I had been feeling a twinge of pain in my right ankle for the last day or so, so I wasn’t sure I would aggravate it bowling. With this in mind, I went to the lanes at my usual time, but then told Brian and Ralph when they came in that I wanted to warm up with them to test the ankle out. When I found out that the ankle would not bother me while bowling, I pronounced myself ready to go and finished up the warm-up game.
As I’ve mentioned previously, we faced the league champions from last year, the team paced by Bob Hamilton and Sean Richard. The pair we were on wasn’t hooking as much as the previous weeks’ pairs, but it was only a board difference in my stance, so I felt good about my chances of doing well. Joy once again pre-bowled (this league only allows two pre-bowls per bowler), and when I saw her scores, I knew the three of us would have to do well in the first two games, because only her third game was over her average.
As this was the first time Sean Richard had seen me bowl, I made a point of flashing a wink at him after I had my first strike, which came in the 2nd frame of the first game, a 201 that was marred by a washout (the 1-2-10 leave), which I missed, and a sleeper 2-8 where, again, I only managed to pick up the front pin. I missed a few easy spares in the second game, including a single 7 pin, but because I had started off with a double and had a strike in the “foundation” 9th frame, I had a chance to save average, and nearly did with two strikes and an 8 fill in the 12th for a 184. I started the last game with a hambone, and was nearly clean, but I missed the single 10 pin in the 8th frame and left the 2-10 split in the tenth, picking up only the 2 pin, for another 201. Brian, as he would later tell me in his car taking me home, felt out of sync all night and wasn’t up to par, and also told me then that he felt bad about having a bad night, as he really wanted to bowl with me last night knowing the hot streak I’ve been on. Bob and Sean had their usual good nights, and their female teammates did enough to have their team take 6 of the 8 points.
Bob and Sean both complimented me on my night when it was all over. Also, I had met some of my teammates’ family, Brian’s and Ralph’s wives and Ralph’s son, and I was generally praised by them, as well as by another bowler in the league whom I didn’t really know. So, I guess I’ll call it a good night, even though my team didn’t do well. Bob and Sean are both good men, however, so I didn’t mind losing to friends.
Result: 201-184-201=586
Average (12 games): 188 Last 9 average: 199
As an aside, I also learned that the pub at Westgate Lanes is running a karaoke contest on Wednesday nights now, so, one of these nights, I’ll have to bring the cab fare to get home with me rather than getting a ride home one of these nights so I can enter the karaoke contest. If there’s a finals type competition after a few weeks, it might offer the opportunity to win some of my winter league money.
The Tenth Board 