The fashionista has her shoes but the bowling addict has her bowling balls. I am excited to announce the newest addition to my ball collection: Cruella da Ball.
The perfect name for the 12 lb red and gold version of my beloved Spinderella Ebonite Cyclone did not come as easily as the names of my other balls. I toyed with Queen B as in Beyonce, Beeyotch, and other bad Filipino words depending on my mood (bastus = rude, buwisit = pest, baliw = crazy). Red Queen ("off with the pins!") seemed appropriate but not quite right. I searched for heroes, heroines, saints and villains, and considered names like Red Sonja, Agatha, Ursula, Tony Strikes, and Carmine. Then we came upon Cruella. I hesitated coz my ball is not black and white, but then i doubt I will ever get a ball of that color scheme. So Cruella da Ball it was.
My Ball Inventory, as entered on my Best Bowling app
I tried Cruella out on March 2 at Limerick Bowl and was amazed that the weight difference was not that noticeable until i picked up Hot Mama for my spares. My kickass new ball shows no mercy on the pins! Go Cruella! The relative lightness of my Hot Mama spare ball seems to help me chuck the darn thing harder and faster down the lane: bye bye, right hand spares! I have played Cruella all this month, and am glad I went up a pound. The pin action Cruella gives me is fantastic when I find my line.
LEAGUE PLAY UPDATE
I have been playing well with Cruella and Hot Mama in tow, averaging in the 160s in both my leagues, improving on my spare shooting, even while struggling with adjustments on truly perplexing lane conditions (over/under = ugh).
For a change, I am doing better in my USBC league, the Downingtown Womens Wednesday Night league, where my Scatterpins have regained the top spot. Last week gave me classic highs and lows, starting with an amazing 164, followed by a truly humbling 104. I was in Splitsville and truly distraught, dear Ruby advised me to go back to basics, stop trying too hard, and just throw the ball. After a quick consultation with Scatterpin anchorwoman Ruth, who advised me to move back a smidgen to prevent more splits, I found my line, threw a 5-bagger, and ended with a 222! Thank you, Bowling Angel Ruth!
My Bowlinators team has suffered five straight weeks of losses, but we are tenuously holding on to the third spot in the Philly Pinoy winter league (Filipino Winter League or FWL). With only two more weeks in regulation play for the FWL, I am hoping we are blessed with stellar play or at least some lucky pin falls, especially this coming Friday when the #1 and #2 teams face off and we battle the #4 team. Go team! Bowl, baby, bowl!
MY FIRST TOURNAMENT!
It was an exciting day today: I participated in my first ever bowling tournament. My coach and pro shop professional Donna Roberts hosted the 19th Annual Montgomery County Womens Open Tournament at Limerick Bowl. There were about 40 participants and each of us played four games in four different sets of lanes. It was great to see my Incredibowl anchor Mitchie, my Scatterpin teammate Ann Marie, and my league mates Jackie, Carole and Sherry. The Downingtown Palace league women were well represented. I was playing handicapped against my March 1 average of 150 (since it was more than 10 pins higher than my 2012-2013 average of 138). I signed up for 5 brackets, and ended up in lane 19C with two other ladies on my lane and two ladies on the other lane (5 women in my group).
We had come early and so Mitchie and I were able to loosen up with a warm up game with my GoPapa Joel, Mitchie's hubby Ivan and their Lords of the Lanes teammate Roy prior to the tournament starting. Practice started on lanes 19 and 20 and ooh, were the women in my group bowling up a storm! And I was throwing gutter balls! My nerves got the better of me as I struggled in the first game, missing a couple of easy spares, and getting a few splits, but I got close to my average with a 147. It was a mad rush to get to the next lane, and as the last bowler in my group, my 10th frames were an example of cardio bowling! Thank goodness I was able to convert all my spares in the 10th frame in all my games, considering how rushed I always was. The second game ended up being my best game of the day, as I converted on all my spares (clean game! Donna would be so proud!) and got one strike, ending with a 181. It was amazing coz after missing my first 10-pin spare in the first game, I was able to get all my 10-pin spares for the rest of the day, happy girl! The third game had more strikes but also a couple of splits (ugh), as I scored a 175. The lanes were drying up, as I started clean in the last game but then started getting splits again. Could not find my line but was getting my spares, so I kept fighting and ended with a 164. So with a four-game scratch total of 667 and an average of 166 against my 150 average, my first tournament stint was over. I was happy to bowl close to and mostly above my average. What an exciting and exhilarating ride, so glad I did this!
I did well in the brackets and won $10 (investment returned!). Donna told me later that I was actually ranked 6th after the third game, but lost my place thereafter: too bad, but not bad for a first timer! What a great tournament this was, so much fun, and so very smoothly managed, I will be sure to come back next year. Kudos to dear Donna for such a successful event. Awesome play from the ladies of the Downingtown Palace: Lisa Day scored a 300 game! I think I am hooked, and will need to look into other tournaments I can join. I would like to develop the mental focus and nerves of steel displayed by the truly good, competitive bowlers. I know I could have done better but I can only move forward.
Wishing y'all a good week and some good games on the lanes. Bowl, baby, bowl!
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