By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
Skee Ball may bring back memories of arcade games at family restaurants but today it’s a local sports league thanks to a former Piedmont Surrey-Gazette publisher.
Roger Pugh has organized Oklahoma’s first social Skee Ball league complete with silly team names and puns. The competitive, but fun, games kicks off with the first competition next Wednesday, Oct. 10 at Friends Bar and Grill, 3705 W. Memorial Road in Oklahoma City.
“We recently placed our first two alley roller machines in Friends Bar and Grill in northwest Oklahoma City and Friends gave us an ideal spot inside their facility to hold our first tournaments and league play,” Pugh said.
Friends Bar and Grill owner Mike Scandy said Skee Ball is a perfect fit for the bar.
“We’re always looking for additional entertainment opportunities for our patrons, and Skee Ball is a perfect fit,” Scandy said. “It is a fun, fast, competitive game, and anyone can play.”
The machines are available for open play when leagues and tournaments are not scheduled. Skee Ball is also known as alley rolling and the object of the game is to roll a 3-inch ball up a 10-feet runway and ramp to get the ball into the highest scoring cups.
Pugh said the venue also offers his league rollers live music, a large dance floor, food and beverage service, pool tables and regulation size shuffleboard tables. He noted Friends has one of the few remaining house bands in Oklahoma City and the band plays a variety of music from many eras.
At the end of each season cash prizes are awarded to each team, depending on where the team finishes in the standings. First place trophies are given to each member of the top finishing team and several trophies are awarded for individual accomplishments.
“The competition is real, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” Pugh said. Teams are encouraged to pick skee ball themed silly names like “Skeelicious” or “Are you skeerious,” said Pugh, who prefers to call himself Skee-E-O, rather than president of SKEE Oklahoma. Some rollers like to adopt a skee ball pun related nickname. Pugh dubs himself “Skee King” because one of his favorite television shows as a youngster was “Sky King.” League and tournament officials are not referees, they are the “Skee Patrol.” A season is a “skeeson.”
Pugh said SKEE Oklahoma will soon add additional adult leagues in several more Oklahoma City locations as well as in venues across the state and at appropriate locations statewide for youth through collegiate age competition.
Leagues, and most tournaments, will use the NARA handicap system to give individual rollers and teams with lower game score averages a chance to be competitive with top rollers and teams, Pugh explained.
“We don’t think Oklahoma City or anywhere in Oklahoma has seen anything like what we are bringing,” Pugh said. “It is an inexpensive way to get off the couch, move around and get out a night or two each week to have fun, socialize, and make new friends while not having to spend several hours doing it,” he explained. He said there are four skeesons each year, each lasting eight to 10 weeks and rollers can roll in as many skeesons as they choose.
Among the first tournaments planned this fall or early winter is a charity fundraiser for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the national charity of both Skee Oklahoma and NARA. A portion will also go to Friend’s charity of choice.
“We hope to involve a number of OKC skeeliberties in that event,” Pugh said.
Pugh’s interest in Skee Ball began during his adolescent years. He was also an avid bowler, competing in state championships.
“I could have gotten my pro card, but I wanted to college and needed to go to college,” Pugh said. “I continued to bowl off and on, but I also played skee ball when I could find one.”
After he sold the Piedmont-Surrey Gazette to Randy Anderson in November 2015, Pugh considered starting a league. A league in New York cropped up and after its success, other cities across the U.S. began starting leagues. The trend is becoming popular and bars are taking advantage of it.
The league season runs October 10 to December 17. There is a $12.50 registration fee, $6.25 trophy fee and $6 per week charge for three games.
