Making progress

My Week 9 bowling (BowlSK)

I’m continuing to have problems making my spares on the left side, but I had a better read on the lanes and made better first ball shots overall tonight (thanks to my break point recognition work the other day), so the night didn’t get too far out of hand. I even managed to beat my AVG+1 score, bringing my average back up to 180. It’s only too bad I had my good game in a game my team lost, as we took the last two games but failed to win total, splitting the 4 points on the night.

Result: 207-165-178=550
Average (27 games): 180 Last 9 games average: 184
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 561

Brunswick Mixed League standings update

My league’s standings seem to update on Fridays, and will always be found at the link I posted in the sidebar, so readers are directed to check there for the update on Fridays.

As for this week, my team dropped into a tie for last place with “The Handicaps” and “Backyard Bowlers.” Keep in mind that it is a split season, and the first half will end with a position round the week before Christmas.

Another recent 300: I had forgotten to post earlier that Danny Khuu shot another 300 in the youth league earlier this month, so congratulations to him.

Hanging in there

My Week 8 bowling (BowlSK)

About the only thing I could feel good about tonight was my spare game, as I made most of the spares I could make, and I needed those spares to keep the night from getting out of hand. The second game was the only game I could get strikes in, it seemed, so my spares helped me stay over 500 tonight. The team bowled against a team with two of the top 3 average bowlers in the league, and they had good nights, so the team got creamed, failing to win a point.

Result: 155-191-167=513
Average (24 games): 179 Last 9 games average: 177
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 541

Perfect game rolled in Westgate Mixed League: I’ve never had a 300 shot in the same building and at the same time I was bowling, but it happened tonight, as Harry Thibeault, Jr. shot the first perfect game of the season in the Westgate Mixed League in the second game. As he is a customer of the pro shop, I spotted him at the end of the night going in to have a Polaroid picture taken for the “Wall of Fame,” and I made like I was going to join him for the picture as a playful congratulatory gesture before leaving him alone for the photo. Congrats Harry! 😀

On the rebound

My Week 7 bowling (BowlSK)

The basic line I found working with Brian Frank worked for me tonight, though I, of course, had to make adjustments (lane 39 was hooking more than lane 40, so I made a 2-and-1 move in the beginning of the 2nd game) as the night went on. A couple of splits killed me in the second game, but I’ll blame more my poor shots in the 10th frame of the last game for not getting my first 600 series in this league tonight. As it was, it was both my high game (the 231 last game) and series to date in this league, so this should be something I can build on. The bonus is that I gained back the pins I lost from my average last week, so hopefully, this is the start of an upward trend.

As for the team, Ted had just gotten out of the hospital after passing out on Monday, so he was not up to bowling. We could only take one point tonight (the game I shot my 231 in), and I expect us to be back in the cellar, as we started the night next to last.

Result: 190-172-231=593
Average (21 games): 181 Last 9 games average: 178
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 562

A night to forget

My Week 6 bowling (BowlSK)

My last game was what really killed me tonight, as I couldn’t really find anything I liked, but a couple of simple spare misses hurt, too. First game was a 190, but could’ve easily been clean except for a couple more spare misses. Here’s hoping I can regroup next week.

Result: 190-156-144=490
Average (18 games): 178 Last 9 games average: 172
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 546

Feeling rushed

Before bowling tonight, I took time with Jon in the pro shop to have my PAP (Positive Axis Point, which is the point of the axis of the first revolution after the ball hits the lane) measured, which required throwing my resurfaced High-Voltage in the middle oil for a couple of frames without wiping the ball. I jotted down what Jon put down for the PAP, then had the drilling measured. I’ll make a separate post when I know what all of the numbers mean better, but the a traditional way of noting a drilling is distance from the pin (the white dot on the ball) to the PAP by distance from the center of gravity (found by a small etched logo in the ball) to the PAP. This, for me, is a drilling of 2 1/2″ x 3 1/4″, and the pin is to the right of my ring finger hole, which I’m told makes the drilling strong for just about anyone, and is usually given to those whose PAP is not known.

My Week 5 bowling (BowlSK)

As I note in the series, the third game had a rushed feeling to it, because we were informed by Shawn that they may have had to close the place due to a water main problem in the mall area which resulted in shutting off the water in the area, forcing the closing of the mall. However, the water was back on by the end of the night. Team took first two games plus total for 3 points out of 4 tonight, and it was a rare time that we were giving pins to our opponents.

Result: 189-170-166=525
Average (15 games): 181 Last 9 games average: 175
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 553

Note: I usually get the AVG+1 from BowlingTracker.com, but that site was having database problems tonight, so I did a quick calculation in my spreadsheet log for next week’s score.

Still inconsistent

My Week 4 bowling (BowlSK)

I’ve yet to put together a really consistent series in this league, but I did have my moments tonight, and even the low 162 was punctuated by a last frame where my team needed a big finish from me to take the point, and I got a double with a spare working in the 10th frame to put my team over the top (for real this time…my scores started really counting for my team tonight). As a highlight from the other team members, Helen was in the 180s in her first game, and that helped spark the night, as we took 3 of the 4 points (first and second games, plus total) from Shawn Coles’ team (Shawn Coles is the league secretary).

Result: 179-162-195=536
Average (12 games): 183 Last 9 games average: 179
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 562

A downer

Before bowling, I checked in with Jon at the pro shop and brought up the suggestions my online friends had about the pro shop’s new web site, foremost of them the fact that since most of the information is in images, search engines (including Google) can’t index the site (and can’t find it, therefore). I thought the online friend would know a trick about search engine optimization for those kind of pages, and I told Jon I’d email him if he did, but I found what I was looking for online after I came home, so I emailed Jon with that when I did.

My Week 3 bowling (BowlSK)

It was a down night. After not hooking much last week, the lanes had returned to pretty much what I was seeing during the summer, and it took me a long while to figure that out (I thought I had just made good shots in the first game), and it took me until the 6th frame of the last game to finally get the line down. I also learned after the second game that my team was taking a 140 score for me during the first three weeks while I established my average (I thought just my handicap would be based on the 140 score), so I was kind of dismayed that I had little or no say in my team’s success (or lack thereof) in the first three weeks. My scores will count for the team next week, so, hopefully, I can recognize that and be energized then.

Result: 182-144-188=514
Average (9 games): 184 Last 9 games average: 184
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 558

I had to wait for Brian to get done in the pro shop before he could give me a ride home tonight, as I learned he had developed something like tendinitis in his right (bowling) wrist and was doing stuff to make the transition to left-handed bowling. Brian told me he does everything else lefty, so I agreed with Tony, Brian’s team captain in the Westgate Mixed League, that he’d probably do better bowling left-handed than right-handed. Good luck in the transition, Brian. 😀

Saving the best for last

My league night tonight started with a surprise: Carl, one of my new teammates, was driving the bus I took to get to the lanes. When he told me who he was (I wasn’t expecting him, so I didn’t recognize him), I became worried that he wouldn’t show up for tonight’s session on time. Carl said he’d be there, however, though he did tell me during bowling that he was going back to the morning shift so he wouldn’t have to rush to get to the lanes on Wednesday nights.

The main business before bowling tonight was finding the league’s treasurer and asking how many weeks’ league dues I was responsible for. Getting the answer from her, I was then able to write the league a check for the proper amount, taking into account that I paid the first two weeks last week.

Stopping in the pro shop, I was introduced to the new person working there, Brian Frank. I also learned something I’m going to devote my next post to, which was something I’ve been waiting for.

My bowling for Week #2

I was a bit lost in the first two games when I found I actually had to slow down my ball speed, but I managed to finish every game strong, and, even though I only had a 160 in the second game, I’m a bit proud of my finish to that game, as my team needed the big finish to take the point for that game (this league only gives a single point per game and for total). After being swept last week, my team (which got renamed to simply Team 10) took all 4 points this week.

Result: 177-160-225=562
Average (6 games): 191

In the first game, on one of the adjacent pairs, Eric Nordstrom threatened a 300 game in the first game in my league tonight, but left the 2-10 split in the 10th frame. Great game anyway, Eric! 😀

Change of plans

I arrived for the first Wednesday night of the fall/winter season hoping to land on a team in the Westgate Mixed League, and had a check all written out in the expectation of doing so. However, when I was directed to the roster sheet, I could not find my name on any of the teams, and all of the teams were full, save for one team that had a vacancy. The vacancy was filled fairly quickly, leaving me, for the moment, a proverbial “man without a country.”

There is one other five-man mixed league running at Westgate Lanes on Wednesday nights, so during the time my status was still unresolved, I was in touch with the secretary of the Brunswick Mixed League, and I eventually landed on a team in that league, which includes a husband and wife team, Helen and Ted Sprissler, along with Pat Padula and Carl Benson. I got a glimpse of the league by-laws at the meeting just before bowling: handicap is 80% of 1000 (team) and runs for (I believe) 33 weeks, ending at the end of April (with a roll-off in the beginning of May, if needed). Dues for the league are only $15/week (I paid $30 in cash for the first 2 weeks), and the last three weeks of bowling are free, which is a relief for my finances. There will be a banquet where the prizes and awards will be given out in May.

Before bowling started, we elected Helen as our team captain, and named ourselves “The Pin Pals.” I learned that my teammates are fairly low-average bowlers, so it looks like I may be carrying this team through the season. We should have handicap in our favor much of the season, which should make for some interesting matches. I also looked at last year’s standings for the league and learned that high average was only something like 208, so high average in the league is a goal that might be reachable.

As part of the “Administrivia” for this post, I would like to announce that I have joined BowlSK, the scorekeeping and stat tracking site, and will refer to that site for my bowling on each night. There will be a link in the “Author’s Links” section of the sidebar linking my profile, and each night’s session will be linked in the posts as below:

My week 1 bowling

The linked page shows graphically how I did, including notes on such things as stance (where I start on the approach) and target (which board I’m spotting at the arrows). The sheets also give room for notes, and I will be taking advantage of that feature.

One thing about last night’s series that I didn’t include in the notes is that my spare game was scattershot in the first game as I was getting settled in. I still saved a 182 in that game, however. No one was on my line, so I didn’t have to move much during the series, only moving outside in the third game when I thought it would help my carry, and back inside when I sensed the lanes finally broke down. We probably won’t know how my team did for points until after the third week. This league’s standings won’t be online, so I’ll endeavor to keep everyone posted on my team’s progress by posting our position going into the night before posting about each night’s bowling.

Result: 182-201-203=586
Average (3 games): 195

We’ll get out around the same time the other league does, so I’ll likely still be riding home with Brian Shea on most nights. On the ride home, we talked about our respective nights, and he said his team took 6 points.

Sean Richard shoots 299 on Westgate Mixed League opening night: During the night, I had heard that my buddy Sean shot a 299 in the second game in the Westgate Mixed League last night. I didn’t learn what pin he left in the 12th frame, but good shooting still, Sean. 😀

More administrivia: With the new league, there will be a new BowlingTracker.com stat sheet, so I’ll probably get around to editing the stat sheet link in the sidebar sometime today.

Change of seasons

There were a couple of mild, but nice surprises, in payouts: each bowler received an extra $6, but the bigger surprise (which I should’ve actually known would happen) was that my team, because of the 4th place tie with Team Amelia, split the 4th and 5th place money with Team Amelia (the pinfall tiebreaker only applies to determining positions for the position round). Therefore, the bowlers on my team ended up with $87.50 each (4th place was $90/bowler, while 5th place paid $85/bowler), other than what one of my old leagues called “point money.” The league was also taking up a collection for the Brockton association’s scholarship fund, and I felt I could spare $1.50 for it. The league also had a no-tap (9 pins on first ball counts as a strike) tournament for their bowlers, but, as I wanted to be present at the Westgate Mixed League meeting, I had to sit the tournament out.

There were a couple of discussions of interest at the meeting. First, the question of what constitutes “ready to bowl” came up, and the part of the by-laws dealing with that was clarified to saying basically that a bowler must be ready to bowl when it’s his/her turn, but that a delay for something like bathroom runs could be granted by agreement of the captains. Second, the issue of substitutes came up, and some of the people at the meeting felt the substitutes were being abused (by being constantly switched in and out of team lineups). A suggestion was made to limit each team to one substitute, while I suggested that floating substitutes, which could be used by any team that needs them, could be used. The league eventually voted not to allow substitutes at all, however. A last minor detail is that the snow committee (league officers) would decide whether to postpone bowling because of inclement weather by a half-hour earlier (now by 4:00 PM) than they used to.

The handicap basis is basically the same as for the summer league, with the basis being team handicap of 90% of 1000 (add another 200 for the 5th bowler) with full negative handicaps (for teams averaging greater than the 1000 scratch score). Because Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on a Wednesday this year, the league schedule is a 34 week split season (rather than the normal 36 weeks), with position rounds coming in weeks 8, 17, 26, and 34. The winners of each half will have a 3 game roll-off for the league championship following the last week, and there will also be a roll-off if two teams are tied for first place at the end of each half.

The matter of my team placement is still not entirely clear, but it is clearer than it was before the meeting. There are three of us currently waiting for a team, the other two being Debbie Candora (from the “Shake ‘N Bake” summer team), and Tyler Prescott (a displaced sub in the league). I was told by Donna that if two other bowlers that she’s expecting show up next week for the start of bowling, then that would constitute the full team.

I ended the night at the lanes watching Brian bowl with his female winter league teammate, who I only know as Candy at this time. Noticing her dropping the ball, I made the suggestion of changing her thumb pitch (like what I did), but they really didn’t have the time to have her fit checked last night, so Candy and Brian decided that they would have it done next week.

Final 2008 Wednesday Summer Mixed League standings

Final league standings

It’s official…”Mad Blogger,” my team, finished the league in 5th place. We actually tied “Team Amelia” for 4th in points, but pinfall with handicap was the tiebreaker, and “Team Amelia” won that by 256 pins. The “Lounge Lizards,” my cousins’ team, finished 13th, but they were in the league’s basement for a while, so they put in a charge at the end.

To my league mates: good bowling everyone, and I’ll see everyone on payout night Wednesday. 😀

The last night

Tonight was the position round night for the Wednesday Summer Mixed League, and I told my teammates that, since my birthday will be on Friday, doing well tonight would be an early birthday gift for me, and they all said they hoped they could accommodate my wish. I had all strikes in the warm-up session before scoring started, so I was really hopeful I could do my part.

Things started well, with a double in the 2nd and 3rd frames after leaving a 6-10, and my first mistake came in the 5th frame, where I chopped the 3 off of the 3-6-10. There was a miss of a 10 pin in the 7th frame, but I got back on with a double in the 9th and first ball in the 10th before leaving a 4 pin, taking the spare for a 191. Ron Haynes, the lead bowler for “Shake ‘N Bake”, had a nice game for his team, and they needed it, as the first game wound up being close, taken by “Shake ‘N Bake.”

My only major mistake in the second game was missing another 10 pin in the 8th frame, but an earlier double (in the 5th and 6th frames) countered that miss, so I was able to save a 193 out of that game. Brian really was clicking in this game, going in the 230s, and we won the second game by something like 30 pins, so we had a slight edge for total going into the last game.

I had my worst shot of the night to start the third game, hitting the nose to leave a 4-6-7-9 split, and I decided not to try to be a hero and just got my count for that. The highlight for me of the night came as a result of another split in the 5th frame, this time the 3-6-7-10, which I converted, giving myself a lift, as I was able to piece together a turkey from that point before leaving a 6 pin in the 9th. I had a strike in the 10th, but left another split, the 4-6-7, in the 11th frame. I went for count again, but pulled the shot, which ended up in the left channel, giving me a 204 last game of the season…not a bad way to end after the way I started out the league.

“Shake ‘N Bake” took the third game, but it was again a close one, and they did not win by enough to take total. Getting total would prove to be important, as Team 12, the 7th place team going into tonight, won 6 points from “Fun and Games” and, being 3 points behind us going into the night, fell a point shy of tying us for 5th place, which would’ve meant 5th place for them if they had 107 more pins than us on the night. If Team Amelia, the 4th place team going in, got swept, we actually still catch them for 4th place, but I did not think to ask them how they did…I guess we may see on Friday, when the final standings should be posted online.

Result: 191-193-204=588
Final average (39 games): 197 Last 9 average: 204

All-in-all, I have to be very pleased with the summer overall. Personally, I exceeded all of my expectations, finishing with the highest league average I’ve ever posted (albeit not as “official” as a winter league average would be). I was only under my average on 4 of the 13 nights. As I’ve noted earlier, my best-ever series going into this league was a 634, and I beat that score four times this summer, including a new best-ever 694 series a couple of weeks ago, and I also came within 3 pins of matching my best-ever game on that night. I really found a line I could be comfortable with, and stuck with that most of the time. As a team, we finished in the top third of the league, so I had to be pleased with that, as well. At this point, I’d like to extend thanks to Brian, Joy, and Ralph for a great summer league season. I know I won’t be bowling with Joy again (unless I move where she is), but I hope to bowl with Brian and Ralph again down the road (maybe next summer? 😀 ).

How do I build on that? The shot in the Westgate Mixed League is also the house shot, so I know I can keep playing the same line, but my spare game will have to improve if I want to continue the momentum. I am setting a modest (now) goal for that league of averaging 200 or better, meaning I will need to improve on my summer league average by 3 pins, but I believe it’s an easily reachable goal if I continue to improve steadily.

Payout night for the league is next week, and it looks like we’ll take home some extra cash, as our early 958 game with handicap as a team looked likely to stand up as high on the season. As a final note about the league, Sean Richard nearly had a 300 game in his last game of the season, leaving a solid 8 in the 1st frame (which he made), but getting the last 11 in a row for a 290. Good bowling Sean! 😀

Photo to be added to “scrapbook”: Before bowling tonight, I grabbed a candid of Ray helping a customer in the pro shop, so I will be uploading that to the “scrapbook” page after posting this. 😀

Standings update for Aug. 15

The reader reading this before August 22 is hereby directed to the standings sheet as linked in the sidebar.

My team stayed in 5th place after this week, and will face “Shake ‘N Bake”, the team we got out of our collective funk against a couple of weeks ago, on lanes 47 and 48 next week. With a current total of 56 points, and with the second (Team 5) and third (SHIHOOTS!) place teams having 60 points apiece, we could conceivably move up with a sweep of our match. If the second and third place teams each split their matches, we would tie them for points, but the pinfall (with handicap) difference is currently about 400 pins to Team 5, and we hold the pinfall tiebreaker (by less than 100 pins) over SHIHOOTS!, so assuming the pinfall difference stays the same, we have a better chance of moving into third place.

As a side note, there is no way Team 5 can catch Team 18 (which has 70 points), so I’d like to extend congratulations to Team 18 (Steven and Bill Hudson, Brian Misasi, and Dan Monahan) on clinching the Wednesday Summer Mixed League title. Good bowling, guys! 😀

The penultimate night

Not having practiced on Monday and having had the oil bled out of my ball the day before, I wanted to get a couple of games of warm-ups in before league bowling tonight, so I joined Ralph on his pair. The second game of my warm-up session actually turned out to be the high point of the night, as I had a clean game in the 230s, but, as you’ll see, I wished I had another game like that in me tonight.

The first game saw me getting lined up on lane 45, but not on 46, as I alternated strikes with opens on 46, including a 5-7 split in the 4th frame that I narrowly missed converting. After a spare and a couple of single-pin misses, I finally found the groove, standing outside where I normally do on the approach, and I had 5 in a row to finish for a 183. The strike string proved to be critical, as we closed about a 40 pin late deficit in the final frames, with Ralph going on a similar strike spree for a game in the 230s, and he had to go strike for strike with Team 9’s anchor, who wound up missing in his 12th frame, giving us a 9 pin first game win.

I was clean with a double in the 5th and 6th, making 5 single-pin spares until the 9th frame, when I threw an attempt at the 6 pin in the gutter. A strike in the 10th gave me hope for a game over 200, but I missed a 7 pin on the fill for a 194. Brian led the way in this game with a 234, and we won the second game by a more comfortable margin.

I made a 7 pin to begin the third game, then doubled before missing a 10 pin, again in the channel. My strike shots in the next 2 frames were through the nose, leaving the “Big 4” (4-6-7-10) and the 4-6. My shot in the 7th frame was also high, but I left a more manageable 3-6-10, which I made. A double in the 8th and 9th got me back on track, but I left a ringing 10 in the 10th frame. I made that, then left the 6-10 in the fill for a 181. There was no big charge for us late in the game, but it was still close, as Team 9’s anchor could’ve struck out to make things interesting for total. He didn’t quite do it, but his team still took the third game.

Bowling the tournament earlier in the week might have caught up to me, as my left foot was kind of bothering me near the end, but the thing I’ll take out of this night was that, even though I missed a couple of 10s on the night, I made 4 other 10s, so I’m making progress on making that corner pin more consistently.

Result: 183-194-181=558
Average (36 games): 197 Last 9 average: 210
Next week’s AVG+1: 622

I had hoped to be able to tell everyone who our opponent in next week’s position round will be tonight, but Donna was still sorting that out when Brian and I had to leave, so the usual Friday standings update will have that information.

Donna also said it looks like the teams that have been submitted for the Wednesday night Westgate Mixed League look full, but she would know more about any new sign-ups before the league meeting in two weeks.

Standings update for Aug. 8

The sweep of the “Killer Bees” this week helped my team jump up to 5th place in the league standings. However, we are still 14 points behind Team 18 for the lead with only 2 weeks left. We bowl against another team behind us, Team 9, next week, then it will be the position round, which, if it were to be next week, would put us up against Team 12, which took 6 points from us earlier in the season.

BowlSpace exclusive: “Best series ever!”

As I would like to do whenever I have a notable event, my full post on my new best-ever series has gone up on my BowlSpace blog rather than here. I will sum up that the new best-ever series is a 694, narrowly missing my first 700 series.

I will repeat the additional note I made in the post here, however: Dan Monahan nearly had the first 300 game of the league tonight, getting the first 11 before leaving the 6-10 (as a lefty) for a 298. Great game Dan! 😀

EDIT: The “About” page has also been edited to reflect the new high series, and I also took the time to make additional edits to make the first paragraph more concise.

Standings update for Aug. 1

The six point night this week allowed my team to move up one position to 8th. Team 18 still leads the league by a healthy 6 point margin over Team 5 with three weeks left. The remaining schedule until the Week 13 position round has my team facing two teams currently behind us in the standings: the Killer Bees and Team 9. If the standings remain more or less the same, Team 18 will not face Team 5 until the position round.

Another great night

My night started strangely enough with a shot that had my thumb stick in the ball and left the 1-2-7, however, I did make the spare. Following that with a 6-10 make and a strike, I missed the 10. I then sandwiched a strike between a couple of single pin spares before chopping the 2 off of the 1-2-8. I got myself straightened out to end the game by taking it off the sheet (4 in a row) to save a 191. Brian and Ralph had decent games, but Joy really struggled, leaving 5 splits in the game and we lost the first game by just a bit more than the handicap difference (about 60 pins).

I doubled to start the second game before my last major mistake of the night, leaving the 4-6-7 split on a slightly pulled shot and whiffing on it. I recovered with another double, but was coming in light, which meant to me that my line was experiencing carry down, requiring a move outside. I didn’t quite make the adjustment all the way, as I left the 2-4-5-8 “bucket” (which I made), then a single 2 pin (also made). I struck on the next shot, but then got a couple of bad breaks with a ringing 10 and a 7 (both made), striking on the fill for a 195. Ralph had a game in the 230s, Brian had a 200, and Joy recovered with a decent game, with our opponents struggling, resulting in us winning the second game by more than 100 pins, meaning that we were about 40 pins ahead for total starting the third game.

I started with my ball creeping high again, leaving first a 4, then a 6 (both made) before getting a strike. Getting a fast 8 (4-7) in the 4th frame by going high again meant to me that the lanes were breaking down, as I knew I threw decent shots. Therefore, I determined to make a move back inside. The move paid off in spades, as I very nearly took it off the sheet with 7 in a row before leaving a 10 on my final shot of the night for a 258, my best game in competition since coming back. The huge third game also meant two things: 1) that I broke 600 for the night, and actually fell 9 pins short of matching my personal best sanctioned series from last week with a 644; and 2) with Ralph also shooting in the 200s, Brian going over his average again, and Joy having her best game of the night, that we took third game as well for 6 points on the night. As a note, 634 was my high sanctioned series going into this league…I have beaten that score three times (not counting my near 700 in practice) just this summer. 😀

Result: 191-195-258=644
Average (30 games): 194 Last 9 average: 206
Next week’s AVG+1: 587

With the green light for winter league given by my brother, I informed Donna Bickel that I would be joining the Westgate Mixed League on Wednesday nights in the fall. I had hoped to hook up with Brian and Ralph again on Tony Attardo’s team, but their team of five was full save for the required female, so I told Donna that she could feel free to put me on any team that needs me.

A downer

I had had an achy-all-over feeling most of the weekend, so I was actually thinking about taking today off from practice to rest, but I needed to go into the local SuperCuts (which is nearby Westgate Lanes) for a haircut, so I decided not to go against my Monday practice routine. I had a practice that I felt was a cut below normal (probably because I was still not feeling 100% right), but it did have its moments. I was pulling a lot of shots in mechanics work, but my last shot in that game was dead on, and probably the best of the day. My corner pin work was off, as well, but I did have a shot where I picked the 10 right out of the rack and no other pins, so I was pleased with that. In the last game, bowled for score, I did shoot my league average (and somewhat saving the practice in my mind), but if not for a mental error attempting a 4-7 spare, it would’ve been clean and in the 200s.

Getting the green light: My brother and I had a brief discussion about my finances over the weekend, and, with my health services once again stable (with my “insurance” still picking it up, at least for now), my brother saw no problem with me bowling winter league this season. Therefore, I will inform Donna Bickel, the secretary of the Wednesday night Westgate Mixed League in addition to the Wednesday Summer Mixed League, that I intend to bowl Westgate Mixed when the new season begins. 😀

Standings update for July 25

According to the updated league standings, my team is still in 9th place, but taking 6 points from us helped lift the Lounge Lizards from the league’s basement. If we’re going to make a run at the league championship, it will have to start next week, as we’re 14 points off the pace and there are only 4 weeks left.

Follow-up to “A good recovery”

Just a few things I forgot to mention in the “A good recovery” post…

Before bowling, Ralph told me he had won a golf tournament that day. I told him I hoped he didn’t leave his energy on the golf course, and I wish he didn’t, now.
Also before bowling, Joy mentioned that she had bought a house in South Carolina. She will still spend her winters in Florida, but will make South Carolina her summer home, as her business partner lives there. Therefore, there’s now no chance of my team returning intact next summer.
Lastly, I had forgotten to mention that my team had a chance to win the third game if Ralph could string together strikes in the 10th frame, but left a weak 10 (and he’s been leaving a lot of those this summer) with the first ball, giving our opponents the 8 point sweep.

Standings update for July 18

As I thought, our poor performance the other night pushed my team back to the middle of the pack, as we are now in 9th place out of 18 teams. In fact, we actually helped our opponents, Team 18, grab the league lead. Looking ahead, one of the teams ahead of us, “Shake ‘N’ Bake,” will be our opponents in two weeks.

A good recovery

To my mind, the less said about the first game, the better, but I’ll say it anyway…I had a horrible spare shooting game. There was one split (the 4-6-10), but, in order after that, I slid by the 2 on the 2-4-5, chopped the 3 off of the 3-6-10, chopped the 2 off of the 1-2-8, and missed a single 10 pin. I did manage to record a double in the 9th and 10th, but could only fill the strike in the 10th with a single-pin spare for a 144. The anchor bowler for the other team had a chance at a 300, but had an open in the 10th frame, and Ralph was also in the 140s, so we got croaked the first game.

The second game saw me open by missing a single 7 pin, but I was clean after that, recording a double in the 7th and 8th frames before leaving the 5-6 split. I did strike out in the 10th for a 194, but my team again lost the game; as a team, we did fairly well, but couldn’t overcome the handicap difference.

The last game saw me open only once (a 4-6-7 split in the 4th), but I had a double in the 2nd and 3rd frames, and finished with the last 5 for a 220. This was the closest game of the night, but Ralph couldn’t capitalize on a strike in the 9th by getting more in the 10th, so we ended up getting swept. However, I did recover a decent night, only missing my average by a total of 12 pins. My average dropped to 189, but I can recover the pin I lost with an over-average series next week.

Result: 144-194-220=558
Average (24 games): 189 Last 9 average: 190
Next week’s AVG+1: 579

The higher-rev release I had been learning wasn’t doing the job in the first game, so it was good that I could go back to the old “urethane” release with more speed, and that helped me save the night.

My brother said we might be doing my sister’s birthday stuff this weekend, so it definitely looks like I’ll be able to bowl with my cousins next week, something I’ve been looking forward to all season. 🙂

Standings update for July 11

According to today’s standings update, my team remained in 4th place in the league, but fell to 8 points behind the pace, set by Team 5. We have an opportunity to gain ground on a team ahead of us next week, as we’re scheduled to bowl against Team 18, which is 6 points ahead of us in 2nd place.

July 9 league night

I’m going to save the pre-bowling stuff of the night for last, because I have something special this week. 😀

In the first game, the only bad parts were leaving the 4-6 split in the 8th and missing a 10 pin (yet again, but more on this later) to end the game, but I did string together enough strikes (a turkey to start, and a double in the 5th and 6th) for a 202. Ralph was in the 220s, but Brian was well under his average, so we lost a fairly close first game. I missed yet another 10 in the 3rd frame (remarking to Harry Thibeault, Jr., the good bowler for our opponents, that he could see the trouble I was having with those) in the second game, but I did figure out that I had to keep my speed up on my corner pins, and made a 6-10 in the 6th and a single 10 in the 8th. However, I ended the second game with another split (the 2-4-10) for a 179. Ralph was again in the 220s, and Brian and Joy had decent games, so we took the second game. I was clean for the most part in the last game, but I did have a bad shot in the 6th, leaving the 1-3-9 and only picking up the front pins from that. I made all of my other spares, including a 10 early and a 7 late, but because I couldn’t find the line in the last game, I only managed a 182. Both Harrys had very good games for our opponents, and none of us could really get anything going, so we took our first real beating of the season, losing 6 points, including third game and total by a good amount. My 563 was, for the first time this summer, under my average, but not by much, so I’m still carrying a 190 average; it will be an officially recognized average now, even if I quit at this point, because I have 21 games in the league.

Result: 202-179-182=563
Average (21 games): 190 Last 9 average: 192
Next week’s AVG+1: 591

Now for the good part…to put faces to the names of the bowlers on my team, I present to my readers Mad Blogger, Summer 2008 edition…

Front: Joy Falese; Back (L-R): Richie, Brian Shea, Ralph Marple

Thank you to Ron Haynes for taking the team photo for me. More where that came from later. 😀

Standings update for July 4

According to the updated standings, my team still stands in 4th place, 4 points behind Team 5, despite our 6 point performance this week. Looking ahead, we bowl against Team 18, the team currently in 2nd place, the week after next, so that should be an opportunity to move up in the standings.

The big payback

I was really geared up for the rematch against “Fun and Games” tonight, but I wanted to keep my team’s mood loose, so my choice of garb for the night was the “Split Happens” t-shirt. When I got to the lanes, Bob Hamilton said something to me on the order of “We’re going to get you for what you did to my daughter’s team last week” (apparently, Bob’s daughter’s team were our opponents last week), and, although I didn’t tell my teammates about it, I kind of wanted to use that internally as “bulletin board material” of sorts, so I didn’t really say anything back to him about it. It did seem lonely this week with the pro shop closed for vacation for 5 weeks and no Ray or Jon to talk to, so I watched Ralph and Brian warm up prior to league starting, making small talk when I could.

The “Split Happens” kind of emerged as a theme for the night at first, as, while I was able to put together strikes, a 4-6-7 split and a 4-9 split marred my first game. However, my team was in a position where we all had strikes working in the 10th, and everyone except Ralph was able to add at least a double to that. I struck out in the 10th for a 207, with my team winning that game. The splits continued in the second game, however, starting the game with the 3-10 (which I converted), and having another 4-9 in the 5th. I was not able to string anything together, completely whiffing on a 3-6-10 in the 8th frame and making single pin spares in the 9th and 10th (filled with a strike) for a 169. My team couldn’t string anything together that game as well, but, though it was fairly close, we lost the second game and entered the third game fairly even for total. The third game for me started with a washout, but I had some of my best bowling so far in this league by stringing together six in a row before missing a couple of single corner pins (making the 10 in the 9th, however) for perhaps the ugliest 213 I’ve ever had. My teammates also did well in that game, so we won third game and total by a fairly comfortable margin for a six-point night, exactly what “Fun and Games” did to us in the first meeting. The 589 series was once again over my AVG+1, so I’m now carrying a 190 league average for the first time in my life.

I had wanted to ride home with Brian again, but wanted to talk to my cousins first. They were still bowling when we finished, so I hung around their lane pair, but Brian took off while I was watching my cousins. Ralph hung around to see if my cousins would take me home, and when I learned that they could (after hanging around for a bit), I said goodbye to Ralph with a hug, thanking him for the night and letting him know how much I had wanted our team to do well tonight.

Result: 207-169-213=589
Average (18 games): 190 Last 9 average: 194
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 581

Edit to BowlingCommunity.com link: I edited the sidebar link to BowlingCommunity.com in a way that lets readers know that those are the forums I post to.

First anniversary post

The first post to this blog was actually on July 4 of last year, but it has been one year since the bowling outing with my brother that started it all, so I will choose to celebrate this blog’s anniversaries on the anniversary of that outing. I’d like to first start off by thanking my readers for putting up with me the past year, but that I hope that you’ve found my adventures interesting enough to want to keep reading. 😀

Looking back on the past year, I’m amazed at how far I’ve come. I contemplated making my comeback wondering how good I could be after my injuries, and the results have exceeded even my wildest hopes. I broke 100 in my second outing with my brother, and was able to shoot 200 again shortly after beginning regular practice (a 218 on Oct. 15). I had felt I was ready for leagues around December, but the lack of openings in the leagues allowed me to bide my time, practicing through the winter season after deciding to wait until the summer to test myself in competition.

Figuring I had a new lease on my bowling life, I wasn’t satisfied with just returning to my old form, so I had a couple of lessons with Ray in the last year to figure out what my flaws were. The work on those flaws in practice allowed me to get to a point where I almost had a 700 series in practice (the recent 689), and to establish a new personal best official series (the 642 in the third week of my summer league). I have also become more consistent, averaging higher at this point (189) than my highest summer league average of my previous bowling life (which I remember being a 171). It is safe to say that my comeback attempt is now less of an attempt and more of a successful comeback. 😀

Giving thanks: I wanted to use my first anniversary post to give thanks to some people who I may or may not have already thanked on this blog, so here goes…

My family, first and foremost, for their support and gift cards, which I, of course, turned into useful practice. My brother, especially, has been encouraging, noting here that he’d rather see me bowling than in front of my computer. My brother also shared one of my special moments since my comeback started, my first 200+ game witnessed by family, something I had wanted my late mother to see.
The Minassians, and the rest of the staff at Westgate Lanes, for welcoming me back. Junior had told my sister that he was glad to see me back around the center, so I wanted to make sure they were included in this anniversary post.
The pro shop owner, and my coach, Ray DiSanto Jr., for his advice and support, as well as for putting my summer league team together. Here’s to many more years of a working relationship and friendship.
My teammates, Brian, Joy, and Ralph, for their encouragement and sharing one of my personal bowling highlights. I couldn’t have asked for better teammates. 😀
Everyone else in the Wednesday Summer Mixed League, just for being who they are.
The gang from the BowlingCommunity.com forums and especially the regulars on the #BowlingFans IRC channel, also for their encouragement. Special thanks here to “CoachJim” for his invaluable advice, including suggesting the thumb pitch change that served as the springboard to my recent improvement.
The WordPress user “prairieskooner” for his recent encouragement via commenting on this blog.
The first of two specific friends on the EFnet IRC network I’ll thank in this post, “Gozzo”, for pointing me to the story on Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew that helped spark the idea for the “Cross-training” feature of this blog.
Another friend on EFnet of long-standing, the user “lebron” (not the one that uses caps in his nick…I knew this one formerly as “chee”), for suggesting that I try to merge my bowling hobby with my Internet one; this blog is the fruit of that suggestion.
Finally, the rest of my online friends, whether I’ve been in touch with them through email, other forums, IRC, or instant messaging. I won’t name any names here, but you know who you are. 😀

I have tried to use this blog not only for the entertainment of my readers, but hopefully as a resource for bowling in my area (via my posting of local bowling news) and elsewhere (through linking of quality bowling sites in the sidebar). I have things planned for the next year, but will play my hand close to my vest for now (though I’ve mentioned some of it to my online bowling friends). I hope you will continue reading.

Today’s practice: So how did I celebrate one year since my return to bowling? Well, it happened to be a practice day, so I hit the lanes as normal. I continued working on keeping my arm in close, but also mixed something else in today: John Jowdy’s ring finger lead drill. The work resulted in me having a lot of good-quality shots during practice. I had a five-bagger in both my first game (a 226) and last game (a 236) sandwiched around a 181 middle game that could’ve easily been better for a 643 series, a pin better than my personal best official series. 😀

Standings update: I finally learned through the standings sheet posted at the lanes that my team had slipped to 4th place despite taking 6 points last week. Given the fact that I’ve been able to follow up good practices with good league nights, the fact that we’re bowling on the pair I had the 642 on, and who the opponents are, I feel good about Wednesday night. 🙂

Hall of Fame Classic canceled: I was told not a lot of people showed up for the Brockton USBC Bowling Association’s scheduled singles tournament at Westgate Lanes yesterday, so, unfortunately, the event was canceled. Here’s hoping they’ll run it next year at a time when bowlers will want to enter the tournament.

June “People’s Tournament” results: The People’s Tournament site reported James Ruscio out of Town Line Ten Pin (176 average) as the winner of this month’s event at Westgate Lanes. Ruscio defeated Roger Pemberton (Boston Bowl, 187 average) in the title match 270-206 (with handicaps). One of the teams in my league, “Fun and Games” (who else?), was well-represented among the cashers, as Sally Toppan finished 3rd, while Sean Richard was reported as finishing in 18th place.

Delay in standings update

There has apparently been a delay in posting the updated league standings, as LeagueSecretary.com currently still shows the standings after last week’s bowling. I’ll keep an eye on the page and let everyone know when the standings have been updated.