To B(owl) or Not To B(owl)

It is October already and bowling leagues started in September. I have yet to set foot inside the bowling alley. Seems like every Thursday I am ready to go, mentally, but not physically. Either I have an upset stomach or something else comes up and I end up staying home.
I am determined to make it there today. I need to pay for my yearly locker rental before they haul my equipment out of the locker and God only knows where it will go from there :(
I'm not sure I can actually bowl any more. My body is failing me faster than it should, or at least that seems to me to be true. Maybe once I am there and caught up in the atmosphere my body will relent and allow me to do some actual exercise. I hope it will :)

I Lied

I know I said I was going to write a post about being a hippie, but I lied. I have that post floating around in my head but it's not coming out today.
I just finished up my bowling league and my body is hurting all over and I just don't want to write about being a hippie. I really don't care to write at all, but I need to do so.
I have a paid post I need to write today. Body aches and pains be damned, I must finish my assignments on time. I hate to make it seem like I am chasing after the Almighty Dollar, but at this point in time, I must chase a little.
Finances here dictate that I do so. The Good Lord has blessed me in my time of finacial need with extra assignments and I am thankful for all of them :)

How Strange

Went bowling on my league yesterday and actually bowled very well for a change. Didn't do the team much good though as we lost three of the four points LOL
I like the new poker site NoPay Poker but they really need to work on their software. In a five player game two of the five were "away" for the entire time I was there, roughly 45 minutes. I finally got tired of playing with the one other person that was actually playing the game and went all in with nothing and lost. The problem is that in that five person game they only pay out 2 positions and the two that were away were probably going to end up winning all the money. How retarded!
I did some Christmas shopping online last night for the two females in my life. Hopefully their presents will get here in time LOL
The mice in my house are getting noisier and bolder. What the hell is up with that? Aren't they supposed to be afraid of humans? I definitely need to buy some mouse traps! I hate mice!!!

Sore, very, very sore

I finally got to bowl yesterday. First time I've bowled since May and my old body is letting me know that it is sore, very sore. Mostly it's my bowling hand. My wrist feels terrible.
But, it was fun to bowl and hang out with the other bowlers. I am happy that I joined this league because everyone in it is just there to have some fun so it's not cuthroat and competitive like the mens league is. And, I bowled good for someone that's been off for month.
I established at 157. It might have been higher but I pretty mcuh ran out of steam by the third game. Part of that may have been because we bowled unopposed and we were going pretty quickly.
The biggest concern was that I was tired so quickly. My teammates kept asking me if I was okay, and they sounded very concerned about my health. I've got to get more exercise during the week and build my stamina back up. I don't want to be scaring people who are supposed to be having fun LOL
Have a great weekend, everyone :)

Another week bites the dust

Another week has come and gone. Time flies! It's been an interesting week though.
I went down to the bowling alley on Thursday to see if I could sub in the School Employees league. I haven't bowled since May when the Sagebrush Men's league ended. But, I didn't bowl. There was a spot open and I thought they would ask me to sub but they didn't. This made me slightly depressed since it was beginning to look like nobody wants me! I know I am not the best bowler around but I can't possibly be that bad at a 161 average, can I? My self esteem really took a hit there.
I noticed that one of the teams that had been full last week had a vacancy so I asked what happened to their third bowler. They said she had hurt herself in some way and had to quit because she couldn't bowl. So, I asked if they'd like me on their team and, after talking it over, decided I would be welcome. This made me feel much better. Both of them are low average bowlers, in the 120's on a good day, so hopefully I can help them win some games :)
In the poker area things are improving. I find myself more patient when it counts, not chasing after straights or flushes that aren't coming. More inclined to match someone going all in when I have a high hand. I always hate folding an Ace and something else just because I am being overly cautious. I especially hate folding that Ace when I see that the person that went all in has two low cards like a 5 and a 7. So, I have really been thinking hard before I fold on an all in bid and it has worked out okay. yes, I lost some pots and ran out of chips but I also have won some very large pots being a more aggressive player.
I finished the week with a little over 35000 points, pretty good. I checked my ranking on the site and find that, for last week, I was ranked 612 out of 2000. Not bad, not bad. Thus far I've played 558 tournaments. I've won 145 of them, was in the top 10% 154 times, the top 30% 281 times and in the top 50% 392 times. Pretty darned good for someone that isn't an expert poker player :)
I got another invitation to the Weekly Championship Tournament which starts in about three hours from now. Last week there were 1201 players in that tournament. Wonder how many this week and how long I can survive LOL
Hope all of you had a good week and will have a great week coming up :)

Feeling Better

A little bit, day by day. This bug that has been going around this year is terrible. Seems like you get rid of it and WHAM! it comes back and hits you again. If all the phlegm doesn't drive you crazy, then the bug in the ear will.
My ears have been plugged up for days now, making it really hard to hear things and people, even people that are standing right next to me at times :(
But, that isn't the worst part. When the ear pops everything suddenly seems 200 percent louder than normal and that hurts. And, to make matters worse, my equilibrium is way off.
Now, I don't walk straight even when perfectly healthy, but being out of whack doesn't make it better. Especially when I go bowling, which I did last night.
Last week I went and only managed to bowl one game before I had to go home I felt so terrible. So last night, I got ribbed a little about leaving last week, with someone asking me if I planned on staying the night LOL The funniest thing was one of my teammates. He said he just turned around last week and I had disappeared. When he asked the team captain, Don told him that I had quit, saying I didn't want to bowl with them anymore! Now, I have been on this same team for about five or six years now, so that wouldn't happen, especially in the middle of a three game set almost at the end of the season.
My body hurts today, which to me actually seems like a good sign. It is normal, and having been sick with this bug for so damned long, I can use a little normalcy :)
Hope all of you are feeling fine and are not sick with this, or any other, bug :)

Stiff Is Not Good

Bowled two leagues back to back yesterday, first time I've done that in a month or more. My body is letting me know today that it did not enjoy the experience. My arms hurt like crazy and my legs aren't far behind LOL
For the first league I used my older, heavier ball and then switched to the lighter ball for the second league. I think I should have done that in reverse, or maybe just kept to the new, lighter bowling ball for both leagues. Since I am bowling both leagues again next Thursday, I believe I will use the lighter ball for both leagues and see how well that goes. I cannot have a body that doesn't want to work because it is too sore :(

Back To My Balls

It's finally bowling night again after a two week holiday layoff. So, I leave you all with this lovely picture. And I don't mind saying I would gladly go bowling with any of these lovely women any day of the week. Heck, I wouldn't even care about my bowling score LOL

Elderly Blind Man Bowls Perfect Game

ALTA, Iowa (UPI) -- An elderly blind man says he wasn't nervous and felt like a pro when he bowled a perfect game in front of a crowd at Century Lanes in Alta, Iowa.

Dale Davis, 78, a legally blind man nicknamed "The Hammer," made headlines when he rolled a 300 while bowling with his league, CBS News "The Early Show" reported.

"I didn't feel nervous. My hand was a little sweaty, but other than that, I wasn't really nervous. I just thought, 'Good Lord, let me throw a couple or three more good balls' ... and I got the help, I guess," he said.

It is reported Davis has had macular degeneration for 10 years, an incurable eye disease that has caused him to lose vision entirely in one eye and partially in the other.

"It was quite a thrill. For just a few minutes there, I felt like a pro," Davis said.




Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Sunday and Bowling

Got up in time today to watch all of the PBA on ESPN, a rarity for my lazy bones. I enjoyed it all,watching one of my all time favorite bowlers, Norm Duke, demolish the competition and take home the trophy and the cash :)
Duke has always been exciting to watch.He's a scrappy little guy full of emotions when he's bowling.He brings a lot of excitement to the game and when he wins, he shows it. Today when he made a critical tough spare to win he jumped way up in the air several times. He reminds me of a kid when he does that LOL

I hope all of you are enjoying the weekend!

Thursday, Already?

Seems like the week has flown by here! I can't believe it is Thursday already. I am ready to head out to the bowling alley in a little while. I hope I can do as well as last week, although I'd be happier if I did not bowl a 104 game in the middle of the set. The 235 game was nice though :)
It is windy and cold again today. I wish Mother Nature would make up her mind. The past few days have been sunny and warm. Cray weather!
That's it from here. Hope you all are having a great day :)

Page in the History Books

NORWICH, Conn. - 3/9/2008

Rhino Page figured after four missed opportunities, he had probably blown his chance of winning a title in his rookie.

Instead, Page used the motivation of his worst week of the season last week to drive him to a 244-220 win over Jack Jurek in Sunday’s Go RVing Classic to cement what is the greatest rookie season in PBA history.

Page had already broken or tied six PBA records coming into Sunday, including making five championship rounds, all of which came after he had to qualify for the event through the Denny’s PBA Tour Qualifying Round. He had come up empty in his four previous championship rounds, however, finishing second twice, third once and fifth.

The 24-year-old missed the cut in the TQR of last week’s Don Johnson Buckeye State Classic, just the third time all season he didn’t advance to the Round of 64. He spent the following days practicing with his old coach who helped him with his physical game but also got him back on track mentally.

The practice paid off as Page defeated fellow left-hander Mike Scroggins, 245-235, in the semifinals to advance to his third title match of the season.

In the title match against Jurek, Page looked like he would cruise to the title after striking with his first five shots in the match. But a pocket 7-10 split and open in the sixth frame let Jurek back in the match. But the Tour veteran, who was looking for his first win since 1995, could not take advantage, suffering four consecutive nine-spares.

Jurek could have put pressure on Page in the 10th by striking out, but after a strike with his first shot he left the 3-4-6-7 meaning Page only needed a mark to win. The rookie finished it off in style by striking for the win.

“It feels so good. I didn’t expect by any means to make this many shows this season,” Page (Topeka, Kan.) said. “After my fourth show I thought, ‘Man, you missed out.’ Fortunately, I got to work on my game last week and after the week I had last week, that really motivated me. I know I’m not that kind of bowler and I was determined to never let that happen again.”

Page used some key strategy against Scroggins to get through to the title match, denying the five-time titlist a chance at his third win of the season.

“I came in with a really good game plan,” Page said. “I knew Scroggins could strike a lot from where he was playing so I tried to throw a dull ball and burn the lanes up and change where he was playing. Luckily it helped me also get the room I needed to shoot some big scores.”

Should he win the PBA Rookie of the Year award – which is a lock at this point – Page would become just the sixth Rookie of the Year to win a title in the 43 years the award has been handed out. He also moved into seventh in the PBA Player of the Year point standings with two events remaining.

Page’s win in the semifinal also came down to the final frame. Scroggins took the lead for the first time in the match with a strike in the seventh and after that point the two traded strikes and leads until the 10th frame. Page struck with his final six shots including all three in the 10th to force Scroggins to double. After a strike with his first shot, Scroggins got just eight pins to give Page the win.

Jurek advanced to the championship round with a 236-223 win over Mike Edwards. In a match-up between bowlers each looking for their first title since the early 1990s, Jurek took control with a four-bagger in frames four through seven and never looked back. After an eight-spare in the ninth, Edwards struck out in the 10th to force Jurek to mark and the Lackawanna, N.Y., native struck with his first ball for the victory.

Page, who had already wrapped up an exemption via the PBA World Point Rankings, earned $25,000 for his win. Jurek earned $13,000 for second while Edwards (Tulsa, Okla.) and Scroggins (Amarillo, Texas) took home $6,000 each for third and fourth, respectively.

The Denny’s PBA Tour takes a one-week hiatus before returning for the final two events of the season, starting with the GEICO Classic, March 19-23 at AMF Babylon Lanes in West Babylon, N.Y. The live ESPN-televised finals take place Sunday, March 23 at 1 p.m. ET.


Denny’s PBA Tour
2008 Go RVing Classic
Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center
Norwich, Conn.
Sunday, March 9

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

Pos. Name, hometown Total/Games Money
1. Rhino Page, Topeka, Kan. 489 (2 games) $25,000
2. Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y. 456 (2 games) $13,000
3. Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla. 223 (1 game) $6,000
4. Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas 235 (1 game) $6,000


SCORES – In the first match, Page def. Scroggins, 245-235; in the second match, Jurek def. Edwards, 236-223; and in the final, Page def. Jurek, 244-220.

This is Page’s first Denny’s PBA Tour title.

To Bowl Or Not To Bowl?

It’s Thursday, also known around my house as Bowling Day. The big question of the day is can I bowl? I am not sure as I write this. But, I am going to the bowling center. The current plan is to go early, and while the early league is bowling, bowl a game and see what happens.

If my ribs don’t cause me to scream in pain, I will bowl at six o’clock as scheduled. If they do make me scream in pain, I will just pay the bowling fees I owe to the league and hang around and watch my teammates do their thing.

Either way, I will give the girls their night away from Franklin. Although I am sure they prefer to think of it as Franklin’s night away from the girls.

In other news, the blogging for pay things are going alright, I’ve got a few irons in the fire and, hopefully, will be doing some blog advertising here soon and making some extra cash. Never anything wrong with extra cash in one’s pocket :)

Thursday already?

What a fast week this has been! It's Thursday already. Another bowling day! Hooray!
I just hope it is a better bowling day than last week when I struggled with both my command of the ball and my approach. Grr. Being in a slump is maddening! I need to just relax and stop thinking so hard and just bowl! My average is down to 159 :(
Oh well, I have six games to bowl today, I'll keep my fingers crossed that all goes well.