UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

If you peek over in the right column you will see that I've updated the listing of upcoming tournaments. I have also acquired a few tournament fliers that I have added to our TOURNAMENTS page.

One I just learned of is from Bowling This Month (BTM) magazine. It's the BTM & 123 Tournament at the Grand Sierra in Reno and it runs from February 28th through July 7th. The BTM is scratch and the 123 is handicap. This tournament doesn't require advance registration -- just drop in and bowl. It has singles, doubles, and trios. We could do this one if we do the Reno Fun Four bus trip to Reno in May.

WEEK 8 RESULTS

Won 1, Lost 3

Well, that didn't go quite as well as we hoped. We weren't dreadful but we weren't particularly sharp either. We pulled out the first game by five pins but Team 1 took it to us in the second and third games to take three of the four points. The good news is our closest competitors split their series and gained only one game on us. We remain in first place by two games.

LEAGUE STAT SHEET

WEEK 8  01  02  03  SER  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600 700
Sharon 186 159 157  502 24  3885 161.9 215  526   2   4   0   0
Olivia 135 151 156  442 21  3375 160.7 224  509   3   4   0   0
Mark   193 178 182  553 24  4670 194.6 247  706  10   5   2   1
Gary   138 131 170  439 23  3552 154.4 211  530   1   1   0   0
Total  652 619 665 1936 92 15482 168.3 794 2170  16  14   2   1

SPARE SHOOTING DIAGRAMS

At our recent practices, we've been working a lot on our spare shooting.  Much of that has involved moving the place we stand on the approach to change the angle of the shot. The rationale behind this method may not have been clear so I'll use some diagrams for clarification.

On the lane diagrams above, I drew straight lines from the pins, across the targeting arrows and back to the approach to demonstrate how moving a few boards on the approach will change the angle of the shot.

The lane diagram on the left uses the center arrow (on the 20th board) while the diagram on the right uses the third arrow (on the 15th board). In either case, you can see how moving three or four boards on the approach while using the same targeting arrow will change the direction of the shot.

It should be noted that the colored lines do not show where you would set your feet. They represent the position of your right shoulder as you walk toward the foul line and the path the ball would take on the lane after you release it. This is assuming you point your bellybutton toward the pin, don't drift on the approach, and roll the ball as straight as a laser toward the pin. With enough practice to make it a habit, you will be able to line up and hit these spares without giving it much thought.

You might find this lane diagram useful if you have trouble remembering the number designations for each board. Since all of us bowl right-handed, I will do all of the counting from a right-hander's perspective (starting from the right).

WAYNE LANSER MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

Olivia & The Coach at Bel Mateo Bowl

The Wayne Lanser Memorial Tournament (celebrating the life of Wayne Lanser and raising funds for the Alzheimer's Association) was held at Bel Mateo Bowl this afternoon. Olivia, The Coach, and I made the trip into "Niner" territory with hopes of bringing some of their money back over to the East Bay. Sharon wasn't able to join us for this one.

The Coach signals for a strike

In our previous trips to Bel Mateo Bowl, we've spoken with a young woman on the staff who enjoys working there but doesn't like to bowl. We learned today that she is the granddaughter of Wayne Lanser. Her mother, brother, and sister were also present today.

Olivia & Ray Jr., today's winners

As always, the bowling at Bel Mateo was excellent. We bowled on lanes 11-12 with Ray, Ray Jr., and Kevin.  Olivia and I bowled previously with Ray Jr. and Kevin in the Holiday Cash Doubles Tournament in December. The Coach and I each had a bad game that kept us out of the money but Olivia bowled well and finished in second place. She also won two of the raffle prizes. She won a Brunswick bowling ball and a basket that included barbecue grilling tools, a bottle of sauce, and a Safeway gift card. Ray Jr. came on strong in the second and third games to finish first.

Olivia with a prize & The Coach

Olivia has now bowled in three tournaments at Bel Mateo Bowl and finished in the money all three times. With her past success and today's two raffle winners, we were kidding her about renaming the place "House of Olivia." When she finished second, even Craig Gabriel got in on it, commenting that it may be time to change the name from Bel Mateo Bowl to Olivia's Bowl.

Besides Olivia's winnings and the fun we had bowling this Sunday, the tournament raised close to $500 for Alzheimer's research. It was a good day in every respect.

WEEK 7 RESULTS

Won 4, Lost 0

We entered the night in a first place tie with Team 5 (Jeff & Co.) as we were matched up with the Newbies (Team 8) for the first time. James (163 average) pre-bowled for the Newbies and his series of 208-143-144 (495) was already on the books. That 208 in the first game looked rather ominous so we knew a high score might be needed to win the first game. The 143 and 144 appeared to give us an edge in the second and third games.

Perhaps that ominous 208 game James had on the board in advance got us fired up because we came out of the gate hot. We won the first game by 44 pins despite James's 208 and Steve's outstanding 264. The score was 784-740. Olivia fired a 198 and The Coach added a 211 to offset the Newbies' high scores. Our score of 784 was just short of the league's high game of 794 we established the previous week.  It was a relief to have a solid win in the game we figured would be the most trouble.

The second and third games were nail-biters that came down to the final shots in the last frame. Thankfully, we had just enough to hold them off by scores of 698-666 and 688-665 to earn a four-point sweep.

Our team series score of 2170 topped the league's previous high of 2165 (held by Team 5) while the sweep gave us sole possession of first place with a three-point lead. (Irene, Phil, and Peter took 3 of 4 from Jeff's crew.)

We now have the league trifecta with first place, high game, and high series in our possession. A lot of the credit goes to The Coach who worked extensively on his spare shooting Sunday morning and came up with several clutch shots when we needed them most. It was a good night for us all around -- it was the first time ever that all four of us bowled over 500 on the same night.

WEEK 7  01  02  03  SER  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600 700
Sharon 155 183 177  515 21  3383 161.1 215  526   2   3   0   0
Olivia 198 146 165  509 18  2933 162.9 224  509   3   4   0   0
Mark   220 195 201  616 21  4117 196.0 247  706  10   4   2   1
Gary   211 174 145  530 20  3113 155.7 211  530   1   1   0   0
Total  784 698 688 2170 80 13546 169.3 794 2170  16  12   2   1

THE BLOOD DIAMOND REVISITED

Sharon & her Blood Diamond

I have a few more shots of Sharon's new ball, the Blood Diamond by Lane #1. When we practiced on Thursday night, people from the league at the opposite end of the house came down to check it out. It's a very distinctive ball and Sharon enjoyed success using it to shoot at her single pin spares. I expect the Blood Diamond with make its debut in Over The Wall II tomorrow night.

DEBUT OF THE BLOOD DIAMOND

The Blood Diamond by Lane #1

Sharon broke out her new Buzzsaw Blood Diamond at Diablo Valley Bowl last night. The Blood Diamond is a clear polyester ball with a red diamond in it. It's designed primarily for shooting straight at spares.

WEEK 6 RESULTS



Won 3, Lost 1



We had our second match with Ifrancene VanderHopper (Team 3) and this one was just as tight as the last. Both teams muddled through the first game and we came out on top by a small margin. We did better in the second game but it wasn't enough. Our opponents took it up to a higher level and buried us by 81 pins. Yet again, we split the first two games and found ourselves in a spot where we needed not only a win, but a win by a large margin to avoid losing the point for total pinfall.

Team 3 turned it up to 10
so we needed a bit more

In the final game, Peter & Co. turned it up again but this time there was no stopping us. We turned it up to 11 with a 794 to claim the rubber game of the match and edge them by a mere eight pins in total pinfall. Irene and Frances bowled their high series for the season, with Frances's 600+ series being tops for the women in our league. Team 3's scores would have been enough to earn a sweep or at least win 3 out of 4 on most nights. However, on this night we bowled our high game and high series of the season. It's a good thing we did because we needed every bit of it to get past them.

WEEK 6  01  02  03  SER   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600 700
Sharon 113 145 215  473 159.3 215  526   2   2   0   0
Olivia 139 170 200  509 161.6 224  509   3   3   0   0
Mark   247 222 237  706 194.5 247  706   8   4   1   1
Gary   155 156 142  453 151.0 198  485   0   0   0   0
Total  654 693 794 2141 167.3 794 2141  13   9   1   1

We entered the night in second place with a record of 14-10, half a point behind Don't Matter (Team 7). By winning three of four, we bumped our record up to 17-11 which may have been good enough to push our way back into first place. Don't Matter was paired up with Team 6 but I don't know the outcome of their series. We know from our match with Team 6 last week that they can be pretty tough.

WEEK 5 RESULTS

3 wins, 1 loss

I've been battling a cold since the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday so when I haven't been working or bowling, I've been sleeping. Thus, the blog has been neglected since the second week of the season. I'm trying now to get everything caught up. I have the stats for the past three weeks posted today.

This week we had a real battle on our hands with Team 6 (yet unnamed). It was a lot tighter match than the final outcome would indicate. We won the first game by 47 pins but Team 6 got hot in the second game (powered by Chris Owens's 240) and bombed us by 81. Each team had a win but we were town 34 pins.

For the rubber game of the match, a loss would give Team 6 a 3-1 edge while winning the third game by less than 34 pins would leave us with a 2-2 split. Fort the third game, we were the ones who came out hot as we put up our second best score of the season. We won the final game by 51 pins to claim a 3-1 record for the night. We should consider ourselves fortunate because it easily could have gone the other way.

By winning three of four, we held onto to our ever-so-slim lead of half a point over Don't Matter (Team 7).

LEAGUE STAT SHEET

WEEK 5  01  02  03  SER   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
Sharon 155 172 187  514 159.7 213  526   1   2   0
Olivia 160 147 165  472 159.6 224  505   2   2   0
Mark   213 191 198  602 186.3 223  602   5   4   1
Gary   148 159 160  467 152.1 198  485   0   0   0
Total  676 669 710 2055 164.9 769 2055   8   8   1

In the fourth week of league play, we drew the vacant team on the schedule. This required that we bowl no lower than 39 pins below our team average to earn a win. We managed to do this in the the first and third games but a stinker in the second game cost us a point. Our record for the night was 3-1.

WEEK 4  01  02  03  SER   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
Sharon 137 161 146  444 156.8 213  526   1   1   0
Olivia 119 131 188  438 160.3 224  505   2   2   0
Mark   223 155 157  535 182.8 223  584   4   4   0
Gary   ABS 145 160  305 151.2 198  485   0   0   0
Total  629 592 651 1872 163.2 769 2048   7   7   0

In week #3, we took on Peter Vanderbout's crew and came away with three of the four points.

WEEK 3  01  02  03  SER   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
Sharon 170 143 213  526 159.7 213  526   1   1   0
Olivia 162 139 204  505 167.5 224  505   2   2   0
Mark   153 169 210  532 184.2 212  584   3   3   0
Gary   179 164 142  485 150.9 198  485   0   0   0
Total  664 615 769 2048 165.4 769 2048   6   6   0