The PinKillers are a scrappy group of bowlers and a true wild card team. Comprised of Philly Pinoy veteran bowler Raul Quimbo, MFL veteran Ed Nicolas and Philly Pinoy bowling newcomers Ming Pai and my dear godsister Brenda del Rosario-Cooper, the PinKillers come into each match with the highest handicaps (lowest averages) and the greatest risk of imposing great harm if they happen to play exceedingly well. It appears that rarefied Los Banos air has imparted its residents with a sunny disposition and a flair for pun, as evidenced by Raul's genius with team names (Bowlcoholics! PinKillers!) and Brenda's awe inspiring team T-shirt designs: hanep talaga, winner! Always ready with their smiles, jokes, witty stories and infectious laughter, there is never a dull moment with this team, never a hungry moment either as Brenda comes with scrumptious homemade treats each week: busog sa sarap!
Team PinKillers (L-R): Raul Quimbo, Ming Pai, Brenda del Rosario-Cooper, Ed Nicolas
Only Raul and Brenda played "live" on Week 5, since Ed and Ming had pre-bowled. But since their travel plans did not pan out, Ed was present to cheer on his team, having logged in some awesome prebowl scores. Brenda was telling me that she hoped my evil twin would show up, while I prayed that she would not!
Before Game 1 could even commence the Bowlinators realized that we already had to work off a deficit of around 150 pins = ARAY! This apparently was already LESS than what other teams had to deal with. We were feeling good, though so Game 1 was off to a good start! We were dancing, we were getting loose, we were throwing strikes. The dry lanes were making our balls hook left: adjust, adjust! Poor Raul was grappling with way too many splits, while Brenda was missing her spares. So as the pins fell, the first game was won by the Bowlinators.
By the second game, the deficit was getting to the Bowlinators, as we continued to struggle with the dry lanes. The screeching announcer for the event being held on the other side of the Palace did not help with our concentration, and was causing us splitting migraines and split ear drums. The delicious mango bars from Brenda were disappearing quickly: yum! Blue and I were trying to get our momentum going, but collectively our team's ability to string strikes and our spare shooting was starting to suffer, as in, how many 3-pins and 6-pins was I going to miss? Shame, shame, shame...adjust, adjust, adjust... By the last frame, both Romy and I needed three strikes each to catch up, but oh, the pins did not fall our way. Game 2 goes to the PinKillers. Exciting, we are tied!
With momentum on the PinKillers's side, Raul and Brenda came alive! Brenda was throwing strikes and spares as Ed coached her from the side: go, my god sister, so proud of you! Raul was getting better pin action and getting his spares! The Bowlinators continued to struggle, and as we kept eating up frames, it became apparent that the deficit could not be overcome with our opponents playing so well while we fought to stay on par. Three strikes a piece in the 10th frame from Blue, Romy and me to win: possible? Oh YES, possible! But not tonight, and it would not have made a difference = the deficit was insurmountable. With Brenda scoring a 142 against a 104 average, Ming with a 104 against a 99 average, Ed with a 167 against his 142 average and Raul with a 150 above his 143 average, the PinKillers killed us and killed us DEAD. Game 3 and total pins goes to the PinKillers, and they win 3 points while we get 1 point. Congratulations and great game, our dear PinKillers, it was a great match!
Good fight for the Bowlinators, we did our best and have a week to get our mojo back: we are still #1! I was happy I was able to maintain my 167 average even as I struggled on the lanes. Even with the loss, I am on top of the world, having just logged my first 200 game in my USBC league and being in #1 teams in both my leagues: BowlStar! Details are in my other blog.
With games wrapping up early, we all had the privilege of watching the last few frames of the very exciting matchup between the Bowlerines and the Bowleros. With each team having one win a piece, all would be decided in Game 3. With only Dennis left to play, the Bowleros needed 21 pins to win. He throws his first ball...STRIKE, pandemonium erupts! He now needs 11 pins to win with two more balls to go. We all hold our breath, he throws his next ball, and he gets a 5,10-split! As he hits his last pin, the outcome is displayed on the screen: it is a 2-2 tie, wow! Dennis, sorry, I know how hard it is to play with everybody looking at your butt. Congratulations to both teams for their great play and excellent show!
In looking at the other matches, it became apparent that majority of us struggled on the lanes tonight. The high roller matchup of the X-Men and bAll-In ended up looking like survival of the luckiest, with wins coming by the slimmest of margins, and with luck favoring the sweeping X-Men (law of averages?). Angelo was saying that he would take that good luck any day. As Joel D said, the X-Men were not playing well but bAll-In could not capitalize. Or as Angie said, maybe the good luck came about as she and Edmer watched over the X-Men as they played, she is my bowling angel after all. Congratulations on the sweep, X-Men!
Rivaling all other matches in nail biting excitement was the BowlDawgs vs Lords of the Lanes matchup. Jops had prebowled but all other players were present. Before the match started a bet was agreed upon, that the loser of the first game would buy beer for all. As Jops' 200+ first game prebowl score appeared, the BowlDawgs conceded that they'd been played.... Building off Jops' awesome prebowl scores, the stellar play from Ivan and Roy started right off the bat as the Lords handily took Game 1. As Game 2 was winding down, the BowlDawgs rallied hard, bolstered by Jay's amazing play, fighting for the win. Buckling under the pressure, Roy throws a gutterball, leaving the outcome in the hands of their anchor, my GoPapa Joel. Ever the clutch player, Joel C had a double going into the 10th frame, and ended up logging a five bagger to clinch the win for the Lords by only ONE PIN = GoPapa! By the third game, the momentum was solely on the Lords' side, and no amount of bowling genius on the BowlDawgs' end was making a win remotely possible. Like, what was it going to take, they were giving it all they had!
So with a commanding sweep of the BowlDawgs and awesome play from each player, I completely agree with Philly Pinoy's Facebook posting, crowning the Lords of the Lanes as the Team of the Week. All of Ivan's and Roy's games were above their averages, with both of them ending with a 159 average (Ivan had a 130 previous average, while Roy had a 148 previous average): amazing! So happy to see my hardworking practice buddies having such great performances at league = you deserve it, my dears! My GoPapa Joel struggled most of the night but came through with a five-bagger when it counted, evidence that it is better to play bad and win, than play well and lose.... I also agree with Jops being named the Player of the Week as he had the highest scores for Week 5 (way to go, my bowling Miyagi!).
I however want to put in my vote for another outstanding performance that merits our recognition. With the highest handicap series of 675 for the week (wow!), playing live on dismal lanes, ending with a 513 series and 171 average for the night with a 139 average coming in (that's a whopping 40 pins above his average!), the player with the super duper amazing breakthrough performance of the week is JAY LIZARDO! Super galing galing!
Jay's partner in stellar play for the BowlDawgs was Lino Matamis, who had a 164 average for the night against a previous average of 148. Hanep!
Other outstanding players were Ed Nicolas (PinKillers) with 160 average for the night against previous average of 142, and Dennis Navarrete (Bowleros) with 168 average against previous average of 158.
The Week 5 results are now available online. Thank you, Paolo!
Week 6 is just around the corner. Join us for practice on Wednesday night at 9 pm, six lanes are always ready for the Filipino bowlers at $2 per game. Watch out for the BowlDawgs vs Bowlinators match-up for Week 6, should be another super exciting night at the lanes!
Bowl, baby, bowl! And stay safe and warm out there, y'all....
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