Updating my league standings after Week 3; Sunday Niters will be added later, as Moe is on vacation (though The 3 Stooges should be in first, as we haven’t lost points yet):

• Brunswick Mixed: After winning all four from 5 Spares, Lane Ducks are in a six-way tie for 2nd, a point behind Artie’s Angels. We bowl against one of the teams we’re tied with, Knock Em Down, tonight.
• Virtual league: 5 Kingpins won five points from Big Four and are now tied for 4th with Team 6, but just three points behind the leading Ballslingers, who are a point ahead of Big Guns and AmExGoGoDub.
• Sunday Niters (added 10/1): With the eight points from Ten Is Enough, The 3 Stooges are in first, four points ahead of Here For Beer (tomorrow night’s opponents) and eight ahead of Bowling Stones and Suzy’s Crew.

My Week 3 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

Some splits and washouts kept what was otherwise a good night down in score. I felt maybe my ball wasn’t turning the corner, so I switched to my IQ Fusion, but I really didn’t get my best results until I also relaxed my swing, as my third game was better because of it.

Result: 174-172-183=529
Average (9 games): 183
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 553

Composite average (18 games): 178

Harry Thibeault usually subs on Peter’s team in this league, and Harry’s first opportunity was tonight due to Peter’s absence. Harry contributed a 673 and Ed a 577 in another eight-point effort.

My Week 3 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

There were tons of spare misses, particularly corner pins, and my 600 was to be had if I’d just taken care of business. On the bright side, the Tropical Breeze that I threw one shot with in practice Sunday before putting it back in the bag was my ball tonight, and I was able to be locked in, as I had at least a double in every game.

Result: 162-177-214=553
Average (9 games): 172
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 527

Composite average (15 games): 178

The surprise of the night for my team was Jeff, who was close to 100 over his entering average in posting a 515. Team won all four.

Updating my leagues; I reserve the right to add the Sunday Niters update later:

• Brunswick Mixed: After winning a point from Team 12, Lane Ducks are tied for 8th with Striking Gentlemen and Spear Game, three points behind a tie for the lead between Right Turn Clyde, Team 12, and Artie’s Angels, with Lickety Splits a point behind the lead in 4th. 5 Spares are tomorrow night’s opponents.
• Virtual league: 5 Kingpins won just two points from Team 7 (which might get a name this week), and are now in a three-way tie for 3rd with Big Guns and Team 6, five points behind the leading AmExGoGoDub, who lead Team 7 by two points.
• Sunday Niters: After winning all eight from The Avengers, The 3 Stooges are in the lead by two over Here for the Beer, four over Ten Is Enough (Sunday night’s opponents), and six over We Found B?, Pinknockers, and Suzy’s Crew. (Note: I had to take the update from the hard copy on the bulletin board behind the lanes because Moe is on vacation.)

The league had a couple of teams drop out, and we drew The Avengers as opponents in the reordered schedule.

My Week 2 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I had another slow start, but I improved enough with every game to make tonight better than Wednesday night. A couple of light splits were what really derailed the second game, and there were a few other spare misses, but I again made every 10 pin.

Result: 148-172-204=524
Average (6 games): 187
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 566

Composite average (12 games): 176

My teammates picked me up first game, and we again won all eight. Ed was high on the pair with a 633.

My Week 2 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I fell back to Earth tonight, as I never really got anything going until the end of the third game. I missed a bunch of spares on the right side standing where I normally stand and trying to hook my plastic ball; oddly enough, I did make the one 10 pin I had.

Result: 129-146-173=448
Average (6 games): 166
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 507

Composite average (9 games): 177

Team followed me pretty much in the first two games, but we did salvage the third game. Barry almost broke 500.

I figured I get the standings for all of my leagues, real and virtual, updated in one shot:

• Brunswick Mixed: Lane Ducks won three from WTF (We’re The Five). Three teams, Team #14, Right Turn Clyde, and Artie’s Angels won all four points in the first week, and Lane Ducks are tied for 4th with four other teams. We bowl against Team #14 tomorrow night.
• Sunday Niters: The 3 Stooges won all eight from OSIMAS and are one of three teams that did so, with the other two being Pin Pals and Pinknockers. Pin Pals (Lee & Rachel, with their third, Shawn Syde, who was absent last week) are our opponents Sunday night.
• Virtual league: 5 Kingpins won five of seven from a yet-unnamed Team 6 and stand in a three-way tie for second with Team 3 and Team 7, with AmExGoGoDub the team that won all seven.

Our third turned out to be Ed Godino Jr., whom I’ve crossed against for years in the Brunswick Mixed league. We decided to keep Peter’s team name, The 3 Stooges.

My Week 1 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I was forced into more loft by the lane conditions after the tournament today, and I ran into some over/under the way I was playing the lanes. Somehow, I did manage to make that work, as I was able to make a bunch of 6-10 spares, and capitalize on some Brooklyn strikes in the third game with some better shots for a 225. It did feel good to get the 600 out of the way. 🙂

Result: 190-187-225=602
Average (3 games): 200
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 604

Composite average (6 games): 191

Our opponents had a new bowler who may have been averaging in, but I was told the recap was marked with all eight points for us. My 602 was high on the pair.

I do have my full team, and a suggestion of Lane Ducks for a team name was made, which I liked when I heard it.

My Week 1 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

My vacation from bowling paid immediate dividends, as I had my most promising first week of league in a while. I had a chance at 600 through two games, but then the strikes just weren’t coming. My spare game was a bit iffy, but I did convert my toughest chance of the night, a 4-7-10.

Result: 201-191-156=548
Average (3 games): 182
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 550

Our opponents had a couple of new bowlers who were averaging in, so we won’t know about points until the first week’s standings are posted. Barry’s night was kind of a carbon copy of mine, but with lower scores.

The Coke league voted last month to segment the league into quarters rather than thirds this year, and the lane condition for the first quarter of the season will be the 2007 Weber Cup Day 2 pattern, with the chart below (PDF):

2007 Weber Cup Day 2

The shot will be out on lanes 55-62 for practice all this weekend, including Labor Day.

As far as my status for the coming bowling season goes, I do hope to be in the two leagues I was in last year, but I’ll have to see if I can continue on Sunday night once Monday night gets going, as I’ll be paying for both leagues out of my bracket commissions.

I hope to have my full team back on Wednesday night, but Jeff told me he’s been having issues with his vision this summer, so I’ll have to see whether he can continue. As far as Sunday night goes, Lee and Rachel do have their third bowler this year, so I ended up on a team with Peter Michelson, whom I’d seen on Wednesday night in the past. Our third is still to be determined.

Tonight was the Brunswick Mixed meeting, with their no-tap following. It was on what will be at least close to the season’s house shot, and the return tonight was encouraging, as I had a 629 no-tap series. I did want to try the three balls I had on the premises, and I abandoned the Alpha Crux in practice. The biggest part of the night was switching to my Marvel Pearl in the third game and running up the first seven (including no-tap strikes), with a couple of splits in the 8th & 9th holding the score down to a 245. I want to say Laura Beaudet had a night in the 860s, so she probably won (the women were bowling 8 pin no-tap).

Finally, the fall virtual league starts for the bowlers on Monday (Labor Day), and my yet unnamed team has Bwlnggd, jbungard, steveA, and Stubs. I think I’ve been jbungard’s teammate before, but I believe this is my first time with the others.

According to the Brockton Bowling Association yearbook, published yesterday, Sean Richard was association high average for a second year in a row with his 234 in the Westgate Mixed league. Going by highest average only, the other Westgate bowlers in the top five were Tom Hedding (233, Thursday Night Patriots), Rob Young (233, Thursday Night Patriots), Greg Andrews (231, Westgate Mixed), and Jim Ferguson (229, Thursday Night Patriots). The high averages in the other centers in the association were a tie between James Burt and Dan Vincent at North Bowl (228, Monday Merchants), Tina Gannon in Kingston (213, Wednesday Night Mixed), a tie between Keith DeCambra and Steve Parmeggiani at Ryan Family Amusements in Raynham (208, NAAITL), and Buddy Wilt at Boston Bowl Hanover (204, Monday Mixers).

Good work everyone. 🙂

If I haven’t already mentioned, I’m not staying completely away from league bowling in the summer, as I may sub on occasion Wednesday night. Tonight was my first opportunity to do so, and I ended up with Ralph Marple, once my summer league teammate, and his namesake son. I was replacing Brian Shea for the night, with Gary Weiner also being absent.

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

This was not too disappointing a night, considering I hadn’t bowled a ball in anger for a few weeks. The key to my first game was the ball change to my Alpha Crux in the 10th, and the punch-out in that frame helped the team win the points. I improved with every game, throwing a one-open 194 to end it. The team also won the third game and total, so I was happy I could help the Marples out tonight. 🙂