The Tenth Board

With “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).

My Week 7 bowling (BowlSK)

There 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.

My 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.

My Week 6 bowling (BowlSK)

As I noted in the BowlSK comment on the series, this was a nice first league game and set with my new Hy-Road. I knew if I could make good shots and find the pocket, the ball would likely carry, and that was borne out in the first game with a turkey in the middle (after a split) and the final 6 in a row for a 245. Some bad shots hurt me in the second game, but I was even happy with that game, as I got a couple of “messengers” (a “messenger” is when the head pin bounces off the side wall and heads for the 10 pin), even though those “messengers” missed; I hadn’t been getting those with the High Voltage, showing how strong the Hy-Road is.

Result: 245-162-211=618
Average (18 games): 188 Last 9 games average: 183
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 582

This was another good night for the team, as well. The first game set up the night, as everyone was well over average, particularly Rob, who had a 235 himself; we won that game by better than 200 pins. Second game was a disappointment, but I helped carry my team (combined with the other team, who had a pre-bowl and a low-average absentee, not doing so well) to the third game win for 6 points on the night.

The updated standings were run today, so this is as fresh as it comes.

My team’s winning night meant that we are now all alone in 12th place, 2 points ahead of “The Insiders,” but 2 points behind Team 14 (which is not, as it turns out, Brian and Ralph’s team). “Phoenix Kings” are now the league leaders, 2 points ahead of “Heaven Help Us.” Next week’s opponents are the “Wyld Stallyns,” another middle-of-the-pack team.

If you go to my member information page on bowl.com (linked in the sidebar in the “Author’s links” category) and click the “Leagues/Averages” tab, you should find that my Brunswick Mixed League average for the past season has been posted. Last year’s Wednesday Summer Mixed average still shows 0 because the local association generally does not submit summer league averages.