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The Dude abides, and luckily for us, so does this dude

By Matthew Halverson
Photograph by Frank Di Piazza

Just because Brian McCullough is a bowler who happens to be gay, that doesn’t mean he rolls with a disco-ball–themed bowling ball. (We asked, and we’re not sure he liked it.) The executive director of this month’s gay-friendly-but-not-necessarily-straight-exclusionary Show Me Classic Invitational was, however, more than willing to talk strikes and strange alley attire.


Why do we need a bowling tournament just for the gay and lesbian community? Well, why not? [Laughs.] I think it’s a community where sometimes people don’t feel comfortable coming forward, so if they’re in an environment with people of like minds, it’s something that they might get out and do. Is bowling a popular sport in the gay community? Yes and no. Locally, we have 200 or 250 people in three leagues. But there are other gay sporting associations in St. Louis. There’s the softball league. There’s a volleyball league. There’s even kickball. Is this a really competitive tournament? It can be. I don’t take it too seriously. If I win, wonderful, if I don’t, it doesn’t so much matter to me. Care to predict how well you’re going to do this year? I don’t know. As the executive director, I get very little sleep the whole weekend. Why? Well, we do a lot of activities outside of the actual tournament. And then every bowler gets a complimentary welcome bag—different sponsors donate various paraphernalia, coupons, etc.—and we stuff those bags on Thursday. Did you just use stuffing gift bags as an excuse for why you might not do well? I’ll use any excuse I can. Fair enough. The website for the tournament was ... interesting. We have a theme for the tournament every year, and this year it’s futuristic. How will that theme manifest itself at the tournament? Well ... there will be futuristic costumes, like from Star Wars or The Jetsons. What are you going as? It is always a surprise, but let’s just say this: You never know when Rosie the Robot might appear. And then there are the light sabers ... You can have a lot of fun with that. I’m not even going to touch that. You know what? I won’t either.