach Me How To Bowl,
And I'll Bring You To Lauren's Party Tonight.
I Don't Need Pity Or Party Invites.
If You Want Me To Help You Bowl, Just Ask.
We're Teammates, Right?
Forget About It, Man.
I Thought You Might Have Fun.
Hey, Todd.
Hey...
Um, Alex, Right?
You're Coming To My Party, Right?
Uh-Huh.
Alex?
Thanks, Lauren. I'd Love To.
Great. So, Um, I'll See You Guys There?
Mm-Hmm.
So You Want To Learn To Bowl.
Oh, You're Just Loving This, Aren't You?
Fine. Let's Try It.
Step One. It's You.
Dork?
Dirk.
Same Thing.
Why Do You Guys Dress So Weird?
We Don't Dress Weird.
You Guys Dress Weird.
Whatever. I'm Not Wearing That.
You Failed Lesson One.
I Don't Care. Can We Bowl, Please?
Tomorrow. There's A Big Party Tonight.
♪ Loves Party ♪
♪ Party ♪
♪ Ow ♪
♪ Body Rockin' Time ♪
♪ Ow ♪
♪ Ow, Body Rockin' Time ♪
Hey, Todd. I'm So Glad You're Here.
Hi...Alex.
We're Gonna Whip East Appleton's Butt,
Aren't We?
Well, Uh--
Of Course We Are.
You Know, Todd's On The Case.
♪ And You Know Tonight's The Night ♪
I Hope He Helps Us Win The Apple, Todd.
He Sure Doesn't Fit The Part.
Well, Who Knows?
Maybe It'll Do Alex Some Good Hanging With Us.
♪ We're Dancin' In The Street ♪
♪ Can't You See? ♪
♪ Now Drop Down By My Feet ♪
♪ And See What Favor's Coming ♪
♪ 'Cause I Don't Wanna Leave With Nothing ♪
♪ And I Don't Really Feel Like Budging ♪
♪ Nothing Short Of The Red Line ♪
♪ Sparks Are Now, Call Rocking ♪
Come On.
♪ I Got To Make Sure ♪
♪ To Smooth Dress To Impress Her Body ♪
So, Having Fun?
Oh, Sure.
All Right.
Todd Says You're
The Best Bowler In Town.
Is That True?
Uh, Maybe.
And You're Gonna Make East Appleton
Look Like A Bunch Of Losers, Aren't You?
Uh, No Question.
Ugh!
You're All Right.
Good To Have Bubba On Your Side.
Oh.
Todd Says The Mighty Apple
Is Up To The Two Of You.
If You Both Do Well,
You're Gonna Be Heroes.
Todd Would Know. He Already Is A Hero.
You Want To Dance, Todd?
I'll Dance.
Nah. Maybe Later.
Do You Want To Dance, Alex?
Oh, I Don't Really Know How To Dance To This.
I'll Dance.
Whoa, Look At The Time.
I--I Gotta Go.
Come On, It's 8:30.
Next Time, Ok?
Thanks For Inviting Me To Your Party, Lauren.
Friends Of Todd's Are Always Welcome.
Yeah?
Yeah.
♪ It's Ok ♪
♪ I Keep Longing And Hoping ♪
♪ And Want Her Lovin' Day And Night ♪
Good Night, Bowling Dude.
♪ Hey, Hey ♪
♪ So, Let's Roll ♪
Let's Dance.
♪ I'll Beat To Rhythm ♪
Hey, What Are You Doing Here?
Uh, You Know, Late Errands And Stuff.
Ok, That's Not Exactly True.
I Went To Lauren's Party.
Cheerleader. Todd's Friend.
[Laughs] Oh, My Gosh.
Wait A Second.
So You And The Golden Boy
Were At The Same Party.
Did You Know
Any Of The Other People There?
Not Really,
Unless You Count Flip And Leo As Real People.
I'm Not Gonna Lose You
To That Whole Crowd, Am I?
Don't Sweat It. It Was Just One Party.
Hey, What You Got There?
220? That's Fantastic.
Thanks. I Was Gonna Pin It
To Your Front Door.
I'm Sorry I Missed It.
Hey, I Promise I'll Be There
When You Bowl 300.
Deal.
All Right.
You Got Talent, But Your Footwork's Terrible.
Like That Matters.
You're Right. I Don't Know What I'm Saying.
Keep Doing It Your Way.
Well, Actually, If You Keep Doing It Your Way,
You're Gonna End Up With Mediocre Scores And A Bad Bowling Back.
Keep At It, Though.
You're A Natural.
Thanks.
Way To Boost His Ego, Dad.
I Thought You Were On My Side.
Alex, I Am On Your Side.
And Todd's On Your Side, Too.
You Gotta Remember,
You're Fighting For The Mighty Apple.
Hello, Dropsy.
Watching Todd Prepare To Bring
The Apple Back To West Appleton?
Something You Certainly
Never Accomplished.
Right Back At You There, Error Boy.
Hello, Gang. Todd.
We Just Set The Rules With The East.
It's A 4-On-4 Match, One Game Per Person.
Add Up The Score, And The Highest Total Score Wins.
You Can Also Add A Substitute Player On The Bench
For The Current Player At Any Time.
And Like A Pinch Hitter,
Sub's In For Good.
This Is A Miracle.
I Don't Have To Bowl.
No Way. The Day Before The Game, We Should All Bowl.
4 Highest Scores Get To Play.
Hey, She Doesn't Want To Bowl.
Uh, For Once, I Agree With Todd.
Yeah.
Smart Kid.
I Also Spoke With Mayor Hanburger Of The East,
And We've Made A New Little Wager.
You're Betting On Us?
When East Appleton Loses,
They Will Have To Proclaim It
West Appleton Day
And Hold A Parade In Our Honor.
And What If We Lose?
What Type Of Attitude Is That?
Wait, Wait, Wait. Wait A Minute Here.
Isn't It Enough Just To Win The Apple?
I Mean, Do We Need To Put More Pressure
On These Kids?
Look, When You Got Someone Like Todd
To Lead You To Victory,
You've Got To Take Advantage Of It.
It's A Golden Opportunity.
What Was With Your Dad, Alex?
He Seemed Pretty Tense.
I Have No Idea. Todd?
Who Knows?
Well, I Got Homework To Do.
What Are You Guys Gonna Do?
I'm Gonna Go See
East Appleton's Bowling Team.
Why? What They Do
Doesn't Affect What We Do.
There's No Offense
And Defense In Bowling.
But Don't You Want To Know If We Can Beat Them?
What Good Will It Do To Know In Advance?
Hey, Maybe We Can Relax Because Maybe They Stink.
East Appleton Suggested Bowling.
We Know They Don't Stink.
[Sighs] Whatever.
Look, I'm Going Home To Get My Bike.
You Can Join Me,
If You Guys Want To Be Smart.
See You, Guys. Hey, Todd, Wait Up.
Alex?
Bye.
What?
Whatever.
What's Up With That?
Oh, Wow.
Look At This Place.
It's Just Bigger, That's All.
Still, Pretty Impressive.
Yeah, Well, At Least The Big Apple Lanes
Have Character.
Character? If That's What
You Want To Call It.
What?
They've Got The Nagurski Twins,
Who Whomped All Over Us In Football,
Baron Mckay, Star Of The Basketball Team,
And Katie Tanner From The Tennis Team.
We're In So Much Trouble.
Oh, Nicely Done.
You're Really Coming Along.
Some Of Us Still Need A Little Work.
Whipsaw Mcgraw.
Who's Whipsaw Mcgraw?
Pba Tour Pro. 2-Time U.S. Open Champion.
Wait, I Thought That Was Tennis.
Now Remember-- Consistency Is The Key.
Practice Your Approach Over And Over,
And You'll Be Ready For The Big Match.
I Promise You.
Thanks For Coming, Whipsaw.
Sure Thing, Cousin. I'm Just Glad
I Had A Few Days Off From The Tour.
I'll See You Later.
We Don't Stand A Chance.
They Were All Right.
All Right? They're Like Machines.
They're Perfect.
Don't Give Up On The Mighty Apple Just Yet.
They Won't Bowl Strikes Every Time.
Watch Them With Me. You'll See.
All Right, I've Seen Enough.
Suit Yourself.
Well, What Do We Have Here?
Hi. I Was Just Leaving.
I Don't Like Spies. You Like Spies, Baron?
Spying? You Didn't Think I Was--
Hey! There You Are, You Loser.
Well, Well, If It Isn't Mclemore.
We Hear You're Mr. Bowling Now.
I Told You Not To Come Here.
Where's Your Sense Of Sportsmanship, Man?
But I Came Here With You.
Is That A Fact, Mclemore?
Me? Hang With This Guy?
Guess Again, Boys.
You Gonna Take Care Of Him?
Well, Don't You Worry About It.
I'll Make Sure This Punk
Doesn't Bother You Again.
What Are You Doing?
This Was All Your Idea.
[Laughs] Let's Get Out Of Here.
I Knew What You Were Doing All Along.
Oh, Yeah, Right.
You're A Horrible Actor, Then.
Me? Look Who's Talking.
Unless You Were Acting When You Thought
We'd Lose To The East.
Well, Then, I Guess You Were Pretty Good, Too.
Oh, Get Over It.
They Were Pretty Good, Weren't They?
Look. Meet Me At The Alley
Tomorrow Morning.
I'll Teach You How To Bowl With Style.
Then You Won't Be Too Scared Of Them.
What, Me?
You Were The Scared One.
You Actually Thought
I Was Mad At You, Didn't You?
No.
Yes, You Did. Admit It.
Hey, Todd.
Man, It's Early.
What Am I Doing Here?
Gotta Move, Gotta Jive.
What The Heck Does That Mean?
That's What We're Doing Today, Todd.
Yep. Time To Get In The Zone.
Hey.
Delia Isn't Using Her Lane Today.
Why Don't You Come Over And Join Us?
All Right, Let's Get Going.
I Know The Drill.
No, Slick. You Know Form,
But You Don't Know Style.
That's What You're Gonna Learn.
Delia, Hit It.
[Swing Music Plays]
♪ Knock, Knock, Knock 'Em Down ♪
♪ Baby, Let's Go To Town ♪
♪ Jukebox Fills The Air ♪
♪ Hey, We Got Time To Spare ♪
♪ Gonna Set 'Em Up Just The Way We Like ♪
♪ 'Cause The Joint Heats Up When The Alley Cats Strike ♪
♪ Ooh, Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Set 'Em Up Just The Way We Like ♪
♪ 'Cause The Joint Heats Up When The Alley Cats Strike ♪
[Smokin' Sax Solo Plays]
[Cornet Solo]
♪ Ooh, Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Set 'Em Up The Way We Like ♪
♪ When The Alley Cats Strike ♪
Well, Your Music Is Weird,
But I Think You Can Really
Turn This Into Something.
What Do You Mean?
Well, If You Want People To Come Bowling,
You've Got To Make It More Fun
Till They Get Hooked. This Was Fun. Sell It.
There's Nothing To Sell.
Sure There Is. Make It A Party.
Dancing, Food, A Light Show,
Cool Tunes, And Bowling.
Once A Week. Make The Alley The Place To Be.
We Do It Soon, While Everyone's
Got Bowling On Their Minds.
Now You're Thinking. Every Week, A Big Party.
It Won't Work. Trust Me.
The Place Doesn't Even Fill Up
On League Nights.
It'll Work. I Guarantee It.
Yeah, Alex. Maybe We Can Save The Alley.
I Don't Know. Maybe.
Now, What Do We Call It?
Lane Dance?
Alley Bash?
[Delia Clears Throat]
The Bowling Ball?
Yeah.
Nice.
Todd, We Don't Exactly Have Money
To Buy Supplies Or Anything.
So Why Exactly Are We Going Shopping?
We're Not Exactly Going Shopping.
We're--Oh, Just Let Me Handle This.
But Shouldn't You Be Practicing, Anyway?
I'm Getting Better. You Said So.
Yeah. You're Coming Along.
Ha Ha Ha. Todd, Alex.
The Whole Town Is Counting On You Two.
Are You Ready?
Hey, We Are So Ready, Sir.
That A Boy.
The Match Is In 2 Weeks.
You Said You Were Worried About The East.
Yeah, Yeah, But You Gotta Want To Win, Man,
And You Gotta Show It. That's How Leaders Work.
You Shouldn't Be Worried. You Got A Gift, Man.
All You Have To Do Is Try And Use It.
Yeah. I Guess I Can Do That.
Now You're Talking Like A Guy I Like. Come On.
Now Watch And Learn.
Good Afternoon, Ms. Johnson.
Well, Hello, Todd.
Getting Ready To Trounce The East?
Absolutely, And The Thing Is,
I've Got This Project In Mind,
But I've Got No Cash,
But I Thought Maybe You Could Help.
Help You, Todd?
It Would Be My Pleasure.
Hey, Guys.
Hey, Dad.
What Have You Got? What Is All This?
This Is Town Spirit. We Got Paint,
And A Whole Lot Of Lights.
People Just Gave It To Us.
They Gave It To You? Well, Great.
I'll Get Sweet Lou To Mention Them All On The Air.
He Owes Me. Plus, I Plan On Getting A Sound System
And Maybe Some Lasers.
'Cause If I'm Inviting My Friends,
This Place Has Got To Rock.
Well, Come On. We Have More Work To Do.
Give Me A Sec.
All Right, I'll See You Outside.
Thanks.
You're Welcome.
I Don't Know, Dad.
It's Gonna Change The Place.
It Won't Be Real Bowling Anymore.
Alex, We Talked About This, Right?
I Mean, This Place Has Got To Change.
Sit Down.
You Know What I Did Today?
I Got My Real Estate License.
Yeah. But I Had To Start Drafting Up
A Listing On This Place.
You Know How That Made Me Feel? Bad.
But I Don't Know. All This Stuff You Guys
Are Doing Here, Maybe It Will Help.
But We're Trying To Change The Alley
Into Something Totally Different.
It Won't Be Our Own
Special Place Anymore.
No, No. It Will Always Be
Your Own Special Place,
But, Alex, We Have To Take Care
Of The Business Side.
I Mean, That's Just The Way Life Is.
Anyway, Maybe You'll Find Out
That, You Know, Different
Isn't Necessarily Bad.
It's Just--You Know, It's Just Different.
You Know, Seeing You And Todd Together
Makes Me Kind Of Flashback
To When I Was Your Age.
Why?
Because Jeff Mclemore And I
Used To Be Best Friends.
No Way. You And The Mayor?
Yeah, Me And The Mayor,
And We Fought For The Mighty Apple.
I've Got To Tell You Something.
There Is Nothing That We Would Love More
Than To See Our Kids
Bring It Back Here To The West.
But That Was A Long Time Ago.
We've Got To Focus On Saving This Place, Right?
'Cause I Want To Keep It Bad.
So, Here's The Plan.
You Go On Out There With Your Buddies,
And Like Todd Said, You Make This Place Rock.
You Got It, Dad.
Ok.
Come On, Todd. Let's Get To Work.
Man, What If No One Comes?
They'll Come.
You Know Your Dad And My Dad
Used To Be, Like, Best Friends?
Get Out Of Here. You're Lying.
I'm Not.
Forget About It.
We Need To Get Some Flyers Printed.
Like We Got The Paint?
Exactly.
Hey, Come Bowl Next Friday.
Spread The Word.
Yeah, Right.
Come Bowling Next Friday.
Next Friday, Come Bowling.
Bowling. Here.
Hey, Come Bowling Next Friday.
Hey, Lauren.
Hey.
Come Bowling Next Friday, All Right?
Of Course I'll Be There, Todd.
All Right. I'll See You There.
Come Bowling Next Friday.
Flip, You Know You Want
To Do This, Man.
Yeah, Man. I'm All Over It.
Yo, There You Go.
All Right.
Hey, Come Bowling Next Friday.
Todd, My Man.
Bowling Dude?
You're Coming Bowling Friday,
Right, Bubba?
There'll Be Food.
Food?
Food.
Yeah.
Sold.
All Right. Hey, Bubba,
Help Us Spread The Word.
No One's Gonna Want To Miss This.
All Right.
Hey, Come Bowling Next Friday.
Yee-Haw!
You Are Getting Pretty Darn Good.
Practice And Talent.
It's An Awesome Combination.
Try The Split.
I Rigged This Setup. Only The 7-10 Split.
2 Pins? Easy.
Now, Alex, Watch And Learn.
Easy, Huh? Try Again.
Yes.
All Right, Wise Guy.
Dang.
Try Again.
Oh, Man.
Harder Than It Looks?
[Sighs] Yeah, But In A Match, I'll Make It.
I Thrive On The Pressure.
So I've Heard.
Mm-Hmm.
The Reset's Broken Again.
Be Back In A Minute. Take A Break.
Again?
Oh, Nice Of You To Join Us.
You Spend The Next 4 Years Straight In Here,
And You'll Have Practiced As Much As We Have,
Then We'll Talk.
Man, Alex Is The Only One Of You Guys
Who Has The Right Attitude.
The Rest Of You Don't Care At All.
Where Do You Come Off Telling Us How We Feel?
You Think You Know Everything About Us.
You Think You Know Everything About Everything.
I Know How To Win!
And I Know How To Bowl!
It's Not Enough.
Well, Then Let Me Tell You Something Else.
My Entire Life, My Father Has Wanted Me To Play Sports.
"You Could Be A Star," He Tells Me.
"You've Got The Talent," He Says. But You Know What?
I Have Fun Bowling, And I Don't Like Other Sports.
Now, All Of A Sudden, Bowling Means Everything To Our Town,
And You Think I Don't Care?
Think Again, Golden Boy.
That's More Like It.
You Gotta Know That's It's Ok To Aim High, And It's Ok To Show It.
Show It Like You Do? I'll Pass.
Fighting Like Cats And Dogs
Is Not Gonna Make The Next 10 Days Real Pleasant.
Am I Right?
[Sighs]
You're Right, Say The Cool Cats.
You're Right, Says The Hot Dog.
All Right, Then. One More Game.
3 Low Scores Buy The High Score Dinner.
But You Always Get The High Score.
And I'm Mighty Hungry.
Hey, What's Up? Hey, What's Up?
Man, It's Like We're Not Invisible Anymore.
We've Got The Mighty Apple Glow.
Come On. Let's Go.
Hey, Todd. Good News.
Your Dad's Got You And, Uh, Alex On With Sweet Lou Tonight.
Sweet Lou?
Excellent!
We Told Sweet Lou You're The Captain Of The Team. Just So You Know.
Todd, That's Not Fair. We Should Vote On Our Own Captain.
Well, Sweet Lou's Expecting Me.
Look, Why Don't You Guys Vote On A Co-Captain?
It's You, Alex, As Long As You Promise
To Come By The Diner Tonight And Tell Us All About It.
I Promise, If You Guys Promise To Listen.
Duh.
Hey, Do You Guys Think You'll Call Me "O Captain, My Captain"?
Oh.
In Your Dreams.
Good Afternoon! This Is Sweet Lou Back On Wwap.
Joining Me In The Studio Today,
I Have The Captain Of The Bowling Team, Todd Mclemore,
And His Co-Captain, Alex Thompson.
Now Let Me Ask You Guys The One Question
That All Of West Appleton Wants To Have Answered.
It's A Simple One. Will You Win. Alex?
Well, This Is Gonna Be The Best Bowling Match West Appleton Has Ever Seen,
And Our Team's Awfully Good. Trust Me.
Hey! And If You Don't Trust Him, Then Trust Me.
You Know I Won't Steer You Wrong.
All Right! Let's Go To The Phones.
You're On The Air On Wwap, Where West Appleton Plays.
Caller: I'm Calling From Tony's Lasagna Heaven.
We Have Just One More Thing To Say: We Love You Guys!
West Appleton!
Woo-Hoo! Aah!
This Is The Best. We're Famous!
Welcome To My World. Hey, I'm Getting Together
With Flip, Lauren, And The Gang. You Should Come.
I'm So There.
Ha Ha Ha!
♪ Oh, Tell Me Why ♪
Elisa: I Guess He Must Have Gotten Hung Up.
Ken: I'll Walk You Guys Home.
Good Night, Nancy.
Nancy: Good Night!
♪ Oh, Honey, Why Worry Your Thinking ♪
♪ When You Want The Apple Tree ♪
Wait.
[Partying And Yelling]
[Pins Falling]
Don't Think So Much. Just Bowl.
Don't You Know What's Riding On This? I Can't Afford To Choke.
You're Not Gonna Choke, Alex.
You Promise?
I Promise.
Of Course, You Promised Last Night.
I'm Sorry. Now Can We Please Drop It?
Guys, Come On. Hate To Do This,
But I Gotta Get You All To Work Now. Come On.
Let's Turn This Place Into Bowling Ball Hall!
[Swing Music Begins]
Alex: This Is So Cool, Dad. Look What We've Done.
So This Is What The Place Looked Like In The Glory Days?
Well, Yeah, There Was Not As Many Fancy Lights And More Customers,
But, Yeah, Buddy, This Place Used To Be Something To See.
At Least If We Gotta Sell,
We'll Go Out Looking Good, Huh?
Maybe It'll Work.
Well, Either Way, The Place Has Been Good To Us, Alex.
You Grew Up Here, And I Got To Watch.
That Makes Me A Pretty Lucky Guy.
Either Way, Though, Splits Or Strikes, We're Gonna Be Ok.
I Gotta Tell You Something, Though. Heh Heh.
I Really Hope This Works.
I Gotta Go Get Changed.
Hey, Tonight, Don't Worry About The Alley, All Right?
Just Be One Of The Guys, Be One Of The Gang, And Just Have Fun, Ok?
All Right, Dad. I'll Be Back In A Minute.
Huh? What Do You Think?
It's Gonna Be Cool, Mr. T.
We're Even Gonna Pay For Our Own Games.
You Know What? I'm Gonna Let You.
Don't Be Charging Us For Those Back Games Now.
All Right.
Todd: Wow! Whoa!
This Music's Gonna Chase People Away.
Swing Music Sets The Mood.
Yeah, The Mood Of Misery Maybe. Hey, Mr. T, Yo.
Put This In. I Guarantee Ya. Cha-Ching!
Cha-Ching?
Uh-Huh!
All Right!
[Swing Music Ends]
[Rock Music Starts]
Hi!
Hi, Guys. How Are You Doing?
I've Never Seen Anything Like This.
I Wish Alex Was Here.
Where Do You Think He Is?
Man, Look At Golden Boy.
Yeah!
[Kids Cheer]
Puh-Lease.
Hey, Gather Round, Everyone. Gather Round!
Welcome To The First Weekly Bowling Ball! Having Fun?
[Crowd Cheers]
Ok, Well, The Fun's About To Get Even Better.
Not Only Will You Find Me And My Partner Alex Thompson
On Lane 8 Demonstrating How We're Gonna Thrash East Appleton...
But We'll Be Doing It With A Little Bit Of Extreme Style.
So Let's Give It Up For My Partner, Alex Thompson!
Todd: Yeah!
All Right, Alex! All Right, Alex!
Yeah! Let's Hear You Scream!
[Crowd Screams]
Did You See Alex?
[Yells]
Wooo!
How Uncool Is This?
[Crowd Screaming]
I Am So Bummed!
All Right! Let's Rock!
Do It!
♪ Why Do You Build A Fence Around You ♪
♪ Did You Hide From Me? Oh, Yeah ♪
♪ Why Do It Now? ♪
♪ Did You Hear Me Say ♪
♪ I Can't Make Up My Mind ♪
[New Song Begins]
♪ Where You Are Apart, I'll Follow You ♪
♪ Anywhere You Go Is Home To Me ♪
♪ Everywhere I Look, You Are The Only One ♪
Hey! You Guys Having Fun?
Yeah.
Oh, Yeah. Woo.
Great.
And The Crowd...
Great Crowd.
Big Crowd.
It's Not Too Bad,
Although I Wish We Got To Pick The Music.
Come On, Guys! This Place Is Rockin'!
Bubba: Get Over Here, Bowling Dude!
Catch Up With You Later.
Bowling Dude?
I Don't Wanna Talk About It.
Bowling Dude?
Lauren: That Was A Blast.
I Never Knew This Place Could Be So Cool.
Leo: Yeah, The Place For Sure, But Some Of The People?
I'm So Sick Of That Alex Kid.
Flip: I Know. Once A Geek, Always A Geek.
After The Apple, Things'll Be Back To Normal.
We Don't Have To Hang Out With Him, You Know?
So Stop Complaining.
Leo: Yeah, I Guess It's Worth It If We Win,
But, Uh, I Still Don't Have To Like Him.
[Sighs]
Ah, What Did I Say, Mr. T? This Is One Successful Night.
I Betcha People Come Back Here All The Time Now.
Hey! Good Night, Alex!
Yeah, Um, I'll See You At Practice.
Hey, Todd, Thanks For Your Help.
No Problem.
Good Night.
Dad, Did You See Elisa And Them Leave?
Yeah, They Left About An Hour Ago. Why?
No Reason.
Just Wondering, That's All.
Man, I Hate This Mighty Apple Stuff.
Really? I Thought You Were Kinda Liking It A Little Bit.
I Don't Know.
It Just Makes Everything So Different.
Well, It Can Make Some Things Different,
But It Doesn't Have To Make You Different.
Aargh!
Hey!
Maybe You Should Try Bowling Without The Shades.
Now You're Teaching Me How To Bowl?
No. I'm Teaching You How Not To Bowl.
Alex, Why Don't You Try--
Try The Left Spin. Yeah, I Know, Del.
I Didn't Suddenly Get Stupid.
Hoorah! Yes! I'm The Man.
If I Can't Do It, No One Can. Unh.
Aha! 217! Now, This Is Bowling!
I Hate To Admit It, But I'm Impressed.
I Never Thought You Could Do That.
You Wanna Know The Truth? Me, Neither!
Hey, But You Always Said That--
Shh!
For Crying Out Loud!
Hey, Team! Ready To Whip The Wolfpack?
Ah, You Betcha!
Ok, Bowlers. Listen Up. Now It's Time For Us To Show
That The Time You've Spent Here Has Been Time We Took The Time To Notice.
Of Course, We Want You To Win, But Most Of All,
We Want You To Represent Us Wildcats Well.
Don't Be Silly. We Want You To Win. Ha Ha!
So, Here You Go!
Your New Uniforms.
Doesn't It Make You Proud To Wear The School Colors? Huh?
Eww. These Uniforms Are Ugly.
Fashion Emergency!
Nothing That Says West Appleton Wildcats Can Be Ugly, Young Lady.
And, Hey, Now We're A Team For Sure.
Well, I'm Psyched.
Bring On The East!
You Tell 'Em, Son.
Keep Those Balls Rolling!
Hey, Dad, You Back There?
Hey, Pal.
These Uniforms Stink.
Hold It Up. Let Me See.
Yeah, It's Nothing Special, Is It?
Elisa: Wait, Wait. Tell It To Me Again.
Your Dad Bet What?
If We Win, The New School Will Be Called
West Appleton Junior High.
And If We Lose, It'll Be Called
East Appleton Junior High.
Wait. So Now It's The Mighty Apple And The School?
Look, Don't Wimp Out On Me, Guys. We're So Close.
We're So Good.
Alex: Oh, That Was It. That Was The Final Straw.
My Old Friends Hate Me.
My New Friends Aren't My Friends At All.
All This Just Isn't Any Fun Anymore.
Look At This! They Bet A School On Us,
And They Give Us A Piece Of Junk.
All They Care About Is Winning.
They Don't Understand Bowling,
And They Don't Understand Us.
Alex, No One Understands Us.
This Is Bogus. I'm So Outta Here.
What Do You Mean?
What Do You Think I Mean? I Quit.
No Way. You Can't Quit. You Can't Leave Me Now!
Watch Me.
Alex, You Can't Quit Now.
We're Too Far Into This Thing. The Team Needs You!
We Are Not Having A Good Day.
Oh, What A Loser!
He's Not A Loser. This Isn't The Real Alex.
Of Course, You Must Know That,
Now That You're His Best Bud.
[Sighs] At Least There's Still 4 Of Us.
4? Me? Bowl?
Delia.
Just Trying To Lighten The Mood.
Did You Talk To Him?
I Tried. He's Not Listening.
So, Uh, Where's That Thompson Kid?
Alex Isn't Feeling Well.
Well, Son, You're Still Ready To Lead The Team To Victory?
Actually, Sir, We're Gonna Let Todd Bowl For All Of Us.
That Way, He Can Lead And Follow.
Well, Todd's Been Through The Fires Before.
He's A Leader. Natural-Born.
He's Kept Us All Together, That's For Sure.
Never Steered Any Of Us Wrong.
I Rest My Case.
I'm So Nervous.
Don't Be. You're All Good.
You're All Really Good.
But These Uniforms Are A Fashion Disaster.
Look, We Have Fun. We Do The Best We Can. That's All We Can Do.
Just Doesn't Seem Like It's Enough.
Sometimes It Isn't Enough.
This Is So Unlike Alex.
Been So Unlike Himself For A While Now. I Miss Him.
Nancy, I'm Getting Another Soda.
Nancy: Go Right Ahead.
[Door Chimes]
Can I Join You?
Where's Your Fan Club?
I Left Them At The "Todd Is King" Rally My Dad Is Hosting.
Are You Looking For Sympathy?
You Don't Like To Lose, Do You?
I Can't Lose. It's Not Allowed.
Look, I Just Came Here 'Cause I Wanted To... You Know.
No, I Don't Know.
Elisa, You Can Bowl The Worst Game Of Your Life Tomorrow,
A 5 Maybe, Or A 10, But At The End Of The Day,
Your Friends Wouldn't Care, And That Is Just So Cool.
I Wanna Win, You Know. We All Do.
It's Nice Having People Look At Us.
Actually At Us, Not Past Us.
People Will Always Look At You After This, Win Or Lose.
No. People Will Always Look At You
And Blame Us For The Loss
Or Say We Were Carried By You To A Win.
Look, Forget About The Game.
What I'm Saying Is That Eventually People Will See You
Because You're There, And You're Real.
That's All That Counts.
Maybe.
Definitely. Trust Me On This One.
You Should Go Talk To Alex.
I Don't Think He Wants To Talk To Me.
Well, You Should Try, Anyway.
Yeah.
You Know, I Got Something For You.
But You're Right. I Should Go Talk To Alex First.
Golden Boy Is Human?
All Right.
[Doorbell Rings]
Hey. What Do You Want?
I'm Sorry Everything Got So Messed Up, You Know?
That's All I Can Say.
Right. Probably Wasn't Even Your Fault.
You Know, I Never Thought I'd Actually Like You.
I Never Thought I'd Like Bowling.
All I Thought About Was Winning.
I Always Wanted To Win, Too. We All Did, Really.
We Just Didn't Care The Same Way You Did.
I Know That Now, Dummy. That's What I'm Saying.
You're Not Me. You're Not The Same As Me.
No.
You Know What The Big Difference Is?
Hair Color?
[Chuckles] Yeah.
I Played Every Sport I Can,
But I'm Not There Because I Have Fun.
I'm There Because That's What I Do, And I'm Good At It.
Sure, Sometimes It's A Blast,
But That's Not Why I'm There.
Bowling Was Fun.
Bowling Still Is Fun, Alex.
Tomorrow, Let's Forget About The Big Stakes.
Let's Just Go Out There And Bowl.
If We Win, Great, And If Not, Well,
We'll Have Fun, And We'll Try.
But I Want You There. If I've Chased You Away,
I'm Not Gonna Have Any Fun At All,
And I Really Want To Have Fun.
Look.
It's Yours Whether Or Not You Play.
Tex?
You Look Like A Tex.
It's Our New Uniforms,
And I Think I'm Gonna Be Dirk.
[Laughs]
Just Promise Me Something.
Next Time You Bowl, Whenever It Is,
Just Have Fun Again.
Good Night, Dirk.
Good Night, Tex!
Hey.
Thought I Heard Voices.
Nah. It's Just Me.
Just Got Off The Phone With Mom.
She And Grandpa Are Coming Back Tomorrow Night.
They Said They Miss You.
And I Miss Bowling. You Know, The Way It Used To Be.
You Know, Jeff Mclemore And I
Used To Play Second Base And Shortstop On The School Baseball Team.
Bottom Of The Ninth Against East Appleton,
We Mess Up A Double Play.
He Says That I Dropped The Ball,
And I Say That He Made A Bad Throw,
But We Lost The Game.
Later On In The Year, We Lose The Apple.
And We Decided It Was Because Of That Missed Double Play.
It Became A Huge Thing Between Us.
We Stopped Having Fun Together,
And We Stopped Being Friends.
We Claimed That The Mighty Apple Changed Us.
Of Course, It Wasn't Really The Apple.
It Was Just Us.
Letting That Happen Was The Stupidest Thing
Either One Of Us Has Ever Done.
You Lock Up When You Come In?
Yeah? Ok.
Good Night.
[Cheering]
Let's Go, Guys!
Surprise. We're Back.
Hey.
Oh, My Gosh. It's Good To See You.
Hiya, Grandpa. How Ya Feeling?
Great.
Look At This Place.
He's Coming.
Elisa, He's Not Coming.
Yes, He's Coming.
Well, He Better Hurry.
Oh, Hanburger. The School Is Ours.
Heh Heh. You Dream.
The Apple And The School Belong To The East.
We'll See.
Thank You, Thank You.
Welcome To The Big Apple Lanes,
The Pride Of West Appleton.
Now, On Behalf Of My Colleague, Mayor Hanburger,
We Welcome You To The Last Event
In The History Of The Mighty Apple.
Winner Take All.
Man, There's A Lot Of People In There.
Ain't It Great?
And Now, For The Last Time Ever,
Mayor Hanburger And I
Will Unveil The Mighty Apple.
It's A Beauty, And Tonight, We'll Know Where It Resides For All Eternity.
We Certainly Will.
And Now, Without Any Further Ado,
Let's Bring Out Our Teams.
Representing East Appleton,
Our Pride And Joy-- The Bowling Wolfpack!
[Booing]
Booing In A Bowling Alley?
Look At All Those Cameras.
Why Would Anyone Wanna Take A Picture Of This?
Because Our Uniforms Are So Darn Cool.
[Shrieking]
I'm Sorry. Let's Have Some Fun.
[Yells]
Whoo!
All Right.
Yeah.
And Here Comes The Pride Of The West,
Today Sporting The Name The Alley Cats.
Spunky, Yes?
There's Todd Mclemore,
Looking Confident, As One Would Expect.
For Those Of You Listening At Home,
Let Me Tell You What The Rules Are.
They're Simple.
Each Squad Starts With 4 Bowlers.
At Any Point In Time In A Bowler's Game,
A Substitution Can Be Made,
And That Bowler Finishes The Game.
You're Going Down.
It's Bowling, Slick. Mellow Out.
Mellow Out? The Attitude Of A True Loser.
I Don't Think We're Gonna Be Seeing Much In The Way Of Substitutions,
Even Though Both Teams Have A Sub On The Bench.
But There Is Always That Chance.
Anyways, You Add Up The Total Of The 4 Games, And That's Your Total.
The Team With The Highest Total Wins.
It's Simple.
Not Really Head To Head, But Still Head To Head.
Oh, My. No One Told Me That Bowling Could Be So Exciting.
[Blows]
Here Comes The Coin Toss.
Heads.
We'll Go Second.
East Appleton Is Gonna Get The Game Going.
Our Gang From The West Is Gonna Start With Ken Long,
Followed By Elisa Bowers, Alex Thompson,
And Batting Cleanup, For Wont Of A Better Term,
Todd Mclemore.
Oh, My, The Tension's So High, I Can Feel My Spleen Pounding.
Bobby Nagurski, Star Of The East, Is Preparing To Bowl.
It's A Tie Game.
That's My Boy. Whoo! That's My Boy.
Go, Ken Baby.
Oh, My, Ladies And Gentlemen,
It's Clear Already--
This Is Going To Be One Fine Bowling Match.
After Bowling 3 Frames Each, We Have A Tie Ball Game.
Here We Are At The Seventh-Frame Stretch,
And East Appleton Is Leading By 15.
This Game Is Closer Than My Shave This Morning.
Whoa-Ho-Ho.
I Am Breathless, My Friends.
Entering Into The Tenth Frame,
And East Appleton Leads.
But The West Is Working On More Marks.
They Could Catch Up,
And Dare I Even Dream It, Win The Mighty Apple!
Ok, If I Get 3 Strikes, We Tie.
Baron Isn't Working On A Mark,
So The Highest He Could Get Is 30 Points.
Todd, You're Working On A Strike.
You Can Top 30 In A Heartbeat.
All You Need Is A Strike Or A Spare--
Not A Problem.
Exactly.
3 Strikes, Al?
So Not A Problem.
Right.
All Right, Tex, Go Get 'Em.
Come On, Alex. Whoo!
Man: All Right, Wildcats.
Sweet Lou: Strike One!
Ho Ho. I Am Sweating Bullets, Folks.
So If I Short Out, It's Been Good Knowing You.
Should I, You Know, Curve One In Or Put One Right Up The Middle?
I Think You Should Not Mess Around.
Come On. How About One Between My Legs?
Alex, There's Fun, And Then There's Torture.
Go Bowl.
Yeah, Go, Go.
Come On, Alex. Come On, Alex.
Yes!
All Right!
And The West Is Still Alive.
If He Can't Do It, No One Can. Go, Alex!
[Screaming]
Oh, This Is Not A Bad Way To Live.
All Right.
Go, Kid.
Last Ball. Frame 10. Alex Thompson.
Strike 3! Strike 3!
Oh, My Goodness!
East's Last Bowler Needs 3 Strikes To Keep The Lead.
East Appleton Leads By 9 Pins.
Todd Mclemore, The West's Last Bowler,
Only Needs A Spare To Win The Mighty Apple.
Who Else Would You Rather Have In This Situation?
I Know This Is The Wrong Time To Say This,
But I Shouldn't Have Gone Last.
It's All Right. Todd, Man, You Can Do It.
It's Child's Play, Man.
Spare, And That's It.
Todd Mclemore Needs At Least A Spare
To Give West Appleton The Victory.
Oh, Bummer For The West.
Todd Mclemore Launches A Perfect Ball, But Is Denied.
Now He Has A 7-10 Split.
And He Has To Make This Spare,
Or The Apple Goes Home With The Dreaded Wolfpack.
I Think I'm Having Liver Failure.
It Was A Perfect Ball.
You Bowled The Best Game Of Your Life Under This Pressure, Todd.
I Can't Make This Shot, And We're Gonna Lose.
No, We're Not.
I Can Make The Shot.
You Can Make The Shot?
Yep.
Todd, They Want You.
You Can Make The Shot?
Oh, Yeah.
[Crowd Chants Todd]
Then We're Gonna Take That Substitution. Referee.
Leap Out Of Your Chairs, Folks. We Are Seeing History.
Todd Mclemore Has Removed Himself From This Game.
[Groans]
What Are You Doing, Todd?
It's Ok, Dad.
You Get Back In There.
No, Dad.
I'm Ordering You, Son.
You're Our Best Hope To Win.
Why? Because You Want Me To Be? It Doesn't Work That Way, Dad.
Sometimes I'm Not The Best, And You Gotta Let That Be Ok.
Now Why Don't You Go Back Over There And Cheer For Our Team, Dad?
Not Just For Me.
Come On, Delia. You've Got This Cold.
Come On, Del.
Come On, Let's Go.
It's Moving.
Have Mercy. That Ball Is Moving.
I Am Having An Apoplexy Here, Folks.
If There's A Doctor Out There Listening,
Come On Down Here And Help Me.
You'll Be Here Before The Ball Hits The Pins!
You Have Done This Before, Haven't You?
Wouldn't You Like To Know?
Almost There.
Hold Everything.
Now Remember-- I'm The One Who Cares About The Fun Of Bowling.
I'm Not Into Competition.
But Did I Care If Delia Made That Spare,
Thereby Winning The Mighty Apple For West Appleton?
Did I Care?
Did I Ever!
Well, What Do You Know?
Spare!
A Spare! West Appleton Wins!
Whoo!
You Were Right, Dad. Bowling Isn't Just For Fun. Thank You.
No. Thank You For Everything. You Were Great.
I Love Ya, Alex.
I Love You, Too, Mom.
You Did It. You Did It.
We Did It, Dad.
[Grunts] Ahem.
Listen, I'm Sorry.
Always Thought You Liked All The Attention.
I Forgot About All The Pressure.
You Know What I Learned, Dad? I Learned Sports Can Be Fun,
Not Just An Intense "Gotta Win" Game.
I Still Want To Win, But I Really Like This Having Fun Business.
I Know. I'm Sorry.
It Should Always Be Fun.
It's Just That You're So Special,
I Want The Best For You So Badly. I'm So Proud Of You.
Thanks, Dad.
I'm Proud Of All Of You.
[Cheering]
The Apple's Ours. The School Is Ours.
The West Lives On.
Hey, Dad, It's Not About Ego. You Didn't Play, We Did,
So We Should Get To Decide What's What.
You Don't Want The School To Be West Appleton Junior High?
You Really Think Someone Should Lose Their Identity
Over Something As Fun As Bowling? I Don't.
Well, Mayor...
You Won.
No, Uh, The Team Won.
Same Thing.
And, Um, Well, We're Not Gonna Name The School.
You're Not?
Yes, We Are.
You Are?
Yeah. We're Gonna Name It Appleton Central.
I Love It.
Yeah, I Like It.
It Rocks.
Yes.
Hey, You Know What This Place Needs?
A Little Fun.
A Little Music.
And A Lot Of Style.
♪ Knock, Knock, Knock 'Em Down ♪
♪ Baby, Let's Go To Town ♪
♪ Jukebox Fills The Air ♪
♪ Hey, We Got Time To Spare ♪
♪ We Gonna Set 'Em Just The Way We Like ♪
♪ 'Cause The Joint Heats Up When The Alley Cats Strike ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Ooh-Ahh ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Ooh-Aah ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Set 'Em Up Just The Way We Like ♪
♪ 'Cause The Joint Heats Up When The Alley Cats Strike ♪
Alex: Now Admit It.
You Didn't See It Coming, Either.
Just Like Me And Everyone Else In West Appleton,
You Thought The Golden Boy And The Retro Kids
Would Always Be Worlds Apart.
This Just Goes To Show You Can Always Find Some Common Ground
If You Look Hard Enough.
Ok, Maybe Not On The Dance Floor,
But, Hey, There's Always Bowling.
Sometimes Worlds Do Collide.
So If You Have A Beef With Someone
Who's Completely Different From You,
I Say Settle It. Settle It In The Alley.
♪ Ooh-Ahh ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Ooh-Ahh ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Ooh-Ahh ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Ooh-Ahh ♪
♪ Right Down The Middle ♪
♪ Set 'Em The Way We Like When The Alley Cats Strike ♪