10/24 Bowling like a pirate...argh!

Tonight was my first night back with the Wednesday Night Women's League at the Palace in Downingtown, PA.  Whoo hoo!  It was great to be back!  I did not realize how much I missed being with the wonderful women of this league until I was with them again.  Love them all...

Tonight, playing for the Scatterpins, we had Sadie, then me, then Ann Marie (subbing for dear Ruby), and our anchor was Ruth, who I had not seen since the first night of league in late August.  She had come back while I was out.  My "blind" scores were used while I was out for the past three weeks, and my average had remained anchored at 127.  We were playing against the "Ghost" team with their blind scores. 

Please allow me to gush in utter loving admiration for my team, my beloved Scatterpins. We are not in last place (they lied!) and how I missed just being in their midst and in the heat of the game: Sadie fighting for every pin, Ann Marie telling me to throw my striped ball (strike ball, my ears are gone...), and Ruth telling me that it is the second arrow and not the first. I am so glad Ann Marie and Ruth were watching me, offering their advise, and yes, if I could only actually do what they asked me, I probably would have played better, but they know I truly tried, and I love them for their faith in me! Dear Shirley and Ruby I love to death, such sweethearts, the "guardian angels" and heart and soul of this league, always reminding me to slow down and take things easy, and repeatedly telling me how I was missed and how glad they were I was back. Sadie, Ann Marie and Ruth all had great scores in the first game, we had a mixed bag in the second game, then we all struggled in the last game, needing 40+ pins to win in the last frame! Ann Marie got a mark and Ruth ultimately saved us, such that we won 3-0 with two games and total pins. Great night for the Scatterpins.
I will say that I was overjoyed to be back at league, but not so overjoyed with how I played.  My scores were 102, 120 and 103, giving me an average tonight of 108, which will drop my league average to 123.  BUT I fought for every pin, did well with my right hand spares (better than the left hand ones!), and only had 2 gutterballs all night.  So not bad for my first league night. 

I had a bit of practice on Thursday night (right after I got clearance to bowl, of course!), on Saturday morning and also on Sunday night.  Contrary to before my surgery when I would put in 6-8 games in each practice session, I have limited myself to 3 games on Thursday and Saturday and 4 games on Sunday, so as not to overdo things - I am still recovering after all!  The first nine games I bowled over those three days had scores in the 69-130 range, but the last game was an encouraging 160 - yeah, we can play GOOD!  That game and the few flashes of brilliance tonight with strikes and hard-fought spares give me hope that my game is on the upswing, just as I am ever so slowly on the mend.

SO I bowled like a pirate, argh, coz I might as well have been blind with an eye patch on each eye the way i kept missing my mark tonight.  I could have distracted folks (and myself) with my rhinestone eye patch which I wear while driving, but during practice, it did not do good things for my game....  When I was told by Ruth to keep my eye on the arrow, I asked which eye! Still healing, the vision from both my eyes are still not aligned, and there is still an annoying gas bubble in my left eye.  This may explain why my ball kept going right of my target somehow, and why I had such hard luck with my left hand spares.  I had to slow down my approach and release considerably, and also concentrate really hard on where the ball in my hand was passing on the edge of the lane to ensure I would hit my mark.  This worked for the most part but led to a few pulls when I was late on the release and muscled it too much:  fine edge for me, and something to keep working on.  I had a few good throws and need to concentrate on consistency.  More smart and focused practice and play needed!

Looking forward, I will be getting my old Cake Boss ball (my Storm Tropical Heat that smells like birthday cake) back from my wonderful pro shop professional, Donna Roberts, this weekend.  I am also getting my new Ebonite Cyclone, which Donna had recommended as a replacement for my poor old Beast Ball (DV8 Misfit), which I played tonight.  I am excited coz I watched Ann Marie play her own new Ebonite Cyclone from Donna tonight, and seeing that ball in action is making me hopeful about where my Cyclone may take my game moving forward.  Still thinking of a name for that ball, maybe one will come to me when I actually get to see it and throw it down the lane.  It will be good having a hard hitting new ball in my arsenal, coupled with a sweet smelling spare ball in my Cake Boss.  My spare shooting needs work, and my Beast Ball left me with some weird, disheartening splits and ugly spares after hitting the pocket a couple of times tonight.  Change is in the air, it is time to add more pins to my game with a couple of wicked new balls!

BTW, for more info on my eye condition, do check out my other blog: http://dodgingdarkness.blogspot.com

See y'all at the lanes!