The Tenth Board

2012 Mass. state tournament notes

Rich — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:50:07 +0000

I now have complete information on all of the Massachusetts state tournaments in 2012, listed below:

The open (men’s) tournament will run weekends from April 21 to May 13 at AMF Holiday Lanes in Somerset. Entries close on March 21.
The women’s tournament will run weekends from May 12 to 20 and June 2 & 3 at North Bowl Lanes in North Attleboro. Entries close on April 15.
The youth tournament will run weekends from April 28 to May 13 at AMF Auburn Lanes. Entries close on February 28.

Entry forms for the open and women’s tournaments are available at the control desk. Note: I’ve been told by a source close to the Westgate Lanes youth program that the Westgate Lanes youth bowlers will be bowling on May 5 and 6.

Feb. 9 lesson

Rich — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:08:51 +0000

After missing Ray two weeks ago because he didn’t put my scheduled lesson on his calendar, I finally saw him today. What we saw in my early shots is my hand turning too early again, even though it’s in perfect position coming back. His idea was to tighten up my line so that I’m not trying to hook it, so he devised a drill that had me throwing to a piece of tape on the lane about 20′ (and later 30′) down the lane. I didn’t have perfect shots trying this, but the thing I noticed later is that if I’m thinking about keeping my forearm as well as my fingers pointing at the target, I throw my shot a bit better, so this is something I’ll be working on.

Feb. 8 league night recap

Rich — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:07:06 +0000

My Week 23 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I had a better night tonight, but another mixed bag. I had yet another first game where I started out throwing decent shots, but then seemed to lose it in the middle of the game. I am happy that my other games were relatively clean, with just a split in the second game and just a chop in the third.

Result: 150-181-201=532
Average (69 games): 173
Average for last 9 games: 170
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 543

Everyone was fairly steady, but we could only win one point, some of it due to the lead bowler on the other team having one of his better nights.

Winter 2012 Week 4 virtual league results

Rich — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:56:09 +0000

“Diamond Flush” had our first winning week of the season, taking the lion’s share (five points) from “Dark Side 2.0,” moving into an 8th place tie with “Kingpins.” The deficit is eight points to “Ordinary Average Guys,” who lead “2-bit Bandits” and “Got Wood?” by a point.

Post about WTBA International Open edited with site link

Rich — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:52:07 +0000

I try to source my tournament news from outside of Westgate Lanes, particularly if it’s news away from New England, and I have done so in my post about the WTBA International Open, linking the tournament’s website on the name of the tournament in the body of the post. Full results will be available on the website.

Alex Aguiar 7th, Jon Van Hees 13th in inaugural WTBA International Open

Rich — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:46:43 +0000

Alex Aguiar qualified 8th and Jon Van Hees 13th this week in the inaugural WTBA International Open, the first event created by the WTBA specifically for the World Bowling Tour, now in its second year. Under the rules of the tournament, this gave Van Hees a one-round bye and Aguiar a two-round bye in the finals, with Van Hees averaging just over 220 for 6 games to make the cut to Round 3. Aguiar averaged just under 221 for 6 games in Round 3 to finish 38 pins behind Walter Ray Williams Jr. for the third and final spot in the stepladder, while Van Hees averaged just over 208 for his final round. The stepladder is rounded out by top-seeded Liz Johnson and second seed Chris Barnes, who had a 300 game in the final game of Round 3 to move into position.

The stepladder will be contested on March 25 at the Brunswick Euro Challenge outside of Paris, France.

Danielle Barros throws 278 game, 771 series in Westgate Mixed

Rich — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:12:40 +0000

Congrats to Danielle Barros, who had a 278 high game in a 771 series last Wednesday night in the Westgate Mixed League. I’m fairly certain that the 771 is the high set this season for the Westgate Lanes women.

Feb. 5 league standings update

Rich — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:10:23 +0000

A net win against “Bowling Stones” moved “Pinfall Wizards” into a second-place tie in points with “Bottoms Up!”, just a point behind “Dee’s Boys II.” My team’s opponents will be “The 5 G’s” this week.

Melissa Peterson rolls 276 on Dec. 28 in Westgate Mixed

Rich — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:31:45 +0000

I do try to scan the league standings with due diligence, but occasionally, a high score will slip past me, and that happened with the results from the Westgate Mixed League on Dec. 28, in which Melissa Peterson threw a 276 game. Belated congrats to her.

Setting on main blog page changed

Rich — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:26:18 +0000

Noticing that I still had room for posts to appear on the main page of the blog before the last widget in the sidebar (at the bottom of the page), I changed the maximum number of posts that appear on the main page (they will always be the most recent posts) to 20 (an increase of 5 from the default setting), which happens to be close to matching up with the last widget before I submitted this post. The change is aesthetic, nothing more.

Cross-training #206

Rich — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:29:50 +0000

The Montreal Gazette noted that Bruce Boudreau, coach of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, recently took his team on a bowling outing. Boudreau, unfortunately, fared worse than his players, as he suffered a lower-body injury.

Feb. 1 league night recap

Rich — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:38:00 +0000

My Week 22 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I’ve had some bad starts this year, and my BowlingTracker.com sheet will bear that out: I’m averaging 2 pins lower than my overall average in the first game. The second game was more promising for a good finish, but I was reduced to grinding out my spares in the last game. I did, however, make another clutch spare in the 10th frame third game to save the net win. I was really hoping for more after yesterday’s practice, though.

Result: 146-185-155=486
Average (66 games): 173
Average for last 9 games: 171
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 553

I mentioned the net win, and both Berta and Brian were solid tonight, particularly in the two games we won.

Jan. 31 practice

Rich — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:46:08 +0000

I spent most of my practice time working on a tip I saw on the forums: Staying under the ball by keeping the weight of the ball on the index finger in my swing. Among the other things I also learned is that my Reign of Fire may be too early-rolling even in fresh oil, as I generally made better shots after switching to my Hy-Road early in the second game after a start in the 130s; I may have use that ball the entire night instead of starting with my strongest ball. Another thing I may have figured out is where to line up for my 7 pin based on going over the middle arrow instead of going over the third arrow, as I only missed one 7 in something like three or four attempts. I ended practice with my best game in months: a 229 in which I had the first six and my only open frame coming after leaving the bucket plus 7 pin.

Needless to say, I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow night.

Winter 2012 Week 3 virtual league results

Rich — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:07:38 +0000

“Diamond Flush” won just the first game against “Mooseknuckles,” but, again, the win turned out to be enough to win total as well, as the other two games were very close. My virtual team remains at the bottom of the standings, but is now tied with “Dark Side 2.0″ in points, nine points behind “Ordinary Average Guys,” who lead “2-bit Bandits” by a point.

Cross-training #205

Rich — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:47:14 +0000

The Orange County Register reported that American League West rivals, the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers, joined forces last night at the Bowlmor Lanes in Tustin, CA for the “Stars and Strikes” celebrity tournament to benefit Autism Care and Treatment Today, which helps fund treatment for families with children in the autism spectrum. Former major league reliever “Everyday” Eddie Guardado organized the event, in which Angels players Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick, as well as Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, participated.