Tuesday - August 19, 2008

Summer Bowling League Is Over

We went into the night in 4th, battling it out with the 3rd place team. They were 3 points up on us and about 370 total pins ahead. It wasn’t a scratch match but almost one; we got 20 pins handicap. We almost never get a handicap in this league, so hurrah!

The lanes were really hard tonight. Very heavy and long. Nobody could get any ball action in the first game. We pretty much switched to throwing straight balls, and took the first game by 145. Big win! And we had a great time. The other team is 4 older guys who have been bowling for a couple of centuries. Each, I think. They’re loud and rude and playful and have a great time, which is how it ought to be. You can’t have a stinky mood when you bowl with them. They had one guy out who had prebowled, as did we. By the end of the first game the six of us who were there had managed to push the oil around enough so that we could get a little traction and throw properly. And I mean a little. Very little. I spent the whole night 3 feet back and 1 to 2 boards in, throwing 2 boards to the right just to try and slow it down and find some dry. That seemed to work. Even my spaz-ball reverse screwball throw wasn’t doing anything. Nothing. So I went low and slow with major hand and started my approach from the parking lot. Well, at least that’s how it felt.

Their pre-bowler logged a 244 for the 2nd game, about 80 over average. That’s a huge lead to overcome, but I tried. I spared in the 1st and 2nd frames, then found a good spot and stuck to it like glue. Strike after strike, 6 in a row, no open frames ... and I managed a 233. Everyone’s bowling was better in game 2, but theirs was a bit better than ours, so we lost it by 75 when they pulled an 837. At that point it was all over. They had the lock on 3rd place and we all knew it. But they didn’t just goof off from there. No, these guys are real bowlers and, though they have lots of fun, they don’t dick about.

After trailing behind for the first 6 frames we got the 3rd game by about 40. We also took total wood, so we wound up with 5 points. We started the night with 55 points against their 58, so it wound up that we each had 60 points, but they still had the scratch pins total so 3rd place was theirs. They earned it fair and square, so that’s all well and good.

I should have played the average/over average/high game pot; my 233 would have won me $10. Hey, $10 is $10! But I played the Strike Ball, and the Pin Girl, who is back serving beer and has quit her job pole dancing in a bar because it was “great tips but so gross” pulled my ticket. I hit the strike in the 7th frame and won $26. Woo hoo!! I’ve known her since she was 18. Turns out she didn’t even know my name. Doesn’t it suck being old?

When we were done we had to wait for the other teams. Team “The Winers” was pulling another miracle with a come from behind rush against Chix and Dix for 1st place. They were down 5 points going in, won the first 2 games, but by halfway through the 10th frame of the 3rd game were still behind a little. Pam turkeyed out in the 10th on a spare in the 9th, bringing the scores really close. Their last bowler went X 9 / on an open, but the Chix and Dix guy flubbed it with a 9 / 7, and The Winers became The Winners. Last bowler, last game, last frame. By 2 pins. It was that close. Cool. They won last year too.

I didn’t get the high scratch game award. Don’t ask me why, since my name was up on the standings page tonight, but Ed F., who was on the team we played tonight, got the prize for a 279 game. Beats me; he didn’t throw any 279 tonight. Oh well. a 279 is almost perfect bowling: all strikes except for one spare. When all was said and done, we collected our prize money - a whopping big $35 per person for our team - finished off the beer and went home, secure that our record of winning 3 beer frames in a 12 week season was good until next year.

Phew, I need a vacation from bowling. I get 5 days. Winter league starts Monday night. Oh wait, my new balls finally came in, so I have to go in for a fitting to get them drilled. And the Saturday Night league kickoff meeting is this Saturday. Ok, looks like only 3 days vaycay. And it’s going to be a loooong year; I won’t have another week without league until around this time next year.

Posted by Drew458     on 08/19/2008 at 10:12 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner