The OTA period in the NFL seems to be a popular time for teams in that league to run bowling tournaments. This Detroit-area web report notes that Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson fired a 243 in their intrasquad tournament.
Archive for June, 2008
Cross-training #32
June 14, 2008Cross-training #31
June 14, 2008A Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel blog post notes that Green Bay Packers running backs coach Edgar Bennett ran a charity bowl-a-thon for the cancer charity Angel Fund. You may assume at least most of the Packers players were involved.
Cross-training #30
June 14, 2008The Arizona Cardinals reported that Ken Whisenhunt, for the second straight year, took his team bowling instead of closing out week three of OTAs (Organized Team Activities) with a practice. The winning foursome won the right not to have to run “gassers” (post-practice sprints) next week.
Cross-training #29
June 13, 2008This Chicago-area web report notes that linebacker Danny Clark, who recently signed a two-year contract to play for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, will be running a celebrity bowling tournament as part of a two-day charity event to benefit his high school alma mater’s football program.
First place!
June 13, 2008The standings sheet after this week has been posted on LeagueSecretary.com (see sidebar link under “Author’s links”), and it shows that my team is currently in first place. 
It’s still early, however, so it’s not time for us to relax just yet. Judging from this week, it looks like you can expect the standings to be updated on the site by Friday, so Friday will probably be the best day to check the standings.
Cross-training #28
June 12, 2008The Pittsburgh Steelers reported on their site that the team opted to go bowling recently instead of having an OTA (Organized Team Activity) practice. Punter Dan Sepulveda had the high game of the day (a 237) and rookie Dennis Dixon also did well, shooting a 207 game. A photo gallery from the event is available from the page linked above.
New sidebar category and links
June 12, 2008I’ve been waiting since before the start of my Wednesday Summer Mixed league for this…
I have added a new category, called “Author’s links”, to the sidebar. This category will be for links to my personal bowling stuff that is online. Eventually, this category will include such stuff as my USBC membership information, but there are two links to start off this category.
The first one, which is why I’ve been holding off on creating the category, is the link to my current league standings on LeagueSecretary.com. The current standings sheet shows the standings after last week (the bowling on June 4), but I believe it is in the process of being updated. Check here to track my team as we go through the season (paid members of LeagueSecretary.com can access previous weeks’ standings).
The second one will track how well I do from week to week in the league at a glance. It is a stat sheet on a site called BowlingTracker.com, and will even give such stats as averages on each lane pair. The larger site has also been added as a regular bowling site link in the “Bowling Sites” category. Thank you to Brandon from the BowlingCommunity.com forums and the associated IRC channel for pointing me to this site.
It’s official!
June 12, 2008As per plan, I went to the lanes early yesterday because I was scheduled to have another lesson with Ray. It had turned out that Ray was running a half-hour late, so I didn’t start warming up for my lesson until about 4:30. After a while, Ray got his camcorder out and started to film a “before” session.
The “before” showed that my timing was still good, and that my release and follow-through were getting better. I was still having trouble staying under the ball, however. The “before” this time included a series to show axis tilt and revolutions. For good pin action, a bowling ball must have at least 12 revolutions before hitting the pins, but I was only getting 9 or 10 revolutions by that time. The problem staying under the ball and not getting revolutions are related, because, as Ray showed me, my elbow was going away from my body. Another problem related to leverage was that I was not bending my left knee enough in my downswing, so in my drill work during the session, the elbow and the knee were the two points of emphasis. When we filmed the “after”, Ray said I had 8 good shots in a row, and my revolutions picked up to the point where I was getting 11 of them on the ball. Ray said I would get that last revolution with practice. Foreshadowing the league night I would have later, he said he had a feeling I would bowl well.
I was prepared to have to hang around after the lesson, so I had all of my medication with me, including my cholesterol medication, which, on Wednesdays since starting the league, I would take before eating at home prior to leaving for the lanes, and I took the cholesterol pill shortly after my lesson. I later ordered a cheeseburger and a Sprite from the snack bar, and I had dinner while watching Ralph warm up. Ralph said that Brian had pre-bowled because of a school awards function that his daughter was involved in. Joy was also back after missing the regular league session last week.
My work in my lesson carried over to my league bowling immediately; I started the first game with a turkey, picked up a single 2 pin, then had a double, and the only open frame I would have that game was in the 9th frame, in which I only picked up the front pin of the sleeper 2-8. I ended the game with a spare and 8-fill for a 214. My second game was not quite as good, but I sandwiched a lone open frame, throwing an attempt at the single 10 pin in the ditch, between a couple of doubles. I made all of my other spares during the game, and I ended up with a 201. I was worried about running out of gas during the night, but my last game would turn out to be my best of the night…a clean 227 in which I tossed a hambone starting in the 6th frame. The resulting 642 series was my best ever in actual competition. Brian’s pre-bowl scores were around his average for the most part, but he did have a 235 in the first game. Except for the second game, Joy and Ralph were also around their norm, and we ended up taking 6 of the 8 points from our opponents, the team known as “G Force.”
Result: 214-201-227=642
Average (9 games): 186 Last 9 average: 186
My team faces last year’s league champions next week, so I’m really looking forward to that. If we have a good night against them, I feel that it would be a statement of sorts.
The administravia of this post is the fact that I have edited the “About” page of this blog, linked in the sidebar, to reflect last night’s accomplishment. Here’s hoping I make more edits like that in the future.
BEST…THREE…EVAR!!!
June 9, 2008After the first game of my practice today, I was going to title this post “Mr. Clean” in honor of having my first clean game since my return to bowling. I started with a double, sandwiched another strike between a couple of single-pin spares, then finished with the last seven in a row for a 259, my second best game ever in any setting. Little did I know I would follow it up with my third best game ever, a 247. I had a chance for my first (albeit unofficial) 700 series, but left a couple of splits and missed a single pin in the 9th frame for a 183, giving me a 689 series…my best ever!
And I wasn’t even worried about score…all I wanted was to get my ball over the foul line and have clean releases. I was playing the “wall” (the line between the oil and the dry, which is a characteristic of many house shots), and had good angle to the pocket most of the day. I was largely building on my league performance of last week, so having a good series like this, even in practice, has to give me a ton of confidence. I see Ray for coaching on Wednesday afternoon, so I’ll be sure to tell him about this practice.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that the 689 series is better than any series I’ve had on two good feet, so this is indeed special.
League update: My team is in fourth place in the league after last week. A separate post may be coming if I can find the league on bowl.com (I was going to wait for LeagueSecretary.com to have the league standings posted for something special, but if the USBC site has them, I may be able to do it soon.).
Job application update
June 6, 2008Just an update on the application process for the job at the snack bar…I talked to Arsenio, the head cook, and he told me he’d have to see what the shifts look like, but he may be able to fill them with part-time help. He was generally looking for people who would be available nights until 11 PM, and I told him that I could possibly work until that time on most nights. He then handed me an application, which I will fill out this weekend and drop it off at the snack bar when I come in for practice on Monday.
My bowling cousins were doing open bowling while I was there, joined by the cousins up from Texas, along with my uncle, and my aunt was watching until she had to leave. While I was there, I chatted a bit of bowling with David while he was sitting, including telling him about the pitch change I recently made, noting that I thought that helped me get the 564 set the other night.
Cross-training #27
June 5, 2008From a North Carolina newspaper report…
Carolina Panthers safety Terrence Holt had an interesting dilemma before attending a bowling event that was connected to his team: should he allow his more famous brother, long-time St. Louis Rams receiver Torry Holt, to tag along? Torry has expressed interest in joining his brother in Carolina.
Making progress
June 5, 2008The first thing about last night that I learned when arriving at the lanes was that Joy wouldn’t be bowling, but that she did pre-bowl. This was told to me by Jon when I stopped into the pro shop. I had also left the towel I wipe my ball with on the ball return last week, so I had to purchase a new one. Ralph and Brian arrived between 6:15 PM and 6:30 PM, with Ralph practicing with Tony Attardo when Brian arrived, and Brian joining Tony for one game after Ralph finished his.
The league standings from last week were posted after Brian and Ralph finished warming up, and we learned that we had split the points (4 and 4) with our opponents and were sitting in 10th place. I took my warmups when the lanes were turned on for league, but after Brian threw his first shot in actual bowling, we had to wait for Donna, the league secretary, to give us Joy’s pre-bowl scores: first two games in the 150s and a 199 in the third game. The first game, a 155, was then entered for Joy as an absentee score, and each game’s scores for Joy would be entered in the same fashion at the start of that game.
To sum up my first game, I was very close to having a clean game, with a double in the 4th and 5th frames, until I chopped the 6 off of the 3-6 in the 10th, ending with a 192. The second game was looking very good, as well, with a turkey in the 3rd through 5th frames, until I left the 6-7-10 split in the 7th and the 4-7-10 split in the 10th, holding my score down to a 179. I thought the last game would start off the way the last game did last week, with my spare game deserting me, as I missed a couple of makable spares, including throwing it in the ditch on an attempt at the single 10 pin. Unlike last week, however, I recovered my game quicker, and threw my best shots of the night in collecting a hambone in the 5th through 8th frames, missing a five-bagger by stoning the 7 pin in the 9th. I left the 6-7-10 again in the 10th, but came close to converting it, ending with a 193. Brian and Ralph also both had good nights, and we ended up taking all 8 points from our opponents.
All-in-all, I was very happy with my performance. As Joy’s first two games were quite a bit under her first night average, my team sort of needed me to step up, and that I thought I did. The 564 set was better than anything I had in my winter practices (my best previous was the 554 set on Dec. 10), and, except for going “Brooklyn” on one of my strikes in the second game, all of my strikes were on good quality shots. I was playing an outside line again, and I seemed to be making all of the right adjustments. Brian, taking me home afterwards, said he really liked me on that line, and thinks I will be more consistent on it with time. Donna, who was bowling on the adjacent pair, also complimented me during the night…she asked me if this was my first league or just my first league in years, and dished out the compliment after I replied with the latter.
Result: 192-179-193=564 Average (6 games): 172
As a final aside, a couple of my other cousins, related to my bowling cousins through a sibling relationship, were up from Texas and were watching the bowling cousins during the night. I stopped to say a quick hello to them before I left for the night.
Chris Gunn wins May 2008 “People’s Tournament” at E. Providence Lanes
June 3, 2008Congratulations go out to Westgate Lanes bowler Chris Gunn, who took down the May “People’s Tournament” title at E. Providence Lanes. According to the TPT site, Gunn, carrying a 174 average, defeated James Dickerson, Jr. (Nutmeg Bowl {CT}, 208 average) in the championship match by a score (with handicaps) of 217-174.
A second homecoming…
June 2, 2008This homecoming was not for me, however. Bev, the control desk lady, returned to work today after having had surgery to remove a brain tumor. I gave, with her permission, a gentle “welcome back” hug when I came into the lanes and she thanked me for the card I sent her.
More towel drills today, but I combined it with learning to play an outside line. I estimate I got about 3/4 of my shots over the towel, but I’m still not happy with my release, as I can feel my hand coming on top of the ball near the bottom of the downswing at times still. It may take another session with Ray to know for sure if this is what’s happening. I still had a few quality shots, though, so maybe my improvement will come slowly rather than quickly.
I was told by Junior that Arsenio, the head cook at the snack bar, will be returning to work on Thursday, so I will stop in then to ask Arsenio about the openings. Please pray that I get one of the jobs…my bowling this winter season may depend on it.
