Author: Rich

I started "The Tenth Board" to chronicle my experiences during the road back to league bowling after my heel fractures in 1999 (it took me 7 years before I started thinking seriously about it). I now use the blog as a combination of a personal bowling journal and a news site mostly about Westgate Lanes (Brockton, MA) and its bowlers.

Apr. 9 outing with brother

A very slow start (4 open in 5 frames) cost me a good game in the first game (169), but I picked it up as the session went along, getting 193 w/ an open or two in the second game and a clean 191 (which my brother again wanted to dispute by his definition of clean) in which I just couldn’t string two together to end it. My brother opened with a 121, which was over what he usually averages, but couldn’t put a good (for him) game together after that. He did tell me he had a consistent (for him) session recently at Lanes and Games in Cambridge in which all three of his games were over 110.

Apr. 9 league standings update

The net win by “Babe and Balls” this week meant we crept a bit closer to getting out of 11th place, as we’re now just two points behind “In It To Win It.” “The Incredibowls” now hold a 9 point lead over “Mustangs,” who are my team’s opponents next week.

I neglected to mention in the last standings update that Bobby Geddes of “Vakanczzz” had a personal best 742 series that week, and that stands as the high series in the league as we head down the stretch.

Apr. 6 league night recap

My Week 30 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

Tonight was a night I felt I could build on to finish the season out strong. I knew I was up against a tough team, so my mantra was just to relax and try to make good shots, and I largely succeeded, particularly in the last two games. I felt I was even reading and trying to stay ahead of the transition better, which was something I wanted to improve on. The result was my first 600+ league night in many weeks.

Result: 172-218-244=634
Average (90 games): 185
Average for last 9 games: 185
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 567

My teammates Eileen and, particularly, Carl (who was clean through 8 frames in the game) picked my bad first game up, but I needed to be clutch the rest of the way at the end of games, and was, the second game to win the point, and the third game to save the point for total and a net win.

Winter 2011 Week 12 virtual league results

In the virtual league, “Crazy Eights” fared better against “Wrecking Balls” than in the first meeting, but it still wasn’t saying much, as my team only came away with two points. My virtual team now stands five points behind “Pinfall Wizards” in last place, while “Wrecking Balls” hold a two point lead over “High Five” at the top. Entering the last month of the league, the top six teams are only separated by a full week’s worth of points (seven).

2011 Brockton Bowling Association Hall of Fame Classic

Today, I bowled in my first association event since my return. I knew some good bowlers were going to be in it, and I also knew it was going to be a tough shot (they chose the USBC national tournament pattern), so I wasn’t expecting much, but just being there to support the association was good enough for me. I bowled the 2:00 squad, and I was privileged to be on the same pair as two Hall of Famers, my old friend Steve Travers and Jim Ferguson.

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

The national tournament pattern can expose weaknesses in one’s bowling game like few other patterns can, and that was definitely the case for me. You have to keep making good shots on it, but, because of my recurring problem of not getting the ball over the foul line, I didn’t have as many good shots as I would have wanted. When everything was right, however, I actually looked pretty decent, and I remarked to my friends afterward that my first game was better than some of the members of Bowlers Edge Pro Shop, the defending Regular Team champions at the Open Championships, had in the first game of their title defense, which I watched some of last night.

In the end, Hy Bao won a three-way final match with a score of 231 (with handicap), with Jane Welch (218) finishing second, and Tyrone Thornton (217) third. The association website should have a wrap-up and full results within the next week.

Did it count or not?: I probably should have posted this last night when I learned about it, but Sean Richard shot an 856 for his first three games the other night in the Boston Bowl Invitational Singles league. It would’ve tied the house record, but there was a snafu contacting the person he was supposed to bowl as a sub for, so Sean was considered a pacer for the night; therefore, the effort couldn’t count for honor awards. I hope he gets another crack at the house record.

2011 Brockton Bowling Association Hall of Fame Dinner

I was in attendance at the Hall of Fame dinner tonight, with the night honoring Dan Robinson, only the second lefty to be inducted (Steve Travers was the first two years ago). Dan maybe had the most interesting story of all of the honorees I’ve seen so far, as he was known as being “wild” in his youth, but settled down with experience and is now one of our most respected bowlers, spending a lot of time with the youth program on Saturday mornings. Dan, for his part, kept us in stitches with some of his stories.

I usually just show the year’s honoree(s), but, this year, I got a group photo of all of the Hall of Famers in attendance, which is shown below. This photo will also be uploaded to the association’s Facebook page.

L to R: Bob Young, Steve Travers, Fred Delfino, Dan Robinson, Bill Major, Jim Ferguson, Rolly Savignano

Apr. 2 league standings update

Wednesday night’s net loss left “Babe and Balls” four points in back of “In It To Win It” in 11th place. At the top, “The Incredibowls” now hold an 8 point lead over “Bowling Stones.” “The 5 G’s” will be my team’s opponents in the coming week.

Mar. 30 league night reacp

My Week 29 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

On a night that was sub-par otherwise, I had a minor breakthrough in the last game: my first clean game in league in some time. The only way I could describe the turnaround was that things just clicked.

Result: 141-161-224=526
Average (87 games): 185
Average for last 9 games: 178
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 643

The team seemed to follow my lead tonight, as we all got hot the third game, taking that game’s point. As alluded to, however, that was a salvage point for the night.

March 2011 Northeast Junior Scratch Tour at Westgate Lanes

I’m going to list the winners below, followed by a wrap-up of qualifying. As not all of the divisions had stepladder match play, the note next to each winner will include either their six-game qualifying total or the result of the title match if there was match play.

Prep: Nick Flake (1,147)
Junior Boys: Kevin Thibeault (1,257)
Major: Joshua Regnier (def. Shane Holt 237-197)
Girls: Catherine Bell (def. Jadee Scott-Jones 224-212)
Collegiate: Joe Mello (def. Ryan Graywacz 216-215)

In qualifying, Shane Holt had a perfect 300 game, and Jadee Scott-Jones had a high game of 275.

2011 state championship tournament notes

This post is too late for the entry deadlines for these tournaments, but I thought I’d note where the state championship tournaments are this year with those tournaments approaching competition dates:

  • The open state championship tournament will be held at Ken’s Bowl in Pittsfield.
  • The women’s state championship tournament will be held at AMF Auburn Lanes in Auburn.
  • Westgate Lanes will host the state youth championships on weekends beginning April 30 and ending on May 15.

I’m not sure where results for any of these tournaments will be online (I know Pittsfield’s local association isn’t online, and I don’t know if the women in Auburn have a separate association.), but the youth tournament may be on the state youth association’s site, which I have found and will add a link for to the sidebar.

Mar. 26 league standings update

After taking a single point this week from “Fire in the Hole,” “Babe and Balls” remains in 11th place in the league’s second half standings, two points behind “In It To Win It.” At the top, “The Incredibowls” stand a full seven points ahead of “The 5 G’s.” “Warren’s Girls” will be my team’s opponents next week.

Mar. 23 league night recap

My Week 28 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

After getting the last four to save my deuce in the first game, I thought my night was promising, but then it all fell apart. Particularly, it didn’t seem I could make a single-pin spare all night, as I missed 5 of the 8 I had.

Result: 203-157-149=509
Average (84 games): 185
Average for last 9 games: 181
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 611

Eileen was my team’s star tonight, as her first two games were well over her average, and she got through the first 7 frames of the second game clean. John returned tonight to have a couple of decent games after shaking the rust off. However, the team only managed a single point.

Winter 2011 Week 10 virtual league results

“Crazy Eights” had the tables turned from Week 1 by “Magnificent 7,” losing all points to the latter team after sweeping that team to start the season. As a result, my virtual team has hit rock bottom after standing in first after two weeks, being three points behind “2 X 6 Pack.” The race at the top has become tight virtually in an instant, as “Wrecking Balls” are now tied with “Sk8ing On Thin Ice” for the league lead after being ahead by 7 whole points the previous week. “10 in the Pit” stands three points in back of the logjam in third place.

Marathon tournament results

There were 28 entries in the 9-game scratch marathon tournament yesterday, and here are the top five (scores given as +/- 200):

  1. Alex Aguiar +380
  2. Jonathan Van Hees +216
  3. Lou Rosa +178
  4. Danny Khuu +145
  5. Bob Hamilton +129

Alex wound up saving the best for last, as he had 232, 268, and 267 in his third set for a 767, which was the best three-game set in the tournament. Henry Webber posted a 280 7th game for high game honors.

The visitor

Today, I was privileged to have as my guest at Westgate Lanes one of my out-of-state friends from the BowlingFans.com site, who usually uses the nick “MikeHL” in the chat. My other originally online-only friend, Al from Friday night, was to join us, but he emailed me this morning that his allergies were bad and he didn’t want to bowl.

Mike arrived with the marathon tournament in progress, so one of the first things I did after we got acquainted was escort him down to the high-numbered end of the center and pointed to him some of the notables that were involved in the tournament. We talked mostly bowling, but also the other reason for his visit, over pizza, after which we grabbed a free pair of lanes, which happened to have the shot the tournament was using (“Middle Road”).

I started the best of the two of us, with four in a row, before suffering a couple of open frames late for a 199. You’d think having the home alley advantage would have helped me, but, in the second game, Mike actually posted the best game of the session, a 205, using mostly his 2001-vintage Blue Hammer, his “go-to” ball on the usual wood lanes where he is. I had the better third game, but we both struggled; however, both of us ended with strikes, prompting me to say what I usually say when I strike on the last shot of a bad game: “All’s well that ends well.”

Mike told me afterward that he enjoyed this visit, which I agreed with, and we both hope to do this again, possibly in the summer. For the “pics or it didn’t happen” crowd, I did have my friend Si get the following photo after Mike and I bowled; it was taken with my pocket video camera, but a slight hand movement caused the photo to come out a bit blurry, so my apologies:

Richie with "MikeHL" (Mike is on the left)

Mar. 20 tournament notes

Just a couple of tournament items…

  • Results of yesterday’s annual scholarship tournament:
  • Girls handicap
    1. Emily Lewis 700
  • Boys handicap
    1. Kevin Thibeault 761
    2. Ethan Rosenberg 690
  • The TNBA Boston Bowling Senate will run a no-tap (9 pins on first ball scores a strike) handicap singles tournament at Westgate Lanes on Saturday, April 16 with squads at noon and 3 PM. The tournament is open to all bowlers, sanctioned or non-sanctioned, but bowlers without an average must bowl scratch. Handicap is 80% of 220; entry fee is $25 and entries will be taken on a walk-in basis.

Link to Northeast Open Bowling Championships added

I came across this site on Facebook via Brian Gaskill. The Northeast Open Bowling Championships appear to be the oldest “traditional” format private tournament (with team, doubles, and singles events, with all-events) in New England. The tournament appears to run in February and early March at Yankee Lanes in Keene, NH, and, judging from this year’s results, “Team Abdow” (whom I can only guess North Bowl’s Nate Abdow is involved with) finished second in handicap team, and a familiar name, Jon Van Hees, won the scratch all-events title.

The link has been added to the sidebar in the “Bowling Sites” category.

Mar. 19 league standings update

After losing all points to “Vakanczzz,” “Babe and Balls” slipped back to 11th place, three points behind a tie for 9th between “In It To Win It” and “Pairs and Spares.” At the top of the standings, “The Incredibowls” hold a four point lead on the aforementioned “Vakanczzz” and “The 5 G’s.” “Fire in the Hole” provides the opposition for my team next week.

As an aside, Kevin Stiger, who started the season with the old “Dynasty” (the team now known as “The 5 G’s”), returned to bowling this week after recovering from a household mishap, filling one of the vacancies on “The Mustangs.” I’d like to welcome him back to the league and wish him well in his future bowling. 😀

Sidebar link added for Brockton Bowling Association Facebook page

I was going to add the Brockton Bowling Association’s new Facebook page to the sidebar links, but I wanted to wait until a Facebook username for the page was secure. With the page now having 25 “Likes,” that has happened, and I added the link to the sidebar, under “Bowling Sites.”

Note: I am planning a project having to do with the sidebar for this summer…I could probably do this whenever, but I figure I’ll have more time when the winter bowling season ends.

Mar. 16 league night recap

My Week 27 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK series sheet)

This was a rather weird night: the lanes were dry, but, except for a couple of first-ball gutter balls where I was trying to give myself too much room, I started better than I usually do. As a result, my weak game was actually my last game; I just ran out of room at the end of the night.

Result: 196-203-169=568
Average (81 games): 185
Average for last 9 games: 184
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 562

John has been having a knee issue, so he wasn’t bowling again. We were hopeful of a good night after winning the first game, but that was the only point we would get on the night.

February 2011 People’s Tournament results

The People’s Tournament reported that Dave Sargent (Brunswick Lowell Lanes, 196 avg.) was the winner of the event held on Feb. 19 and 20 at Town Line Lanes. Sargent defeated Mark Juliano (AMF Silver Lanes, 177 avg.) by a score of 244-220 (with handicaps) in the championship match. The highest Westgate Lanes finishers were Eric Lam (181 avg.), Brian Alleyne (175 avg.), and Linwood Cowen, Jr. (190 avg.), all of whom were in the top 16. The Brockton association was represented additionally in the final 8 by David Sloane (North Bowl, 164 avg.)

March 2011 Westgate Lanes youth tournament notes

Although I’d like especially to keep my readers informed of youth events at Westgate Lanes, I often don’t hear about these until it’s too late, so pardon me if the first note had no advance notice.

  • The annual adult/junior doubles tournament was held last Saturday, and here are the results:
  • Bantam/Prep Division
    1. Deontae Cox & Bill Reed 1,396
    2. Bryanna Blaisdell & Tom Hedding 1,356
  • Junior/Senior Division
    1. Stephen Major & Ray Fischer 1,259
    2. Adam Johndrow & Danny Khuu 1,246
  • This Saturday, Westgate Lanes will hold its annual scholarship tournament, open to bowlers in grades 7-12 with girls handicap and boys handicap divisions. Entry fee for the tournament is $15, and entries will be taken on-site.
  • The Northeast Junior Scratch Tour, featuring the best young bowlers in New England, will visit Westgate Lanes on Sunday, March 27, with bowling starting at 1:00 PM.