I just thought I’d note that my Wednesday night league finally had our banquet last night (It’s traditionally the third Saturday night in May, but we couldn’t get that date for the function hall, so it was last night, instead.), and the prizes I won (other than team point money) were 2nd high scratch team game (with an 825) and high scratch game in men’s “C” (with my 235). Apparently, the high scratch game individual prize was worth more than 3rd high average (which was where I ended up in the division).

With the last of the winter leagues having ended, I now make my usual wrap-up post with the high averages, series, and games for the season in Westgate’s leagues for the men and women (with youth included with their gender, if applicable). Averages are based on a minimum of 72 games bowled in the league.

Men

Average: 234.36; Sean Richard (Westgate Mixed, 108 games)
Series: 856; Bob Hamilton (Westgate Mixed)
Game: 300; Ken Norris (Sunday Niters), Thomas Roberson (Boston Rhythm & Bowling), Tim Riordan (Coke Classic), Kevin Stiger (Brunswick Mixed), Sean Richard (3), Dan Esdale (2), Tim Major, Ed Alfieri, Bob Hamilton (Westgate Mixed), Jeff Carter (Thursday Handicap Doubles), Rob Young (4), Tom Hedding (2), Tim Woodley, Steve Travers, Danny Khuu, Alex Major, Mark Zimmerman, Devon McGregor (Thursday Night Patriots), Sean Richard, Ed Godino III, Grant Henderson III, Kris Higgins (TNBA)

Women

Average: 210.71; Tina Gannon (Coke Classic, 102 games)
Series: 750; Tina Gannon (Coke Classic)
Game: 288; Laura Beaudet (Brunswick Mixed)

Congrats to all! 🙂

Summer participation note: It is with a level of regret that I announce that I will not be bowling in leagues this summer. Other factors are motivating this decision, as well, but the main one is that I feel my mental game could use the time away from actual bowling at this point. This will be the first time I’m skipping a summer as a league bowler, but I will return to my leagues in the fall. I do hope I can get the occasional practice session in, as well. My “summer vacation” will also not affect this blog, as I will still follow the summer leagues and report on any scores in them, and I will try to be present for the summer tournaments at Westgate.

Have a nice summer, everyone! 🙂

The last week of the Coke league was last night, and Chan ended up defeating Riordan, who had been leading, 21-9 to win the last third. Congrats to Chan regular team members Felix Chan, Wing Foon Seto, Michael Wu, and Edmond Chan.

For overall, Lights Out (regular team members Shawn Hagan, Hakim Emmanuel, Devon McGregor, and Dave Chalifoux) entered the last week two points ahead of Rick O’Shea (regular team members Brian Egan, Nathan Crouse, Brian Gaskill, and Steve Dale Jr.), and Rick O’Shea won their match 22-8 while Lights Out only won 20 points to create the tie for first overall. As overall was only added recently as an incentive to the teams to compete all season, there were no provisions for breaking a tie for first in overall points, so I think the teams are going to split the first and second place money. Congrats to both.

The roll-off between first half winners Lost Empire 2 and second half winners Creeden’s Mustangs is about to get underway. Creeden’s Mustangs will be getting 32 pins a game from Lost Empire 2, and everyone should be here, though one member of Lost Empire 2 seems to be running late. Updates, after each game, as we go along.

Game 1: Lost Empire 2 won the first game 1000-957 (with handicap), with Sammy Wong setting the pace for Lost Empire 2 with a 247 scratch game. Chad Brown had the high first game for Creeden’s Mustangs with a 218.

Game 2: The teams tied the second game with 1014 each. Paul Dang had a chance to win the game for Lost Empire 2 with the second strike in the 10th, but rang a 10 pin on the shot and had to settle for a 233. David Chin added a 205 game and Benny Kwong a 202, while Kevin Stiger had a 227 and Ed Godino III a 211 for Creeden’s Mustangs.

Game 3: Lost Empire 2 won the third game 933-890 and the series 2947-2861. Sammy Wong posted a 224 last game and a 664 series, while Paul Dang shot an even 600 series. Kevin Stiger was high on his team in the third game with a 189 and finished with a 598.

Congratulations to Lost Empire 2, and I mentioned every member of the team in the commentary except for Philip Yuen.

My Week 35 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

The ball that would have given me my best look, the Nano, was found during warm-up to be cracked, so the strongest ball I had left was my Fusion, and it was too weak to get through the puddle of oil in the track on the left lane. I only found it on that lane after moving well outside, but, in the last game, I missed too many single pins to have a chance. I ended up giving the division’s average lead back to Phil Yuen.

Result: 133-155-122=410
Final average (105 games): 168
Average for last 9 games: 151

Final composite average (189 games): 166

Three of my teammates were well over average in the first game, which we won comfortably and had to hold on for total and the 2-2 split.

Creeden’s Mustangs ended up winning all four points and have won the second half, so the roll-off next week will be between them and the first half winners, Lost Empire 2.

After winning no points from SR Spares, Seven Deadly Pins are in 9th place and will bowl against Spare Change Wednesday night in the last position round of the second half. First place will be between 4 BAGA + 1 and Creeden’s Mustangs, with the former team leading by a point and a half.

My Week 34 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I’m trying to finish strong because I’m locked in a battle with Phil Yuen of Lost Empire 2 for high average in the men’s “C” division, and I did just enough tonight, as I knew what he threw and have been able to calculate that I hold the average lead in the division now by a couple tenths of a pin.

Result: 136-201-165=502
Average (102 games): 169
Average for last 9 games: 162
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 587

Composite average (186 games): 167

I was the only one on the pair over 500 tonight, counting the pre-bowl on the opposing team, but the handicap difference was too much for us to overcome, with our opponents also beating us scratch in the first game.

Mad Blogger & Co. lost all seven to Team 2 in the last week, and slid to 5th place, although still over the 50% points-won mark. Pay the Lineage won five points from Little Lebowski to take the championship, so congrats to members 6_ball_man, AmpleSound, wklstoy, and wronghander (as you know, the latter is really Bill Sheehey, my friend on the North Shore). Fin09, who was on my team for this league, did end up with high average. 🙂

Addendum: The first place match was very close, with total, decided by less than one game’s worth of handicap for the winning team, being the difference.

Payout for my Sunday league was tonight, and I felt I needed to note that Lee won men’s high average in the league, which not only has a prize attached to it, but also qualifies him for our Bowler of the Year tournament in the fall, as league high average is one of the ways to qualify for it (although, with his 211 average, he’d likely be invited through the 200+ average qualifier). Rachel, for her part, was most improved for the women, improving on her 12-game average (as she was a new bowler this year) by better than 7 pins.

Lee, Rachel, and I have made tentative plans to return to the league in the fall, and I wish them a great summer. 🙂

After winning one point from Steak and Lettuce, Seven Deadly Pins are in 9th place, 10 points behind Steak and Lettuce, who are a half-point ahead of 4 BAGA + 1 and a point ahead of Creeden’s Mustangs. We bowl against SR Spares next week; Steak and Lettuce will bowl against 4 BAGA + 1 and Creeden’s Mustangs against Knock Em Down.

My Week 33 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I had a number of shots early that wanted to leak to the right off of my hand, and I only managed to correct it near the end of the last game. It was a weird night for spares, too, as I made all of my 10s, but guttered a 6 pin.

Result: 139-154-159=452
Average (99 games): 167
Average for last 9 games: 166
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 579

Composite average (183 games): 167

While our opponents won two games easily, after Barry’s 202 in the second game, my strike in the 10th frame forced the other anchor to work for the win, and when he left a 4-9 on the second ball in the 10th, we won the point.

I forgot to check the bracket results, but Shawn did give me $4 for two second place finishes last week.

Mad Blogger & Co. won all seven from House Hacks, and the situation is that we are four points behind Little Lebowski in 3rd and need to sweep of Team 2 and get a 4-3 break of the points in the first place match in favor of the second place team, Pay the Lineage, who are two points behind the lead, to tie for first, in which event I would declare co-champions.

vdubtx’s 300 game last week helped give his team, Little Lebowski, the lead.

EDIT: I worked out a couple of other scenarios which put us in first place, both of which still require a sweep of Team 2. The more likely one is that Pay the Lineage wins five points (two games and total), which would tie us with Pay the Lineage for first instead of Little Lebowski. The less likely one is that Pay the Lineage wins 4.5 points (winning two games, losing the third by enough to tie for total), which would give us first outright.

Readers will know I try to do a “live” blog for my leagues’ roll-offs, and this is the first one I’ve done for the Sunday Niters league.

Macs will be bowling with David Rosenberg absent, while all are present for Where Is B?. Updates as we go along:

Game 1: Where Is B? won the first game 709-680 (with handicap), with Ken Norris leading Where is B? with a 237. Stan Marcus was high for Macs in the game with a 185.

Game 2: Macs won the second game 652-641 and trail Where Is B? by 18 pins after two games. Ken Norris again was high on his team with a 240 game, with Stan Marcus posting a 168 for Macs.

Game 3: Where Is B? won the third game 672-617 and the series 2022-1949. Ken Norris closed with a 234 to post a 704 series, while Stan Marcus was high on his team with a 147 for an even 500.

Congrats to Where Is B?, Ken Norris with his teammates Dave Saunders and Craig McPherson. 🙂

After winning three points from Knock em Down, Seven Deadly Pins are tied in points for 7th with Has Beens and Right Turn Clyde, with the tie being eight points behind Creeden’s Mustangs and Steak and Lettuce, who are tied for the lead a half-point behind 4 BAGA + 1, and are four points ahead of Sweet Rolls. Steak and Lettuce will be the opponents Wednesday night.

My Week 32 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I thought to try my Nano after two frames in the second game, and I really liked the look it gave me in the carrydown. It saved my night pretty much, though it’s probably better with better spare shooting, particularly the consecutive single pin misses to end the second game. I might start with my Nano in practice next week to see what kind of look it gives me on the fresh.

Result: 167-171-170=508
Average (96 games): 169
Average for last 9 games: 167
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 521

Composite average (180 games): 167

Donald had a couple of his better games to help the cause, with the team winning the first two games and total.

I did better in brackets than I thought, making one final, which I lost to Jo-Ann Coles (Shawn’s wife and our league’s treasurer) to get $2 back.

Pin Pals officially ended in a tie for 3rd in the second half with Suzy’s Crew and Bowling Stones, so what usually happens, of course, is that the prize money involved in the tie is combined and split evenly, so we’d get a share of 3rd, 4th, and 5th place. Considering that we entered the last week tied for 5th, I’ll take it. 🙂

Mad Blogger & Co. won just the first game from Fantastic Four (and the game we only shot 730 scratch in…go figure!), and now are in 4th place, six points behind the leading Pay the Lineage, who lead Little Lebowski by two points and Team 2 by four points with two weeks left. The league averaged 208+ for the week without an individual honor score, as three teams had games over 900 and two shooting 2,600+ for the series.

After winning three points from Lickety Splits, Seven Deadly Pins are now in a tie in points for 8th place with Has Beens, 10 points behind Creeden’s Mustangs, who lead 4 BAGA + 1 by 2.5 points and Steak and Lettuce by three points. Wednesday night’s opponents will be Knock em Down.

My Week 30 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I ended my first Sunday Niters season over average, but the way I got there was rather bizarre, and the BowlSK sheet is more liberally annotated than most. Still, it did mean I finished the season with five straight over-average nights, so that’s the positive I take out of tonight.

Result: 189-168-153=510
Final average (84 games): 164
Average for last 9 games: 170

Composite average (177 games): 167

Lee was again absent, but this time for his usual (for this time of year) golf vacation. Rachel had one of her better nights, and, indeed, beat me scratch in the third game. Team won all eight, which I believe was enough to move us up to 4th to end the second half.

Where Is B? ended up winning the second half, and the roll-off with the first half-winning Macs is next Sunday. I’ve given “live blog” treatment to my other league’s roll-off in the past, and would probably give this roll-off the same.