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.

Dec. 15 league night recap

My Week 15 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK series sheet)

I had one of those nights I could be proud of tonight. I only had two open frames all night, both of the tough spare/split variety, and was really just a couple of bad shots from not only my second 700 set, but a personal best series again. It came on the Christmas bonus night, as well; I was dogging Keith all night for it, but I think he edged me out at the end with a 704 scratch (with a 188 average going into the night).

Result: 250-232-207=689
Average (45 games): 188
Average for last 9 games: 203
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 583

We took the first game point, but then Bobby Geddes showed up for the other team, and, while I beat him scratch in both remaining games, it wasn’t enough and my team lost the last 2 games and total.

Tony Reynaud wins Dec. 2010 NEBA event at Westgate Lanes

NEBA reported Tony Reynaud as the winner of this past weekend’s event at Westgate Lanes. Reynaud defeated Brandon Robertson by a score of 258-204 in the title match. According to the match play bracket published on the site, Alex Aguiar made it to the quarterfinals, and other familiar names among the cashers were Brian Gaskill, Mike Lichstein, Jon Van Hees, and Ed Roberts. The Westgate Lanes title was Reynaud’s ninth.

Fall 2010 Week 14 virtual league results

“5 Blind Squirrels” had easily our best week of the season last week, using a season-high series to take all 7 points from Team 4. We remain 6 points out of 7th place, but, with the prospect of facing the same team in each of the last two weeks of the season, we’re still hopeful we can climb out of the cellar. At the top of the standings, Team 7 has a four-point lead over “Furious Five.”

Dec. 12 league standings update

“Babe and Balls” again managed only one point this week, and are now three points behind “Bowling Stones” in the last “real” spot in the league standings. At the top, “Vakanczz” are a point ahead of “The 5 G’s” and a point and a half ahead of “The Incredibowls.”

I mentioned Liz DiBenedetto’s 256 game in a previous post, but Keith Kaestner posted a 702 series last week, as well; Keith appears to be rounding back to his old form, as I’m told it was.

Stringing ’em

My brother took me bowling yet again today, but, as he didn’t think we had time to both bowl three games before we had to meet our sister, her sons, and a friend of the family for lunch, he let me go to work and just watched. Little did he know (nor did I at the time) what was in store; I don’t usually put my practice-type games on BowlSK, but today was one where I probably should have. As it is, I remembered to get a printout at the desk, and what follows are scans from the sheets.

Game 1:

It took me some time to figure out the lane, but I eventually found something standing 36 and going 11 or 12 and ended with the last four, setting the stage for what follows…

Game 2:

The first frame was a weak 10, but then I really got cranking and hit the last 11 for an unofficial-best 290 game. Tom Hedding, along with my brother, viewed my last shots and then offered to front me the entry for the NEBA tournament this weekend, which I had to refuse partly because my big nephew is in a school play this evening and I have to be there for that.

Game 3:

With the first strike in this game, I turned to look at Tom at the desk, who put his hands in the air in celebration, saying, “300!” Of course, it wasn’t a 300 game, but tenpin bowlers still have a term for it: a “Varipappa 300” (after PBA great Andy Varipappa), meaning any 12 strikes in a row. I added two more before leaving a washout because I was bowling at such a quick pace. In that run, however, I had 14 in a row, and 18 out of 19, my best bowling ever. Ray came by my lane after I was finished, so I quickly showed him the second game on the scoring console and he congratulated me, adding, “You have to do that in league now.”

Needless to say, I showed the sheets to all of my lunch companions. I summed up what this meant to me with something I’ve always said, “If you can do something once in bowling, you can do it again,” so I now know that an honor score is no longer a question of “if,” but “when.” 😀

Cross-training #168

Terrell Owens has made a commitment to help 81 needy families (matching his jersey number) during the holidays in each city he plays in, and he brought this tradition to Cincinnati Monday with his “81 Cares Bowl” event benefiting the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, as noted by ESPN. His Bengals “partner-in-crime,” Chad Ochocinco, was a participant, as well as many of Owens’ other teammates.

Dec. 8 league night recap

My Week 14 bowling, frame-by-frame (Link is to BowlSK series sheet)

Another block quote from my BowlSK comment is in order tonight:

I was able to carry the good feeling I had coming out of the tournament into league play tonight. I’ve been working on keeping my routine the same on both balls; except for a couple of single pins on the left side, all of my spare misses came on splits, so keeping my routine the same has generally helped me focus more on second ball.

Result: 183-204-231=618
Average (42 games): 185
Average for last 9 games: 185
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 570

When I looked at our opponents’ pre-bowl scores (Shawn’s in particular), I felt good about my team taking points in the second game, but Liz DiBenedetto saved her team’s bacon with a personal best 256 game, and that helped propel her team to the net win, with my team only taking the first game’s point.

Something that I wasn’t aware of until tonight is that Stonehill College, a nearby Catholic-operated Division 2 college, has a bowling team in its third year of existence, and they were running a 50/50 raffle to raise funds this week. One of the team members told me they were up against schools like Penn St. and RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) in their most recent tournament. I told this person he could contact me through Facebook via this blog to keep me posted on how they’re doing.

Shirley Major rolls 740 series in Thursday Handicap Doubles

Shirley Major got help from a 259 game to post a 740 series last Thursday night in the Thursday Handicap Doubles league. As a factoid for those who don’t usually follow Brockton area bowling, Shirley once held the women’s state record three-game series (it’s on a plaque on the back-end wall, but I forgot the score…it is over 800, however).

Congrats Shirley! 😀

Dec. 7 league standings update

Well, “Babe and Balls” has virtually hit bottom, as last week’s failure to take points meant we slipped to being the last real team in the standings, ahead of only the vacant and three points behind a tie between “Bowling Stones” and “Warren’s Girls.” At the top of the standings, “Fire in the Hole” hold a two-point lead over “The 5 G’s.”

Our opponents tomorrow night are “Pairs and Spares,” but it’s going to be a quick night of bowling because John and Carl will be absent, and, on the other team, Shawn indicated to me that he and his wife Jo-Ann have pre-bowled.

My day at the People’s Tournament, Dec. 5, 2010

My qualification attempt, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK series sheet)

I missed the cut again, but only by 34 pins, and, if it wasn’t for my inability to find the pocket last game, things probably should have been different. I can feel I’m growing as a bowler, however: I was proud of my second game (227 scratch) not only because it was a good game, but it was clean, as well, and on a tough shot (they had the Coke league’s shot out). I had a chance at the second game side pot, as well (260 with handicap), but my buddy Sean aced me out for second place.

Dec. 1 league night recap

My Week 13 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK series sheet)

I’m just going to block-quote from my BowlSK comment:

My spare game still isn’t where it should be, though I made a greater percentage of my 10s tonight (3/4). The other misses, other than splits, were a couple of the easier two-pin clusters and a double-wood.

Result: 187-191-149=527
Average (39 games): 184
Average for last 9 games: 173
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 588

The first two games were close, but we lost all points tonight, with Carl being the only one on the team over average on the night.

Fall 2010 Week 12 virtual league results

“5 Blind Squirrels” seem to be making a habit of late of only taking two points a week, as that was the result last week against “4 + sk8 = #1,” and we continue to sit nine points out of 7th place. At the top, there was some shuffling of the standings last week, as “Five Fingers of Death” regained a tie in points with Team 7, but little changed overall: the top four teams are still separated by only two points.

Nov. 29 league standings update

The fall of “Babe and Balls” in the league standings continued this week, as we’re now tied in points for 9th place with “In It To Win It,” but only one point out of last place. At the top, “Fire in the Hole” now hold a three-point lead on “The 5 G’s.” The week’s opposition is “The Incredibowls,” who had one of their members, Brian Snow, shoot 250 last week while carrying a 130 average.

Nov. 29 practice

Today was a different practice from my norm, as all I wanted to do was try out my new Reign of Fire on a tough shot, namely the Coke Classic League pattern and, being that I had 11 free games between the pro shop and referring a new bowler to a league, I only used two of those free games for that purpose to get my free game “stash” to a number divisible by three.

Generally, I liked the look I had on the Coke shot with the ball, standing on 28 and going straight up 10 at the arrows. I felt I could strike more often than I did with my dulled-down Hy-Road on “Dead Man’s Curve” back in the January tournament, and, where the two shots play so similar, I could declare myself “ready” for the tournament if not for the fact that I missed too many spares in my two games. If I have a similar look on the true sport shot Sunday as I did today on the “tough house pattern,” I figure I’ll at least have a chance, however.

Nov. 27 outing

My brother and I could’ve gone bowling late on Thanksgiving afternoon; however, with my feet sore from all of the standing around at my sister’s the day before, I told him I’d wait until Saturday (tonight). On my end, I had two good games to start, with the first one a 201 clean, which I was prouder of than the 225 second game. I did not have an open frame until leaving a swishing 7-10 fairly late in the second game, and my two missed makeables were both single pins (a 10 and a 4) in the third game. It should be said that cosmic bowling started in the middle of our session, so having the music going was good concentration practice, and I had a good look standing 38 when I had to move in the third game (the line I was practicing last time with my brother), so I’m showing progress on that.

For his part, my brother had a couple of games in the 120s and ended with something in the 360s, which is typically a good outing for him. 🙂

Nov. 24 league night recap

My Week 12 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK series sheet)

I’m a creature of habit, admittedly. Today wasn’t a normal Wednesday in my real world, as I had a long Thanksgiving Eve day at my sister’s, so my brother got me straight to the lanes from there, and well ahead of time. The change of routine may have been enough to throw me off of my rhythm for the first two games. I’ll be the first to tell you I was fishing for too much in the second game, but I did finally get my good look at the pocket in the third game to save 520 with a 232 game.

Result: 152-137-232=521
Average (36 games): 184
Average for last 9 games: 174
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 560

The team was all over the place tonight, as well, but John was well over his average in his last two games, Eileen was steady, and Patrick had a good first game. We only took one point, however.

Fall 2010 Week 11 virtual league results

“5 Blind Squirrels,” despite one of our better weeks of the virtual league season, only took two points from “Five Fingers of Death,” and we now stand nine points behind 7th place (held by “Cell 6”), which is all I’m really hoping for at this point. With five weeks left in the season, the top half of the league is all within two points of the lead held by “Furious Five,” so it’s still almost anyone’s race.

Nov. 19 league standings update

Wednesday night’s 1-3 loss to “Dee’s Boys” dropped “Babe and Balls” into a tie in points for 9th place with “Warren’s Girls.” At the top, “Fire in the Hole” continues to lead “Vakanczz” by a point, with “The Incredibowls” and “Mustangs” tied for 3rd a half-point behind 2nd. “In It To Win It,” the team we started the season against (and that had their name changed since the first week), provides the opposition next week.