OVER THE WALL II - WEEK 15 RESULTS

We had another off week and this time it cost us. Beer & Balls scored well enough to take advantage and sweep us. We lost the first game by ten pins and it it grew worse from there. I didn't see how the other teams at the top of the standings performed but there's no doubt we'll have to turn things around quickly to have a shot at the title.

Though the team collectively had an off night, Sharon scored her high game and high series of the season.

WEEK 15  01  02  03 TOTAL AVG
Sharon  193 146 208   547 182
Olivia  123 165 143   431 144
Mark    182 190 158   530 177
Gary    128 115 120   363 121
TEAM    626 616 629  1871 156 


SEASON  HG   HS AVG
Sharon 208  547 163
Olivia 181  469 137
Mark   243  607 184
Gary   220  528 153
TEAM   771 2056 160

OVER THE WALL II - WEEK 14 RESULTS

After managing a 1-7 record the past two weeks and falling from first place to third behind Mashed Up Leftovers and One Time, we were in need of a strong night. We didn't bowl nearly as well as we wanted but with a heavy dose of luck, we earned a sweep at the expense of GOB. Only The Coach bowled over his average and we were giving up 61 pins per game. That's usually a recipe for disaster but our opponents had a dreadful night with scores of 505-481-444. All three games were far below their average game score of 568.

As we struggled to pull off our unlikely sweep, One Time were swept and Mashed Up Leftovers managed only one point. As a result, we moved back into a first place tie with Mashed Up Leftovers at 36-20, three games ahead of One Time (33-23).

WEEK 14  01  02  03 TOTAL AVG
Sharon  187 111 146   444 148
Olivia  146 126 116   388 129
Mark    176 191 185   552 184
Gary    160 154 176   490 163
TEAM    669 582 623  1874 156


SEASON  HG   HS AVG
Sharon 195  531 161
Olivia 181  469 136
Mark   243  607 184
Gary   220  528 156
TEAM   771 2056 160

HEY! THAT'S MY BOWLING SHIRT!

Upon a recent visit to a Carl's Jr. restaurant, I discovered the shirts their employees wear are the same as my bowling shirt! The only difference is the logo on the back. Instead of the bowling ball striking pins, they have the Carl's Jr. logo.

38th ANNUAL DIABLO SENIOR TOURNAMENT

Sharon and I bowled in a senior doubles tournament today. The conditions were pretty tough at first and most of the scoring was on the low side. Sharon bowled better than I did but we weren't even close to finishing in the money.

Still, it was a fun experience. The folks we bowled with were very nice.
Sharon won $15 in one of the raffles so it wasn't a total loss.

We're not done bowling just yet. We're bowling tonight in the Most Pins Over Average Tournament at Diablo Lanes.

OVER THE WALL II - WEEK 13 RESULTS

It was another rough week for The Blockheads as Super Bowlers took 3 of 4. We didn't have any sub-600 games as we did last week but we didn't have any big games either. We won the first game by 13 pins on the strength of Olivia's 177. After that, we dipped to 615 and lost by 15. In the third game we took a drubbing and lost the point for total pinfall as well. Sharon hit her high game of the season in the third game with a score of 195.

We hoped to get back on track and fight our way back to first place but it didn't happen. We'll have to regroup and try again next week against G.O.B. If Herb's spinner is hitting the target, we'll have our work cut out for us.

WEEK 13 01  02  03  SER AVG

Sharon 153 176 195  524 175
Olivia 177 128 123  428 143
Mark   176 166 192  534 178
Gary   137 147 131  415 138
TEAM   643 617 641 1901 158

SEASON  HG   HS AVG

Sharon 195  531 162

Olivia 181  469 137

Mark   243  607 184

Gary   220  528 155

TEAM   771 2056 160

OVER THE WALL II - WEEK 12 RESULTS

We can't say much except that we took gas last night. Sharon's car broke down on her way to Concord and the rest went downhill from there. While we struggled to find our shots, Shamrock and Darcy plunged their daggers into us for a 4-0 sweep, Mashed Up Leftovers improved to 31-17 while we fell to 29-19. I didn't get confirmation but I was told One Time went 1-3 and Beer & Balls split 2-2. If true, we're in a three-way tie for second place, two games behind Mashed Up Leftovers.

WEEK 12  01   02   03  SER  AVG
Sharon (160)(160)(160)(480)(160)

Olivia  142  124  107  373  124

Mark    163  166  243  572  191

Gary    104  113  147  364  121

Total   569  563  657 1789  149

SEASON  HG   HS AVG

Sharon 191  531 161

Olivia 181  469 136

Mark   243  607 184

Gary   220  528 156
Team   771 2056 161

DEALING WITH DISTRACTIONS



Richard Jacobson, SILVER Level USBC Coach

Here's another excellent article from Richard Jacobson. This one covers the mental side of the game. Distractions can be numerous while bowling. Learning to deal with them effectively can help one's game a lot.

Adres Gomez Wins First PBA Title

Congratulations to Andres Gomez of Columbia who won his first PBA title today at the Carmen Salvino Classic in Las Vegas. Gomez defeated Wes Malott 246-207 in the final.

SPARE SHOOTING: LOST ART OR LOST SCIENCE?

Richard Jacobson, SILVER Level USBC Coach

I found this article about spare shooting by Richard Jacobson, who operates the Great Balls of Fire pro shop in White Plains, New York. It's worth a look for this article and many others about improving one's game.

OVER THE WALL II - WEEK 11 RESULTS

We broke out the new bowling shirts and took over first place by grabbing 3 of 4 from The Gunners.

Both teams started a bit cold with The Gunners being off their game a little more than we were off ours. We held on to win the opener by 26 pins. In the second game, The Gunners warmed up while we slumped. They hammered us by 99 pins to earn a split and take a commanding lead in total pinfall. It looked like we would have to pull out a win in the final game just to earn two points for the night. But in the third game we went nuclear (including seven consective strikes by The Coach) and put up the league's high scratch game. Our score of 771 (average of 192.75 for the team) crushed The Gunners by 159 pins. We took the third game and with our series score of 1962 besting their 1876, we also claimed the point for total pinfall.

While we were winning 3 of 4 from The Gunners, One Time lost 3 of 4 to Mashed Up Leftovers who were lifted by a big night from Shamrock Power. One Time was one game ahead of us in the standings entering Monday night but when it was over, our record improved to 29-15 while One Time fell to 28-16.. Mashed Up Leftovers, our opponents next week, are in third place, two games behind us at 27-17.

WEEK 11  01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon  176 169 168  513 171
Olivia  120  81 181  382 127
Mark    170 177 202  549 183
Gary    148 150 220  518 173
Total   614 577 771 1962 164

SEASON  HG   HS AVG
Sharon 191  531 161
Olivia 181  469 138
Mark   243  607 184
Gary   220  528 160
Total  771 2056 162

THE SHIRTS HAVE ARRIVED!

They're colorful, they have a cool old-time design and they're very sturdy.

I think they look great. Will they inspire us to bowl better? We will find out Monday night.

We have The Gunners on the schedule this week. I don't know how they fared last Monday but entering the evening they were right behind us. We may need another hot night like we had last week to keep ahead of them.

SPOTTED IN THE DIABLO LANES PARKING LOT

Clever!

LEAGUE STAT SHEETS

I should have mentioned this earlier -- I created a new page for our league stat sheets. Just below the site's banner you will find a page menu bar. You're on the "HOME" page now. Click on the "STAT SHEETS" tab and the page with our stat sheets will open. The most recent stat sheet will be at the top. To return here, click on the "HOME" tab.

OVER THE WALL II - WEEK 10 RESULTS

We started the night trailing One Time by four games. After our four-game sweep of Team 7 while One Time were losing three of four, we are now only one game out. Our record improved to 26-14.

It was a big night for us as we surpassed our previous high game of 692 in the first (703) and third (698) games. We dipped a bit to 655 in the middle game but we did well enough to top our previous high series of 2007 with a score of 2056. Sharon scored her high series and tied her high game for the season.

WEEK 10  01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon  174 166 191  531 177
Olivia  149 155 123  427 142
Mark    221 175 194  590 196
Gary    160 159 190  509 169
Total   703 655 698 2056 171

SEASON   HG   HS AVG
Sharon  191  531 159
Olivia  175  469 138
Mark    243  607 184
Gary    209  528 157
Total   703 2056 161

Next week we bowl the Gunners on lanes 23-24. They were only one game behind us entering tonight.

MPOA Tournament

Olivia finshed first in the women's division of this month's Most Pins Over Average Tournament at Diablo Lanes. She also won the high game pot for the socond game. With her victory, she qualified for Bowler of the Year Tournamet in December. Well done!

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo Pins at Paddock Bowl

Sharon and I met Kris & Chris Kiiskinen at Paddock Bowl tonight to play their Monte Carlo game. Kate was in charge tonight which is always good for some extra games on the side and a lot more fun. None of us won any big money but each of us hit a few small winners. Dave, on the lanes next to us, hit the dollar strike pot which I think was good for $240+.

Paddock Bowl hosted a six-game tournament in the afternoon and it seems the lanes weren't dressed after the tournament's conclusion. They were as dry as the Mojave Desert. At one point, Sharon resorted to shooting for strikes with the Columbia White Dot (plastic ball) she normally uses to pick up the 6 or 10 pin. I struggled early but after switching to my Black Widow Pearl, I scored games of 219 and 226. Chris came close to breaking 200 with a 196 (or was it 198?) score in the final game.

Even though we didn't score any big winners, the three games and the "bowling for dollars" action were a lot of fun.

BOWLING ON TV

There won't be a pro bowling event on ESPN this weekend. The NCAA basketball tournament is again dominating ESPN's broadcast schedule. Next Sunday (March 25th), the PBA returns to ESPN with the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman Doubles Championship at 11:30 PDT.

The Bowling Links over to the right now has a link to the PBA TV schedule.

CLASSIC BOWLING SHIRTS

BowlingShirt.com has a spring cleaning sale in progress. They have some cool designs for $14.95. I ordered these.

OVER THE WALL II - WEEK 9

The Blockheads entered the night in a three-way tie for second place behind One Time. We started in a funk with all four of us missing our average in the first game. As expected, that led to a defeat. We came alive in the second and third games and claimed three of the four points.

The night's highlights included The Coach converting the 4-7-10 splite TWICE in the same game, Sharon and I converting the 2-10 split plus Sharon also converting the much tougher 2-4-8-10 split. After bowling a strikeless 146 in the first game, I started the second game with six strikes and finished with a score of 243.

WEEK 9  01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon 137 171 162  470 157
Olivia 102 127 134  363 121
Mark   146 243 204  593 198
Gary   152 136 155  443 148
Total  537 677 655 1869 156

SEASON  HG   HS  AVG
Sharon 191  517  157
Olivia 175  469  138
Mark   243  607  182
Gary   209  528  157
Total  692 2007  160

Next week we face Team 7 on lanes 29-30. We played them to open the season. I think we will be spotting them about 12 pins per game.

Pinboy's Guide To Better Bowling

I have a link to Pinboy's Guide To Better Bowling over in the right column. If you haven't bothered to check it out, please take a few minutes to do so. There's a lot of profound bowling wisdom to be found on that page.

Over The Wall II - Week 8

For the second consecutive week we bowled our high series for the season (2007), topping our previous high (1980) by 27 pins. This time it was good for 3 points and we were just a few pins away from a 4-point sweep. It's a much better outcome than last week when we bowled our high series yet lost 3 of 4. The Coach and Olivia scored their high series individually which was a big reason for our high team score.

        01  02  03  SER AVG

Sharon 152 155 143  450 150

Olivia 149 145 175  469 156

Mark   170 228 162  560 186

Gary   209 143 176  528 176

Total  680 671 656 2007 167

And our stats for the season:

       GMS  PINS AVG

Sharon  21  3309 157

Olivia  17  2386 140
Mark    24  4343 180

Gary    24  3794 158

Total   86 13832 160

Time To Fire Up The Blog Again




The Coach wrings the neck of Jeff Falk

I haven't done anything with our old blog for awhile because it seemed like nobody was reading it. Last night, after taking a photo of The Coach strangling Jeff Falk, I thought about starting it up again. So after about 14 months of dormancy, we're up and running.

Why does The Coach have his hands around Jeff's neck? Because last week we bowled our high series for the season but lost 3 out of 4 thanks to Jeff's hot hand. Jeff didn't even break 400 in the two previous weeks but when he bowled against us, he pulled off his high game (196) and high series (467). Therefore, it's only right that The Coach went after the sandbagger.

Week #14 Resuls

I walked out without a copy of the scoresheet so I won't have the stats until next week. I doubt anyone will be disappointed since we didn't bowl very well and our opponents did really well. It was an 0-4 pasting at the hands of One Pin Standing that knocked us out of first place.

One Pin Standing is now in first place for the second half with a record of 12.5 and 3.5. We're 3.5 points behind at 9-7. A couple of the other teams may have jumped ahead of us also. I'll add more once I obtain the scores.

Week #13 Results

Page 1 - Click To Enlarge

Our rematch with The Sleeperzzz didn't work out as well as we hoped. Sharon and Olivia bowled well but The Coach and I slumped on a night we couldn't afford it. The Sleeperzzz were on fire the first two games before cooling off in the third. The result was a 1-3 night.

We gave up 76 pins per game in handicap so we had to at least make our averages to have a chance. All four of us were off target in the first game while The Sleeperzzz were hot and they beat us by 56 pins scratch. With the 76 pin handicap, it was a 132 pin pounding.

Olivia and Sharon stepped up in the second game but The Coach and I couldn't get it in gear. The Sleeperzzz put up another big score which was enough for a 25 pin victory. With a 157 pin edge in total pinfall, The Sleeperzzz had just about locked up three points for the night and they were on the verge of sweeping up a second time.

Page 2 - Click to Enlarge

Luckily, The Sleeperzzz came back to earth in the third game while Olivia put up her high game of the season (179). This carried us to our lone victory of the night by 39 pins. We held on to first place as I Can't Believe It's Not Gutter, also suffered a 1-3 defeat. One Pin Standing went 3-1 and moved past them into second place. Here are the stats:

        01  02  03  SER AVG

Sharon 146 175 176  497 166
Olivia 107 142 179  428 143
Mark   151 173 152  476 159
Gary   123 133 141  397 132
Total  527 623 648 1798 150

And our stats for the season:

       GMS  PINS AVG
Sharon  36  5864 163
Olivia  27  3559 132
Mark    39  7004 180
Gary    33  5170 157
Total  135 21597 160

Next week we have One Pin Standing (the card players) on lanes 13-14. We'll need to do well to hold onto first place because they're only a half point behind us. Here are the updated standings:

                  2ND HALF   1ST HALF  TOTAL
                   W   L      W   L    W    L
BLOCKHEADS         9   3     24  16   33   19
ONE PIN STANDING   8.5 3.5   17  23   25.5 26.5
I CAN'T BELIEVE..  8   4     19  21   27   25
TEAM 10            6   6     22  18   28   24
TEAM 3             5   7     15  25   20   32
SLEEPERZZZ*        4   8     25  15   29   23
DR. NASHMOYKI      4   8     24  16   28   24
G.O.B.             3.5 8.5   21  19   24.5 27.5

*1st half champions

Christmas Monte Carlo at Diablo Lanes

Page 1 - Event Details

Diablo Lanes in Concord is hosting a Christmas Monte Carlo bowling night on December 23rd. I'm trying to assemble a group to participate in this event. We have plenty of bowlers at the office and I thought it would be pretty cool to get together for an evening of bowling for dollars just before we're off for the Christmas holiday.

So far we have commitments from nine bowlers. I'm shooting for sixteen so we can have four lanes of four bowlers together. We've participated in these Monte Carlo games at Paddock Bowl in Pacheco and Clayton Valley Bowl in Concord and it has always been a lot of fun. The highlight was earlier this year when Cleo Robles nailed a strike worth $231.00 at Paddock Bowl.

Page 2 - Money Shots

This will be our first time for Monte Carlo at Diablo Lanes. Our league bowling experience there has been very good -- much better than it was at Pinole Valley Lanes. The flier says Diablo Lanes may make it a regular event if there's enough interest. I'd like to see that happen. We can probably help by getting a good turnout for this one.