Week 8 Bowling Update

The Hasbeens – Lanes 15/16

****Game 1 may be protested for USBC rules violations. More info as it develops**** 

For the first time this season, we faced an opponent with a significant handicap advantage. Fortunately, we were on my favorite pair, so I hoped a little of that old magic was still hanging around. I’d been averaging 198 on this pair, so confidence was high. We only needed to beat them by 65 pins per game to sweep the night.

Only three of their four bowlers were present when the match began. League rules state that if all players aren’t on the lane by the start of the fifth frame of Game 1, the late bowler can’t participate in that game. Their team kept him updated throughout warmups, but as the first frame rolled around (pun intended), he still hadn’t arrived.

I told our guys to speed things up and see if we could lock him out of Game 1. But the other team went into slow-motion mode in frames 3 and 4, and he slid in just before the fifth frame. Naturally, he was their best bowler—and he hit the ground running.

Spare shooting was the struggle of the night, though I actually had a solid performance in that department. Good thing, too, because I only had eight strikes in 32 attempts. I converted 62% of my spares and an impressive 86% of my single pins (13 out of 15).

Honestly, if we’d been bowling a no-tap tournament, I’d have had a perfect game in Game 1—three strikes and nothing but nines the rest of the way. My only open came in the ninth frame when I missed a 9-pin by two boards. I left ten five- and six-pins that game and finished with a 184.

Games 2 and 3 went downhill quickly. Once my solid ball lost its look, I was lost right along with it. I switched to my asym solid—nothing special—then spent the rest of the night chasing the pocket with my hybrid. Ended up with a 465 series, a far cry from the 594 I rolled on that pair earlier this season.

We dropped all seven points and continued our slow slide toward the bottom of the standings. A few more pocket hits and a steadier spare game could’ve turned the night around.

---

Right-Left-Right – Lanes 17/18

In a nutshell? We gave this one away.

We faced one of the cellar teams last night and only needed to outshoot their scratch total by 65 pins per game to snag an easy seven points. That didn’t happen. We kept things close but walked away with just three points—winning Game 3 and tying Game 1.

Game 1 saw our leadoff teammate roll a 198 alongside my 177, while our middle guy finished ten pins below average with a 124. Their top bowler shot a 201, and when handicaps were added, both teams ended dead even at 681 pins—so we split the point.

Game 2 was a dumpster fire for everyone on both sides. We beat them by 22 pins scratch, but their handicap pushed them over the top.

Game 3 came down to the wire. Our leadoff bowler posted a strong 213, and I limped home with a 151. The real drama hit in the 10th frame when I went 8–spare–6 to pull us ahead by a single pin. An open 3rd and 4th frame on my part nearly cost us the game—but hey, I like to keep things interesting.

Next week, we’ll square off against a solid team—actually, the one I bowled with last season. Always fun when competition meets friendly trash talk in this love/hate relationship we call bowling.

Keep Striking!! 🎳