To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. The sweet clang of scattering pins echoed through Western Bowl, a cavernous 68-lane bowling alley on the edge of Cincinnati. It was day one of the 1993 Super Hoinke, a Thanksgiving weekend tournament that drew hundreds of the nationâs top amateursâteachers, accountants, and truck drivers who excelled at the art of scoring strikes. They came to the Super Hoinke (âHOING-keyâ) to vie for a $100,000 grand prize and bowling-world fame. Between games, many bowlers drifted to the alleyâs pro shop to soak in the wisdom of Maurice âMoâ Pinel, a star ball designer for the sporting-goods giant AMF. Pinel had come to Cincinnati to promote his latest creation, the Sumo. The bowling ball had launched the year before, backed by a TV commercial featuring a ginormous Japanese wrestler bellyflopping down a lane, with the tagline âFlat out, more power than youâve ever seen in a bowling center.â The ball had quickly become a sensation, hailed for the way it naturally darted sideways across the laneâa quality known as flare. To congratulate Pinel on the sale of the 100,000th Sumo, AMF had given him a chunky medallion embossed with writing in kanji, a bauble that dangled from his neck as he held court at the Super Hoinke.