As additional notes on Danny Khuu’s 300 game Wednesday night, the game came while Khuu was serving as a substitute for the USA Bowling Pro Shops team, and helped him to an 804 series, also an honor score, and the highest set bowled at Westgate Lanes so far this season. Congrats again, Danny! 
(I’ll comment when I find out what the other two games were.)
Congrats to Danny Khuu, who rolled his first 300 game in an adult league the other night in the Westgate Mixed League. I have to assume he’ll have many more before he joins the senior ranks (and probably some more after that point, too).
As I hung around in the pub for a bit after bowling and didn’t want to do much when I did get home, this post is late because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
My Week 12 bowling, frame-by-frame (Link to series on BowlSK)
I’d just rather chalk the other night up a longish day helping out my sister at her place, as I only bowled well enough to maintain my average. I felt, perhaps erroneously, that the Hy-Road was not holding pocket in the second game, so that explains the ball change to start the third game. I was leaving too many splits for my liking (not that I like to leave any, but…), and one bit me in the very last frame when I had a chance to put pressure on our opponent’s best bowler for the game point.
Result: 213-151-168=532
Average (36 games): 185
Average for last 9 games: 197
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 589
None of us had a really good night, on the balance, but we still took 3 of the 4 points on the first two games and total. I will single out Carl, however, who had a 160 second game. A check of the LeagueSecretary.com standings shows us still in 8th place, a point behind “The Generations” and “The Wild Samoans.” We essentially helped out “Butz N Gutz,” who are now in first place by 3 points over “The Mustangs.” “Butz N Gutz” will be my team’s opponents next week.
As Kegel’s notes on the “High Street” pattern indicate, it’s a 44′ pattern with 21.1 mL of total oil. The oil line, according to the notes, is very high (and the lane graph seems to confirm this), which, combined with the pattern length, gives a lot of hold area, so you can miss a little bit inside of target and still get it to the pocket. The inside-outside ratio of oil on the outside boards (2-5) is 11:1, which is the driest outside of all of the patterns in the Recreation series, which is why I seem to play the outside well with my Hy-Road if I watch my speed.
Still, some advice I’ve been given by my bowling chat friends is to play the hold area and take the Hy-Road’s surface down (to something like 1000-1200 grit sanded) to get better mid-lane read. This is probably going to be something I’ll ask Ray about next time I see him, but I’m making no changes to my ball for now. I really wish now that I had the spare cash for something that is dull out of the box, like Storm’s Virtual Gravity, which is 4000 Abralon out of the box.
I haven’t had a full practice session since the October People’s Tournament, so I decided to hit the practice lanes today. Randy Pederson had a useful “Quick Tip” in yesterday’s PBA telecast, so that’s part of what I was working on. After a semi-mediocre first game, I had 2 decent games, so I would consider the session productive.
My friend Ralph happened to show up while I was in the early stages of my first game, but he was there to give a lesson to his wife, Susan. We discussed a possibility where, if it pans out, I’ll be making another post either tonight or tomorrow.
After bowling, I spotted Rob, the lane mechanic, at the front desk and asked him if he knew how long the house shot was. He told me that they changed the house shot this season, and, instead of a custom pattern, they’re using the Kegel “High Street” pattern. I would link the pattern data on the Kegel site, but the site was having problems at press time, so I’ll post the pattern graph and comment on it in a future post.
Congrats to Dan Esdale, who recorded the first 800 set at Westgate Lanes this season in the TNBA league Friday night with an 801. I’m not sure what the three games were, but I’ll comment to this post if I find out.
The PBA announced that when the PBA Tour hits Wichita, KS early next month, the opening event of the schedule will be the PBA “Bowling For Wishes” Celebrity Charity Pro-Am on Dec. 4 at Thunderbird Lanes, hosted by PBA major winner and Wichita resident Sean Rash. Scheduled to participate are Koyie Hill, Randy Wells, Ryan Dempster, and Mike Fontenot of the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey, and PGA Tour champion Woody Austin, along with other celebrities and PBA Tour exempt pros. The event will benefit the Kansas chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The rest of the Wichita schedule consists of a “super regional” event, the Pepsi Red White and Blue Open (the finals of which will be taped for a Jan. 10 airdate on ESPN), and the live finals of the PBA World Championship, the season’s first major.
My team’s place in the standings didn’t change this week, but it did allow us to move to within a point of “The Wild Samoans” for 7th place. “Butz-N-Gutz” and “The Mustangs” (our opponents next week) are now in a tie for first (with the former having the pinfall advantage), with “4 MTD” and “Warren’s Girls” tied for 3rd only two points behind.
Individually, “Mr. Unmentionable” crushed everyone for the holiday bonus in the men’s A division, as I was second in differential, but 109 behind. Eileen did win her division’s holiday bonus, however, and also moved into the lead for high scratch game on the season in the division.
My Week 11 bowling, frame-by-frame (Link to BowlSK)
This was not really the night I was hoping to use to follow up on my 28/30 clean 640 set of last week, but any night I can strike better than half of the time, I’ll take it at this point. After the first game, I was thinking, “Holiday bonus week is in my head again,” but, turning my attention to helping the team win, I had better games and actually ended up better than 50 pins over my average on the night. It still wasn’t enough to get the holiday bonus (as I’ll explain later), but at least I know I can have a good night on an important night on the league schedule. I’m also feeling much better about my recent bowling with the back-to-back 600+ nights.
Result: 167-222-216=605
Average (33 games): 185
Average for last 9 games: 197
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 563
The bowler on my team who may be best in line for one of the holiday bonuses is Eileen, who had both a personal best game (171) and personal best series (405) tonight. The team ended up taking 3 of 4 (losing only second game thanks to my 10 pin whiff in the last frame), so that made me happy, as well. I know I’m out of the running because one of my buddies, who now does not want me to acknowledge him by name online, had a 277 game en route to a personal best 753. I’ll let my readers figure out who I’m talking about when the standings sheets get posted.
Congratulations to Troy Labrie, who joined Tina Gannon Monday night by rolling a perfect 300 game in Westgate Lanes’ signature league, the Coke Classic League. It is the 5th 300 game overall at Westgate Lanes this season.
The Boston Fox affiliate noted that Celtics captain Paul Pierce hosted his annual charity tournament, “The Truth Strikes Again,” last night at Kings in Dedham. The event benefited “The Truth on Health” and FitClub34 by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Pierce’s initiative to get children in the Boston area physically active. The article notes that “Sugar” Ray Allen was the team’s best bowler.
Visits to some of the blogs that link to me have unearthed yet another new bowling blog. “Tonight We Roll” is by a fairly casual bowler based out of Albany, OR, and, in his first post, he stated that he wants to travel the country bowling at all types of bowling centers, large and small, old and new. We wish him well if he undertakes this journey, and I’ll suggest Westgate Lanes as a stop in a comment to his initial post. The link to the new blog has, of course, been added to the blogroll in the sidebar.
I’ve noted that Carl Nordstrom, who bowls on Wednesday nights in my league, pitched a perfect 300 game Thursday in the Thursday Handicap Doubles league. Congrats Carl!
With Wednesday night’s net win against “VAKINC,” we moved into a tie in points with that team for 8th place, with my team ahead in total pinfall. “The Mustangs” moved into sole possession of first place, two points ahead of “Butz N Guts” and three ahead of both “4 MTD” and “Warren’s Girls.”
Individually, Eric Nordstrom, in the first game, was likely just a single pin shy of a perfect game, as he posted a 279 (I don’t know which pin he left and which frame he left it in). My team can make hay on the middle of the pack next week, as we face “The Wild Samoans,” the 5th place team, which we are only three points behind. Next week is also the first of two “holiday bonus” weeks, where the bowler with the most pins over average in each of the six average classes will win a cash bonus.
The South Jersey Courier Post reported that Andrew Teall of Medford, NJ fired the 15th sanctioned 900 series in history Monday night at Medford Lanes. Congrats Andy!
I came across this blog in my referral list…seems they picked up on my post about last night via our friends at “The BM Report.” I don’t really know where this blog is based out of, but it’s a nice mix of personal bowling journal and commentary (something I try to accomplish, though with less commentary and more pure reporting), so I decided to add them to the blogroll. Good to have you along.
My Week 10 bowling, frame-by-frame (Link to BowlSK)
As I said in my BowlSK comment about tonight, this was as consistent a set as I’ve ever had in a league setting. While I didn’t have quite the run of clean frames I did in open play on my birthday last year (28), I had just as many clean frames tonight as I did that night (still 28 out of 30) and was clean all the way through after the 6th frame of the first game, with the opens in the first game both coming on splits. All in all, as I’ve titled this post, a night to remember.
Result: 184-232-224=640
Average (30 games): 184
Average for last 9 games: 199
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 577
My team definitely needed me tonight, as Steve and Bobby Geddes returned to the league tonight and were added to the opposing team, so I knew I had to come up big against Bobby. After losing a close first game, it was a team effort to get the other three points (including total), as everyone had at least one game over average.
The Fox affiliate in Philadelphia notes that Phillies pitcher Ryan Madsen and Brent Celek of the Eagles will participate in the 10th annual “Philly Athletes Bowling for Variety” event on Wed. Nov. 18 at Pinsetter Lanes in Pennsauken, NJ. The event benefits programs supporting children with disabilities and special needs in the Delaware Valley.
I received an email message from the Brockton Bowling Association today with a Word document attached containing the entry form for the 2010 Brockton USBC Bowling Association Championships, which will take place on Feb. 6 and 7 at Westgate Lanes. The customary events (4-man team, doubles, and singles, as well as all-events) will be contested, with scratch and handicap champions decided. If you’re on the BBA email list, you should also have a copy of the entry form, and they should be available at participating centers soon. Keep in mind, however, that entries will close on Jan. 24.
(Note: The following is a recap of an event in which the author participated.)
The People’s Tournament reported Robert Dickens (yes, my buddy Rob) as the winner of the event held on Oct. 24 and 25 at Westgate Lanes (Rob carried a 146 average into the event.). Rob defeated Anthony Bennett Jr. (AMF Auburn Lanes, 215 avg.) by a score of 251-220 (with handicaps) in the title match. The Brockton area was well-represented among the cashers, but I’d also like to mention Anthony Green (198 avg.), who finished third, as well as Reynard Epps (151 avg.) and Buddy Wilt (Kingston Ten Pin, 197 avg.), who were also in the final eight.
Congrats again, Rob!
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