PBA EXPERIENCE - WEEK 13 (FINAL) RESULTS

Blockheads:20
Vacant Team: 0

There appeared to be a mix-up in our league schedule. Somehow, our 13th week of the season was determined to be our final position round and our season ending sweeper combined into one event. Olivia and I bowled on the Earl Anthony pattern against the vacant team and won the full twenty points. We ended the season with a record of 124-136. It was certainly a feast-or-famine finish.for us with scores of 20-0, 0-20, and 20-0 in the final three weeks.

We failed to win any money in the sweeper but Olivia cashed in with a league honor for women's high handicap series.

WEEK 13 01  02  03  04  SER   G  PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia 106 135 119 164  524  32  4186 130.8 198  606   0   0   0
Mark   214 152 167 164  697  40  6975 174.4 218  771   9   5   0
Sharon                        4   598 149.5 185  598   0   0   0
Gary                         12  1671 139.3 165  586   0   0   0
Total  320 287 286 328 1221  88 13430 152.6 387 1329   9   5   0

We were much more competitive this year than we were in last summer's Sport Doubles 23. Our record then was 106-163.This is where we stood at the end of last summer's Sport Doubles 23:

WEEK 14 01  02  03  04  SER   G  PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia 140 138  96 176  550  32  4267 133.3 186  606   0   0   0
Mark   155 149 157 157  618  44  7231 164.3 212  720   3   1   0
Sharon                       12  1651 137.6 177  620   0   0   0
Gary                         16  2099 131.2 165  540   0   0   0
Total  295 287 253 333 1168 104 15248 146.6 377 1308   3   1   0

Our summer PBA Experience season is over. Now we wait to see where we stand with our diminishing fall/winter league.

PBA EXPERIENCE - WEEK 12 RESULTS

Blockheads: 0 - Team 9: 20

We came close in the first two games but Ray and Jim schooled us on the Earl Anthony pattern after that. We were swept 0-20 but we learned a few things so it wasn't all bad. We'll be out to practice on the Earl Anthony pattern Sunday morning to prepare ourselves for Round #2. 

This is the last week of the season before the sweeper. I need to find out which oil pattern the league will be using for the sweeper. Week 13 is supposed to be the last one on the Earl Anthony pattern.

WEEK 12 01  02  03  04  SER  G PINS    AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia 121 123 111  97  452 28  3662 130.8 198  606   0   0   0
Mark   171 178 169 159  677 36  6278 174.4 218  771   8   5   0
Sharon                       4   598 149.5 185  598   0   0   0
Gary                        12  1671 139.3 165  586   0   0   0
Total  292 301 280 256 1129 80 12209 152.6 387 1329   8   5   0

PBA EXPERIENCE - EARL ANTHONY



Earl Anthony - 40'

We switch to the Earl Anthony pattern this week after two weeks on Shark. We bowled on it in last summer's Sport Challenge 23 but I was on vacation for those two weeks. I hoped to collect some useful tips and videos to post here as I did for the other patterns we've played but there's not much available for the Earl Anthony pattern. Thus, I'm in the same bind as last year when I posted this. However, I did find one useful tip from a former professional bowler here and the lane diagram to the left.

Diablo Valley Bowl had a communications mix-up Sunday morning as they dressed the lanes with Shark instead of Earl Anthony. I would have bowled on it anyway but I had a tournament in Pinole at noon so I left. Peter was there also and he stayed to bowl. Thankfully, Diablo got everything sorted out in time for the Sunday night practice session. I came back after the tournament, as did Peter, and we bowled six games. We had some struggles and our scores weren't very high but we still learned a few things from it. It probably didn't help that we were fatigued from bowling a lot of games earlier in the day.

PBA EXPERIENCE - SCORPION

Scorpion - 41'

I'm sorry I didn't get this up in time for week #8. That was the first week our league bowled the Scorpion pattern. Week #9 will be the last. Scorpion is a 41' pattern with a heavy volume of oil. Jef Goodger at About.com offers this advice for playing Scorpion. Epic Bowling has some descriptions and tips which you can find here.

You Tube has this video for Scorpion:

PBA EXPERIENCE - WEEK 6 RESULTS

Blockheads: 13 - Team 6: 7

We had a few mix-ups on our path to the Viper pattern but in the end, it was a successful one. We were scheduled to bowl Mike Galli and Roxanna Horton, two outstanding bowlers. Mike has the highest average (207) among the men in our league while Roxanna has the highest average (183) among the women.

Mike and Roxanna had scheduling conflicts that required them to postpone our bowling Monday night. They arranged to have it post-bowled on Sunday, June 22nd. Olivia and I agreed to bowl with them on Sunday. Everything was sorted out. Except it didn't quite work out that way. It's actually June 24th that Roxanna will be unavailable and Mike missed the cut in the tournament he entered so both of them were able to bowl Monday night. They tried to reach us through Diablo Valley Bowl to inform us they would be bowling on our regular schedule but the messages never reached us.

I also had a change in plan. I have to leave for the airport earlier on Sunday than I previously planned so I too had to bowl Monday night. I contacted Olivia and she said she would be there to bowl with me Monday night. Then Olivia had a hitch in her plans so she couldn't make it. Thus, it we ended up with Mike, Roxanna, and I bowling Monday night. Olivia's average was used in her absence.

Now for the good news. I bowled extremely well in the first three games and we won 13 of the 20 points against very tough competition. It was my first experience with Viper and it didn't crush me the way Cheetah did. I had a few strikes early in the fourth game and a shot at an 800 series. But later in the game, four bad shots left me with washouts and I failed to convert any of them. Still, three good games out of four isn't bad. We're 33-7 in the last two weeks so we should be moving up in the standings.

WEEK 6  01  02  03  04  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia 131 131 131 131  524 12 1582 131.8 189  580   0   0   0
Mark   200 202 218 151  771 24 4123 171.8 218  771   5   3   0
Sharon                       4  598 149.5 185  598   0   0   0
Total  331 333 349 282 1295 40 6827 157.6 349 1315   5   3   0

We have one more week on Viper before we switch to another pattern. I think it's going to be Scorpion after Viper. I will be on the road the next three weeks so The Coach will be filling in for me. I highly recommend you read the notes and watch the video on the Viper pattern that I posted recently. They helped me a ton.

PBA EXPERIENCE - VIPER

Viper - 37'

In weeks #6 and #7 we'll be bowling on the Viper pattern. Actually, I will be bowling on it only in week #6. I'll miss weeks #7 through #9 while I'm on my summer road trip. But I digress. Viper is a 37' pattern with a moderate volume of oil. Jef Goodger at About.com offers this advice for playing Viper. Epic Bowling has some descriptions and tips which you can find here.

Here is a helpful video from You Tube:

PBA EXPERIENCE - WEEK 5 RESULTS

Blockheads: 20 - Vacant Team: 0

This was our last week on the Chameleon pattern and we drew the vacant team for it. Since we didn't have live opponents, we had to bowl within a certain range of our averages to earn a point.

Our team average was 296. Olivia didn't have 12 games on the books so she was still using her entering average of 133. My average was 163. We bowled pretty well, scoring our high series and high game (game #4) for the season. We easily cleared 296 in all four games and won all of the team points in addition to the individual match points.

WEEK 5 01   02  03  04  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800

Olivia 123 125 143 189  580 12 1582 131.8 189  580   0   0   0
Mark   191 185 171 188  735 20 3352 167.6 204  735   2   2   0
Sharon                       4  598 149.5 185  598   0   0   0
Total  314 310 314 377 1315 36 5532 153.7 377 1315   2   2   0 

Next week we'll switch to the Viper pattern.

PBA EXPERIENCE: WEEK 4 RESULTS

Olivia was back in action this week and we took on two tough customers in Jerry Kennedy and Chris Wu. They had to spot us 70 pins per game in handicap as we had our first of two weeks bowling on the Chameleon oil pattern.

We started off fairly well and almost pulled out a win in the first game. Then in the second game we were paid a visit by Jeff Falk. Jeff promptly spilled his cup on water on the floor behind us and our scores took a sudden nosedive. Thanks for stopping by, Jeff! Jerry and Chris swept us with only the first and fourth games being fairly close.

WEEK 4  01  02  03  04  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia 153 107 110 127  497  8 1002 125.3 182  505   0   0   0
Mark   168 154 174 204  700 16 2617 163.6 204  700   2   1   0
Sharon                       4  598 149.5 185  598   0   0   0
Total  321 261 284 331 1197 28 4217 150.6 345 1220   2   1   0

PBA EXPERIENCE - CHAMELEON

Chameleon - 39'

In weeks #4 and #5 we'll be bowling on the Chameleon pattern. Chameleon is a 39' pattern with a moderate volume of oil. Jef Goodger at About.com offers this advice for playing Chameleon while Epic Bowling offers more detail which you can find here.

For some video, here's an offering from You Tube:

PBA EXPERIENCE - WEEK 3 RESULTS

Sharon subbed for Olivia this week which was our last week on the Cheetah pattern. Next week we switch to Chameleon. Actually, that will be in two weeks. We won't be bowling next week because of the Memorial Day holiday. We will switch to Chameleon on June 3rd. The way I bowled on Cheetah the past two weeks, I can't say I'm unhappy to see it go.

I haven't bowled on Chameleon before and I won't be able to practice on it in advance. Diablo Valley Bowl will be hosting Bowling Bay Area's single ball 8-gamer and an ABT tournament on June 2nd. I suspect that won't leave any lanes open. Sharon and I are bowling in the single ball 8-gamer so I won't be able to practive on Chameleon even if they do put it on a few lanes.

Here are tonight's scores. It's almost as painful to type them as it was to bowl them.

WEEK 3  01  02  03  04  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia                       4  505 126.3 182  505   0   0   0
Mark   123 192 160 118  593 12 1917 159.8 204  692   1   0   0  
Sharon 128 149 185 136  598  4  598 149.5 185  598   0   0   0
Total  251 341 345 254 1191 20 3020 151.0 345 1220   1   0   0

PBA EXPERIENCE - WEEK 2 RESULTS

Olivia was present this week but we still don't have any handicapping. Until our entering averages can be established, we won't know the total scores or standings. This was our first of two weeks on the Cheetah pattern. This is the pattern the produces the highest scores on the PBA tour. You certainly couldn't tell that by our scores. Oof!

WEEK 2  01  02  03  04  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia 117 160 132  96  505  4  505 126.3 182  505   0   0   0
Mark   135 163 175 159  632  8  632 158.0 204  692   1   0   0
Total  252 323 307 255 1137 12 1829 152.4 336 1220   1   0   0

PBA EXPERIENCE - CHEETAH

Cheeth - 35'

We will be bowling on the Cheetah oil pattern in weeks #2 and #3. It's a 35' pattern with a high volume of oil and it's the highest scoring pattern on the PBA tour. I sought out some tips for bowling on Cheetah and found a couple from About.com and Epic Bowling. Click on the links to view them.

I also found these videos from You Tube:

PBA EXPERIENCE - WEEK 1 RESULTS

We started with a meeting to establish our league rules. Rather than a regular sport league, this will be a PBA Experience league with the champions qualifying for entry to a regional PBA tournament. For our league to qualify, we must bowl on PBA patterns for a minimum of 12 weeks. Our season is 13 weeks long and we already had Dead Man's Curve on the lanes for our first night. We will bowl on PBA patterns for the remaining 12 weeks which will allow us to qualify for the tournament entries.

Anothing thing that will be done differently this year is we're not breaking each night's bowling into two sets of two games to be bowled on different lanes against different opponents. We will bowl a four game series on the same pair of lanes each night.

Olivia was absent so I bowled solo tonight. I don't know if we won because we don't have the handicapping listed.  Our averages from last year's Sport Doubles 23 league weren't reported to the USBC. I have the stat sheets so I know Olivia's is 132 and mine is 163. I emailed copies of last year's stats to Diablo Valley Bowl so they can get our averages on the record and figure out the handicapping and standings.

WEEK 1  01  02  03  04  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG HSER 200 700 800
Olivia 132 132 132 132  528                          0   0   0
Mark   147 204 181 160  692  4  632 173.0 204  692   1   0   0
Total  279 336 313 292 1220  4  632 173.0 336 1220   1   0   0

SPORT DOUBLES 23 - SWEEPER

Our summer season is officially over. Olivia and I bowled in the sweeper for Sport Doubles 23 tonight but neither of us finished in the money. The Highway To Hell pattern was pretty tough on us.

We have two weeks to go before the Over The Wall league begins on September 10th. I suggest we get together for some practice before then.

SPORT CHALLENGE DOUBLES 23 - WEEK 14 RESULTS

This was the final week of the season before our sweeper next week. It was a double position round so we bowled both sets against the same team. We were in 15th place so that matched us with the 16th place team of Kadi Whiteside and Curtis Elmore.

SUMMER BOWLING SEASON IS WINDING DOWN

We have only two weeks to go for the sport doubles league. It's a position round for both sets on Monday, August 20th. Then we have our sweeper on August 27th and the summer season is done. There will be one Monday off (September 3rd) before the Over The Wall season gets started on September 10th.

I was checking the calendar and found that Columbus Day will be observed on Monday, October 8th. If you've looked at the tournament listings over in the right margin, you may have noticed the 10th Annual Storm National Mixed Championships being held at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. There are team, doubles, and singles events. Since we have Monday off for Columbus Day, we could make it a three night stay in Reno. We head to Reno on Friday, bowl that weekend, roll out of Reno Monday morning and get back in plenty of time for our regular league bowling on Monday night. We will have college and pro football plus the baseball playoffs to wager on while we're in Reno. What do you think?

HIGHWAY TO HELL

Monday night was our last on the Carmen Salvino pattern. Next week we move on to Highway To Hell. This is what Bowlingdigital.com has to say about it:


WARNING!


"With an increased amount of conditioner outside, the Highway To Hell is a low latitude ratio pattern with very little left to right shape to help guide the bowling ball towards the pocket. Each player will have to decide and make sense of their ball reaction to decide what’s best for them to find their way down the HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

PRACTICE ON EARL ANTHONY

Olivia with her Storm Frantic

We gave the new pattern a try at Diablo Valley Bowl last night. For all tbe doom & gloom we've heard about the Earl Anthony pattern, it didn't seem so tough. I shot mostly in the 170s with one game over 200. The Coach and Olivia didn't seem have any troubles with it either.

It played much easier than Cheetah, IMO. I suppose the true test will be tonight when the games count.

PBA OIL PATTERN: EARL ANTHONY

Sport Doubles 23 changes oil patterns from Cheetah to Earl Anthony beginning Monday night. Diablo Valley Bowl will have the Earl Anthony pattern on several lanes Sunday at 6:00 for practice. I will be there.

I wish I had some useful tips for the Earl Anthony pattern but my searches have thus far come up empty. The link on the sidebar leads us to this info on the PBA's website:

"The Earl Anthony Pattern places a premium on execution and repetition, qualities which Earl Anthony exemplified. This 40 foot pattern has a unique design in which the oil widens, as opposed to narrows, down the lane. The unusual placement of widening oil down the lane will force players to make premium shots from a variety of angles. As the pattern breaks down, look for players to make unique moves and precision shots, ala Earl Anthony."

Oh, really? We'll need to execute our shots well to be successful in a target shooting game? Gee, thanks for the tip, PBA. All I can say with any certainty is the oil for Earl Anthony (40') is shorter than we experienced with Paris (47') and longer than we experienced with Cheetah (35'). Perhaps Fred Kaczmarczyk will be there to share some insights and show us how he plays it. Not that any of us will be able to duplicate Fred's technique...

SPORT CHALLENGE DOUBLES 23 - WEEK 6 RESULTS



Kevin Burney or Rob Halford?

The Coach stood in for Olivia for our last night on Cheetah and we did okay with a record of 10-10 for the night.

In our first set we battled Lisa and Kevin Burney. Kevin is the lefty who stands about 6'6" and looks quite a bit like Rob Halford of Judas Priest. Kevin and Lisa beat us individually and as a team in the first game but we turned the tables on them in the second. They edged us in total pins with a score of 611-603 so they beat us 6-4.

Team Burney

In the second set we drew Ray and Gaylah Spackman. In a near repeat of the first set, we were beaten in the first game and rebounded to win the second. But this time, we caught fire in the final game just as Ray and Gaylah hit an uncharacteristic rough patch. The combination was enough to earn us the two points for total pinfall in the set and a 6-4 victory.

Week 6   01  02 SET1  03  04 SET2  SER G  AVG  TG TPINS  SAVG
Sharon                                          4   506 126.5
Olivia                                         16  2251 140.7
Mark    185 168  353 125 203  328  681 4 170.3 24  3897 162.4
Gary    121 113  234 141 165  306  540 4 135.0  4   540 135.0
TOTAL   306 281  587 266 368  634 1221 8 152.6 48  7194 149.9 

Next week we switch to the Earl Anthony pattern. Diablo Valley Bowl will have it on the lanes for practice at 6:00 PM this Sunday.