Category: Activities (Page 2 of 48)

With 75% of the season in the books, it’s fascinating to see how the same person can be so good one week and in the dumpster another. What that means, with 12+ bpwlers most weeks, is that we always have a couple of guys step up every week…and so it was today.

Let’s start with Frank. He was red hot for three months before he went to Florida for a month and a half. And when he came back, he was good but not as good. That changed today! In game one he had a run of seven strikes in a row and had our highest game of the calendar year at 243. In game three he had a six-bagger and a 202 but his split in the tenth kept him from a 600 series by three pins at 597 (+63). Pretty good stuff.

Then there’s Ed Smith. Talk about hot or cold! Of his 22 series this season before today, exactly half were above 500 with a high of 598 and a low of 407. Today “Good” Ed showed up with a 534 series also at +63.

Other plus series were bowled today by Ed Sc (+2), Ian (+10), Mike (+13), Linc (+18) and Dave (+19). We had two BBS — one by Bill and one by Linc. And Ed Sm had two nice split conversions making a 5-7 and a 2-7-9.

After last week’s heroics from the Professor, we were left to wonder who would step up today. With 14 bowlers, someone was bound to, right? Yes, indeed!

In his report last week, Frank mentioned that George Gilliam’s outstanding day should not get lost in the excitement of that day. Well, George backed up his +126 day with a +118 day today. His 544 series included a 212 first game (his highest game in three years)! Another highlight came from Ben, who had his highest series we can remember at 507, his first 500 series in five years! While “only” +87, that certainly qualifies for co-BoD honors. For that matter, the Commish came back from his week off and did what Frank usually does after an absence by bowling a big series of 623 (“only” +77). After rolling a split in his first frame of his day, he got hot and had a 217 in game one. In game two he missed a 7-10 pin spare and still had a 196. Then, after missing a ten pin in the first frame of game three, he still came home with a 210. So, we’ll add Tom as co-BoD.

Other highlights included another good day from Ian at +33, a +23 from Ted, and a +12 from Dave. In the team game, George’s team won one game while Ben and Ian led their team to taking the first two. George added even more quarters to his pocket, winning all three poker hands at his table and also taking the game three quarter from Ben (as did Ted again, reminding Ben not to peak too early ). At his table, Tom won the first two hands (the second with four nines!) and thought he had the third hand won with a flush — until Alex made a tough spare in his tenth frame, allowing him to fill out a higher flush to win.

It’s worth noting that the score sheet next week will show three new names in the “Last 21” column with 160 or better averages as Bill, Ted and George climbed up to that new level thanks to excellent bowling over the past month. Well done to all three!

Today was a day not for the ages but for the aged — in this case, our amazing 92-year-old professor Ed Schecter, who turned back the clock and bowled like he did when he was only 90! Ed had three 200 games, including a final game of 236 for a 650 series! This not only makes him bowler of the day but likely bowler of the year, with a +206 on the day!! Ed — you are my bowling hero!

Lost in all the excitement about Ed was what would normally have been a bowler of the day performance by George Gilliam, who had a 182 and 204 en route to a 552 — +126. Bill Tamme had the only other 200 game and his third consecutive 500 series at 518 (+44). Frank had the only other 500, with a 516 but was still below his average.

In addition to Ed, George and Bill, 4 others were + on the day — Alex (+23), Mike (+69, including a 158), Linc (+39) and Ian (+38).

There were two Ben Briggs spares by two of the day’s better bowlers (Bill and George) and a 3-10 split conversion by Alex. And, not to be totally outdone by Ed, our other nonagenarian, Woody Spurgeon, made a 4-10 split!

The team competition wasn’t one because four of the + bowlers, including Ed Schecter, were on the same team. So, the team of Mike, Ian, John, Bill and Ed Schecter took 30 quarters from the other two teams. Don’t spend it all in one place!

Let’s see what kind of heroics next week brings when the Commish returns.

Wow, what a day we had today at Nutmeg!! Of our 13 bowlers, 11 bowled above their average. Four had 500 series. One had two 200 games. And three (!!!) had their highest DMA series ever.

Ben was +8, including two games in the 150s. Marty was +18, including a 183 second game. Dave was +25. Tom was +27. Bill was +36, paced by a 190 first game. George was +45, thanks to a 179 second game. Ian was +53. Ted was +57, including a 192 second game with a four-bagger. Ed Smith was back to form with a +65, including two games in the 180s. John was +83, with all three games above 135. And Woody was +92, including games of 148 and 152!

The 500 series were bowled by Bill at 507, Ted at 513, Ed at 542 and Tom at 570 (which included games of 201 and 200).

Our three who had their best-ever DMA series were Ian (377), John (431) and Woody (416), all of which are worthy of BoD recognition.

Split conversions came from Frank D (3-10), Ted (9-10), George (5-7), and Ben (3-6-7). And no day is complete without a BBS, which came from Dave.

Team Ed (ESm/TH/IW/BT) won two of the three team games (little wonder given how well they all bowled). Team Woody (WS/AG/BB/TL) salvaged the third game. Ben edged Ted but narrowly lost to George in their game three matches.

We’ll end with a nod to Frank, whose string of 500 series was snapped, but who we were happy to have back nonetheless.

For most of the 14 of us who came to Nutmeg today, it was a very average day with a few exceptions. And even for the others there were flashes of excellence.

Six bowlers were above their average and a seventh, Ben, was on the number. George was +9 as he improved game on game. Ian was +13 thanks to a 135 first game. John bowled a very steady +24. Woody had a +26 thanks to a strong second game of 150. Bill finished strong with a 190 (high game of the day) and had a 500 series on the number (+35). Mike started out with a 133, which paced him to a +37 for the day. Bill and Mike share BoD honors for the day. Mike also had the split conversion of the day, making a 4-5-7.

In the team competition, Tom’s teammates (DS/MR/IW/SG) bailed him out to win two out of three as Tom’s 518 series was quite below average (-37). Dave had two games of 111, only to be done in by his second game. Dave even recorded a BBS.

George went away happy, winning all three poker hands on his lanes. He also edged Ben in their third game head-to-head by two pins, so George filled his pockets with a few quarters.

Perhaps the best part of the morning, though, was seeing Ed Smith walk in after a few weeks’ absence. Welcome back Ed!