Interactive standings after Week 2

Move to Strike is currently 11th (out of 16 teams), 5.5 points behind the leaders, Last Empire, who are leading Benny Buddy and Dude Man Bros by a point, Just For Fun and The Token One (our opponents tonight) in 4th by two points.

Last night’s bowling, frame-by-frame

I was hoping to build on last week’s promise last night, but the end pair turned out to not be the pair to do it on, as I had two mediocre games, one in which I fell into a spare game rut and the other in which I just made poor shots. The middle game was the more encouraging one, as I put together strikes for the first time on the young season.

Scores: 136-183-135=454
+/- to Average: -41
Current Average (6 games): 158
AVG+1 Score for Next Week: 481

The end pair played poorly for nearly everyone, but our opponents made more of it than we did and won all four.

My return from a “lost” season

My 2022-23 bowling season lasted all of one week. I started my league as usual, but then had to take the next one off for the funeral of my closest uncle. Then, as it happened, I noticed an unusual discharge on both of my legs that weekend, so I checked myself into the hospital, where my stay would end up being a few days long while they were figuring out how to treat a cellulitis infection without the usual antibiotics, which I seemed to be having an adverse reaction to.

The hospital eventually released me on oral antibiotics, but it would take some more time for the infection to clear up. While this was going on, they were diagnosing the underlying cause of the infection, and they believe a veinous insufficiency in my legs helped set the infection up. Compression stockings were prescribed as initial treatment, and that’s as far as it went, as my legs improved as soon as I was able to wear the compression stockings most of the day on a daily basis.

In the meantime, the dues I owed to the league were piling up. I did make one good-faith payment first, in the hope that I could save my season. It eventually got to the point, however, where I missed too many weeks to qualify for individual prizes, so the prudent thing was just to cut my losses, withdraw from the league, and pay the league for the weeks I’d missed. I needed to do the latter in order to keep my USBC membership in good standing, the one prerequisite that I needed for staying on the BPUSBC Board of Directors. Later, when I was feeling better, there was still hope that I could get 21 games in for my season’s average by subbing in the Thursday Night Patriots league, but with practice time being spotty at best and opportunities to sub dwindling, even my 21-game average goal for the season slipped away.

2023-24 season reset

At the time of my withdrawal from last season’s Brunswick Mixed league, I reached an understanding with the Geddes family that I’d be returning to their team in the fall (now). They picked up a male bowler, Charlie Ibrahim, to finish their season, and they’ve retained Charlie as a sub for this season. With treatment for another health concern possibly looming, this is comforting to me. The league goes back two years for starting average, so I’m back to the 178 I had the season previous to last.

Week 1 results & notes

My bowling, frame-by-frame

I had one of the biggest excuses to bowl bad out there last night, and yet I still almost made my 500. I didn’t throw many strikes, but my spare game definitely kept me in good stead, and I even threw a flush strike in the 10th first game when my team needed it. Physically, I felt good, and that was all I really cared about last night. The bowling stuff will come back in time; given last night, I may even be a little ahead of schedule.

Scores: 158-179-159=496
Average (3 games): 165
AVG+1 score for next week: 500

Bobby, having not bowled at all during the summer, was itching to go and went 30-clean, barely missing 700. The team took 2.5 of a possible 4 points.

As leagues prepare for the start of the new season, I’d like to announce that there will be a meeting of the Westgate Monday Classic league (which used to be the sponsored challenge league) on Sept. 12 (the Monday following Labor Day) at 6:30 PM. Bowlers attending the meeting and wishing to join the league should also be prepared to bowl that night.

My bowling last week, frame-by-frame

My week was looking ordinary after two games last week, but when I thought to try to open the lane up a bit, it came together and I got an over-average night out of it. I’d still like to be able to put three games together for the stretch run of the league season.

Result: 169-162-225=556
Average (81 games): 179
Average for last 9 games: 182
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 584

The team did win three of four, and are now in 8th, 14 points behind We Got This. The leaders are three points ahead of BBOB in 2nd, five ahead of Sweet Rolls in 3rd, and seven ahead of Tucking Fen Pin in 4th. Canton, the team in 5th place currently, will be the opponents tonight.

Bobby did sweep the weekly high score categories in his division last week despite “only” shooting a 657.

Starting with my own bowling, of course:

Last week’s bowling, frame-by-frame

Back to pretty much my form, but if I could have made more of those multi-pin corner spares, I might have been happier that night.

Result: 185-184-190=559
Average (72 games): 179
Average for last 9 games: 179
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 602

The team only won the second game and are now in a tie for 9th with Strike Machine, 11 points behind Sweet Rolls; their lead is one point over Canton in 2nd, two over We Got This in 3rd, and three over BBOB in 4th. We bowl against the leaders tonight.

Last week’s bowling, frame-by-frame

There was nothing too special about last week, as I could string any more than two strikes together, and it was my spare game that was barely keeping me in it. I had to shoot at some splits, however, although it did convert the 5-10 “Woolworth” that is tougher for a right-hander than the mirror 5-7 would be.

Result: 170-178-170=518
Average (69 games): 178
Average for last 9 games: 174
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 549

Move To Strike won only the first game and stand in a tie for 8th place with Strike Machine and 4 On 9 Man (tonight’s opponents), 11 points behind the leading Sweet Rolls. The leaders are two points ahead of BBOB in 2nd, three ahead of Canton in 3rd, and four ahead of We Got This in 4th.

Bobby had not only the high scratch game in his division (258), but in the league overall last week.

I mostly have felt either unmotivated or too distracted to write a personal bowling update in a few weeks, so all I really have to do is to get my best bowling in a couple of years on the website record:

My bowling on Jan. 19, frame-by-frame

After a few weeks this season of flirting with it, I finally got my first 600 series since the end of the 2018-19 season just after what would have been my father’s 80th birthday. It wasn’t a clean series, by any means, but I strung enough strikes in the third game to get me over the top for a 617. The set brought me briefly back to a 180 average, but the nights that followed only saw me sitting in the lower 500s and so have brought my average down a bit.

Average (63 games): 179
Average for last 9 games: 173
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 598

The team is off to a better start to the second half, going .500 (8-8) in points and sitting in 7th, six points behind Sweet Rolls, who have a two-point lead on BBOB in 2nd, and three points over three teams in 3rd. We bowl against one of the teams tied for 3rd, Lundin Fog, tonight.

I did have the high scratch game (215) in my division last week, per the standing sheet.