Week #7 Results

Now were gettin' somewhere! Olivia was out of action again but Sharon, The Coach, and I were in fine form with series of 540, 533, and 627 respectively. It was a four game sweep that moved us from third place to a first place tie with Dr. Nashmoyki at 18-10.

Practice at Paddock Bowl

Sharon and I bowled a couple of practice games before tonight's Monte Carlo game at Paddock Bowl. I shot some video which is linked below.
Part 1 Part 2

Week #6 Results

We got back on the winning track, going 3-1 for the night with a couple of really close games. We pulled ourselves back up to third place at 14-10. Olivia couldn't be there tonight. Sharon hit her high game of the season with a 217 in the third game while the Coach and I shot respectable scores in the 170s. That was enough to win the rubber game of the match and to claim the total pinfall point.

I was glad to be back in decent form after last week's disasterous performance. My strike line hasn't resurfaced but I was picking up most of my spares which was a huge relief. I bowled the third game with my Black Widow Nasty because my Black Widow Pearl was damaged when it got stuck in the ball return during the tenth frame of the second game. Diablo Lanes is going to repair it for me and I should have it back for next week's games.

Sharon raised her average five pins. Way to go, Sharon!

        01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon 166 158 217  541 180
Olivia ABS ABS ABS
Mark   172 171 175  518 173
Gary   155 132 171  458 153
Total  493 461 563 1517 169

For the season:

       GMS PINS AVG
Sharon  15 2423 162
Olivia  15 2031 135
Mark    18 2980 166
Gary    15 2240 149
Total   63 9674 154

Week #5 Results

Ouch! That was our worst performance of the season by far. Sharon was in Sacramento for the Columbus Day Holiday. I wish I had been, too. Olivia and the Coach might have been able to pull out a game or two. As it was, we were swept and dropped from second place to fifth with a record of 11-9. That's the worst I've bowled since I was a kid. Just awful. I dropped ten pins off my average in one night! I had some problems with my thumb swelling and I wasn't able to find the right taping in the thumb holes of each ball. Everything I tried just made it worse. I'm going out for some extra practice sessions before next Monday. I stunk. Sorry, teammates.

        01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon ABS ABS ABS
Olivia  89  94 120  303 101
Mark   155 109 109  373 124
Gary   163 176 120  459 153
Total  407 379 349 1135 126

For the season:

       GMS PINS AVG
Sharon  12 1882 157
Olivia  15 2031 135
Mark    15 2462 164
Gary    12 1782 149
Total   54 8157 151

Sharon's Conversion of a 4-6-7 Split

During today's practice session at Paddock Bowl, Sharon converted a 4-6-7 split which I captured on video. Here's the link.

Week #4 Results

We were okay tonight but our opponents, Team 3, bowled really well and they took three of the four points. Our record is now 11-5 which drops us into a second place tie with Team 3 behind Dr. Nashmoyki (Team 6) who are 12-4.

        01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon 154 190 205  549 183
Olivia 154 137 152  443 148
Mark   142 193 184  519 173
Gary   174 133 155  462 154
Total  622 589 690 1901 158

For the season:

       GMS PINS AVG
Sharon  12 1882 157
Olivia  12 1728 144
Mark    12 2089 174
Gary     9 1323 147
Total   45 7022 156 

Week #3 Results

We had our first taste of defeat this season. We split 2-2 which leaves us with a record of 10-2. The Coach wasn't able to bowl tonight.

        01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon 180 150 155  485 162
Olivia 135 131 121  387 129
Mark   222 186 200  608 203
Gary   ABS ABS ABS
Total  537 467 476 1480 164

Here are out totals through the third week.

       GMS PINS AVG
Sharon   9 1405 156
Olivia   9 1285 143
Mark     9 1570 174
Gary     6  861 144
Total   33 5121 155

Week #2 Results

We had another four game sweep tonight. We're 8-0 and in first place.

        01  02  03  SER AVG
Sharon 148 151 169  468 156
Olivia 138 166 133  437 146
Mark   146 175 181  502 167
Gary   168 149 107  424 141
Total  600 641 590 1831 153

Here are our stats through the first two weeks.

       GMS PINS AVG
Sharon   6  920 153
Olivia   6  898 150
Mark     6  962 160
Gary     6  861 144
Total   24 3641 152

2010-2011 Week #1 Results

We opened up the 2010-2011 bowling season at Diablo Lanes last night. Before we bowled, we had a league meeting during which all of the rules, prizes, costs, etc., were explained in detail. This was a quite a departure from the leagues we bowled in last season. We were left in the dark about everything and our questions were seldom ever answered to our satisfaction. Thus, we were off to a better start this season before we ever set foot on the lanes.

The League we're bowling in is called NFL Over The Wall. It has an NFL theme with contests tied into the Monday Night Football game and the season parallels the NFL season. Diablo Lanes has TVs mounted throughout the house so we can watch the game while we bowl -- this aspect of the league should keep The Coach very happy.

Though the business side of the league went without a hitch, we didn't bowl very well. Well, except for Olivia who bowled her best series ever. Sharon, The Coach, and I were well short of your averages. No doubt this was due to a lack of practice. Once we get back to our regular practice sessions, our scores should pick up.

We bowled unopposed in the first week. It would be nice if Diablo can get the league filled out so we won't have to do that again. Here are our scores in the opening week:

        1   2   3  SER AVG
Sharon 135 168 149 452 150
Olivia 128 158 175 461 153
Mark   136 144 180 460 153
Coach  177 136 124 437 145

Reno Trip

We're at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno for......well, we're not exactly certain. With anything involving a league at Pinole Valley Lanes, information is scarce. When the league started we were told we would travel to Reno at the end of the season to bowl in a tournament.

Later we were told our league's sweeper would be held in Reno at the end of the season. The latter would seem unlikely since only seven members of our league made the trip. (We came to Reno on a bus with members of two other leagues from Pinole Valley Lanes.) So as I said earlier, we don't really know what we're doing here except that we will do some bowling.

Week #14 Results

Upon our arrival at Pinole Valley Lanes, we were astonished to find the stat sheet showed us still tied with The Icemen. This was interesting since we were tied entering last week and won four points while The Icemen won only three. Olivia asked Pam about this apparent discrepancy and she was told The Icemen won four points last week. Reggie Van Hook told us his Icemen won only three, so we can't help but wonder if the scorekeeping is on the level.

MONTE CARLO - A $231 STRIKE

I was expeting a big turnout since the dollar prize pot was growing so big but only about ten people showed up to bowl Monte Carlo at Paddock Bowl. As a result, the pot increased only $20.00 to $231.00. Of course, $231.00 is still a pretty nice prize. Cleo Robles's ticket was drawn and she excitedly stepped up to the approach for her shot. She didn't show any signs of nervousness as she buried a perfect hook into the 1-3 pocket. All ten pins were sent flying into the pit and the money was hers!

Week #13 Results

With our four-point sweep of The Strike Force while The Icemen were winning only three of four from The Desperados, we have sole possession of first place again. The Strike Force were in third place before last night but the four losses sent them spiraling downward to no higher than fifth place.

More Monte Carlo

Saturday night was another Monte Carlo night at Paddock Bowl. Our usual hostess, Kate, had the night off and the man who replaced her was about as electric as Ben Stein. I'm sure everyone would like to see Kate back at the microphone next week. Olivia, Sharon, The Coach, and I enjoyed ourselves even though the atmosphere was lacking without Kate. The bowling was good even though the money shots weren't so plentiful. I think Sharon was the only one in our group who won any more than a few dollars. Olivia had a shot at the dollar pot worth $211.00 but she didn't strike. That money will roll over to next week and I expect it will be worth at least $250.00. I suspect we'll have a big turnout next week with the pot getting so big.

More Video

Here are some more shots of Sharon bowling Monte Carlo at Paddock Bowl.

More of Olivia's Mutant Cell

When Olivia and I went to Al Louie's Pro Shop to pick up her new Mutant Cell, Al mentioned that her thumb slug was (intentionally) slightly large and that she should add one or two pieces of tape for a firm fit. Well, in all the excitement of getting started with a new high performance ball, we forgot about the tape.

You can see there is very little hook on Olivia's shots and most of them come up short of the headpin. One would expect an aggressive high performance ball like the Mutant Cell to hook a lot.

(continued in comments)

Olivia's new ball

Here are some shots of Olivia breaking in her new Mutant Cell from Roto Grip. This is Olivia's first high performance ball. She's still using her Ebonoite Tornado for the spare shots.

Here's some more video of Olivia, just before she got her Mutant Cell.

Sharon's Turn

Sharon seemed a little camera shy but I think she'll enjoy an opportunity to evaluate her technique.

Some Video From Paddock

My daughter shot this.

More Video

Here's The Coach practicing his hook shot.

Week #12 Results

With Sharon's Houses taking three of four from us Monday night we fell into a tie with The Icemen. The good news is it's a tie for first place at 32-16. Sharon's Houses remain five games behind us with a record of 27-21. I don't know how the other matches turned out so I can't post the standings yet.

Video

I finally got around to editing some of the video I've shot over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam's security software will prevent you from watching the video on your office computer. But you should be able to see it on your home computer without any trouble. Anyway, here's some video of Olivia firing some shots earlier in the season. There will be more soon.

CHEER UP/REVENGE

HELLO FELLOW BLOCKHEADS, WE WILL REBOUND FROM THIS PAST MONDAY NIGHT AGAINST SHARRON'S HOUSES. WE MADE THEM WORK FOR THOSE 3 VICTORIES. YOUNG HOUSE (LAMONT HAD TO BOWL AT 250 OR HIGHER EACH GAME TO DEFEAT US. CONGRATS TO THEM BUT WE WILL SEE THEM AGAIN.

Monte Carlo Night at Paddock Bowl

The Blockheads minus Olivia rode out to Paddock Bowl Saturday for another night of Monte Carlo bowling. Olivia wasn't able to join us this time because she had relatives visiting for Easter. Though Olivia was absent we have a group of six from the office. The Coach and I were joined by Sharon and first-timers Cleo, Aline, and Jeff. Brandon was along for the ride but because of his recent knee surgery, he was limited to spectating and helping us with the automatic scorekeeper.