With my brother in Brockton helping my other folks get ready for Irene, he thought he could use a little diversion, so a bowling outing with me was again in order. We had been over my sister’s doing work, so neither of us brought our “A” games, but I did have 2 games in the 180s. My problem today was making anything with more than one pin (though I had a nice conversion of the 3-6-9-10 in the third game), and I also missed a couple of 10 pins. By the end, I was trying to bomb it up the outside because moving inside wasn’t really working, and, although I wasn’t completely effective doing that, I got better at it near the end and was clean after the 6th frame of Game 3.

I wanted to note first of all that, aside from the prize money we received as a team, Lou received extra for having the most improved average among the males in the league.

Mostly, however, I wanted to note this: My brother made a rare Wednesday night appearance (first time it’s happened while bowling was going on) last night, so I was able to finally introduce him to some of the people I bowl with, mostly my summer league teammates. I didn’t bowl the no-tap because I was thinking about karaoke later in the night, so I was around when my brother was there to be able to do that.

With my birthday approaching, I took the opportunity to bowl with my brother last night, even though I sort of dislike bowling on back-to-back days. My scores were around average, but my follow-through was the primary point of emphasis, and it even seemed to help with my spare game, because I didn’t miss anything easy until the third game, when I hooked past an 8 pin. Moreover, my 10 pin had been a problem recently, but I left several of them last night, and made every one of them until the very last frame, when I pulled the spare shot; it should be said that a problem caused me to have to call the desk to request to finish out, so I was kind of thrown off by that, as well. My brother, for the record, was about his inconsistent self.

With a birthday in the family today, my brother and I got my shopping out of the way last night and went bowling afterward. It was not a usual outing, because the lanes were hooking more than normal, and I was having problems getting even my new Tropical Breeze to hold pocket. I eventually had to loft it to have a chance, and I usually wasn’t lofting it enough. Still, I wasn’t leaving many tough spares (just one split), and made most of the easy ones, so I had two games (my last two) around my average with the other one being on the low end of the reasonable range, which I told my brother I was glad to take on lanes that weren’t optimally scoring for me. My brother had one game over what I think is his average.

I decided today that I also wanted to mention that a childhood friend (someone who grew up in the same neighborhood as I did) was on hand to watch me in the third game last night. I was disappointed that I couldn’t really show off like I could, but I was happy that I could punch out in the 10th frame for him. He may return to watch my whole night next week.

With my brother and I due to go to a family birthday party later in the day, we found time to bowl this morning. This one was fairly far from being the horror show for me that the last outing was, though I did give my brother an opening in the first game by missing easy spares; he was only around 100, however, after I posted a 139. The other two games were more the norm for me, capped off by barely getting the deuce to end the session. I used my Fast the whole way, and it had returned to having a normal reaction after the cleaning last week.

Today provided another opportunity to bowl, as my best friend Ed’s sister-in-law had a Groupon for Westgate Lanes that she wanted to use today. Ed’s wife rounded out the foursome, but, as the Groupon was only for one hour, we couldn’t get much bowling in. We completed one game each before it was over, with me scoring a 174 in that completed game, but I was making better shots in the partial second game, even walking out a couple of them to show the women in the party how many boards I’m now crossing since the last time they saw me bowl. It had a laid-back feel to it, so I was just out to enjoy myself and my company rather than actually trying to practice.

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.” 😀

I’ve been wrangling since I got home yesterday with whether I wanted to mention what’s to follow or spare the post out of a wish to avoid self-promotion in the matter, but I decided that I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least make a brief note about it.

I attended the Brockton Bowling Association’s annual open meeting yesterday with the intention of giving a report on the Facebook page. After the reports were taken care of, Bob Young mentioned that with our 50th association tournament coming up next year, and with the Brockton Bowling Association hosting the state open tournament again in the not too distant future, he would need more people to help with tournaments and such, and since I’ve already displayed the willingness to assist the association, suggested I be placed on the board of directors. There was some discussion about how to fit me onto the current board, since I did not want to take the vacant Taunton spot on the board because I don’t bowl there. Eventually, the board was reorganized (I’ll spare the details) and I was elected to a one-year term on the board.

I was able to contribute immediately, as there was discussion on how we could recognize non-members who have assisted the association and bowling in the area in general. I moved (which was seconded and voted on in the affirmative) to exempt Meritorious Service nominees for the association Hall of Fame from the bowling requirements. Some of the people we can now recognize are area bowling writers (who may not necessarily be bowlers themselves) and people who are not Brockton Bowling Association members who have done stuff like assist with the youth bowling programs in the area. I hope this change proves a positive step for the association.

I am looking forward to fulfilling my increased responsibility, perhaps beginning with the Bowler of the Year tournament in September.

I treated the night like a regular league night, so I arrived about the time I usually would for winter league. Before bowling, I caught up with someone from my bowling past: Wayne Webber, who is now AWBA president. Wayne was working in the pro shop at the time I first broke into league bowling and had drilled my first bowling balls, so it really was a pleasure for me to see him again.

For the tournament, I was teamed with the Spotts, Dan and Lorretta, from Colorado Springs. Dan was the wheelchair bowler on the team, and it turned out he was a former national champion, having won the A division handicap championship in 2004, the cloth for which was proudly displayed on the back of his wheelchair. The team didn’t do so well, and I had started out slowly, changing to my Tropical Breeze for the second game, which I had to run into the pro shop between frames to address a fit issue. I found a good line near the end looking around 15; part of my problem is usually trying to swing the ball too much and getting the ball to the dry on the outside too soon. Dan was consistently in the 170s and 180s, and Lorretta, after a poor start, was in the 200s in her other two games; I contributed a 588 no-tap scratch score for a 2060 score with handicap, which I didn’t think would cash, so I left early.

While I was bowling, I was observing the wheelchair bowlers around me, and noticed that many of them could hook it at least a little, which has given me new appreciation for disabled athletes. If I get results for the no-tap event, I will post them. Also, although the AWBA has a website, it hasn’t been updated for a while, so I may have to rely on on-site results for the national tournament, which started today.

Good luck to all of the wheelchair bowlers this week. 😀

I may not have been able to get a photo of my league’s champions at the banquet, but Alex Frisbie let me have this still from his video, so I now present to you my 2010-11 league champions, “The Incredibowls”:

Thought I’d post the photo of the door of my freezer in its current state as my answer to the tally art that fighter pilots painted on the fuselage of their planes under the side of the cockpit canopy during World War II. The four USBC award magnets shown were all earned this past winter season and represent every magnet I could have won this past season, as my average is too high for the 200 game and 600 series magnets.

I had wanted to bowl in my first Northeast Amateur Tournament at Wonder Bowl in New Bedford today, but my best friend Ed was running well late, and, by the time he said he’d get here, I felt we wouldn’t get there in time to register for the second squad, so I called off the tournament. NAT entries are all taken on-site, so the cash I was going to use will be deposited and put to use later (likely as my entry for the People’s Tournament next month at Westgate Lanes).

Ed joined me in bowling a few games at Westgate Lanes, instead, and I continued to work on what “CoachJim” gave me. I may not really be good bowling back-to-back days, though, b/c I only made my average one of the three games. My highlight was converting a 4-5 split, which I picked up by moving 4 boards right and throwing my strike ball at my strike target. Ed, for his part, broke 100 in his third game and also picked up a similar split (the 5-6).

I wasn’t expecting it this morning, but my brother popped the bowling question when he showed up for his visit. Of course, I accepted, thinking it would be an ideal time to shake some of the rust off from not bowling in over a week with a tournament coming up tomorrow. “CoachJim” thought I needed to work on ball speed and timing, so that was mostly what I worked on on first ball. “CoachJim” also gave me a hint on my spares, especially on my right side (including my troublesome 10 pin): if I push off harder on my right leg into my release, that will help keep my hips square with my target line subconsciously. That second bit actually seemed to work…I missed a 3-6, but only because I felt I pulled it, and that was the only “easy” miss on the day; the rest were splits. Though I wasn’t overly concerned with score, I shot a 616 for the set.

As I did last year, I’m dedicating a post to breaking down my league performance with the help of the BowlSK reports. First, the first-ball numbers (numbers before the pipe | character reflect last year’s performance):

Strike percentage: 44.8% | 46.4%
Pocket shots: 73.1% | 78.2%
Carry percentage: 58.8% (475/808) | 58.6% (529/903)
Double rate: 43.3% (208/480) | 49.1% (250/509)
Average first-ball count: 8.9 | 8.9
Average first-ball non-strike count: 8.0 | 7.9

I continue to improve on finding the pocket, though my carry rate was slightly down from last year. However, when I had a strike working, I almost kept the string going as often as not. As the following second-ball numbers will show, this was what kept me afloat:

Overall spare percentage: 57.1% (332/581) | 51.4% (303/589)
Single-pin spare percentage: 73.5% (200/272) | 70.9% (183/258)
Multi-pin spare percentage: 56.3% (120/213) | 56.1% (110/196)
Makeable (non-split) percentage: 66.0% (320/485) | 64.5% (293/454)
Split conversion percentage: 12.5% (12/96) | 7.4% (10/135)
Washout conversion percentage: 6.5% (2/31) | 26.1% (6/23)
Percentage on single 10 pin: 68.6% (70/102) | 63.6% (68/107)
Percentage on single 7 pin: 56.4% (22/39) | 71.4% (20/28)

My overall numbers show I had more spare opportunites, but made fewer of them, and my single-pin rate went down a few percentage points, but I was shooting at single pins fewer times. I did leave many more splits, though, and converted them at a lesser rate, so this may have had a lot to do with why my overall numbers were down. I made 2 fewer of my single 10 pins in 5 more opportunities, but there was a stretch in the middle of the season where I was missing them as often as I made them; I did feel I made some improvement late in the season. Two parts of my spare game showed improvement over last year: I made the 7 pin a lot more often on a percentage basis when I had it, and got out of trouble more often on my washouts (though that latter number may fluctuate wildly from season to season).

After I get everything I want to save up for, I intend to go for lessons more often, and that will probably be when I can work on my spare game more. It’ll still be a matter of getting practice in, which may not always be easy.

With my brother in Brockton all weekend for Easter, we found time to hit the lanes today. I was mostly happy with how I bowled, as I had a 611 total and didn’t miss any easy ones until late in the third game. About that third game, I had the front six, but missed a couple of 10s late (7th and 10th frames), so what could’ve been a game in the 240s only finished as a 225. My brother was about normal for him.

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.

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.

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:

My brother was over on a weekend where we didn’t have to do food shopping, so that made bowling more likely, and we did just that this morning. The youth leagues were wrapping up when we got there, but we got a lane closer to the desk. I was happy with my performance today, because, while I didn’t get my 600, I had no game under 190 and made all of my “easy” spares. I even made a couple of my splits, the first of which was a 3-6-7-10 which helped me stay for what ended up being a clean game, perhaps my first clean game under 200 (came up a pin short). My brother wanted to dispute the fact that it was a clean game, however: I had a spare in the 10th frame, but only filled that with 8 pins (left a 4-7). For his part, my brother had a major (for him) accomplishment…no first-ball gutter balls the whole day.

After the kids were done, Henry Webber took to the lanes on his own, and happened to throw a 300 game, which was worthy of being announced on the PA system. I don’t know if it was his first ever, or if he’s had some before, but it would’ve seemed to me that he’d have one in league play by now. Congrats just the same, Henry! 😀

Wanting to become more involved in my local bowling association, I approached the Board of Directors at their meeting on Sunday morning with the idea of starting a Facebook page for the association. After some discussion, they agreed to give me the OK, and I set up the page on Monday before leaving for the lanes to let Bob Young (association manager) and Rob Young (association president) know that the page was up. Wanting others from the other association centers involved in this, I asked Mike Carter, the association’s second vice president, if he wanted to be the admin representing North Bowl, and added him as an admin after he agreed.

The URL right now is kind of complicated, as there’s a long number involved, but there is a link to the page up at the top of the association homepage (which was why I was waiting to post this). I will add the link to the sidebar when the page has reached one of its goals for “Likes.”

I had hoped to participate in a bowl-a-thon at Boston Bowl today for Autism Speaks, however, I was going to do so with my FanForce friends (whom I mentioned in my post about the outing at Pinz), and our chapter rep was having trouble registering the group for the event online, so he and his “silent partner” backed out. After a brief discussion, my best friend Ed and I decided to, as well, and we settled for bowling three games at Westgate Lanes.

The change turned out to be a good call, as I was throwing the ball well pretty much for the entire session, scoring 241-204-213 for a 658 set. I had an open frame or two in each game, but I ended the first game with five in a row, and repeated the five in a row feat in the middle of the last game. Talking about it over pizza afterward, I told Ed that, for me, it’s all just a matter of repeating shots.

So now two people close to me have seen me at my best…I hope my sister and her kids follow in that someday. 😀

…my game needs work again.

I had Carl take some video of my bowling with my new flash memory HD camcorder last night, and when I reviewed the clips after I posted about my bowling, I found an old bugaboo had crept back into my game: I was not getting the ball over the foul line. If I was happy with the video, I definitely would’ve posted, but now I find I need to break the towel out again for towel drills when I return to practice (which has been tenuous with the bad weather recently). Finding the new, but old, flaw in my game and correcting it may prove worth my while for bringing the camcorder last night, even though I had intended to post the video and decided not to.

As an aside, I was happy with the overall quality of video the new camcorder produced, so that makes the tape camcorder I used to get my original videos obsolete. I may still be able to get something for the tape camcorder, and, if I can, that should go a long way towards the next item in my “technology makeover.”

I’d like to take this post to wish my readers the best in this holiday season. Because of a changed situation with my family, my brother and I may find time to go bowling on Christmas again, so I’ll keep everyone posted. 😀