That Ivory Tower

I should be working on my project. But hey, it's not entirely my fault. Kip hasn't been calling me to remind me every 2 hours like he was supposed to. I can only do so much on my own! As you can gather from my last post, Adam and I bowled today. Dave couldn't make it. If he had only known how the rest of his day was going to go, maybe he would have tried harder. Ah well, there's always next time.

I continue to improve a little every week. I'm still not close to where I was when I stopped 3 years ago, but I suppose I can't expect that to happen every night. My back is still holding up well, it does get a little stiff near the end of the 2nd game, but once we finish it really doesn't stay around long. So that's a huge improvement. I still need to get myself to strengthen it a little, but still I'm pleased. I love bowling!

Today I was struck by how much I need to buy a rock. A rock? I solid ball that doesn't generate a lot of action as it rolls down the lane. Usually the mushroom is in the center (or, more specifically, the ball is drilled so that it works out that way), so the ball stays fairly straight. I say this because I left a lot of 10-pins. Years ago I had an older ball that didn't "react" a ton, so I used to use that. It wasn't as good as a rock, but it was better than one of my more reactive balls.

Anyway, let me end the suspense. Here was today:

Game 1:
I started out real good and then lost it. The problem was that I needed to move about 2 boards to the left on my approach as the conditions changed. After the 5th frame I was starting to think 200 game, which would have been my first since I've started playing again. So I was pretty excited. Of course, I didn't make it. Not by a long shot:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
[ X] [ X] [9/] [ X] [ X] [63] [ X] [81] [72] [71 ] 159

Game 2:
A taste of the old...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
[ X] [ X] [ X] [ X] [ X] [9-] [62] [81] [ X] [XX9] 223

Game 3:
Back to earth. It's a cold, dry, unforgiving place.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
[9-] [9-] [ X] [9-] [ X] [9/] [72] [81] [9-] [X8/] 130

Thanks to the 223, I managed a 512 series, which averages out to about 170. Adam pulled a 555, bowling a 162, 200, and 193.

Here are some more stats:

Adam:
Average Scratch: 185
High Scratch: 200
Strikes: 13
Spares: 11
Splits: 5

Ed:
Average Scratch: 170
High Scratch: 223
Strikes: 16
Spares: 3
Splits: 4

As you can see, the spares killed me. Spares are the soul of bowling, you need to be able to pick up your spares! But considering a month ago when I first started bowling again I didn't get any strikes at all, it's an improvement!

I hope you're all enjoying your Saturday.

Happy Trails!

Ed.