2/19 USBC 200-Club, Baby!

After getting so very close for so many times before in the past two years, I finally did it tonight.  I bowled my first 200 game (exactly 200!) at my USBC sanctioned league, the Downingtown Womens Wednesday Night League.  I finally am a USBC 200-clubber!!!  It feels good to finally accomplish this milestone, especially since I have been able to play 200 games in my unsanctioned leagues.  It is a good feeling to be playing well overall.  That pivotal game opened up with a turkey (looking good!).  I had one open frame (5-pin, oh the humanity!), but with one other strike and five spares, it came down to the last ball in the 10th frame.  I needed 8 pins to get the magical 200 score.  My ball looked good and hit the pocket but left an ugly 8,10-split, but it did give an even 200 score = SUCCESS!


 

Graph of my scores per month (high in pink, average in white, low in blue) playing on my USBC sanctioned Downingtown Womens Wednesday Night League, starting from May 2012, from my Best Bowling app

The night was made even more special (icing on the cake) with my beloved Scatterpins sweeping our opponents, the Gutter Girls (Mary and Gail), allowing our team to hold on to the top spot in our league.  With my Bowlinators also currently on top of the leaderboard for the Filipino Winter League, I am unbowlieavably a part of two bowling teams that are both ranked number one in their respective leagues.  It feels good to be on top of the world, playing well on two winning teams!  Winning can be addictive....

Now it would have also been good to have a great series tonight at USBC league after my 200 game.  While it was not dismal, I could not hit my 149 USBC average for the 2nd and 3rd games (got 142 and 128, exhibiting an exponential decrease in bowling ability...).  Oh well, I still did have a 470 series, which moves me closer towards increasing my average to my target of 150 or more.  This is really shaping up to be a year of many milestones for me on the lanes!

I continue to be a "trouble maker" on the lanes, bowling for everybody's entertainment.  This gal has to have her fun on the lanes so she can bowl happy!  Here are a few "blog-worthy" snippets:

• We were getting way too many splits one league night: too much "red" on the board.  I said, ouch, my groin is hurting from all the splits!  To which Ruth said, well then, keep your legs together!  As we all continued to get more splits, it became apparent that none of us could keep our legs together....
• While I kept missing my right hand spares on games 2 and 3 last night, Ruth said that I needed to slow down, I was rushing.  To which Mary said, I thought you were Filipino (not "Russian")!  I have had Russian poetry on this blog before: the Russian strikes again!
• I was sharing information on the tournament my coach Donna Roberts is having next month at Limerick Bowl.  I let the girls know that Donna is my pro shop professional: "she keeps my balls happy".  That got some interesting reactions: Angela's reaction was priceless.
• I have a habit of wiping off the oil from my ball just before I throw my first ball.  I tell the girls that "I like my balls clean".  When they announced someone having an 800 series and another person bowling a perfect 300 game, Mary commented that "they had clean balls"!  Yes, we like bowling with clean balls, clean balls are good.

Friday is coming up, I have a 167 average to maintain in my Filipino League and a 1st place team ranking to defend.  May I continue to play well.  May my progress continue.

For all who have inspired, helped and supported me on this journey = my heartfelt THANK YOU, you know who y'all are and I love y'all to pieces.

See y'all on the lanes: bowl, baby, bowl!