Blessing in disguise

My first order of the night was to get my ticket for the Hall of Fame dinner, as I want to attend that to honor my old buddy Steve Travers. As I did last week, I also had a game of warm-up before league started.

My Week 21 bowling (BowlSK)

Strikes were few and far between tonight, but the blessing in disguise was that my spare game was much better overall: only two misses on spares that weren’t either splits or washouts. I was leaving a lot of single pins (11) but only missed one of them (a 10 pin to end the first game). I was getting a lot of splits later on, but converted the 5-7 in the second game on a lucky break.

Result: 163-182-155=500
Average (63 games): 178 Last 9 games average: 168
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 558

Team only managed a two-point split because we got croaked in the last game. Rick Boerman, the “Backyard Bowlers” resident Yankee fan, threw a 200+ game at us in said last game to provide much of a 150-pin plus margin. Our star tonight was Pat, who was well over his average for the first two games.

Upcoming made-for-TV bowling

Just wanted to mention a few made-for-TV bowling events coming up during the spring:

The PBA, in partnership with Strike Ten Entertainment, has announced a new five-week series called “King of the Hill” that will air on ESPN on Wednesday nights starting April 22. It will feature the top ten bowlers on the PBA Player of the Year points list, plus a wild card. Basically, it’s two one-game matches each show featuring two bowlers in the first match with the winner going on to face the “king” (the PBA Player of the Year will be the “king” on the first show) in the second match. There will be $100,000 in prize money up for grabs in the series, which will be contested at the Kegel Training Facility in Florida.
The article linked above also mentions the PBA Women’s Series Showdown, which will feature the five winners in the regular PBA Women’s Series events, plus Missy Bellinder, who finished second to Michelle Feldman when the latter won her second title of the season. This will also take place at the Kegel Training Facility, with a format to be announced, and will air on ESPN on April 12.
Finally, Bowling’s Clash of Champions will return for a second season, and will air on CBS on May 9. An interesting development is that the husband and wife team of Chris and Lynda Barnes will be in the field, setting up a potential husband vs. wife final match, which will prove very interesting if it comes about.

Massachusetts USBC Women’s Bowling Association 46th Annual Championships

The Massachusetts USBC Women’s Bowling Association will hold its 46th annual championship tournament in all weekends in May except for Memorial Day weekend at Gardner Ten Pin. It is a classified tournament with 4-women team, doubles, and singles events, plus optional all-events, with the average classes as follows:

Team: 600 and over, 599 and under
Doubles: 330 and over, 290-329, 289 and under
Singles and All-Events: 165 and over, 145-164, 144 and under

Squad times are 10 AM and 1 PM on Saturdays, 9 AM, noon, and 3 PM on Sundays.

Entry is $20/bowler/event and $5 for All-Events, with entries closing March 1 unless schedule is filled sooner. Doubles must bowl singles, and singles must bowl doubles. Entry flyers with more information are now available at local bowling centers.

Additional note: The association’s annual meeting will take place at the Colonial Hotel in Gardner on Saturday, March 14 at 9:30 AM.

Brockton USBC Bowling Association Hall of Fame Weekend

The Brockton USBC Bowling Association will hold its annual Hall of Fame Weekend on April 4 and 5. The festivities begin with the Hall of Fame induction dinner, which will be held on the 4th at the Holiday Inn in Brockton starting at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $35/person, and you may see Ray DiSanto Jr., Bob Young, or Roy Garrigus if you’re interested in attending. This year’s honorees are North Bowl Lanes manager Fred Delfino, along with bowlers John Ellis, Jim Ferguson, and Steve Travers.

The accompanying Hall of Fame Tournament, which will be an Eliminator-style handicap tournament, will take place on the 5th at Westgate Lanes starting at 12:30 PM. Entry fee is $35, and only walk-in entries will be accepted.

New association web site launched: I am also proud to announce that the Brockton USBC Bowling Association’s new web site is now online, and the link has been added to the sidebar under “Bowling Sites.” The home page is functional, though the individual pages needed to be uploaded and the links to those pages on the home page fixed at press time.

Work in progress

Today’s practice was somewhat disappointing, as in the first game, I had 3 misses on spares that would be considered makeable, and had a rash of splits in the second game, but when I became mindful of my wrist position at the top of my backswing in the last game, I righted myself to shoot a 210 with the only open frame coming on a split. I had been getting good ball reaction in previous sessions since rejuvenating my ball, but the lane appeared tighter today, and I was playing closer to the 20 board in my stance near the end.

Cross-training #77

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette noted that outfielder Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a native of Pine Bluff, was in Springdale, AR for the Wilsons3 Foundation’s Strikeout Child Abuse Celebrity Bowling Event. Other major leaguers participating included Cleveland Indians pitcher Cliff Lee, Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, and former Tigers closer Todd Jones (now a free agent). The foundation is headed up by Vance Wilson, a veteran of eight major league seasons who recently signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals, along with his wife, Bridget.