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ESPN Daily

The Mystery of the Backyard Bowling Balls

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.63.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2021

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

David Olson is a quiet, Midwestern father of three, living an ordinary life. That is until one day this summer, when doing some home renovation, he discovered some bowling balls buried under the steps leading to his backyard. And not just two, or three, or 10 or 20 bowling balls. In total, Olson uncovered a whopping 162 bowling balls from his property, and ended up going viral with his story. Where the balls had come from? How did they end up at Olson’s house? Ryan Hockensmith explains this stranger-than-fiction story of man’s unexpected discovery…and the unexpected way in which it ultimately transformed his life.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Ryan Hocketsmith, where does this story begin?

0:03.8

It begins in Michigan with a man named David Olson.

0:12.0

He had an off day this summer, and so he thought, you know, I've been meaned to yank out these back steps of mine that are crumbling and falling apart.

0:20.0

So I'll do it on my off day.

0:23.6

He works as a machinist, so he's a pretty handy guy, went and bought a sledgehammer.

0:28.6

And one July morning, he just went out back, started the process of demolishing the steps himself.

0:36.6

There's like three steps coming off the side of the back of his house.

0:41.1

I would say that the size of the entire area is like if you took an old phone booth and

0:46.5

tipped it over on its side, it was not huge, but it was a full day's work.

0:51.6

But before he even started swinging the sledgehammer, though, it was crumbling enough that

0:56.4

he thought, well, I'll just start yanking some of this off with my hands. And he yanked the first

1:00.0

cement block off the side. And the first thing that surprised him was that it wasn't dirt behind

1:06.2

the cement block. It was sand. So sand comes pouring out.

1:12.6

And as the sand pours past him, he kind of peeks underneath the steps,

1:16.6

and he could not believe what he saw.

1:20.6

There were three bowling balls staring at him, half covered in the sand.

1:26.6

And he took a step back and was just like, whoa, wait a second.

1:31.5

No way.

1:33.3

What happens then?

1:35.7

Well, he just goes back to work.

1:38.5

And he just keeps digging and digging and digging.

1:41.5

And every two minutes or so, he'd find another bowling ball or three or five.

...

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