9/3 It's all GOOD (with Dry Lane poetry)

Have to remind myself that while I am still learning, there are no "bad" days at the lanes - it is all GOOD, as long as I keep the take home lesson.  Today was such a day: all scores below my average (was  happy to get scores above 100!), the lanes were bone dry and my Beast Ball had a mind of its own most of the time (and the one time I tried to throw my Slingshot ended in a gutterball, uggh).  But I hang in there, found out what worked (for a while, then had to keep adjusting!) and actually did OK considering how much we were all struggling.  So not a bad day, even got a few cool hits on some 6,10-pin and 10-pin spares, which of course serves as good inspiration for "some" poetry:

When lanes are dry and hard to read
A dry lane ball is what you need
A plastic ball that will not hook
Or one that gives a consistent look

Aggressive balls will drive you mad
As wayward hooks become the fad
Even the best become bereft
The pins untouched as their balls hook left

Some play with speed, loft and release
And find some moments of fleeting bliss
Some pray, some fight, and to the left adjust
Their gadgets shorn with sheer disgust

Some dance, some laugh, some are drawn to drink
Some analyze, focus and need to think
Of what to try, to do, to change
So what comes next is not so strange

So the lesson is that, just like life,
Those most prepared need not suffer strife
And the bowler that comes most ready to play
Will conquer the lanes most any day

A shout-out to Desi, Dennis, Angie and Edmer, who played with Joel and me at Palace today.  Lots of people at the Palace today, the weather was awful and rainy, so scores of folks brought their families to the lanes for the Labor Day Holiday.  It was fun despite the frustrations, there were some good scores there amongst the gutterballs! 

Speaking of gutterballs, my Gutterball Reduction Initiative (GRI) took a nosedive today, my total gutterballs was 6 out of 5 games.  I am modifying my GRI Index calculation to normalize for number of games played: dividing the number of gutterballs by number of games played gives me a GRI Index of 1.2 for today.  My 2 gutterballs over 5 games on Sunday had my initial Index at 0.4, a whopping 300% increase/decline.  Uggh, blame the lane conditions, brain conditions, rain conditions, whatever.  Gotta do better coz I lost some good opportunities there.

I bowl next at Wednesday league.  Let's see how I do playing with my 139 average from last week.  Go Scatterpins!