I started bowling again about 5 years ago. I had about a 150 average back then but I was determined to improve. I started to watch the better bowlers and tried to emulate them. I read a couple of books... yeah, they have how-to bowling books! I really worked on my bowling.
So here I am 5 years later. My averages at the end of last season were 183 and 186. My best game was a 268. I was a pretty happy camper.
At the end of last season I joined a team of "ringers" - 4 men with 200+ averages. We were hoping we could take on the reigning league champions and kick their butts. Well, turns out that team wimped out and decided not to return to that league (pussies). There are still 1 or 2 tough teams in this league and we managed to take all 4 games from one of them already. We face the other team next week.
However, I'm going to talk about this last week right now.
All bowlers dream of someday bowling a perfect 300 game. Twelve strikes in a row. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Just get up there, frame after frame, and calmly throw a strike. Piece o cake. Never mind that by the time you have thrown the 7th or 8th everybody is watching you. Never mind that by the time you have thrown the 7th or 8th your knees have turned to jelly and you are just hoping to not look like an idiot, not to through a gutter ball or [gasp] a split.
For whatever reason, the bowling gods were smiling on my the other night. My first game was a very nice 232. The second game was something else....
Yes, I'm now a member of the somewhat less than dazzling -but still quite remarkable - 299 club. As I turned around after that last ball I didn't know whether I should be hugely embarrassed at having left a %#$$#%@^$ ten pin or thrilled that I actually threw the best game of my life. I went with thrilled with a side order of slightly disappointed.
The second best thing about having bowled a 299 was that I was now within sight of a 700 series which was something else I had never done. So I sit myself down and quickly do the math. I'll need at least about a 170 to make a 700.
Now, you must understand that most athletes [let's not argue about bowler's being athletes shall we?] of any flavor are superstitious people. For me that means: don't calculate your score ahead of time. I usually have no idea what my final score will be until I walk off the approach after the final ball is thrown and look at the scoreboard. I just don't want to know. I don't need that added pressure.
The mere fact that I bothered to figure out what score I needed to hit my 700 series bothered me somewhat. I thought for sure I was doomed to failure having done that math in my head. Then, about the 6th frame I mention to one of my teammates that I was hoping to hit my first 700 tonight. He looks at my scores, at that point I had a turkey [three strikes in a row] and he said, "Oh, you got it already." I proceeded to get that deer in the headlight look and he went on to say, "Unless you gutter from here on out, you'll get it." WTF, UNLESS YOU GUTTER FROM HERE ON OUT! Who in their right might says that to a person who is already doing a major freak out????
I managed to hold it together well enough to bowl a..... 221 for my last game giving me a 752 for series! Wooooooooooooot! Not only did I get my first 700 series I made it all the way to 752.
Now the bad thing about bowling outta your everyloving mind one night early in the season is this: YOU NOW HOW THE HIGHEST AVERAGE YOU HAVE EVER HAD IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. There is no way I can maintain a 200 average. No way.
It looks like our team will have NO handicap next week... when we play the next toughest team in the league. GG me.
1 comment:
Very nice. (followed the updated link)
It's funny, since we've started in with the Wii bowling, we've gone real bowling a bit more often. My son is 7 and of course does better on the Wii. But it is a source of enthusiasm for him to go play the real thing more often. So I guess that's good in a way.
GL with that eventual 300.
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