I just realized today that June 30 had come and passed, and it passed without me making my usual anniversary post. It has been that kind of year for me, because the last one was certainly a landmark one in my bowling time. The big moment came on September 22 of the last calendar year, in the third week of the past season’s Brunswick Mixed League, in which I had the front 10 in a 288 second game on the way to my first 700 series (anyone who wants to revisit that moment can click here for the BowlSK sheet from that night). The night was special for me, because it meant that I had finally eclipsed all of my pre-injury personal bests. Before the calendar turned to 2011, I also had an open bowling session to remember by having a run of 18 of 19 strikes consisting of the last 4 in the first game, a weak 10 to start the second game, followed by 14 in a row, closing out the second game with a 290 thanks to the last 11. As I noted in the post about it, it’s no longer a question of if I’m capable of putting up an honor score, but of putting the strikes together at the right time. I also had my personal best tournament game during the year (a 227 in the December People’s Tournament), as well as my first 200 game on a true sport condition (though I wish that was in the tournament instead of in practice for it). More recently, I’ve become more involved with my local association by setting up and keeping a Facebook page updated, an effort that was partially responsible for my election to the Brockton Bowling Association Board of Directors last weekend.
About the only person I want to thank in this post other than the “usual suspects” is Tony Attardo. As I noted in my post about the 700 series, if it wasn’t for him spotting a timing problem during my practice session on the Monday morning before the 700 night, I might not have had it at all. I don’t know what his past bowling resume looks like, but he’s certainly helped enough bowlers at Westgate Lanes to hope he gets association Hall of Fame consideration in the future. I should also thank my association manager, Bob Young, and the Brockton Bowling Association officers and directors for the trust they have placed in me for the coming year.
“Charlie Brown” finally wins one: With my brother in the area for the holiday weekend, we found time to bowl this morning. As a nod to a recent passing, and noting that my brother has used “Capt. Lou” on the scorer before, I put him in as “Macho Man” (a reference to wrestler Randy Savage). The session began innocently enough, with me shooting in the 180s and 190s for the first two games, but my game fell completely apart after that. After a spare to start the third game, I whiffed on a “picket fence” (the 1-2-4-7), missed a couple of single pins, then had three splits in a row, two of them 2-8-10 type splits, during which my Fast seemed to lose all reaction. I knew my brother was probably going to break through when he followed spares in the 2nd and 3rd frames with a double, which put me in a big hole. By the end of the game, I changed to my Tropical Breeze, and that was making it back to the pocket where my Fast wasn’t, even though the former ball is supposed to be weaker than the latter one. The end result was a 103, easily my worst game since the period when I was getting my bowling legs back under me four years ago. My brother got a photo of the overhead monitor after the game to put on Facebook as a “trophy.” Congrats to my brother today…I’d say it was bound to happen sometime, because “that’s bowling.” 😀
The Tenth Board 