Team Fish: Sometimes, Boys Just Wanna Have Fun, Too

bowlingball.com 9/15/2015

To borrow from the famous Cyndi Lauper song, sometimes boys just wanna have fun, too. Take "Team Fish" for example. "Team Fish" began to create national curiosity among Professional Bowlers Association fans during the Grand Casino Resort & Hotel PBA Summer Swing when Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., made his national television debut on CBS Sports Network, winning the PBA Wolf Open title with fellow "Team Fish" friends Connor Pickford of Matthews, N.C., and Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich., in the background, cheering him on.

Contrary to conclusions drawn by some fans, the "Team Fish" concept had nothing to do with Troup being the son of PBA Tour champion Guppy Troup:

"At the (PBA) World Series (of Bowling) two years ago, Connor, Craig and I were rooming together," Kyle Troup explained. "Nidiffer plays online poker, and there are a lot of 'fish' who play as well. People who don't play poker well are called 'fish.' So during the World Series, we all bowled bad. None of us got a check. We decided we bowled like 'fish' so we kind of made up a little team among the three of us, and called ourselves Team Fish."

"When I made (the Wolf Open) show, the name kinda took off because I had the name on my collar," Troup continued, "so we decided to make a logo and have fun with it. It's nothing serious; it's just going along to see what we can do with it."

The little group began giving each other nicknames. Troup is "AfroFish" because of the Afro hairstyle he sported during the Wolf Open finals. Nidiffer became "NidiFish." Pickford is "FishFord." They created their own Facebook and Twitter pages (Team Fish), and a website is in the works. Through Facebook, fans create their own "fish" nicknames and can order o-FISH-al merchandise, like t-shirts.

"If it takes off, hopefully other guys on Tour will make their own teams with their own names," Troup said. "It's all in fun. It just gives fans something special to cheer for."

Next up, Team Fish will make its formal competitive debut during the upcoming PBA South Point Bowling Plaza Fall Classic in Las Vegas when five "fish" will bowl together in the new five-player PBA Team Challenge Oct. 24-25. Bowling for Team Fish will be Dick (FishStick) Allen of Columbia, S.C.; Kyle ( AfroFish) Troup; Connor (FishFord) Pickford; two-hander Anthony (TwoFinFish) Simonsen of Princeton, Texas, and Kris (WickedFish) Prather of Milton, Fla.

Article was posted with permission from Stars & Strikes, America's Bowling Newsmagazine. www.starsandstrikesbowling.com