2017-18 Week 1 league standings update

Updating the standings in my leagues after the first week:

  • Brunswick Mixed: Let’s Mix ‘Em Up took two points (four-point league) from Creeden’s Mustangs, and we sorted into 10th in the standings. Striking Gentlemen, Dawg Pound, Spare Change, and Knock ‘Em Down were the teams that won all four points in the first week. Let’s Mix ‘Em Up is scheduled to bowl against Stuck With Us tonight, but I will have to miss it, as I have to attend a wake.
  • Sunday Niters: After winning two points (eight-point league) from Here For Beer, The 3 Stooges sorted into 8th place by pinfall. OSIMAS, bowling against the vacant, was the only team that won all eight in the first week.  We bowl against the early leaders Sunday night.

Sean Richard & Jim Ferguson repeat as NAT doubles champions

Sept 10 NAT doubles finalists
Finalists of Sept. 10 NAT handicap doubles event at Westgate Lanes (L-R): Champions Jim Ferguson & Sean Richard, runners-up Danny Khuu & Tom Hedding (Photo courtesy of NAT)

The Northeast Amateur Tournament reported in its newsletter that Sean Richard & Jim Ferguson became back-to-back NAT doubles champions in the event held on Sept. 10 at Westgate Lanes after defeating Tom Hedding & Danny Khuu 456-445 (with handicap) in the final match. Sean and Jim had also won the season-end event at Westgate Lanes back in June. Also cashing out of Westgate were Hakim Emmanuel (with partner Mike Macedo) and Brian Egan (with partner Jayme Silva).

Stephen Major hits NAT strike jackpot in Westgate doubles event

Stephen Major NAT strike jackpot
Stephen Major, winner of the NAT strike jackpot on Sept. 10 (Photo courtesy of NAT)

I believe I need to mention this now, as well: Stephen Major, who was bowling in his first tournament at Westgate as an adult bowler, hit the NAT’s strike jackpot in the doubles event yesterday for $865. The jackpot is won by bowling 13 strikes in designated frames in the four-game series, including the last four (9th and the three in the 10th) in the fourth game. Nice going, Stephen! 🙂

Danny Khuu posts 801 & 300 in NAT doubles

Scoring in the NAT handicap doubles event at Westgate Lanes yesterday was led by Danny Khuu, who first posted 279-242-279 for an 801 for the first three of four games, and then followed that up with a perfect fourth game for a nice 1,101 four-game total. I got the last strike of the 300, which is below:

There were also a couple of 11 in a row scores during qualifying, a 299 by Del Picard, and a 298 by Jeff Santos.

Nice bowling, guys, and results (hopefully) are soon to come.

Sept. 10 Sunday Niters recap

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

Two better games tonight than any of them Wednesday night, but I certainly hope missing spares on the left side doesn’t become a recurring theme this year. I’m still perfect on the year on my right side makeables.

Result: 166-158-174=498
Average (3 games): 166
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 504

Composite average (6 games): 159

The points for total pins might have been interesting if I’d been able to max out my 10th frame third game, but, as it was, we only won the first game.

Sept. 6 Brunswick Mixed recap

I have three new teammates in Brunswick Mixed: Kathy Valerio, whom some of you may remember was associate tournament director of the People’s Tournament, and two bowlers from the summer, Brian Barksdale and Thomas Smith. Our team name is Let’s Mix ‘Em Up, and I let Kathy be the team captain.

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

I was sort of getting a feel for these lanes, noticing that the backend reaction was a bit more than I’m used to. The weird part of my spare game tonight was that I only made the one 7 pin on the left side, but every makeable spare on the right side.

Result: 145-150-161=456
Average (3 games): 152
Next week’s AVG+1 score: 462

Brian bowled the best of us tonight, but we won’t know about points at least until the weekend.

Strike F/X Pro Shops to open at Westgate

I’ve been sitting on other Westgate transition news, but I got the go-ahead to post this: Jon Van Hees has informed me that they hope to have a “soft” opening of a new Strike F/X Pro Shops location here by this weekend, with a grand opening of sorts coming next week. Many of Westgate’s good bowlers have already been using Strike F/X at other locations, so a Westgate location seems natural for them.

Jon and Alex Aguiar will be around at times, but it will mostly be Kevin Thibeault, who had been working at USA Pro Shop for Ray DiSanto, present at the Westgate location. I will certainly miss Ray, but I’m looking forward to the new shop.

Administrivia for the post is the addition of the link to the Strike F/X website to the sidebar, in the “Local/New England” list, but please be aware that each location also has its own Facebook page, and I will “Like” the Brockton page as the blog’s page.

2017-18 season ramp-up

I’m about to get back into the bowling grind, but the only part about my involvement in leagues this season that’s remaining stable is Sunday Niters, where I will be returning with the same team. In Brunswick Mixed, however, the Woods and Jeff have decided to go off on their own, and Si is likely not returning, so I’m likely on a new team in that league, the composition of which will not really be known until the league starts Wednesday night.

There is bad news in the virtual league, as well, as I made the difficult decision to not run a fall virtual league, as I felt I didn’t have enough bowlers. I let everyone on the BowlingCommunity forums know, however, that I’d revisit a winter virtual league as Thanksgiving approaches.

Link to Digital Bowling Society added to sidebar

I just became aware of another organization, named the Digital Bowling Society, which had the season opener of their Digibowl Tournament Series yesterday at Lang’s Bowlarama, the result of which I shared on the Facebook page. They plan on running several events at Lang’s, but, on their Facebook page, I also noticed one tournament planned for Erie, PA, and they also run online leagues and tournaments, which you can find out more about on their website, which is now linked in the sidebar (in the “Local/New England” list).

Sept. 2017 Westgate Warriors schedule note

The full schedule isn’t out yet, but Zach Thompson did post in the Westgate Warriors’ Facebook group that they will begin defense of their district championship on Sept. 9 at AMF Auburn Lanes vs. Mill City Mayhem, followed on Sept. 24 at Lessard Lanes (Plainville, CT) vs. Silver Lane Express. I will post the full season tour schedule when I have it.

2017 Coke league preseason notes

I sat in on the Coke league meeting last week, and, first off, the league voted to be a Challenge league, by the new USBC lane condition designation (patterns with ratios between 8:1 and 4:1). Related to this, the league also voted that any new league member with only a Standard average will have it rerated in reverse according to the Challenge average conversion chart. Finally, a committee was created to assist in determining the lane condition for each segment of the league.

Westgate Lanes sold to Patel family

As reported by the Enterprise, a sale of Westgate Lanes to Patel Westgate Realty was executed last Monday for a reported $3.3M. The Patel family owns several bowling centers in New York state, with their flagship location in Kingston.

Fran Kaiser has been appointed as Westgate’s new general manager, and, in a meeting I was able to sit in on, she stressed that league and tournament bowling will continue to be important to their business model, and they also hope to build up the junior program as part of that effort. One other thing related to this I can pass along is that the Patels hosted a PBA regional event at their Kingston location this summer, and they hope to bring one to Westgate in the future.

I’d like to formally welcome the Patels and Ms. Kaiser to Westgate Lanes, and I look forward to working with you.

Link to bowlersKrate added to sidebar

As posted about on The 11th Frame, a new company called bowlersKrate is testing the convenience of ordering bowling accessories (tape, tools, cleaners, towels, shirts, etc.) online by modeling itself after Birchbox (cosmetics) and Threadbeast (clothing) and offering monthly subscriptions, called Krates. Krates geared to the recreational/league and serious bowler are available in 3-month, 6-month, and one-year lengths. The items available to choose will depend on which Krate you’re subscribed to, and are shipped to your door at no additional cost. giftKrates, for the bowler in your life, are also available.

For those interested in this service, there is now a link to bowlersKrate in the sidebar under “Online Pro Shops”, which I thought was the best fit.

Khuu posts 811, Hester, Egan 300, Hamilton 299 in Monday doubles

I usually don’t hang around the Monday Summer Doubles league all night unless the Red Sox are idle, and I was happy they were tonight, because there was plenty of scoring. Danny Khuu had the biggest “number”, by way of posting 278-277-256 for an 811 set, but there were also a couple of 300 games, one by Jon “Hoss” Hester, and the other by Brian Egan. I’ll share Hester’s video first, as I “owe him one” for not sharing his UBA scores:

And now Egan’s:

Finally, association Hall of Famer Bob Hamilton stuck a 10 pin in one of his games for a 299.

Nice bowling tonight! 🙂

BBIS to hold pre-season match play tournament Aug. 25

The BBIS league will hold a pre-season match play tournament on Aug. 25 at 8:30 PM. Format is four games of match play (30 bonus pins), with the field placed in two divisions based on average, and will be followed by semifinals (1 game between top two in each division) and finals (winners of semifinals). Flyers are at the desk, and John Hayes and Eric Lam can be contacted through links in calendar event (see full calendar linked in sidebar).