The South Jersey Courier Post reported that Andrew Teall of Medford, NJ fired the 15th sanctioned 900 series in history Monday night at Medford Lanes. Congrats Andy! 😀

This is one of those items I’ve been meaning to pass along, but hadn’t got to it when my computer went down. Therefore, I’d better post it now that I have my new computer before it is too late.

Alex Aguiar and Wonder Bowl in New Bedford will be presenting a two-day bowling camp on November 14 & 15. Featured instructors include PBA stars Mark Baker, Michael Fagan, and Bill O’Neill, along with international coach Tom Laskow. The camp will run from 9 AM to 4 PM both days and will include Bowlers Map video motion analysis along with classroom and on-lane instruction, as well as breakfast and lunch. Cost is $150 for a single day or $250 for both days. Bowlers seeking more information may contact Alex at 508-989-2012 or Doug Allard at 508-993-1746.

I got into the building just after 4:30 in the afternoon, said hello to Junior and Tim Major, who were working the desk at the time, and then found Mike Litchfield’s family bowling w/ Steve Travers watching on. Later, when I spotted Rob Dickens at the desk, I asked him if I could join him on the lanes (I would’ve hated bowling by myself on this day.) and joined him with my equipment in hand on one of the lanes after he agreed.

Rob and I were being semi-competitive, with Rob forcing me to mark in the 10th in the first game, which I accomplished with a first-ball strike. Rob found his line while I struggled in the second game. It was really a game over 200 that I wanted on this day, however, and I got that in the third game with a 214. The last game was another mark-to-win situation for me, and, again, I sealed it with a first-ball strike. Just as a note, I was playing around the 28 and 29 board in my stance much of the time, which is as deep inside as I’ve ever played these lanes, and started feeling comfortable playing in there. I’m also sure Steve Travers saw at least one of my strikes, though he also claims knowing I was going to get a ringing 10 on one of my shots. 😉

I was hoping to stay around for the Friday night TNBA league (at least the start of it) and my cousins, but I really felt like getting back home and eating dinner, though there was a free buffet in the pub. I also wished Harry Minassian Sr., the owner, a happy anniversary before I left. As a parting note, I also saw Eileen, one of my new teammates, bowling, and she had a game in the 160s during her time, so she’s starting to get the hang of it, at least when it doesn’t count.

My brother and I had a bowling outing for the first time in months today. I went into the third game with a triplicate possibility after a pair of 213s (first one of the clean variety), but then I couldn’t stop leaving single pins and missed many of them for a 140 score. It should be said that if I bowl that kind of game Wednesday night in the Brunswick Mixed no-tap tournament, I should be in great shape. My brother, to his credit, had a 168 first game, which we believe to be his best ever.

It’s been 2 years now since I took the game up again, and my experience in the last year has been well above expectations. My average has taken a couple of steps down since last summer, but I still feel I’m improving my overall game. I still booked my highest average ever this past winter (183), and nearly had my first 700 series towards the end of last summer (my 694, helped out by my closest approach so far to my best game ever, the 265).

As I learned there is no longer a regular bowling column in the Enterprise, I took it upon myself to put a modern spin on that and began regularly posting local bowling news. When I learned where all of the league standings at Westgate Lanes are posted online, I began tracking each winter league and reported on all of the honor scores (mostly 300 games and 800 series) shot at Westgate Lanes. I missed some opportunities to give congratulations early in the winter season, notably Richard Mines’ 300 in the TNBA league. I congratulated him at the BBA’s Hall of Fame dinner a few months ago, and do so again here.

I also follow all of the tournaments at Westgate Lanes (notably the People’s Tournament and NEBA), and also have at least started note all of the local bowlers’ performances when those tournaments are away from Westgate Lanes (when the locals cash). I’ve also found results of the PBA East regional tournaments, and will start trying to note the locals’ accomplishments at that level.

I’m going to keep the list of thank-yous brief, as the important people were thanked last year. I do want to thank a few people again, though, so here’s the list:

• Ray DiSanto, Jr. again for continuing my bowling education, and also for drilling my new Hy-Road (he did it himself this time rather than having one of his employees do the work).
• The gang in the Brunswick Mixed League, for welcoming me when I couldn’t get into the Westgate Mixed League. Special thanks go to Helen, Ted, Patrick, and Carl, my first winter league teammates since I returned, for helping make the season fun.
• Bonnie, Bill, and Rob, my current summer league teammates…here’s hoping we do well the rest of the season.
• The Brockton Bowling Association, and especially Bob Young, Jr., for recently giving me a link on the association’s new website.
• The IRC user known as “Heretic,” for alerting me to the woot.com deal on my Canon ZR-950 camcorder, which eventually allowed me to post my own bowling video here.
• Finally, Chris Marasti-Georg, one of the BowlingFans.com gang, for having the vision to start up BowlSK.com, which has definitely made my bowling blogging easier.

Here’s to another year of good bowling. 😀

…well, the one that Brunswick Mixed League treasurer Mary Ellen LaBelle gave me at the banquet, anyway. You might only be able to barely see the design, so I may post another picture later.

It is with sadness that I note that I’ve seen several published reports stating that USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Mark Roth, whom I met when he came to Brockton for the December 2007 NEBA tournament (which he won), has suffered a stroke. I hereby wish the 34-time PBA Tour titlist a speedy recovery, and say that I was glad I had a chance to meet him while he was still healthy.

It’s rare that I get to bowl on a holiday Monday, but my brother wanted to spend quality time with me today, and I got out to the lanes as a result. I wouldn’t say I was that happy with the outcome, however. The first game featured my throwing a first-ball gutter ball late that, if it were a strike, would have allowed me to get over 200 (I finished out for a 180). I was better in the second game (a 202), but my spare game was inconsistent in the last game, and I could only manage a game in the 160s. My brother, however, had a last game in the 140s, easily one of his best to date. Tom Hedding, who was working, was watching us on a couple of occasions during our time there, and I told my brother of Tom’s exploits in the youth league (the 300 games).

I finally got around to pulling out my iron and ironing board and affixing the USBC 75 pins over average game award emblem, which I received last week at the banquet, to my new bowling shirt. I had thought about putting it on the red shirt, which Gar (my occasional commenter) thought might be good for intimidation purposes, but the new shirt has kind of become symbolic to me of a fresh start in the game. I also don’t know if I’ll get the chance again: the USBC has changed the awards program to offer online certificates and “purchasables” starting this coming season, though it remains to be seen if the traditional iron-on emblems will be one of those “purchasables.”

Now, here’s an idea where the future of tenpin bowling in New England is going…

The Nashua Telegraph reports that New Hampshire will be the first state in New England to offer tenpin bowling as a high school varsity sport. Teams will compete starting in the 2009-10 winter season, though there will be no official team standings and competition will lead into a state singles tournament. Teams, however, will begin competing for state championships the following winter. Competition will be co-ed, meaning boys and girls will be competing on the same lanes.

As we had arranged previously, I went to the lanes with my best friend Ed today intent on getting my first bowling videos on tape. I used one game to warm up, then got some footage of me bowling from the side, some from in back, and a couple of close-ups of my release. The session went fairly well, with me shooting a 208 in my warm-up game, then falling back quite a bit during the side shoot and the first part of the back shoot. I finished up the back with a couple of strikes in the third game, got a couple of close-ups of my release (one which we will actually use), then finished out the game for a clean 219. I think the casual observers are going to be pleased with the results, though my more trained bowling friends online will likely offer critique, which will be the whole point of shooting the video in the first place.

I had hoped to have everything up today, but when we got home and tried to hook up the camcorder to my computer, we deduced that my computer didn’t like the new “accessory.” Therefore, Ed will have to do the editing on another machine, the results of which I will receive on 2 DVDs, one with the raw footage, and one with the videos I will upload. Hopefully, I’ll have something up in a week or two.

EDIT: It should be noted that these were the first two times Ed has seen me shoot over 200, and the first time he’s seen me have a clean game. 😀 Also, since Ed told me he wears size 9.5 shoes, I had him try on my old bowling shoes, and, as he felt comfortable in them, I let him keep them for future bowling outings.

After a few weeks of not doing so, my brother and I hit the tenpin lanes today. I wouldn’t say my scores were spectacular, but I had a couple of games in the 190s. I felt more sorry for my brother, though, as he failed to get a single strike. I usually don’t try to work on too much when I’m with my brother, but, today, I felt I had to work on keeping my armswing free while keeping my wrist firm, and was doing so with mixed results. My brother did tell me I should try to slow down my tempo of bowling when faced with a spare, and I do tend to want to get spares out of the way as soon as possible. Maybe slowing down can help me think about them a little more.

Just to show everyone that the best bowlers in the area can still beat me, even on a house shot, here’s Alex Aguiar, acquaintance and Hammer pro staffer, throwing the Raw Hammer Acid on a THS (Typical House Shot) for Buddies Pro Shop:

Thanks to Chris from the BowlingFans.com site for pointing this video out to me on IRC this morning.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I attended the Brockton Bowling Association Hall of Fame Dinner last night, and I had a great time at the event. There may not have been many bowlers at the event, but it’s something I hope grows in the future. Ray noted at the start of the festivities that over 400 people annually attend the dinner for the Rochester (NY) bowling association (where Ray is from), and, while we may not have that many, I’m sure Ray shares my wish for Brockton’s event to grow.

I wanted to say that Fred Delfino stole the night, sharing his stories of bowling in the area back in the 60s, especially the open challenge match story about how his crew went to Albany, NY, beat the team there, and the Albany team refusing to come to Boston to complete the challenge. The BBA doesn’t have the link to Fred’s achievements up on the new web site (yet), but Fred is also notable for being a founding member of NEBA, which is the longest-running amateur scratch tournament organization in the nation. To top it, Fred had been the manager of North Bowl for 33 years, and was known there for his work with the youth league, which, at its peak, had 300 youth bowlers participating on Saturdays.

Here is the Brockton USBC Bowling Association Hall of Fame Class of 2009:

Links to the profiles of the three inducted for bowling achievement can be found on the association’s Hall of Fame page. Also, thanks to the Brockton Bowling Association’s officers and board of directors for organizing the night, especially Ray DiSanto Jr. for handling the minutia.

Today, I had another bowling outing with my brother. However, this time, we were joined by my sister, her husband, and their two sons, and we went to the Ryan Family Amusement Center in Raynham for duckpin bowling, something I had never tried, even though I’ve had occasion to previously.

It was interesting to me to see how my tenpin skills transferred to duckpin. My main problem was that, although I had seen enough duckpin bowling on TV in my youth to know that the game plays similar to candlepin (where you have to try to keep the ball straight rather than try to hook it), my ball still wanted to move right to left. I tried to combat that tendency by starting on the left side of the lane and trying to go over somewhere around the third arrow walking toward that spot, but I had too varying degrees of success to really score well.

This is not to say I didn’t have my moments. In the fifth frame of the first game, I had something that would be considered an unusual spare leave in tenpin and picked it up, and I had a “Brooklyn” ball (to use the familiar tenpin term) that might have been a strike except that I missed on the first ball, so that was only scored a spare. Toward the end, I had what I thought was my best moment. I had a perfect ball that hit the 1-3 pocket and left just the 10 pin, and I did what I do for my tenpin 10 pin: moved left, went over the third arrow, and (this time) kept it straight to pick off the 10 for a spare. My brother-in-law only paid for an hour and a half, so we had to cut the second game short.

The occasion was my brother-in-law’s birthday, so my brother and I gave him our gifts before leaving the place, and I told my sister that, although the outing was fun, it was my desire to show my nephews what I can do on a tenpin lane sometime in the future. I hope she listens.