10/28 Cyclone-Playing in the face of Hurricane Sandy

So what do bowling addicts do in the face of the impending direct hit of Hurricane Sandy?  Play as many games as physically possible at the Palace, of course! 

It is always great fun to play on Sundays with the Philly Pinoy bowlers.  Angie & Edmer, Mitchie & Ivan, Raul & Joy, Desi, Dennis, Romy, Blue, and Paolo were there tonight, laughing with each other about playing and being at the Palace in the face of the approaching storm.  We had yummy palabok (Filipino noodles) c/o Desi's wife and some food for the gods c/o Mitchie.  Yummy food, fun with friends and bowling - what more can I ask for on a rainy Sunday afternoon?  Maybe a better game, as I always seem to be on the cusp of something great!

I played five games with my IncrediBOWL teammates, Chelo and Mitchie, on Friday - I figured I can play one last time with my Beast Ball before I "divorced" it. Then I played four games solo on Saturday, eager to try out my new Ebonite Cyclone and my old Cake Boss spare ball, courtesy of my bowling guru and pro shop professional Donna Roberts. And this Sunday afternoon, I played a total of six games with Papa Joel, my Joey, and the Philly Pinoy bowlers. That's a total of 15 practice games for me in three days!  I am happy to now be able to bowl close to as many games as I used to. I took my time to build up my stamina, and am glad to be well on my way to recovery.

I am also very happy and excited about playing with my new ball, my Ebonite Cyclone that I have christened my Spinderella.  I guess it does look like a pretty marble...  It hooks just like my Misfit did when it was new, but packs enough power to have wicked pin action when it hits the pocket.  Now I just need to work on finding my line quicker and throwing my Spinderella with good control and consistency, as that seemed to be my limitation this weekend. I had good balance and timing on my approach but was experimenting with my release.  The tucking and untucking of my pinky was a good exercise but messed with my adjustments and maybe even with my brain (pinky and the brain...) - next time I will just focus on a good solid plain-jane release.  But I am still "getting to know" Spinderella, after all, and should only get more comfortable over time.  I look forward to eventually taking Spinderella to the "bowl" to meet my first 200 game!  But we will be working hard towards a higher and more consistent average.  I seem to be anchored on my current league average of 124, although I got some scores in the 130-140s.

 

My spare shooting is looking up with my Cake Boss in tow.  On Saturday, I was able to consistently hit all my spares, including the dreaded 10-pin and 7-pin.  Today was not as good, maybe coz the lanes were more oily and my stance needed minor adjustments.  I almost always converted when I smartly determined my stance (thought it through) and then threw the ball with conviction.  This tells me that working on my mental game is critical to my continued progress with spare shooting.

 

I have to give a shout out to Donna Roberts, without whom I would not have the perfectly drilled balls I have in my arsenal.  THANK YOU, Donna, for taking care of all our pro-shop needs, for your expert advice and guidance and now for introducing me to my Spinderella.  I look forward to working with you on improving my game once I am 100%. 

 

So I really can't complain overall: got my new balls, got some good practice in, my approaches were balanced and well-timed, and more importantly, we are happy and healthy and playing again.  Good things are in store!

 

Praying that everybody stays safe and that we all fare well through Hurricane Sandy.  Lots of rain, strong winds, flooding and power outages are predicted.  Schools are closed, public transportation is shut down, and there is no work for most everybody.  I am hoping it is not as bad as predicted.  The storm will have passed by Wednesday, a Halloween league night.  If all goes well, I'll be blogging about how we survived Sandy as I recount how I played on Wednesday night league.  It'll be an interesting week....

 

See y'all at the lanes!

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!

10/19 OMG I am BACK (sorta...)

Got clearance from my doctor to bowl again, after more than three weeks hiatus!  Happy, happy, inspired to more poetry...

Whoo hoo I can play

It's a happy day

Hit the lanes yesterday

Could not wait another day

I am back
But what a shock
My game is sad
Need to practice bad

Vision is still weird
May need to be geared
With my eye patch all sparkly
So I'm not seeing doubly

Need to go slow

Can't overdo, yo

Need to smartly play

To be at league Wednesday

See y'all at the lanes!