RENO INVITATIONAL - WEEK #8



Blockheads: 3 - Clobberin' Time: 1



When our opponents showed up, one of them said it looked like they had some easy pickins'. Olivia was absent but three-fourths of us easy pickins' managed to win three-fourths of the points. Putting down one's opponents in their presence is not a very wise practice. Then when one fails to back up the boast, it only serves to make one appear a chump.

  Blockheads      Clobberin' Time
  PINS HCP TOTAL  PINS HCP TOTAL
1  657  72   729   706   0   706
2  671  72   743   764   0   764
3  662  72   734   687   0   687
T 1990 216  2206  2157   0  2157

WEEK 8  01  02  03  SER  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
Olivia 150 150 150  450 14  2105 150.4 178  488   0   0   0
Sharon 165 163 170  498 24  3914 163.1 191  533   0   2   0
Mark   173 174 195  542 24  4331 180.5 219  595   5   6   0
Gary   169 184 147  500 24  3699 154.1 184  503   0   2   0
Total  657 671 662 1990 86 14499 168.6 715 1990   5  10   0

A HOUSE DIVIDED

Today I was thinking about Abraham Lincoln's famous House Divided Speech that he made in 1858. Do you remember that one from history class? Here is part of it:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South."

RENO INVITATIONAL - WEEK #7

Blockheads: 3 - Banana Splits: 1

We took the first two games but came up five pins short in the third. With the point for total pinfall, our series score was 3-1. Ordinarily, we'd be a bit glum after losing a potential sweep by a mere five pins. However, after losing 11 of 12 the past three weeks, a winning series of any kind was a huge relief.

  Blockheads      Banana Splits
  PINS HCP TOTAL  PINS HCP TOTAL
1  667   0   667   410 191   601
2  626   0   626   425 191   616
3  613   0   613   427 191   618
T 1906   0  1906  1262 573  1835

WEEK  7 01  02  03  SER   G  PINS   AVG  HG  HS 200 500 600
Olivia 156 178 154  488  14  2105 150.4 178  488  0   0   0
Sharon 151 169 162  482  21  3416 162.7 191  533  0   2   0
Mark   189 150 160  499  21  3789 180.4 219  595  5   5   0
Gary   171 129 137  437  21  3199 152.3 180  503  0   1   0
Total  667 626 613 1906  77 12509 162.5 715 1985  5   8   0

DROPPING IN AT RAY'S CLINIC

Ray Spackman held one of his drop-in bowling clinics at Diablo Valley Bowl on October 5th. Sharon handled the bowling this time while I observed and shot some video. The clinic was very well attended. I counted ten lanes of bowlers. For $20, each attendee bowled for two hours while Ray roamed from lane to lane, providing instruction and encouragement.

My impression was that Sharon made some substantial improvements in her game. Ray worked with Sharon primarily to smooth out her first two step to resemble regular walking steps and to stop muscling the ball with her forward arm swing. Sharon kept an open mind and made a strong effort to work on the things Ray showed her. By the time the two hours were up, Sharon had a smoother, less strenuous delivery that will be easier to repeat consistently. Here are four shots taken during various points in the lesson. In the first you'll see Sharon is muscling the ball less than before and in the three subsequent shots, a vast difference is detectable.

BTM GOES OUT OF BUSINESS



BTM's "Ball Talk"

Bowling This Month magazine has ceased operations. This is most unfortunate. BTM was a great resource and it will definitely be missed. There are other bowling mags but none that offered such in-depth technical information about technique and equipment. You can read more about BTM's demise at 11thframe.com. 

HOW IT'S MADE: BOWLING PINS

Here's another one you may have seen on Discovery Channel.

HOW IT'S MADE: BOWLING BALLS

You may have seen this video on Discovery Channel.

VIDEO: HOW BOWLING BALLS ARE MADE

THIS LOOKS INTERESTING

Ashly Galante endorses Eileen's Bowling Buddy

Eileen's Bowling Buddy

Before you get too worked up, Coach, Ashly Galante is not Eileen's Bowling Buddy. It's the thing she's holding.

I ordered the pin version and the "flat ball" version

RENO INVITATIONAL - WEEK #5

Blockheads: 0 - Barbarians: 4

We entered the night in 5th place with a record of 10-6 but by the time we were finished, we were 10-10. The Barbarians punted us down to 11th place. We had a shot at taking the second game but we fell 10 pins short. After a solid start, we've lost 7 of 8.

   Blockheads      Barbarians

   PINS HCP TOTAL  PINS HCP TOTAL 
1   605   0   605   671  13   684
2   699   0   699   696  13   709
3   615   0   615   700  13   713
T  1919   0  1919  2067  39  2106 

WEEK 6  01  02  03  SER G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
Olivia 131 174 156  461  8 1169 146.1 176  461   0   0   0
Sharon 161 163 170  494 15 2499 166.6 191  533   0   2   0
Mark   185 204 170  559 15 2736 182.4 215  595   4   4   0
Gary   128 158 119  405 15 2299 153.3 180  503   0   1   0
Total  605 699 615 1919 53 8703 164.2 715 1985   4   7   0

RENO INVITATIONAL - WEEK #4

Blockheads: 1 - Most Hated: 3

We missed an opportunity to push our way to the top of the standings by losing 3 of 4 to Most Hated. Instead of catching them, we dropped four points behind. Our record now stands at 10-6 and we're in a two-way tie for fifth place.

Personally, I was very frustrated by the way the evening went. I bowled a 677 series on Friday night and had a good practice session on Sunday. Pocket 7-10 splits in the second and third frames set the tone and it didn't get much better after that. I felt relaxed and confident when Sharon and I arrived to bowl. It certainly didn't last.

Part of my frstration is from the sense we don't have four bowlers pulling on the same rope. We're a month into the season and we've had our full lineup on hand and ready to bowl exactly one time so far. That was a problem for us the past two seasons and the move to Albany Bowl (which is about four miles and twelve minutes from the office) was intended to alleviate that problem. So far, it isn't working.

WEEK 4  01  02  03  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
Olivia 137 126 169  295  5  708 141.6 176  413   0   0   0
Sharon 174 174 158  506 12 2005 167.1 191  533   0   2   0
Mark   160 156 149  465 12 2177 181.4 215  595   3   3   0
Gary   142 178 151  471 12 1894 157.8 180  503   0   1   0
Total  613 634 627 1737 41 6784 165.5 715 1985   3   6   0