January 2012 People’s Tournament results

The People’s Tournament reported that Jayme Silva (Wonder Bowl, 205 avg.) was the winner of the event held on Jan. 21 and 22 at Westgate Lanes, defeating Cindy Cabral (Westgate Lanes, 165 avg.) by a score (with handicaps) of 237-177 in the title match. Representing Westgate Lanes, Keith Tantillo (200 avg.) was a semifinalist, and Elliot Miller (180 avg.) was also in the top 8. Elsewhere in the Brockton Bowling Association area, Herb Brown (185 avg.) represented Kingston Ten Pin in the semis, and Charles Donovan (190 avg.) was in the top 8 representing North Bowl.

2012 USBC Open Championships oil pattern

The pattern chart for the oil pattern for this year’s USBC Open Championships may be found by clicking here. I am posting it here because not only may it be the pattern for the Brockton Bowling Association Hall of Fame Classic (they used last year’s pattern in the Hall of Fame Classic last year), but I also heard that the Coke Classic League will be bowling on this pattern for the last third of their season.

When I pressed Ray for his thoughts on the pattern Friday, he told me he thought you’d have to get in deep on this because the bulk of the oil stops at 27′ with 12′ of buff area on the back of the pattern. On the kick-off show for the Open Championships, however, it was said you don’t want too much angle too soon, and that you’ll have to manage your launch angles, meaning I may struggle on it turning my hand too soon, but it would also present problems for bowlers that like to loft it. If I get a chance bowl on it, either in a Monday practice or at the Hall of Fame Classic, I’ll let everyone know how I do.

Feb. 11 league standings update

After taking only one point from “The 5 G’s,” “Pinfall Wizards” fell into a tie in points for 5th place with “The Mustangs,” four points behind “Dee’s Boys II,” who lead “The Incredibowls” by two points. “Warren’s Girls” will be our opponents in the coming week.

2012 Mass. state tournament notes

I now have complete information on all of the Massachusetts state tournaments in 2012, listed below:

  • The open (men’s) tournament will run weekends from April 21 to May 13 at AMF Holiday Lanes in Somerset. Entries close on March 21.
  • The women’s tournament will run weekends from May 12 to 20 and June 2 & 3 at North Bowl Lanes in North Attleboro. Entries close on April 15.
  • The youth tournament will run weekends from April 28 to May 13 at AMF Auburn Lanes. Entries close on February 28.

Entry forms for the open and women’s tournaments are available at the control desk. Note: I’ve been told by a source close to the Westgate Lanes youth program that the Westgate Lanes youth bowlers will be bowling on May 5 and 6.

Feb. 9 lesson

After missing Ray two weeks ago because he didn’t put my scheduled lesson on his calendar, I finally saw him today. What we saw in my early shots is my hand turning too early again, even though it’s in perfect position coming back. His idea was to tighten up my line so that I’m not trying to hook it, so he devised a drill that had me throwing to a piece of tape on the lane about 20′ (and later 30′) down the lane. I didn’t have perfect shots trying this, but the thing I noticed later is that if I’m thinking about keeping my forearm as well as my fingers pointing at the target, I throw my shot a bit better, so this is something I’ll be working on.

Feb. 8 league night recap

My Week 23 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I had a better night tonight, but another mixed bag. I had yet another first game where I started out throwing decent shots, but then seemed to lose it in the middle of the game. I am happy that my other games were relatively clean, with just a split in the second game and just a chop in the third.

Result: 150-181-201=532
Average (69 games): 173
Average for last 9 games: 170
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 543

Everyone was fairly steady, but we could only win one point, some of it due to the lead bowler on the other team having one of his better nights.

Alex Aguiar 7th, Jon Van Hees 13th in inaugural WTBA International Open

Alex Aguiar qualified 8th and Jon Van Hees 13th this week in the inaugural WTBA International Open, the first event created by the WTBA specifically for the World Bowling Tour, now in its second year. Under the rules of the tournament, this gave Van Hees a one-round bye and Aguiar a two-round bye in the finals, with Van Hees averaging just over 220 for 6 games to make the cut to Round 3. Aguiar averaged just under 221 for 6 games in Round 3 to finish 38 pins behind Walter Ray Williams Jr. for the third and final spot in the stepladder, while Van Hees averaged just over 208 for his final round. The stepladder is rounded out by top-seeded Liz Johnson and second seed Chris Barnes, who had a 300 game in the final game of Round 3 to move into position.

The stepladder will be contested on March 25 at the Brunswick Euro Challenge outside of Paris, France.

Setting on main blog page changed

Noticing that I still had room for posts to appear on the main page of the blog before the last widget in the sidebar (at the bottom of the page), I changed the maximum number of posts that appear on the main page (they will always be the most recent posts) to 20 (an increase of 5 from the default setting), which happens to be close to matching up with the last widget before I submitted this post. The change is aesthetic, nothing more. 😀

Feb. 1 league night recap

My Week 22 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I’ve had some bad starts this year, and my BowlingTracker.com sheet will bear that out: I’m averaging 2 pins lower than my overall average in the first game. The second game was more promising for a good finish, but I was reduced to grinding out my spares in the last game. I did, however, make another clutch spare in the 10th frame third game to save the net win. I was really hoping for more after yesterday’s practice, though.

Result: 146-185-155=486
Average (66 games): 173
Average for last 9 games: 171
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 553

I mentioned the net win, and both Berta and Brian were solid tonight, particularly in the two games we won.

Jan. 31 practice

I spent most of my practice time working on a tip I saw on the forums: Staying under the ball by keeping the weight of the ball on the index finger in my swing. Among the other things I also learned is that my Reign of Fire may be too early-rolling even in fresh oil, as I generally made better shots after switching to my Hy-Road early in the second game after a start in the 130s; I may have use that ball the entire night instead of starting with my strongest ball. Another thing I may have figured out is where to line up for my 7 pin based on going over the middle arrow instead of going over the third arrow, as I only missed one 7 in something like three or four attempts. I ended practice with my best game in months: a 229 in which I had the first six and my only open frame coming after leaving the bucket plus 7 pin.

Needless to say, I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow night. 😀

Winter 2012 Week 3 virtual league results

“Diamond Flush” won just the first game against “Mooseknuckles,” but, again, the win turned out to be enough to win total as well, as the other two games were very close. My virtual team remains at the bottom of the standings, but is now tied with “Dark Side 2.0” in points, nine points behind “Ordinary Average Guys,” who lead “2-bit Bandits” by a point.

Cross-training #205

The Orange County Register reported that American League West rivals, the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers, joined forces last night at the Bowlmor Lanes in Tustin, CA for the “Stars and Strikes” celebrity tournament to benefit Autism Care and Treatment Today, which helps fund treatment for families with children in the autism spectrum. Former major league reliever “Everyday” Eddie Guardado organized the event, in which Angels players Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick, as well as Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, participated.

Jan. 29 league standings update

“Pinfall Wizards” fell out of a tie for first place after last week, but are a only a point behind in third place, tied with “The Mustangs.” Our opponents last week, “Dee’s Boys II,” now share the lead in points with “Deadwood.” “Bowling Stones” are this week’s opponents.

Individually, Berta had the high series with handicap for the women last week.

2012 USBC Masters update #2

(The match play brackets are linked in a previous post)

Jon Van Hees defeated Tom Baker 676-664 in his first match this morning, but then lost to Chris Warren 720-631 to move into the losers bracket. Jon awaits the winner of the match between Jack Jurek and Steven McCracken at press time.

Jan. 25 league night recap

My Week 21 bowling, frame-by-frame (Linked to BowlSK sheet)

I’m thinking now that if I can just get everything together, I could make a run, but I’m still too inconsistent. The game I bowled well (except for the missed 7) was the third game. It’s fortunate I’m due back in tomorrow for another lesson. 🙂

Result: 148-164-201=513
Average (63 games): 174
Average for last 9 games: 173
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 583

If Berta didn’t have an under-average second game, she may have been able to make another run at 500 tonight. Team only won one point, mostly thanks to Jim, our league president, throwing a 729 at us, which is as well as I’ve ever seen him bowl.

Winter 2012 Week 2 virtual league results

“Diamond Flush” had a one-point net loss to “Got Wood?” in Week 2, and the match could’ve easily been tilted one way or another…my team only won total by 20, and handicap was a factor in the first two games, with my team losing the first game by only two pins. We remain in last place, with “2-bit Bandits” the top team after Week 2, two points ahead of Team 10 and “Ordinary Average Guys.”

Jan. 22 league standings update

Splitting the points against “Outta Da Guttah” didn’t turn out to be that harmful for my team, “Pinfall Wizards,” because there is now a three-way tie in points at the top between us, “Deadwood,” and “The Mustangs,” with “Deadwood” having the pinfall advantage over my team and the latter team with less pinfall than us.

“Dee’s Boys II” provides the opposition for my team this week.