A Sunday morning at the lanes

With “The People’s Tournament” in town today, I wanted to head to the lanes this morning with hopes that I would be able to bowl in one of the qualifying squads as a pacer (pacers are used in tournaments sometimes when a pair of lanes has less than the full complement of bowlers assigned to it). The part of the morning I could blog about actually got started when I left the house, as Simon Rosenthal (I call him Si), another old bowling friend, was driving the taxi I called for to get there. I mentioned I wanted to return to the game, and he told me he was actually taking the year off from bowling after averaging only in the 140s the previous season when he’s usually somewhere in the 180s.

When I got to the lanes, I told Junior about my intentions, but he replied that the tournament officials may not let me pace. I was OK with this, but I proceeded into the party room (which is used as the check-in room for tournaments) to meet the tournament director for TPT, Sherm Cowan. I let him know that I was considering bowling TPT in the future, and that I had linked his site on this blog. He thanked me for the link and wished me well.

I also stopped in the pro shop to talk with Ray about the previous week. Si had mentioned in the cab that reactive balls wear out quickly, and I asked Ray about this. Ray replied that those balls don’t wear out, but rather soak up oil, and said the pro shop has something called “The Rejuvenator” that will help restore the ball. He recommended that I do this every 60 games, and since a run in the Rejuvenator is only $5, I won’t mind the occasional additional expense.

Getting coffee at the snack bar, I ran into Sean Richard, who was warming up for the tournament on one of the lanes. He recognized me as the new blogger and we exchanged pleasantries. I finished my coffee, then headed back to the control desk to set up a two-hour rental (Westgate Lanes runs a lane rental special on Sunday mornings.).

There was nothing special in the practice session, but I did make my spares consistently, which helped my games stay around 180 for the most part (I had a 144 middle game, as I’ll recap below.) What I learned is that I definitely prefer a drier lane, as that is usually the condition in my Monday afternoon practices, and will probably bowl in late squads in tournaments rather than early ones. Despite doing fairly well, I wasn’t up to practicing for more than 3 games, so I asked Junior for a $10 credit (I had originally paid $20 for the two hours.). The printer at the control desk was also having problems, so I had to write the scores down on the business card Sherm Cowan gave me. I wished Sean luck in today’s tournament on the way out.

Result: 180-144-179=503

Running average (30 games): 163 Last 9 average: 164

Mark Roth, Part Deux

I didn’t think there would be a Part Two to my Mark Roth story, but as I walked into the building on my way to the control desk for today’s practice session, there he was giving someone a lesson (Why didn’t you tell me he was sticking around, Junior & Marcia?!). I waited until he had a moment, then said hello, shook his hand, and complimented him on the show he put on with Sean Richard the other day. If I had known he was sticking around, I might’ve thought twice about skipping the opportunity to get pointers from him, but I wanted to conserve my cash for the holidays.

As for the practice session itself, I definitely feel better about it than I did last week’s session. I started the session with a 189, easily my best starting game so far. I had a let-down the second game and only shot a 139 (three different splits didn’t help matters), but I recovered in the last game, getting 5 in a row from the 7th frame to the 2nd ball in the 10th. I wanted to repeat the “half-perfect” feat from an earlier practice, but I missed my target well right on the last ball and only fell 6 pins to finish with a 212 and a 540 total for the three games. I caught Ray from the pro shop on my way out, so I had to brag a little bit to him. 😀

Running average (27 games): 162 Last 9 average: 165

EDIT: A quick check of the New England Bowling Association site (see sidebar for link) finds that Mark Roth also competed in, and won, the NEBA tournament @ Westgate Lanes this past weekend. Congrats Mark! 😀

Note about Walter Ray Williams Jr.

Before I went to work on the blog today, I watched (via VCR delay, as I was watching the Celtics game when it was live) the Great Lakes Classic, this week’s stop on the PBA Tour, won by Walter Ray Williams Jr. for his record 44th PBA title. The guy is simply amazing…he was winning PBA titles 20 years ago, around the time I started league bowling, and hasn’t stopped. With 4 TV appearances so far this season and 2 more titles, he’s still near the best in the game, if not the best.

Mark Roth’s visit

I have to do this from memory, so don’t consider this an accurate account of what happened in the exhibition match at Westgate Lanes today between PBA Hall of Famer Mark Roth and local bowler Sean Richard, but it was a pretty tense match. Sean Richard ended the first game with 6 consecutive strikes to take that game, then Mark Roth came back to win the second game. Could there be a fitting end? Yes; the third game ended in a tie. Both bowlers shot in the 220’s and 230’s in each game, so they really put on a good show. I didn’t hang around to get Mark Roth’s autograph, though, as I had to leave for lunch w/ my brother, then get the groceries, which I bought before I went to the exhibition, put away (it was cold enough today to leave the groceries in my brother’s car while I was out & about). Maybe they’ll have another “name” pro come visit next year. 🙂

As an aside, I saw another old friend from my previous bowling life, Brian Earle, known as “Hawk”, today, and we exchanged the usual “get caught up” chatter. He was there to bowl in the NEBA tournament, so good luck w/ that “Hawk”. 🙂

Practice summary, 11/19/07

There was nothing really spectacular about this week’s practice (141-188-182=511), though I’m making more progress in my overall game. The lane seemed to have less of a hold area this week, and I initially moved left a half-board to a board to try to compensate, but when even that adjustment left me with high hits, I decided to make a slight ball speed adjustment to kill the hook a bit. I had a couple of solid hits after the adjustment, but I couldn’t really string the strikes together this week, never getting more than a double in any of my games.

Running average (21 games): 162 Last 9 average: 177

Notes:

As I get closer to actual competition, I will be practicing on a pair of lanes instead of just one lane starting with next week’s practice. For those of you not familiar with competitive bowling, leagues and tournaments require games to be bowled across a pair of lanes, so practicing on a pair of lanes will get me back into thinking about making the proper adjustments on two different lanes, just as I’ll be expected to do in actual competition.
In connection with the New England Bowling Association tournament on the weekend of December 1st and 2nd, Westgate Lanes has announced that PBA legend Mark Roth will make an appearance that Saturday. He will be offering lessons ($50/person) and will also bowl an exhibition match against local bowler Sean Richard. The program will get started at 11:30 AM Eastern time immediately after the junior leagues finish.

A couple of notes

Westgate Lanes will not be offering half-price bowling and will be charging holiday rate next Monday due to the Veterans’ Day holiday; therefore, I will be taking the week off from practice.

Also, a quick look at the 2008 calendar finds that the first non-holiday Tuesday night (New Year’s Day falls on a Tuesday this time around) is January 8. As the Brockton Ten-Pin League may not meet on the holiday, I am now targeting the 8th to make my return to league bowling.

Practice summary, 10/22/07

Nothing really stellar this week (122-176-168=466), but it was a decent practice session for the first one with a new ball. I didn’t get many breaks in the first game, but I was coming in high, so I wasn’t expecting many breaks, including leaving the 4-6-7-9-10 split. I had a turkey in the 3rd through 5th frames of the second game, but the best thing I took out of today’s practice was that I was making my single 7-pin more consistently, getting the spare 3 times out of 4, and only missing one because my thumb stuck in the ball. My main problem today seemed to be making my right-hand corner pins, so hopefully, I’ll get that back on track next time.

Running average (12 games): 151 Last 9 average: 162

Another old friend: It turns out that the bowler I didn’t face in the finals when I won the LBT tournament back in October of 1989 (I was the third seed, and he lost the first stepladder match), Bob Hamilton, now works at Westgate Lanes as the lane maintenance person. I reintroduced myself, let him know I was on my way back, and asked him to let his brother George (who I also knew) know I asked about him.

Having a ball

After checking the bank balance and doing a little mental anticipation of possible future spending on other things, I decided that now was the time to make my next major equipment purchase: a new ball!

After consultation with Chris Mark at the USA Bowling Pro Shop on the premises (they are also located at Boston Bowl), I went with a blue 15 lb. Circle High-Voltage, which was on closeout because the ball is no longer being manufactured, but which I was told was still an awesome ball for these lanes. My fit was checked using the U-Dot with modifications (Chris wanted the thumb all the way in the ball), the ball was drilled, and the grips glued into place.

A trial fit of the ball revealed a problem with the thumb…the thumb release was resisting in the back of the thumb. A vent hole was first drilled to see if that would correct the problem, and when it was found that that was only a partial answer, Chris used a sanding bit that attaches a standard hand drill to make the thumb hole larger at the back. We eventually got the problem corrected and I was ready to try out the ball (which was my first brand-new ball, BTW…I had been used to buying all of my balls used).

The nice thing about this pro shop compared with the guys I knew when I was last bowling seriously is that the new guys give you a complimentary game of bowling with any ball purchase, so I was able to try out the new ball without breaking out my sister’s gift card. A lane was turned on, I put on my shoes, got my other equipment ready, and I prepared for my first shot with the new High-Voltage.

I fell in love with this ball from the first shot…a solid strike. As the game progressed, I noticed that the ball had more back-end action than the U-Dot, and I ended up adjusting by moving my feet 2 boards left to the 12 board on the approach. I ended up shooting a 167, with a double in the 6th and 7th frames. I intend to retain the U-Dot for my right-hand spares and on unfamiliar lane conditions, and use the High-Voltage for all other shots. My thanks to Ray, the pro shop owner, and Chris for doing an excellent job on the ball…I hope to be working with you guys in the future. (Note: the 167 will not count toward my “official” practice average, as the only purpose of the game was to try out the ball.)

League found: Checking the other standings sheets, I noticed the Brockton Ten-Pin league, a 4-man league running on Tuesday nights, had a couple of openings, so I intend to join this league after the holidays.

Tournament scene: Along with the monthly “King of the Hill” tournament at Westgate Lanes, an operation called “The People’s Tournament” runs occasional handicap tournaments at Westgate Lanes, as well as the Northeast Amateur Tournament (EDIT: I originally couldn’t find a site on their flyer, but found a full one from them that had their site listed on the back) and the TNBA’s Boston Bowling Senate. Thus, it appears I’ll have as many opportunities to compete in tournaments as I did when I was last active (I used to bowl occasionally with the Amateur Bowlers Tour and National Amateur Bowlers, Inc., but neither tournament club operates in New England currently.)

Relatively speaking

I had forgotten to post about this, but I was told by my favorite aunt and uncle at my sister’s 40th birthday party a couple of months ago that one of my cousins, David Randall, bowls in a league at Westgate Lanes with his wife, Debbie. I finally contacted the wife today and found out that they bowl in the Friday night league. She had forgotten the name of the league, but I was able to deduce from the league schedule as posted on the lanes’ web site that it was the TNBA mixed league. I am now leaning toward joining that league after the holidays (provided I can replace a dummy on one of the teams), as I’m used to the format (4-person teams…the league I spent the most time in, the Tuesday night His & Hers mixed league, is now a doubles league) and I’d be sure of getting a ride home from my cousins. My only question is if the TNBA league is also sanctioned by the USBC, as I’d like my average in the league to count as an entry average for tournaments down the road.

Turkey shoot

I had what I thought was my best overall practice session since my return to bowling today, posting a 135-142-173=450, which was only 6 pins off my best series since my return, and the 173 represents my best game in that time. My spare shooting continues to improve slowly, but the highlight of this practice session was closing out the last game with a turkey (three strikes in a row), my longest string of strikes in quite a while. That’s what I call finishing with a flourish! 😀

After practice, I caught up with an old bowling friend, Ron Lawson, who had been my doubles partner in the city championship tournament many years ago, who was practicing on another pair of lanes. I told him it was my intent to return to leagues, about the adjustments I had to make due to my heel fractures, and that I was blogging all of my bowling stuff. I hope to see him again frequently in the near future.

Other notes:

I have been set up with a locker at the lanes, which means I won’t have to lug my gear around on the bus, and also that I can take my bicycle to the lanes when the weather is good, thus getting in my aerobic exercise.
Next Monday is the Columbus Day holiday, and Westgate Lanes does not offer half-price bowling on holiday Mondays; therefore, I will not practice next Monday.

Getting serious

With a goal of returning to a league after the holidays, I began practicing in earnest today. The first 2 games saw me taking a few steps back (a layoff of a few weeks was what did it), staying around 100 (and actually failing to break 100 in the second game), but in the third game, I made an adjustment. I decided to line up normally, but instead of keeping my eyes on the spot I want to roll it on, I focused on another spot well to the left of the second arrow and kept my eyes on that as I went through my approach. I figured that the more I concentrated on keeping to the left, the better my chance of hitting my spot, figuring if all went well in my approach, hitting my spot should be automatic. While I didn’t necessarily get more strikes, it did result in more reasonable leaves, most of which I made, and I ended up with a 164. Another thing that I got sorted out was how to make my left-hand corner pins, which was a good sign.

Locker inquiry: After I was done with my bowling, I inquired with the management about renting a locker on the premises, as I used to have one when I was in leagues. As they know I wish to return, they will see if they have any available, and I’ll know if I’ll be able to rent one next week.

Birthday gift

My birthday was on Wednesday, and we celebrated last night (my sister was too busy to have guests over for dinner on Wednesday night). My sister and her family gave me a $50 Westgate Lanes gift card. There’s a good chance that I’ll know what to do with that. 😉

Doubling up

I went with the changed plan to bowl at Westgate Lanes with my best friend yesterday, joined by his wife and her sister. Overall, it was an excellent effort for just coming back to bowling, as I posted a 132-160-164=456 series.

I did not roll a single first ball in the gutter, but the problem of missing my spot right still popped up, leading to many leaves where the head pin was still standing. I made some of them, however, with the misses coming when I tried to repeat my first ball and missed my spot again. I also only missed one single pin leave out of three. That miss was the 7 pin, however, so I’ll still need to learn how to make that single pin.

Joyously, in the 8th and 9th frames of the second game, I posted consecutive strikes, repeating the double to start the third game. I was hoping I’d stay consistent enough have a clean game and shoot 200 in that third game, but it was not to be. The fact that the doubles helped lead to a pair of games in the 160s (around the average I had when I left league bowling, BTW 🙂 ) was good in my mind, though. It meant that it was less a matter of learning how to bowl again now, and more a matter of regaining consistency.

Five-game average for the weekend: 140…about where I want to be before joining a league again. I still will wait out the winter league season, though, only doing open bowling for practice in that time.

Baby steps (aka Breaking 100)

I went bowling again with my brother today, and the title above is actually a bit of a misnomer, as I actually made quite a bit of progress from last time. I really only threw one first ball in the channel in the 2 games we rolled, and I was consistently in the 120s, posting a 121 first game and following that up with a 126.

I tried the line I used the last time at first, but was finding my ball was not making it to the pocket, so I fiddled around with my spot on the approach and the spot on the lane. I found that, for me, lining up around the 9th board on the approach, walking toward the middle arrow (my right foot points out at an angle after my heel fractures, and since my brother said that, subliminally, we aim with our feet, I had to walk toward the left in my delivery to compensate), and trying to roll it over the second arrow (the 10th board on the lane that I reference in this blog’s title). It worked well when I didn’t miss my spot, and I got a few more strikes. When I missed, it was usually to the right, and that ended up with me getting a few more washout leaves. I was more consistent in the second game, however, and in the last frame in that game, I actually hit a shot that might’ve left the 4-9 split, but another pin tripped the 9. Since I was now lining up more left on the approach, it was an easy matter to move right the customary 6 boards for the single 4 pin.

Unlike last time, I went first, so my mental game around the 10th frame focused on locking my brother out, something I did with a first-ball strike in the 10th frame of the first game. I also had a situation where I could strike on my fill ball in the 10th frame of the second game to lock him out, but left a single pin, meaning my brother had to take it off the sheet to tie…he’s no serious bowler, so he didn’t do it, though his first ball strike in that frame made things interesting.

Change of plan: The FanForce meet at Pinz fell through, so that means my hookup with the league bowler in the Mass. Imperial Syndicate will have to wait for another time. My best friend Ed did say he’d change plans to go to Westgate Lanes with me tomorrow, so I’ll blog about how that went when I come home.

The shoes have arrived!

UPS delivered my new Etonic Strike shoes today. I knew the size I ordered would fit me, but I still had to try them on to be sure. I was comfortable in the shoes, so there will be no need for a return. I may even order regular shoes from OnlineShoes.com, but, knowing my shopping habits, I might still go to a brick-and-mortar store for regular shoes.

As for the week ahead, there may be two bowling outings this coming weekend, one with my brother at Westgate Lanes on Saturday, and Pinz in Milford, MA with the Mass. Imperial Syndicate (visit the “Star Wars” link on my homepage, which is linked in this blog’s “About” page, for more information, but keep in mind the page still refers to the Boston Rebels at press time) on Sunday, so there should be plenty for me to blog about then. I’m especially looking forward to Sunday, as one of the other MIS members happens to be a very good bowler, so we’ll see if I can match up with him (I noted in my post on the MIS board on TheForce.net that I’ll probably need about 80 pins handicap…hehehehehe!).

League fee inquiry

I called Westgate Lanes’ chief operator, Harry Minassian Jr., who everyone calls “Junior” (I saw his father a couple of times when I was league bowling, but don’t know if the father is still alive, so I’ll just assume “Junior” is the owner for now), today, because I forgot to ask him about current league fees when I was there last week. He told me most leagues at Westgate Lanes are charging about $15/week these days, which is not out of line with what I had imagined league fees to be.

EDIT: Harry Minassian Sr. is still alive, as it turns out, so this entry has been edited to reflect that.

First post: Bowling outing with brother, June 30, 2007

Hi everyone. Today is a Wednesday, but I wanted my first post to this blog to deal with my bowling outing with my brother at Westgate Lanes in Brockton, MA (which has always been my home center) last Saturday. This was my first time ten-pin bowling in 7 years, and the time previous to that, I had more or less just come home from my heel fractures. That time, my strike shots were going into the left channel, and I suspect that this was because my legs were still pretty weak from being more or less off of my feet for 5 months.

Last Saturday, things were different: instead of rolling it into the left gutter, my shots were having trouble staying out of the right channel. To me, this was good news, as it indicated to me that my leg strength had come back to a certain extent. I was trying to play my old line, but the ball would skid into that channel. That led to a lot of zero frames in the first game, and, embarrassingly, I only scored in the 20s.

The second game, I got things more or less sorted out. The first ball in that game went for a 7 count, and I stayed pace with my brother all the way through the game. My one strike on the outing came in the 9th frame on a “Brooklyn” (crossover) shot. My brother posted a 101 after the 10th frame, and I was close enough that I could beat him with a spare and 9 count. I had a good shot with my first ball in the frame, but left a ringing 10-pin, which I made rather easily. However, I had a bad shot with my fill ball and only knocked down 5 pins, which meant that I had lost by 3. We only had time for 2 lines, as we had to meet our sister and her family for lunch at the nearby Texas Roadhouse, but I told everyone that I thought I did well enough to think about taking the game up seriously again.

TAKING INVENTORY

My approach was such that I had to start well to the right side of the lane, meaning I would be in trouble if I had a spare leave on the left side (particularly the 7-pin) . I used the ball I last used in league play, but this was a “vintage” Columbia 300 U-Dot (circa 1990), and I suspect they use more oil on the lanes now than they did when I was in leagues, so the ball now hooks less than it did then. As a result, a new ball, particularly a reactive resin ball, may be in order. Although I could get a good deal on one online, I may want to at least consult with the pro shop operator at the lanes for guidance on choosing a suitable model.

Another equipment-related item was that my old size 9.5 bowling shoes no longer fit, so I had to wear rental shoes for this outing. Having proper bowling shoes that fit will allow me to augment whatever leg strength I have. I have been pricing shoes online, as well, and found a pair of Etonic Strike shoes for under $60, so that should be added to my shopping list.

As my heel fractures have changed my delivery to a large extent (I used to have a classic four-step, but now I find I need a preliminary step or two), I may also want to get some coaching to see if I can make the proper corrections comfortably. I’ve been on a walking program for weight reduction, and it should continue to help me build leg strength.

For future reference, it should be noted that I had an average in the 160s at my peak, a high game of 268, and a high series of 634 (both of the latter for which I still have score sheets from), so if I do commit to a comeback, it will be interesting to see how closely I can approach these marks.