If I were the medical examiner, I would list the cause of death as "milkshake". Surely, he was dead inside before any bowling-related implements became involved.
Man...that movie had such amazing potential. It started off incredibly and just kind of died in the middle. I don't remember anything that happened after the oil derrick disaster that left his son deaf. The ending will live on as a classic ending, but it was almost overacted to the point of absurdity. Like a melodramatic parody of itself. It's too bad.