Travails of a Bowling Addict

I have to admit: since I fell in love with bowling, it has taken over my life.  

My non-work schedule now revolves around my leagues and practice sessions.  In my free time, I am on YouTube watching bowling tips and matches, or blogging and getting all creative with songs and poetry about bowling, or shopping for my next bowling bag or bowling ball or some other bowling accessory.  I still find time to dance, I have not found time to sing, songwriting comes when it will.  And as spillover work creeps insidiously into my nights and weekends, the paperwork and bills and household chores tend to pile up as I choose instead to run to the lanes to escape, procrastinate and find my zen.

I never had a sport.  Having numbers and statistics tied to my performance, working on improving and building muscle memory, and then tracking and seeing results all make for an exciting adventure for a nerd like me.  I relish the endless practicing, figuring out the puzzle of "what am I doing wrong" and facing the challenge of "how can I do better."  Seeing improvement, fruit of my arduous labors, is so very rewarding, and so utterly addicting.  It is absolutely frustrating as well, but it is a blessing to find that the help I need tends to come from all around.  Thank you to all my bowling angels!

Being a proponent for teamwork and collaboration at work, I find the dynamic of a league bowling team strangely familiar.  Each team member is indispensable, and is counted on to know and follow the rules and to give their best on the lanes.  Individually we need to invest in our development, so we can contribute to the team and deliver the goods come "show time".  In this aspect the bowler's long journey of continuous improvement is akin to a singer or dancer practicing endlessly to hone and perfect their craft, in order to showcase artistry and mastery at centerstage.  But the bowler aims for consistency, for mental toughness, and for a mastery of lane adjustments, ball selection, shot selection, and all the other intangibles that make perfect games so improbable.

The continuous improvement investment is a solitary endeavor, but the league (performance) aspect is truly collaborative, making bowling a dichotomy of isolation and of community and team work.  Thank goodness for the social aspect, as I relish (with gusto!) the sense of belonging with my kindred bowler souls.

Bowling has changed me, and it is not all good.  A darker side has emerged, and it is altogether competitive, impatient, envious, self-centered and devious (trouble...).  I still grapple with the green monster of envy, while genuinely feeling joy for others when they do well.  It helps to focus on my journey and to recognize that there is truly no basis for comparison, as our paths are all unique.  I want to win badly, and I have suffered as a result.  I make mistakes and bad decisions, I am not perfect, but I am passionately committed to my sport, and I am willing to objectively do what it takes to advance.  Not everyone will understand or support me, and I cannot please everyone either.  I can just move forward, strive to learn the lesson the universe is sending me, try harder to align my words and actions with pureness of intention, and vow to surround myself with positive people and circumstances, coz life is too short for drama and negative vibes.  

How far am I willing to go?  Right now, I am going as far as I can, doing as much as I can, which is a lot: two leagues and two regular practice sessions per week, sometimes more.  I want to do more, like add in the occasional tournament, but I need to budget time for my family, my home, my friends  and all my passions.  I need to find balance and not let the addiction rule.  Some goals will just need to be on multi-year plans.  

The lanes will always be there for me, calling my name, beckoning.  May the passion never wane.

See y'all on the lanes!

3/2-3/23 Meet Cruella + First Tournament

CRUELLA DA BALL

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.

Cruella da Ball (12 lb Ebonite Cyclone) - Mar2014

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!

2/26 Milestones and Musings

My Scatterpins (Sadie, Ann Marie, Ruth and I) were up against the PinPals (Mitchie, Carole, Jackie and Bette) tonight: it was #1 vs #2 on the lanes for the Downingtown Womens Wednesday Night League, exciting!

The lanes were weird and hard to read, and we struggled, missing our spares, unable to string strikes. The PinPals found their groove, winning the 1st and 2nd games, bolstered by awesome play from Mitchie and Carole.

We were rallying back on the third game (do the bump!) and were pulling away when Bette of the PinPals started a string of strikes that killed us dead, dead I tell you. So the Scatterpins are swept by the PinPals who also steal the top spot from us. Congratulations on a good match, well played! Watch out though coz the season ain't over, and you can be rest assured that the Scatterpins will be fighting to get back on top!

I was amazed to find out on the league standing sheets AFTER we were done playing that last week, February 19, the date I bowled my first 200 game in my USBC League, was apparently also when I achieved a 150 USBC average.  Been trying to hit this milestone for the better part of a year now.  Wow, can't believe I have finally done it.  I am quite excited to be hitting milestone after milestone in this milestone SuperBowl year: I hope the milestones keep on coming! Now I need to work on staying at this level or continuing to up the ante: forward progress, yippee!

 

Speaking of maintaining, I am glad and relieved I was able to maintain my new average by even a small margin tonight. I had scores of 150, 135 and 169, for a 454 series and 151 average for the night - just made it. Still feeling like it could have been better but thankful it was not much worse.

 

Feb 19 League Standing Sheet

My dear bowling angel Angie is now an official Gutter Girl, playing (oh so well!) with Gail and Mary on the Downingtown Womens Wednesday Night League.  There are now three Filipino bowlers in our league: Angie with the Gutter Girls, Mitchie with the PinPals, and me with the Scatterpins.  We are infiltrating y'all!  Hope you are enjoying playing with us, as we are enjoying being a part of this league.

We bowling gals are lucky that slots are even available in the USBC leagues for us, coz our guys have no luck finding vacancies in the mens and mixed leagues.  We'll keep watching for slots to open up.  Luck favors the prepared!

I am very grateful for all the love and support I have found on and off the lanes on my bowling journey.  Finding a sport in your mid 40s is an adventure, for sure, but the social aspect of this sport adds to its appeal.  I feel blessed to have found the leagues I have come to love, and all the players and team mates that have made me feel so welcome and make each week so fun and worth looking forward to, no matter how I play.  May we keep on playing together for many years to come.

See y'all on the lanes!