With a showdown to stay out of the basement looming next week, my team is now 4 points ahead of the “Lounge Lizards.” “Phoenix Kings” continue to hold a two-point lead over “Git R Done” at the top of the standings. With the two completed games from last week figured in, my official average is now 178.
Archive for July, 2009
July 31 league standings update
July 31, 2009July 29 league night
July 30, 2009Last night’s bowling, frame-by-frame (BowlSK)
I went into last night with some circumstances that might’ve given me a down mood (there was a death in my high school graduating class), but, as the above link shows, I didn’t really let it affect my bowling. This was the best night I’ve had in a while overall, with only a couple of missed single pins possibly preventing me from getting a 600 series. I’m happy with this, however, as when I did strike, it was in bunches, with the hambone in the middle of the first game and six in a row bridging the second and third games.
Result: 202-188-198=588
Average (33 games): 179 Last 9 games average: 167
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 571
Team only took two points, largely because we had 2 absent members: Bill had just had surgery, and Rob will be in Virginia for two weeks. Because of Rob’s absence, the make-up third game from last week will be bowled on Aug. 12 instead, so the averages and average-plus-one scores I give the rest of the way will be skewed.
Exposure to PBA pattern a possibility next month: I am considering bowling in next month’s People’s Tournament at AMF Cranston Lanes, and Sally Toppan, who’s a People’s Tournament regular, told me that the shot they had out for the last People’s Tournament there was the Scorpion, one of the regular PBA patterns. I was told there were a lot of complaints about the shot, but, as for me, I’m much more willing to get a good test on a tough shot, so I’m looking forward to having a PBA shot possibly out there, no matter what it is. I will shoot Sherm Cowan an email message asking if he knows what will be out there.
World Women’s Championships note
July 27, 2009With competition set to begin tomorrow in the WTBA World Women’s Championships at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas, I’d like to post a note that all of the action in the tournament can be followed on the official WWC website.
July 24 league standings update
July 24, 2009My team’s match this week may not be completed, but the three points we took have been accounted for in the standings, and they were enough to crawl ahead of the “Lounge Lizards” and out of the basement. “Phoenix Kings” continue to lead “Git R Done” by 4 points at the top of the league.
“Fathers and Sons” are the regularly-scheduled opponents next week, and I’ve been looking forward to this one because Brian Shea and Ralph Marple, two of my teammates from last summer, are on this team. It’s going to seem strange bowling against them, to be sure.
Gremlins in the system
July 23, 2009Last night was a very weird night for a few reasons…
The first bit of the unusual of the night I noticed during warm-ups; there was a lot more oil down than usual, reminding me more of the tournament shot I saw last Sunday than the normal house shot. The adjustment was fairly easy, however: I pulled out my Hy-Road after going in thinking of going back to the weaker High Voltage.
Rob was present at the lanes, but because of some personal issues (which will lead to his marriage today), he didn’t think he could bowl. However, in the second game, he basically said, “Screw it,” and bowled, having a very decent game in the process.
The real strangeness happened at the end of the night, however: there was a scorer malfunction in the 10th frame of the last game (which we sort of saw coming when it became difficult to make scoring changes, one of which saw the scorer giving me credit for making a 5-7 split when I only got the 5 pin out of that leave and we were having trouble correcting the score), and everyone’s third game was lost in the process of attempting to get the scorer rebooted. Therefore, both teams will have to bowl 4 games next week, our regular matches, then a make-up third game.
As a result of this development, I was wrangling with the decision on how to present the night on BowlSK. I could put up just the two completed games and enter the four games next week, but, in the interest of keeping each match together, I decided to postpone the data entry on BowlSK until next week, at which time I will post two separate series here. The BowlSK of last night’s match will include a note that will explain that the third game was bowled in a make-up situation. As it stands, my team was leading last night’s match 3 points to 1 after two games, having taken the first game by a comfortable margin and tying in the second game (as an aside, I had to get the fill strike in the 10th frame for the tie, and did so).
Cross-training #105
July 22, 2009According to the Bleacher Report site, James Loney of the LA Dodgers will host a tournament at the LA Lucky Strike Lanes tomorrow to benefit the Dodger Dream Foundation.
Showing improvement
July 19, 2009I got to the lanes for the People’s Tournament today around 10:30 in the morning because I wanted to roll a couple of games to see how my new Hy-Road would react on the tournament shot. My execution during my practice session was quite spotty, but when I could execute, I found a line that I liked, so I then had an idea of what I wanted to do during qualifying.
My qualifying performance, frame-by-frame (BowlSK)
As this performance was much better than my People’s Tournament debut last August, I must say that I’m pleased with my performance overall. However, as I only missed the cut by 22 pins, my missed spares, and especially the two 3 pins I whiffed on, really hurt. I am really encouraged, though, so I will probably be bowling tournaments more frequently from this point on. 
As usual, I’ll wrap up the tournament at a later date, when the results are posted online.
July 17 league standings update
July 17, 2009Well, gang, my team is dead last in the league, and it turned out that my ending leave of the “Greek Church” was bigger than expected, because the 2 points my team would’ve won had I got my mark and count would’ve kept us out of the basement, as we’re just a point behind the “Lounge Lizards.” At the top, “Phoenix Kings” continue to lead by four points to a three-way tie for second between “Amelia,” “Git R Done,” and “Country Bumpkins,” who happen to be my team’s opposition next week.
July 15 league night recap
July 16, 2009The only thing I could say about tonight was that it was a strange one. My first game was respectable, but it was largely downhill from there. Between the second and third games, I left a total of five splits, including the “Greek Church” twice with one of those coming at the crucial juncture of the last game when I needed a mark to get the points for my team. Compounding the problem was a loss of rhythm at the end of the second game, when we had to move to a different pair after a problem with the pinsetter on lane 47 was noted. I usually show up against our opponents tonight, so I’m wondering if a black cat crossed my path on the way to catch the bus without me noticing. 
Result: 193-136-152=481
Average (30 games): 177 Last 9 games average: 164
Next week’s AVG+1: 553
As you may have guessed, we got swept. Oh well, on to the People’s Tournament on Sunday.
Coming inside
July 13, 2009Practice work today continued focusing on playing an inside line with the Hy-Road on the house shot, and I was having some success in the beginning, as I saved a 212 first game after whiffing on a 10 pin to start. The rest of the session wasn’t that consistent, however. Screwing around at the end of practice, I went back to the line I had been playing with my High Voltage, and learned that line may not necessarily be out of play. We’ll see what works on Wednesday; I usually do well against our opponents of that night, so hopefully I’ll have some good news to report out of that. 
July 10 league standings update
July 10, 2009Although, 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.
Entry into July 18-19 People’s Tournament official
July 9, 2009After 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, 2009Chalk 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, 2009The 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, 2009The 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, 2009The 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, 2009NEBA 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, 2009I’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.
