Although, unlike last week, we took a couple of points, that didn’t prevent us from dropping a place in the standings, as we are now in 14th, 3 points behind “The Insiders” and only a point ahead of “Wild Samoans,” who, as I have mentioned previously, we face next week. “Phoenix Kings” and “Git R Done” faced each other this week and split the points, so there is no change at the top of the standings.
July 10 league standings update
July 10, 2009 by RichEntry into July 18-19 People’s Tournament official
July 9, 2009 by RichAfter posting last night, I checked my bank balance as usual and noted that my entry check for the People’s Tournament at Westgate Lanes next weekend cleared, so consider my entry into that tournament official. I will be bowling in the 12:30 PM squad on the 19th.
Too little, too late
July 8, 2009 by RichChalk tonight up to still trying to figure out what my Hy-Road can and can’t do. I had a few good shots early, but quickly had to migrate inside. My spare game was largely absent as well tonight, which didn’t help matters. My third game was the one that made me feel semi-decent about the night; although it was only a 154 (and still the best game on the night), I was playing much deeper inside than usual, and more or less finally figured things out in the middle when I decided to slow down, but swing it out more, keeping the side rotation. Attacking the lanes with this strategy, I had 3 strikes from the 5th frame on, including a double in the 5th and 6th frames. This might have been the best horrible night I’ve had bowling, all told.
Result: 135-145-154=434
Average (27 games): 179 Last 9 games average: 161
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 560
Team only took the first game, largely on the strength of Rob’s 236; we lost a close second game and got blown out of the water last game, with Sean Richard looking like he was going to string together 12 in the last game until the 8th frame.
Speaking of the team, here we are…
TNT, Summer 2009: (L to R): Me, Bill Macomber, Bonnie MacDonald, Rob Dickens
The photo above will also be added to the “scrapbook.” As a parting shot, happy birthday to my cousin Debbie, who celebrated it tonight while bowling.
July 5 league standings update
July 5, 2009 by RichThe sweep on Wednesday night had no effect on our position, as it turned out, as we remain in 13th place, 7 points behind “Wyld Stallyns” and 3 points ahead of “The Insiders.” The race for the championship has become much closer, thanks to “Phoenix Kings” being swept by “Wild Samoans;” “Git R Done,” our opponents last week, now only trail the lead by 6 points. It should be noted that Harry Thibeault Jr’s 767 bowled against us is now the high scratch series for the men this season.
As mentioned in an earlier post, my team faces “Heaven Help Us,” the team currently in 4th place, this week. A week from Wednesday is the date my entire team has circled, as our opponents will be the aforementioned “Wild Samoans.”
June 2009 People’s Tournament results
July 4, 2009 by RichThe People’s Tournament reported Otis Hunt (Boston Bowl, 182 avg.) as the winner of the June event at Town Line Lanes in Malden. Hunt defeated Paris Cook (Westgate Lanes, 188 avg.) by a score of 222-175 (with handicaps) in the title match. In addition to Paris Cook, Sean Richard (198 avg.) represented Westgate Lanes in the final 8, while Louis Lam (176 avg.) and Leonard Coyer (179 avg.) were in the top 16.
Erratum from “300 lightning strikes twice for Brendan Litchfield”
July 2, 2009 by RichThe post named in the title of this post has been edited to properly give the host center of this year’s state youth tournament.
June 27-28 NEBA results
July 2, 2009 by RichNEBA reported Tony Reynaud as the winner of the June 27 and 28 singles tournament at Bowl-O-Rama in Newington, CT. Reynaud, winning for the second time this year, defeated John Bedard by a score of 215-204 in the title match. There weren’t any names among the cashers that I know as Westgate Lanes bowlers (feel free to post corrective comments), however, a familiar name, Jon Van Hees, was one of them.
An encouraging night
July 2, 2009 by RichI’ve had nights where I’ve scored better, of course, but the first encouraging thing about last night was that I had a clean first game (210) bowling directly opposite Harry Thibeault Jr., one of the best in the house, which told me that I wasn’t bowling scared. A couple of bad shots cost me in the second game. However, in the third game, I had to make a move inside to about the point where I normally start feeling uncomfortable; I surprised even myself by throwing fairly good shots (I made a 2 & 1 move and upped the ball speed) and even stringing together a turkey in the middle of the game. The third game would’ve been better had my spare game not let me down. As it turned out, I would’ve needed a career night to beat Harry, anyway, as he had a 279, the highest game ever thrown against me, sandwiched between a couple of games in the 240s.
Result: 210-185-171=566
Average (24 games): 183 Last 9 games average: 181
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 562
The team got swept, largely because Debbie Butler, Harry’s sister, also had a great night, which my team couldn’t really match. On to “Heaven Help Us,” another good team, next week.
Anniversary post
June 30, 2009 by RichIt’s been 2 years now since I took the game up again, and my experience in the last year has been well above expectations. My average has taken a couple of steps down since last summer, but I still feel I’m improving my overall game. I still booked my highest average ever this past winter (183), and nearly had my first 700 series towards the end of last summer (my 694, helped out by my closest approach so far to my best game ever, the 265).
As I learned there is no longer a regular bowling column in the Enterprise, I took it upon myself to put a modern spin on that and began regularly posting local bowling news. When I learned where all of the league standings at Westgate Lanes are posted online, I began tracking each winter league and reported on all of the honor scores (mostly 300 games and 800 series) shot at Westgate Lanes. I missed some opportunities to give congratulations early in the winter season, notably Richard Mines’ 300 in the TNBA league. I congratulated him at the BBA’s Hall of Fame dinner a few months ago, and do so again here.
I also follow all of the tournaments at Westgate Lanes (notably the People’s Tournament and NEBA), and also have at least started note all of the local bowlers’ performances when those tournaments are away from Westgate Lanes (when the locals cash). I’ve also found results of the PBA East regional tournaments, and will start trying to note the locals’ accomplishments at that level.
I’m going to keep the list of thank-yous brief, as the important people were thanked last year. I do want to thank a few people again, though, so here’s the list:
- Ray DiSanto, Jr. again for continuing my bowling education, and also for drilling my new Hy-Road (he did it himself this time rather than having one of his employees do the work).
- The gang in the Brunswick Mixed League, for welcoming me when I couldn’t get into the Westgate Mixed League. Special thanks go to Helen, Ted, Patrick, and Carl, my first winter league teammates since I returned, for helping make the season fun.
- Bonnie, Bill, and Rob, my current summer league teammates…here’s hoping we do well the rest of the season.
- The Brockton Bowling Association, and especially Bob Young, Jr., for recently giving me a link on the association’s new website.
- The IRC user known as “Heretic,” for alerting me to the woot.com deal on my Canon ZR-950 camcorder, which eventually allowed me to post my own bowling video here.
- Finally, Chris Marasti-Georg, one of the BowlingFans.com gang, for having the vision to start up BowlSK.com, which has definitely made my bowling blogging easier.
Here’s to another year of good bowling. 
300 lightning strikes twice for Brendan Litchfield
June 29, 2009 by RichThis bit of news I received by way of his aunt on Facebook…
Brendan Litchfield has shot 2 300 games in less than a two month span. The first one occurred in the state youth tournament on May 3 at AMF Holiday Lanes in Somerset, and he would then add another one on Friday night at Westgate Lanes in the Friday night summer youth league.
Congrats again, Brendan! (I’ve congratulated him on Facebook before posting this.)
June 26 league standings update
June 26, 2009 by RichWith “T N T” only taking a single point this week, we lost a place in the standings, with Team 14 (our opponents this week) moving ahead of us. The league championship is starting to look like a runaway for “Phoenix Kings,” as they are now 14 points ahead of a tie for second between “Git R Done” (our opponents next week), “Country Bumpkins,” and “Heaven Help Us” (our opponents in two weeks).
A drought
June 25, 2009 by RichThere was not much to like about tonight, as I had no strikes after the 8th frame of the first game. I had reached the conclusion in the second game that my Hy-Road was too strong tonight, so I went to the High Voltage, and the ball change may have been ill-advised, in hindsight. If there was a bright spot, it was the second game, where I had my closest approach to an all-spare game yet, with a big split to open but spares in the other nine frames. My spare game wasn’t that solid, however, as I left the 7 pin four times and missed all of them, including 3 in a very forgettable last game.
Result: 155-173-125=453
Average (21 games): 182 Last 9 games average: 179
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 552
This wasn’t a good night for the team, either, as we only managed a first game tie, and we didn’t learn about the tie until the end of the night, as the other team had a new bowler who had to average in. Team will need to regroup quickly, however, as we face very good teams in the next two weeks.
Cross-training #104
June 23, 2009 by RichThis Scout.com report on the Green Bay Packers notes that the team canceled their afternoon minicamp practice yesterday in favor of a team-building bowling outing at a local center.
2009 Massachusetts State USBC Bowling Association Championships results
June 20, 2009 by RichThe Mass. Tri-County Bowling Association has posted the official results of this year’s state championship tournament. The full prize list can be found at the link above, but I’ll recognize the state champions here (with local association represented in parentheses):
Team
Scratch: Sundowners #6 (Mass. Tri-County) 3,588
Handicap: The Hopeful’s (Mass. Tri-County) 3,850
Doubles
Scratch: David T. Juzba, Jr/Todd W. Jordan (Southeastern Mass.) 1,436
Handicap: Eric A. Morin/William D. Sorell (Southeastern Mass.) 1,621
Singles
Scratch: Jeffrey L. Bennett (Mass. Tri-County) 777
Handicap: Dale Hill (Brockton) 863
All-Events
Scratch: Jonathan J. Van Hees (Southeastern Mass.) 2,263
Handicap: Jorge D. Fernandes (Southeastern Mass.) 2,570
Congratulations to all of this year’s state champions, and to all that cashed in the tournament.
June 19 league standings update
June 19, 2009 by RichMy team’s winning night against “Wyld Stallyns” had the net effect of leapfrogging that team into 11th place in the standings, 2 points off of a 3-way tie for 8th. “Phoenix Kings” are really hitting stride now, as they now lead “Heaven Help Us” by 8 points. Next week’s opponents are Team 14, who are behind us in the standings.
