Well one more week in my Tuesday night house . I had a 547 series. I started out with my Radical Inferno, standing 21 crossing the arrows at 10 and trying to hit a breakpoint of around 6 board around 38 feet or so. When everything went according to plan I would put 10 in the pit.

First game was a 220, with three opens. It was a strike or open game. I started with a double then a 2-10 split that I almost got the 10 with the 2 but wasn't really trying for it. I then a couple of frames later missed the 3-9, never got the ball across the lane to get either pin. The last open a 9 pin I left on the second shot in the tenth but I got the ball too far across the lane and it would have hit the ten pin right of center. Out of the 8 strikes I had that game, maybe 5 of them were legit. I know at least one possibly two were Brooklyn, one went through the nose and should have left the 3-10 but a messenger came over took the 10 out then the same pin rolled forward and to the left tripping the three forward.

The second game wasn't good being 74 pins less than the first and almost 30 under my 174 average for this league. It was a 146 game. I left makable spares, even on some horrendous shots put would miss them. The hardest leave was probably the 3-6-9-10 but I was getting the ball too far across the lane. I missed pocket often thinking I was not making quality shots but then I realized the lanes were probably changing. Out of the 6 bowlers on the pair 5 were righties and 4 were using dull equipment, such as the Cell, Black Widow Bite or Visionary Orange Ogre and everyone was around the same break point even if the lines were different. Well one from the other team was running a similar line as me if not the same. This was on light short oil. So I started to make adjustments about 5 boards left on the approach to the 26 board and the arrows going 15 out to about 8. I just didn't make many quality shots. I might have hit primary target but I rarely got the ball far enough to the right to get to the pocket.

The last game was better, only 2 opens and that was early for a 181 game. I wasn't making good shots to start but would cover the spares. After a few frames I decided to change balls to the Purple Ogre and this allowed me to move back to the right more and play a little more direct similar to the line I started the night with. I still made some not so good shots but got in the pocket more often than not. If I didn't strike I covered the spares from the fourth frame on.

As a team we took 2 of 7 points from the first place team. This was another night of the team being short of bowlers. We only had 2 of 4 but it was a different situation than last night. One of them we found out was stuck at work, he couldn't leave until a manager showed up at his store to take over. The other is a lineman for Baltimore Gas and Electric which is our local power company and with the storms that passed through recently might of had to work overtime, but we don't know as we haven't heard from him. The third bowler that was there was more worried about figuring out how much of a change between entering averages and current averages for everyone on the league to try to prove to his girlfriend that works at the center that the center sucks since they had gotten into an argument earlier in the day about it. He then would make bad shots and come back saying he hates this place. The lanes are scoreable, we had at least 4 games out of 18 games on our pair that were 220+, 3 of those of 230+, 2 of those were 240+ and a game in the 250s. Some scores could have been higher but people just screwed up.

Sorry to hear about your wrist, Dennis. I hope it doesn't affect you at Nationals.



Last Thursday was our league playoffs, and they set it up like I'd suspected--the six playoff teams were lined up on the 'tough' side of the house, with the best combined score after three games crowned champion. We were furthest left at 5/6, same as in the position round the week before, and (aside from a bit of extra oil on the outside) the lane reacted similarly, so I had the good fortune of being able to game plan using what I'd learned the previous week.

I started with my Hammer Doom, which is usually too snappy for that house, but with enough speed--starting at (standing)36/(arrows)17--I was able to give myself a bit of room to miss on the inside. I matched our anchor in striking the first seven, then ruined my game with splits in the 8th and 10th, finishing with a 231. Our team put up 870 with handicap, which gave us a 60-point edge over the second-place team.

The second game, I switched to a Target Zone on the right lane (18/8) and struggled with accuracy on both sides. I made my spares, though, and by the late stages of that game our opponents finished digging a groove in both lanes--all four were right-handers with medium hooks. I put the Doom away before the 8th frame and struck out from the 9th (with the Zone) for a 225. Our team's 820 kept us comfortably in the lead.

I spared the first frame in the third game, and the pressure was off after that: our lead-off bowler struck his first eight, and our anchor struck his first ten, so my contribution was no longer necessary. I struck the next four anyway, but the strike in the fifth frame was very lucky--I moved my starting point half a board inside, and the ball basically rolled out. The sixth, I decided not to move in the other lane and left a Greek Church. So in the seventh, I switched to my Groove Urethane (29/14), figuring it would be easier to bounce my ball off the dry spot rather than trying to bowl through it; I tapped the 10pin that frame, moved right one board on both lanes (28/13), and struck out without further drama. My 251 was third-best on the team for that game.

We wound up shooting 972 scratch in the third game (1005 handicap), which I believe was our best game of the year, and won the playoff by nearly 300 pins over the second-place team. I shot a 707 series, my fourth 700 in the league--all in the second half of the season.

We don't have much prize money and most of what we do have goes to points, so we'll only win back about half of our total costs, but it was nice to be on a really good team for a change: this is only the second time I've made the league playoffs in my 'career'. Oh, and I finished with a 202 average, my highest so far.



Our anchor bowler was the team's star performer, rolling a 259-226-289 774. The second frame of the second game, he rolled through the nose for a 4-7-10, but the 2pin bounced off the wall and took out the 4-7, and the 4 slid and rolled over to the 10pin, which rocked back, turned, rocked forward and went down.

The problem was, this had taken so long, the rack touched the 10pin on its way down, and the computer scored a '9'. We all sat there for a bit, looking dumb, but eventually one of the bowlers from 7/8 came over and told us very authoritatively that if the rack touches a pin, it needs to be set back up according to the rules, regardless of whether it was going down anyway. So, that's what we did...

Our anchor was flustered by this turn of events and missed the spare, and the difference between strike and open cost him 32 pins--and as it turned out, his first-ever 800 series. He tried his best not to harsh our mellow when we were packing up, but I imagine we'll all be hearing about this again at some point...

That sounds like some good rolling untutored. I've had several teams that just missed the roll-offs, normally in the position round for a half. As for the 10 pin incident, well the rules are the rules and if the pin gets touched by the rack before it goes down it has to be reset to its original position. There were some close calls over the last few weeks of my Saturday league where a pin fell just before the rack got there, not on my pair but a pair beside us. I watched it happen and if there was any discussion about it would step over and help straighten it out. Sometimes it was just some people on the pair didn't see it.

Thanks Cal.


Yeah, the rest of us weren't concerned with the guy coming over from the next pair. We wanted to get it right, and besides, he was bowling against us too, so he had every right to be there.

The whole incident would already be forgotten if it weren't for the honor score. Even now, I'm sure he'll look back at it as a 'thisclose' moment.

Yeah I still look back at mine from last season, a couple less washouts and I would have hit two honor scores in one night.

Nice shooting untutored. As Cal says, rules are rules. And, the witness doesn't have to be on your pair of alleys. Even though I didn't bowl last night, I sat with my team. I saw that a bowler on the next pair didn't have a 9 pin in the rack on his first shot. He got a 9 count, heard my comment and they reset the pins and score for him to take another shot. There were no questions asked, just part of the game.

I am sure they would have reset the rack even if he had gotten a strike.

I hate having to re-rack due to missing pins, especially back row pins. I just know I'll leave that pin on a strike attempt. The center that I have the most issue with dropping pins out of the rack, normally drops the 2,3 or 5 pin though .

Position week had to win at least 5 games to make a run for the top 3 positions.

Game 1 - First four frames my timming seemed off. So i took breather and just relax and moved It worked shot a 209. Only Opening was 4-10 Split i choped in the 3rd frame.

Game 2 - Started off with 2 bagger and then i lost my line didnt pick up some cruital spares missed two 10 pins and one 8 pin. Though game back in 9th and 10th and ended up with 172. All i did is make slight adjustment in my speed slowed it down and it worked.

Game 3 - Started off with four bagger. Then left 4-6 split and chopped it and then left wiffed the 2-8. Then found my strike line and picked two 10 pins up. then found my rythm again. ended up with a 221.

So 209-172-221= 602 Not a bad series at all. Shot 42 pins better than last week.

Team wise we won 2 games and total points. Only lost the 1st game by 13 pins. My two team mates showed up to bowl. My other teammate got his first 600 series and shot 655 with last game being a 253.

Good finish Brandon. So, did you win 5 or 3 points?

Thanks Dennis. Yeah we took 5 pts. We cant do worser than 7th place and highest we can place is 2nd. Race is so tight this year from 1st to 8th just 6 pts seprating us. In event of tie deciding factor will be total pin fall, had league vote and no one wanted to do a roll off if we tied.