My experience at the 2021 Mass. senior tournament

If you sift through the results of the 2021 Mass. senior tournament on the BPUSBC Facebook page above, you may note that it’s self-serving for once, as I bowled in the senior tournament for the first time and finished 3rd in Open Division E (ages 55-59), which was the last cash spot in the division and the only division in the tournament to pay a third spot. It represents my best result ever in a certified tournament, as I only ever remember cashing in one other certified tournament, an ABT event that I don’t really remember the details of as I didn’t make the cut to the semifinals, and, of course, the LBT that I won wasn’t a certified tournament.

I’ll go through my day by posting the BowlSK sheets from each squad and remarking on the squad, starting with the Sunday noon squad:

Sunday 12:00 PM on Lanes 55 & 56

It was the clean first game that really set up my whole day, as it put me in a good frame of mind that I never lost, even with the let-up in the other two games of this set. I was crossing with two Hall of Famers, Bill Briggs, elected last year by my association, and Southeastern Mass. Hall of Famer John Camara. Both had noted at various points how well I was throwing the ball and wished me well in the second squad.

Sunday 2:00 PM on Lanes 53 & 54

Admittedly, I got some breaks, but, after the five-bagger that I started this squad with, I smelled blood in the water and made sure my focus was on my bowling, and there was no real let-up, with all three games over the average I entered at. I was particularly proud that I only missed one 10 pin the entire day.

I shall look upon this as one of my favorite tournament experiences now, not just because of how well I bowled, but because of the company I bowled with. As for the latter, I’d like to thank, in particular, Dave Lisowski, who was on my pair for both squads and was encouraging me throughout. 🎳👍

Oct. 20 Brunswick Mixed recap

My Week 7 bowling, frame-by-frame

Obviously, my best game was the first one, but there was some positive to take out of the other two, as well, mostly that I made the adjustment for the 10 after missing one and having my spare game save a good score when I wasn’t getting strikes.

Result: 189-168-167=524
Average (18 games): 178
Average for last 9 games: 174
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 539

Team lost all four to slip into a tie for 9th place with Walter & Joseph Strong, four points behind the lead held jointly by We Got This and BBOB, with Lundin Fog (our opponents tonight) a half-point behind in third, and 4 On 9 Man and Sharon Turkeys two points behind in a tie for 4th.

Divisionally, Bobby was high in men’s “A” for everything except handicap high game.

Westgate league round-up, week of Oct. 19

I decided rather than waste time posting separate articles about each league, I’d post one article rounding up all of the notable scores for the last week at Westgate Lanes as a trial. I’ll except my own league, as I can post about that league with the write-up about my own week’s bowling. So here goes:

Thursday Night Patriots: Aaron Major 279/779, Brian Egan 278/754, Danny Khuu 279, James Scales 278, Drew DiStefano 277

TNBA Mixed: John O’Donnell 275

Note: League names are linked to their LeagueSecretary.com dashboards.

Good bowling everyone. 🎳😁

2021-22 Brunswick Mixed early-season recap

As far as my own early season is concerned, it has shown a lot of promise. I fell onto a team with the Geddes family, Bob along with his parents, Steve and Joan, and, with Bob, one of the best bowlers in the league, it’s another situation where I don’t necessarily have to carry the team, so I’m leading off in the lineup, which kept the Move To Strike name.

I’ll link some of the BowlSK sheets to give everyone a sense of how well this season has been going so far compared to recent ones:

Week 1

I got my first 200 game out of the way early, in the second game of the first week. The shot is quite different this year, with a little more oil on the front part of the lane. This means the ball has plenty on the back end for the 10 when I make a good shot.

Week 2

This may have been my most consistent week of the five that I’ve bowled (I missed one for a Brockton High School Alumni Association event), but it was a shame that I couldn’t finish it out for the 600.

Week 4

This was a week when I needed to shoot spares to keep my average, and that’s what I did. My score only went down by a pin each game (so maybe this was more consistent than Week 2?).

Week 5

And I’m only showing this one because of the big first game, which was my best in a couple of years. I think I still should have had a 600 out of it, but my slide (left) foot was just too sore by the end of the night. Averages and such follow:

Average (15 games) 179
Average for last 9 games: 176
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 545

As far as standings are concerned, Move To Strike was in 3rd place going into last week’s bowling, two points behind We Got This and a half-point behind Lundin Fog for 2nd place. We went 1-3 last week vs. Spare Us, so we should still be somewhere in the upper half of the standings.

For high scores, Ricky Chan had a 277 game Week 2 (Sept. 15) and Shawn Coles had a 762 series last week (Oct. 13).

2021-22 Patriots league early-season recap

I finally had time to sit down and write a post about the Patriots league’s early season, with a big change being that I’m also now secretary of that league. I’m still tied to LeagueSecretary.com for links to scores, but I may not bother with links to anything for this post, given the amount of information I need to post (the reader will be directed to the league dashboard page for his/her exploration). So here go the scores, week-by-week:

Week 1 (Sept. 9): Adam Johndrow, 290-265-266=821, Danny Khuu 279-300-224=803, Aaron Major 300-257-255=812, Sean Richard 277-269-259=805, Ethan Rosenberg 279/779, Bill Briggs 277

Week 2 (Sept. 16): Aaron Major 300/755, Steve Dale Jr. 289/757, Mark Zimmerman 767, Nick Grossi 754, Brian Egan 279, Sean Richard 279, Cameron Kaestner 278

Week 3 (Sept. 23): Danny Khuu 299/769, Aaron Major 279/753, Patiparn Sukkham 289

Week 4 (Sept. 30): AJ Voisine 297-278-266=841, Mark Zimmerman 280/753, Aaron Major 278, Mike Morrisey 278

Week 5 (Oct. 7): Adam Johndrow 277/782, Brian Gaskill 750, Mike Major 278, Kevin Thibeault 277, Brendan Litchfield 276.

Week 6 (Oct. 14): Aaron Major 278/755, Brian Egan 285

Congrats and/or good bowling, however it applies! 🎳😁

Westgate Lanes 2021-22 first month round-up

For a couple of reasons, among them the lengthy outage of LeagueSecretary.com, I’ve had to play catch-up with the early Westgate season, so I’m writing three articles over three days, today’s covering leagues other than my own (Brunswick Mixed) and the Patriots league (of which I am now the secretary), putting the noteworthy scores in them, below:

Pepsi-Cola Classic: Pat Carrara, 277 (9/20)
BBIS: Aaron Major 276/722 (9/28), Ethan Rosenberg 267 (10/5)
His & Hers: Harry Berry 282 (9/14)
Westgate Mixed: Pat Dolan 278 (9/22), Steve Healy 279 (9/29)
TNBA: Clyde Matta 298 (9/17)

Good bowling to all! 🎳💪

Sept. 8 Brunswick Mixed recap

I’ve been silent about my bowling start, but I hooked onto the Move To Strike team with one of the best bowlers in the league, Bobby Geddes, along with his parents, Steve and Joan. I will be bowling leadoff for them, as I did for my second-half team last year.

My Week 1 bowling, frame-by-frame

I sure wish I brought a better spare game with me to start the season, or this would have been a higher 500, if not maybe a 600. Still, I feel good on this shot and am hoping for good things this season.

Result: 159-211-164=534
Average (3 games): 178
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 540

Interactive standings after Week 1

As the standings above show, we split two with BBOB last week, with Something Fishy and We Got This the early leaders. We’re bowling against the vacant tonight.

Update on Pepsi league sponsorship

Last night, Yogi was able to give me a very encouraging update on the negotiations for Pepsi’s sponsor fee for the Monday night Classic league this season. He told me that Pepsi agreed that they would kick in $400/team, capped at a total of $5,000 provided that there are a minimum of 10 teams in the league, and that there would be a minimum of a $250/team fee, in any event.

Now we need to do our part and sign up some teams for this league. 😎

2021-22 Pepsi league start-up information

For those wondering about the start of the Pepsi-Cola Classic League, that league will still start. Westgate Lanes management is currently in negotiations with Pepsi on the sponsor fee for this year, which have a set fee per team, not a hard total amount, as in years past, but capped at $5,000 (the total of two seasons ago). Westgate hopes to have a minimum of 10 teams ready to start the season, with a meeting to be held on Sept. 13, the usual starting date of the league, to sign up teams. We hope to see you then.

2021 Monday Summer Doubles honor score recap

As I was very busy running the side action most of the Monday Summer Doubles season, and away for Lions Club meetings on the other Monday nights, I hardly had any time to keep track of award scores, much less do write-ups. So I’ll just write a bulk post of all of them for the season in chronological order, with only 300 games and 800 series (first three of four games) considered:

  • July 5, Ray Fischer, 300 2nd game
  • July 19, AJ Voisine, 283-266-278=827 series (1st career 800 series)
  • July 26, Joe Bourhill, 300-288-237=817 series
  • Aug. 2, Sean Richard, 300 3rd game

Congrats and great bowling everyone! 🎳🔥

Aaron Major wins first PBA regional title in York, PA

Aaron Major (center) with Kevin Thibeault (left) and Stephen Major (right) after his PBA East regional win at Colony Park Lanes in York, PA (Photo courtesy of Strike F/X Pro Shops)

Congratulations to Aaron Major, who, as reported by the PBA, won the East Region Colony Park Lanes Challenge, an event for non-champions, Saturday in York, PA after defeating Michael Martell of Brooklyn, NY, 247-172, in the position round match of the round-robin match play finals. Aaron qualified 13th, but went on an incredible run in match play, winning all eight of his matches with only one game under 200 on a tough Viper lane condition.

Aaron had great company at this event, as his cousin, Stephen, finished 4th, and another Westgate bowler, Kevin Thibeault, grabbed the last cash spot (28th). Great bowling, everyone! 🎳🎉🥳🔥

Sammy Wong slams 1st 300 in Brunswick Mixed roll-off

This pandemic season was certainly a strange one for my league, but Sammy Wong (in photo above, courtesy of Strike F/X Pro Shops) made sure it ended up being a special one by throwing his first 300 in the first game of the roll-off to spark his team, Last Empire, to the league championship win. I hope to get the team photo tomorrow when the league pays out for the season. One thing I did get, however, was the video, which I actually went live on the Facebook page with for the first time, which will be below:

Congrats Sammy! 🎳🥳

May 12 Brunswick Mixed recap

Last week’s (and my last week of) bowling, frame-by-frame

I knew I needed a great night to raise my average, but I was only almost exactly that, average. The strikes just weren’t there, with my double near the end being just “too little, too late” for even my team, as that couldn’t save the point, which we needed to even have a chance to move up.

Result: 156-157-190=503
Final average (87 games): 168
Average for last 9 games: 167

10th Frame Magic ended up being the team that moved into the roll-off with Last Empire, and that will be tonight.

Aaron Major 759, Keith Kaestner 757 lead May 12 Patriots scoring

With the Patriots league season winding down, Aaron Major and Keith Kaestner had consistently good games last week in the Patriots league, with the former going 269-245-245 for a 759 (recap, Lane 51), and Kaestner bowling 264-236-257 for a 757 (recap, Lane 33). In addition, fine games were turned in by Shane Litchfield (279), Mike Trent Jr. (279), and Stan Lewis (278) last week (see high scores).

Nice bowling everyone! 🎳🔥

May 5 Brunswick Mixed recap (with standings update)

Last week’s bowling, frame-by-frame

After having a “house of cards” come crashing down the previous week, I had three more nearly “normal” games last week and did manage to recover the pin in average that I lost the previous week. It was also mostly ground out, as I only doubled twice, both in the second game.

Result: 177-191-161=529
Average (84 games): 168
Average for last 9 games: 168
Tonight’s AVG+1 score: 571

We didn’t have Randi, but Kevin had a good enough third game to win that point. One more week left.

Interactive standings after Week 30 (Week 14 of 2nd half)

My team (Creeden’s Mustangs) needs to win all of our points against the vacant tonight and Maggie’s Warriors cannot win more than one point if we want to climb out of the 2nd half cellar alone. At the top, Last Empire can force a one-game roll-off for the 2nd half by sweeping BBOB and the first place match splits 2-2, and Last Empire would then have to win that roll-off to avoid a roll-off next week for the championship. Any other scenario at the top would mean a roll-off for the championship next week.

Ethan Rosenberg tosses 1st 300 in state tourney doubles

Did I mention Ethan Rosenberg wasn’t done after his first 800 set on Thursday night? All he did last weekend after that was go to Auburn for state tournament and put up his first 300 game in the doubles event there. Many thanks to Stephen Major for getting the video above to me, which first appeared on the Strike F/X Pro Shops Brockton Facebook page. Congrats again, Ethan! 🎳🔥

Ethan Rosenberg knocks 289/801 to lead May 6 Patriots league scoring

As noted by the guys at Strike F/X Pro Shop, Ethan Rosenberg put together games of 289, 279, and 233 for an 801 series last Thursday night in the Patriots league (see recap, Lane 49), his first 800 series. Congrats Ethan! 🎳🔥

Also notable that night were Joe Bourhill’s 278-253-257 for a 788 set (recap linked above, Lane 52) and Jim Ferguson’s 288-247-220 for a 755 (also on recap, Lane 50). Nice bowling! 🎳👍

More on the 300 game mentioned above later. 😉

Apr. 28 Brunswick Mixed recap (with standings update)

Last week’s bowling, frame-by-frame

I seemed to be at least decent through two games, except that I couldn’t make a 10 pin to close it out, and I hit the skids in the third game, to the point where I thought I needed a ball change. Whatever it was, I was definitely fishing for the pocket, and it hurt us.

Result: 186-177-114=477
Average (81 games): 167
Average for last 9 games: 166
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 509

It turned out my team got the worst of bad lanes, but we managed to win the second game.

Interactive standings after Week 29 (Week 13 of 2nd half)

Creeden’s Mustangs are in 11th, 18 points behind the leaders, Last Empire, who lead Never Lucky by a point, 10th Frame Magic by a point-and-a-half, and BBOB, our opponents tomorrow night by 5.5 points. As this is the penultimate week of the 2nd half, here are the other matchups: Last Empire vs. 10th Frame Magic, and Never Lucky vs. Maggie’s Warriors.

Kevin did manage to sweep the board in the men’s “B” division last week (see standing sheet page).

Shawn Coles tosses 300 in Brunswick Mixed

Going the opposite of the usual and recognizing my league secretary first, with the trey last week, which his wife captured not just the last strike, but the three strikes in the 10th, on video and sent my way. As the only thing he wasn’t on yet was Instagram, I decided to put him there first:

Congrats buddy! 🎳😁👍

2020-21 Brunswick Mixed Week 28 standings update

Interactive standings after Week 28 (Week 12 of 2nd half)

Creeden’s Mustangs are in 11th place, 17 points behind the leaders, Never Lucky, who lead Last Empire by a point and 10th Frame Magic and BBOB by 3.5 points. Maggie’s Warriors are the opponents tonight.

Note: If Last Empire wins the second half, there would be no roll-off, as they won the first half.

Happily for me, my 218 was good for the high scratch and handicap (246) game of the week in the men’s “D” division last week (see standing sheet page).