The FOFC Bowling Thread

[Alan T]

My league starts on Thursday!

[Pumpy Tudors]

So I started my league last Friday. Good start. My team took 5 points out of 7. Our only loss was by 5 pins. I am taking partial blame because I didn't get a mark in my 10th frame that game. If I pick up my spare, I easily clear at least 6 pins to sweep the match outright.

Anyway, my numbers for Week 1: 198-173-180 for a 551 series. I bruised my bowling thumb early in the first game (accidentally banged it against the console), but it clearly didn't hurt my game at all.

This week, we will be giving up 98 pins in handicap to our opponents. It will be a little tough, but I'm up for the challenge. I will keep FOFC posted.

[wahoomac]

Last night I had a 188-157-198 (543) series but we lost all four points. Other team was giving us 11 marks and we still couldn't win one. My average was 153, so it will be heading up next week. Am liking the redrilled fingertip ball, but I am missing some spares (chop a pin here and there).

[Glengoyne]

You guys are way outta my league. We just finished our third week. My team is 11-1 over that stretch. We took all four this week, although one of them was really nip and tuck. We were 80 pins down going into the 10th, but none of them marked. We all struck out or at least got marks in the 10th. My series was 141, 145, 172 for a 458 series.

This next month will be interesting, as we are in second place, and will be facing the rest of the top 5 in consecutive weeks. To top that off...the first three weeks our handicap was based on our previous season averages...next week we lose almost 40 pins of handicap.

[PackerFanatic]

No worries, Glen - I am even worse off then you I had right around a 430 series last Friday, and that is really good for me. My average at the end of last year was 127, I have put that into the 130's after two good weeks to start the year, but I still have a long way to go obviously, heh.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Tonight, my "coach" (a longtime bowler who works at the bowling center) completely changed my delivery. He's got me starting the ball higher, squaring my shoulders a bit more, and essentially making me get the ball down the lane quicker. The last time my delivery got changed, my scores dropped about 30 pins. I hope that doesn't happen this time, but in tonight's games after the switch, I managed to top 180 in all of my games, so I guess he knows what he's talking about. We'll see if I remember how to do it in league tomorrow night.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Quick updates after 9 weeks:

My team is in first place. We've won 18 of our 27 games, and we've won total pins 7 out of 9 weeks. This puts us at 43 points ((18*2)+7).

My average is 182. My highest series scores are 607 from a few weeks ago and a 599 last week. I shot the 599 half an hour after I bought a new ball. I think 599 is a pretty good start for my first time with a 15lb ball (a Brunswick Wild Thing, if you're curious).

My game averages are eerie. Over 9 weeks, I average 183 in Game 1, 183 in Game 2, and 180 in Game 3. Over the summer, my third game was consistently better than the other two. So far in the winter league, it doesn't seem to matter. I'm about the same in all three.

My high game of the season is 234 which was achieved in Game 2 of my 599 series last week. So in my second game with the new ball, I shot my best score.

Last night, I was asked to sub for another league. It just happens to be the most competitive league in the building. There are several bowlers there with 200+ averages. I was selected to sub because I am steadily improving as a bowler, and it will also help my game to be surrounded by great bowlers. So I am basically an "on-call" bowler on Tuesdays. It sounds like a good league, but it's tough competition. It's a money league with a $24000 total prize pool, but since I'm a sub, I don't have to pay when I bowl. I will get a (small) cut of any prize money that goes out to my team(s), though. I'm very excited for the opportunity to bowl with the best that Greensburg has to offer.

aight peace

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I'm very excited for the opportunity to bowl with the best that Greensburg has to offer.

I'll be at Headkeepers down the road from Main Bowl. Make sure you tell me which car is yours in the Video/Main Bowl Parking lot...cause sometimes I get drunk and piss in the lot. I don't want to get it on your car.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

I'll be at Headkeepers down the road from Main Bowl. Make sure you tell me which car is yours in the Video/Main Bowl Parking lot...cause sometimes I get drunk and piss in the lot. I don't want to get it on your car.

It's the red one with the Broncos sticker and University of New Orleans sticker on the back windshield. There's no other car like it.

I like Headkeepers. Can't remember what I ate last time I was there, but it was definitely good. I think it was like an egg roll or something? What I didn't like was that I drove past Headkeepers one Saturday afternoon and some guy was vomiting in their parking lots. I think he had actually come from the pool hall next door, though.

But I digest.

[mtolson]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Quick updates after 9 weeks:

My team is in first place. We've won 18 of our 27 games, and we've won total pins 7 out of 9 weeks. This puts us at 43 points ((18*2)+7).

My average is 182. My highest series scores are 607 from a few weeks ago and a 599 last week. I shot the 599 half an hour after I bought a new ball. I think 599 is a pretty good start for my first time with a 15lb ball (a Brunswick Wild Thing, if you're curious).

My game averages are eerie. Over 9 weeks, I average 183 in Game 1, 183 in Game 2, and 180 in Game 3. Over the summer, my third game was consistently better than the other two. So far in the winter league, it doesn't seem to matter. I'm about the same in all three.

My high game of the season is 234 which was achieved in Game 2 of my 599 series last week. So in my second game with the new ball, I shot my best score.

Last night, I was asked to sub for another league. It just happens to be the most competitive league in the building. There are several bowlers there with 200+ averages. I was selected to sub because I am steadily improving as a bowler, and it will also help my game to be surrounded by great bowlers. So I am basically an "on-call" bowler on Tuesdays. It sounds like a good league, but it's tough competition. It's a money league with a $24000 total prize pool, but since I'm a sub, I don't have to pay when I bowl. I will get a (small) cut of any prize money that goes out to my team(s), though. I'm very excited for the opportunity to bowl with the best that Greensburg has to offer.

aight peace

Man, I only wish I was doing as well as you. My team is in dead last. Seems like everyone want to bowl there highest scores against us. Have to admit, part of it is me. Coming back from hand surgery wasn't as easy as I thought. I have spent the better part of the season trying to stop tracking over my thumb hole. I manged to get a 689 (after switching to a Lane #1 Red Death) set out but even with that I am only averaging 186, which is about 20 pin under my average. I have had many people watch me and know one can clearly tell me what the heck I am doing different. My release is fast which is probably not giving them a chance to clearly see it. Guess it's time to break out the video.

[lungs]

Man, I wish my league would start already. I have to defend my Busted Pin Award (lowest average in the league) and my team is going for a four-peat!

[Alan T]

My team is 7th currently (6 way tie for 2nd place actually but we lose out in total pins) after 8 or 9 weeks. I'm pretty much bowling my normal average of 144 thus far, but have been all over the place. For my team, I have a season high score of 199 and a season low score of 84.

My biggest issue so far has been health issues though, I went through 3-4 weeks of an injured toe that made it painful to bowl well. The weeks that I've actually been healthy, I've been averaging over 150 which is far better than past seasons.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Further updates:

Three weeks to go in the first half, and my team is rolling. We're in first place with a 10-point lead over second place and a 12-point lead over third. We're on a 7-point system, so if we get some help and push our lead to 15 points after tonight, we can coast for the final two weeks. Even if we can't wrap it up tonight, we'll be hard to catch unless we go into a tailspin.

I decided to put my stats online, for myself and for the internet at large. (BowlingTracker.com - View Profile) Week 12 was just a disaster for me. Fortunately, we were up against a team that had to forfeit all 7 points because only one bowler showed up. The league rules require two bowlers on a team. The sad thing is that the one bowler actually beat us in Game 1, but we still got the win because of the forfeit. That was embarrassing.

As for the Tuesday league that I was going to sub for, it looks like that experiment is over. The team I was subbing for has disbanded, and it doesn't look like that league is going to form another team. So I only got to sub for one week. Oh, well. It was a good idea. I guess I'll just have to think about joining that league next year.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Well, we only got 2 out of 7 points tonight. Both of the teams chasing us got 5 points, so we are up by 7 on second place and 9 on third place. If we can win at least 5 points next week, I'll feel very comfortable going into the final week of the season. It's a close one!

[Pumpy Tudors]

And another update as we enter the penultimate week of the first half!

I was given bad information last week. We are actually up by 12 points on the 3rd place team. Tonight (in about 3 hours), my team faces the 4th place team, while 2nd and 3rd face off against each other. We are giving up only 5 pins in handicap tonight, so the teams are evenly matched. I am fairly consistent with my game, and my wife isn't too bad either. The question mark is our teammate. His average is 163, but he is all over the place. He's the kind of guy who can bowl 220+150+120 on a single night. So his average looks halfway decent, but those really bad games are killers.

At least we know that we'll be competing for the first half championship next week on position night. We'll either be alone in first or tied for first. I just hope that we can extend our lead to more than 7 points tonight so we can have it all wrapped up. As long as we win a couple of games tonight, we'll be in good shape. I had a good practice last night, so I feel confident.

When I started bowling four years ago, I was nervous about the idea of being in a league. Now that I've been in leagues for a couple of years, I find that I really love the competition. Tonight almost feels like playoffs to me. It's exciting. The x-factor for me tonight is that we're bowling on lanes 5 and 6, and if you look at my stats, you'll see that I don't have much experience on those lanes. It's been 3 months since I bowled there. That makes me a tad edgy.

For those who care, I'll report back with an update at the end of the night!

[Pumpy Tudors]

We won 1 out of 3 plus total pins. So we got 3 points, second place got 5 points. We're up 5 going into the final week of the first half. If we win one game next week, we are the first half champions!

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

... The question mark is our teammate. His average is 163, but he is all over the place. He's the kind of guy who can bowl 220+150+120 on a single night. So his average looks halfway decent, but those really bad games are killers.

...

Hey I could be your teammate. My average is 150, but I'm all the hell over the place. No consistency. NONE whatsoever. This last week I put up a 111 and a 120 to go along with a 155. I threw four first ball gutter balls this last week. I ended up with three out of four spares on those frames. I've been wickedly inconsistent these last two weeks, and my team has plummeted out of first place, dropping six out of eight games.

I gotta get more practice.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Wow, I thought I had updated here. My team needed to win one game to win the first half, and we did exactly that. We only won one game. I pushed my season average up to 184, and the second half starts this Friday. It feels good to relax through the second half of the season without worrying about the standings too much. Yes, it would be nice to win the second half and automatically be the champs, but it's not necessary. So I'm just going to relax, try to improve my mechanics a little bit, and we'll see where the chips fall.

I would absolutely love to get my average up 190 for the season, but I would have to average 195 the rest of the way to get there. That's asking an awful lot out of me, considering I've never even averaged 175 over an entire season. It does give me a personal goal to shoot for, but I'll try not to put a lot of pressure on myself. If I can just stay above 180, I should be happy.

[mtolson]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Wow, I thought I had updated here. My team needed to win one game to win the first half, and we did exactly that. We only won one game. I pushed my season average up to 184, and the second half starts this Friday. It feels good to relax through the second half of the season without worrying about the standings too much. Yes, it would be nice to win the second half and automatically be the champs, but it's not necessary. So I'm just going to relax, try to improve my mechanics a little bit, and we'll see where the chips fall.

I would absolutely love to get my average up 190 for the season, but I would have to average 195 the rest of the way to get there. That's asking an awful lot out of me, considering I've never even averaged 175 over an entire season. It does give me a personal goal to shoot for, but I'll try not to put a lot of pressure on myself. If I can just stay above 180, I should be happy.

195 is not impossible. Hard, but not impossible from where you are. 2 more spare conversion per night and you are there. Biggest keys would be hitting the pocket 95+% to reduce splits and converting single pin spares.

[JPhillips]

First female to win on the PBA tour, Kelly Kulick, comes from my alma mater of Morehead State.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

First female to win on the PBA tour, Kelly Kulick, comes from my alma mater of Morehead State.

She was amazing in the match against Barnes. She had to fight hard against Koivuniemi, and she needed that 10th frame against him, but she just dominated in the final. It's been a long time since I've seen someone make every strike look picture perfect. I was impressed. I'm hoping to see her make a few more TV appearances over the next couple of years while she's exempt.

[Young Drachma]

Not much highlight coverage, but they interviewed her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6vxI_q8ztE

[Pumpy Tudors]

She's absolutely right when she said she didn't bowl against Chris Barnes. She was bowling the pins. It was obvious throughout the match that she was only interested in her own game, which is really the way you have to bowl when you're a big underdog. Barnes made a couple of big mistakes, but even when Kulick left a 7-10 split in the middle of the match, she recovered. Not once did it appear that she thought the door was open for Barnes. She was dialed in on her own shot, and she was amazing.

I didn't watch a lot of pro bowling earlier in the season because it clashed with the NFL games, but now I can watch this stuff every Sunday through the rest of the season. I hope other telecasts are at least half as exciting as this one was.

Congrats to Kelly Kulick!

[Butter]

Best part of the match: At the end of the match, when presented with the trophy, she took it over to her mom and gave it to her. The trophy basically looked like a big bowl. She gave it to her mom, who looked like a hard-living type, and told her "this is for you". Her mom didn't skip a beat and said, "I'll make it an ashtray."

I wish I was kidding or misunderstood her, but it was pretty clear. The mom was probably kidding, but still.... Funny stuff.

[mtolson]

I am really surprised how little EPSN played it up. Didn't even make the front page cycle. Let Michelle Wie beat Tiger Woods and that's all we would have heard for the week.

On a side note, Barnes never even stood a chance. He was shelled shocked from the first frame and she pounced on him. She rammed that bowling ball right down his throat ! AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT !

[TCY Junkie]

Yeah Pumpy there are 39 teams. 36 weeks plus position weeks. I use a ball older than me, it's 16 lbs.

Our 5 person team did have a 315 handicap. But slowly went down to 305, we had a really good week two weeks ago and went from 300 to 297. Monday was easily our best series so it might be really close to 292. We are tied for 5th and you have to go down to 19th to find a team with more handicap pins than us. This is in the Woodlands and they have 40 lanes. That's where I bowl Monday, I bowl in Conroe on Wednesday also with my dad. They have around 30 lanes but only 11 teams in the league. There is this really good bowler on my team there, he bowled a 87x series, 19 strikes in a row. His average after 5 weeks was 236, then he had shoulder surgery and his average has dipped all the way down to around 205. That high early average hurt us a little so we're in 4th.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Very nice, TCY Junkie! My team is in the garbage right now. After winning the first half, we have only 2 points total after the first 2 weeks of the second half. I think we'll get back up to respectability, though.

[Poli]

I bowled a 139 three weeks ago! Take that!!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Poli

I bowled a 139 three weeks ago! Take that!!

i could bowl a 139 with one eye tied behind my back

[larrymcg421]

It got so little coverage that even Wrongway couldn't manage to clone his way back into the forum to bash her.

[Poli]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

i could bowl a 139 with one eye tied behind my back

Pumpy, ehm, you do have one eye behind your back. We didn't want to tell you so soon, though.

[Pumpy Tudors]

dang!

[PackerFanatic]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

i could bowl a 139 with one eye tied behind my back

*refuses to disclose his average*

On a league note, my uncle's team (well, it's actually two of my uncles on that team, heh) in my league are on a tear as of late. Last week, they bowled a 3571 scratch series. Yes, you read right - scratch. A 714 average per person. The first two games, they won by over 250 pins a piece. My one uncle had his first 700 ever. And of course, they beat the season high for scratch series by over 500 pins. Pretty crazy.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

*refuses to disclose his average*

On a league note, my uncle's team (well, it's actually two of my uncles on that team, heh) in my league are on a tear as of late. Last week, they bowled a 3571 scratch series. Yes, you read right - scratch. A 714 average per person. The first two games, they won by over 250 pins a piece. My one uncle had his first 700 ever. And of course, they beat the season high for scratch series by over 500 pins. Pretty crazy.

Sorry, I just saw this post. A 5-person team bowling 3571 scratch is nuts! It's hard enough to get one bowler to shoot 700, much less getting a team of 5 to average that. Absolutely amazing!

My average has been stuck at 184 for four straight league weeks now (as you can see if you click the link in my sig). I am soooo close to getting my game consistently above 190, but I need to keep my focus and convert my spares. When I shot 572 the other night, I left one open frame in each game. At my level, that really isn't acceptable. Bad games happen, but I should be able to put up at least one clean game every week. I'm getting there, but it's hard to maintain. At least I'm still in good shape for reaching one of my big goals, which is averaging 180+ after an entire league season. I just need to keep my focus.

In two weeks, my wife and I are competing in a scotch doubles tournament for the second straight year. It's a fun tournament, but we are definitely taking it seriously. We will start practicing scotch doubles this week just to get back into the feel of it. For those who don't know what it is, the couple alternates shots throughout each game. The female goes first in games 1 and 3. The male starts game 2. So my wife will throw the first shot. If she makes a strike, I start the second frame. If she leaves a spare, I shoot for the spare, and then she starts the second frame. So you don't alternate frames. You alternate shots. It's a lot of fun.

And to wrap up this long post of mine, my team is pretty much in the tank so far in the second half of the season. Three weeks, only four points. As long as we're back in shape for the final week, it's no big deal. I just feel like we're not competing very well right now, so I'm hoping we get past this bad stretch pretty soon.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Just want to add that my wife and I are entered in our city's biggest tournament. We're competing this Sunday. We're bowling on an oil pattern called "Highway to Hell" and after looking up the details of it, I am officially petrified. I feel like I'll be lucky to shoot a 500 series on that pattern. It will definitely be an adventure.

[OldGiants]

Good Luck, Pumpy

I've been meaning to post about my last week of February games.

I'm on my wife's team in the local teachers' league and we only bowl two games. We've had a disappointing season with all our averages way down and finishing no where near a playoff spot (so far).

The other team pre-bowled, and badly, so it was just the four of us, and we decided to have fun, not press, since we anticipated an easy night. My teammates relaxed too much, and at the end of five frames I was the only one with a good night going having four marks. Then I ripped off three strikes. In the ninth I had to make a six pin for a spare, and just hooked wide when I threw to soft a ball. Even with a spare in the tenth, I only made a 194.

Angry I missed my chance at a 200, I did notice that I just eked into the high game with handicap for the year by a pin. So it wasn't a total loss. Anyway, I figured I was tired and would not do much in the second game. This time, I started out with four marks--much to my surprise. Then I ripped off four straight strikes. In the ninth, I missed a seven pin when I made up for the soft toss in the first game by blazing this one past with no hook at all. But I was at 196 ("No, don't look at your score!"). I finished with a spare and a 213, my all-time high game.

I don't know where that came from. Last week was back to normal with a 156 and a 133, so who knows tonight.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Congrats on your 213, OldGiants! Now you have a new high score to shoot for. Try to hit 214 next week.

[lungs]

Thank god for the handicap, but my team (Two Fingers and a Thumbhole) defeated Team Pump and Pray last night for our fourth consecutive Sauk City Lanes championship!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Congratulations, lungs!

[Poli]

I had a great night bowling a few weeks ago. Great for me. My three game composite score was just over 400...which is probably the best I've done with the new ball my brother gave me.

Tuesday, however, was terrible. Maybe I was nervous around the chick I went with, but I DIDN'T CRACK 300 in three games combined.

At least I got the girl.

[PackerFanatic]

You sound like you'd be awesome on my team, Poli

Actually, I am not giving enough credit to my teammates - we are just about finish up our third year together and the other four guys on my team have grown and gotten better quite a bit since we started (unlike myself, who has a worse average by a few pins than when we started, heh)

Although last week might (I am hoping...) been a breakthrough. I didn't do much different than I normally do, I just took my time and hit my marks. I started with a 194 (very close to my best score ever, and only 2 opens) - but I hate starting so well because I am awful at staying consistent. I hit 152 and 138 for my next two games, which for me is awfully consistent (my average this year is 128...ick...) The 484 series is probably my best ever, and 100 over my average for this year. The real test will be how I do tonight and if I can keep it up (just don't want to put too much pressure on myself) Sad that we only have a couple more weeks left

[Poli]

I only hit the lanes every few weeks. It's mostly to show Pumpy how it's done.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Poli

I only hit the lanes every few weeks. It's mostly to show Pumpy how it's done.

Wish I spent as much time in the gutter as you

I had an amazing night of practice last night. My scores included 193, 200, 233, and 234. Of course I want to keep that up when I bowl league tonight. My team is pretty much out of the running for the second half championship. That's fine, though. We did win the first half, so we'll be bowling for the title in a few weeks anyway. I just wanted to win both halves. No biggie.

I never did mention how my wife and I did in the tournament last month (see my post up the thread a tiny bit). I did not manage to hit 500 on the "Highway to Hell" pattern. It was very difficult, but it was a good experience. I will enter the tournament again next year.

I have people urging me to bowl in the summer PBA Experience league. The league uses actual PBA oil patterns, so it's super challenging. Unfortunately, the $20/week is just not in my budget right now. I could probably swing it if I dropped out of the casual summer league (only $9/week), but I don't want to do that. If I find some extra cash, I'll enter it. I have no shot of winning the thing because it's scratch and not handicap, but it would be a great experience.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Last night in practice, I bowled my best series ever. I bowled a 734 (221+267+246). I clearly have this type of performance in me, but it just doesn't translate to league play. Part of it is that I have to wait longer between shots in league, and also I have trouble remembering how to attack both lanes in league. I can remember how to play one of the lanes, but I tend to forget how to approach the other. Both of those problems would be resolved with more mental focus on my part.

I think it's just that the long season is wearing on me. Physically, I'm fine. It's just hard to stay centered after 26 weeks or however long we've been bowling this season. I feel like I'm going through the motions. This must be how the Pittsburgh Pirates feel every Memorial Day.

[Glengoyne]

My all time high 514 series, just this Tuesday. I've been consistent for almost a month now. It may just be that something is starting to Click?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

My all time high 514 series, just this Tuesday. I've been consistent for almost a month now. It may just be that something is starting to Click?

Congratulations! Every time you hit that "next level" of scores, it feels great. Things like first 500 series, first 200 game, first 600 series, etc. It's awesome. It probably is clicking for you right now. Just remember to stay focused when you're in that groove. Don't get lazy! The same level of focus has to go into every shot.

Easy for me to say, though, especially after I just posted about how I'm losing focus.

[TCY Junkie]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Easy for me to say, though, especially after I just posted about how I'm losing focus.

When I first started I kept imagining the arrows were levitating, not on purpose. I just couldn't focus. I started past the midway point of the year last year. My average after 6 weeks was 135. Now I got it up to over 150 and usually beat that by at least 10 pins now that I focus better. My high game is only 206 and my high series is 523. Last week I shot 181 and 189, I thought I was going to break my series easily but I lost focus. I could write another paragraph about it, but I won't this time.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Not gonna talk about the night I just had (at least not yet). Just click the link in my sig and check out week 28.

[OldGiants]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Not gonna talk about the night I just had (at least not yet). Just click the link in my sig and check out week 28.

Tremendous. Well rolled

[Pumpy Tudors]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

I pretty much tore the side of my thumb open last night while bowling. I will not let the injury stop me. I'm going to glue it shut and bowl again tonight in a meaningless match for my squad. Next week is the championship, and I would be smarter to just take an absence tonight and rest up for the final, but no.

I need help.