Philly Pinoy Howloween!
Photo Courtesy of May Libo-on
Edmer, Lowen and I in Team BALUT were up against Chelo, Edwin and Art of Team MONAY. Chelo and I have been bowling together as teammates with Mitchie (of Team LAPU-LAPU) in a USBC-sanctioned all womens' league for the past two summers. The three of us are the IncrediBOWLS in that league. In the past Philly Pinoy Winter League, the three of us bowled with Liz and Chona/String as the BowlStars, and our adventures together are the content of the earlier half of this blog. Now Art is a practice mate, a regular fixture in the Palace with his Bowlero teammates, Dennis-LAPULAPU and Desi-TAPSILOG. I was hoping I could keep up with him as I can sometimes do during our practice sessions together, although I am very much aware of his ability to get hot and score consistently in the 200s. Edwin is one of our new Philly Pinoy league players, but he is not new to bowling, and it is evident in his play. Team BALUT was aware we needed to play at our peak: Team MONAY is dangerous when hot, capable of making us into a BALUT sandwich (talap, pero saklap).
Team MONAY (L-R): ART Coronado, CHELO Compendio and EDWIN Sanchez (Photo Courtesy of May Libo-on)
Thank the bowling gods I started out hot and was able to keep pace with Art, who came out with all guns firing, hitting strike after strike! I was dressed like Super (Striker) Girl and felt like it. Ably supported by Edmer who got his average (go, Super Mario!), Team BALUT won the first game by around 30 pins (so close!) and I was happy to bowl a 201 (200 clubber, baby!) trying so hard to keep up with Art and his 204 game.
I knew I could not keep it up, and sure enough, I struggled in Game 2. Oh what a sight to see when each player of a given team finds their mojo and excels in a single game (even though it hurts coz it's against YOU)! Team MONAY got hot hot HOT and played individual games that were at least 40 pins above their average = that's a whopping 120 pin advantage, equivalent to another player! BowlStar Chelo bowled a 177, Art was still in the 200's with a 231, and Edwin had a 182 = concede, concede, Diyos na mahabagin! We were behind by ~150 pins when I was getting ready to throw my last ball. Amazing....bow. Game 2 goes to Team MONAY. Pero hindi pa tapos....
Sisipa pa ang SISIW sa loob ng BALUT! With Bandidong BALUT Edmer bowling a fabulous 180 in the second game, with a whopping three strikes in the 10th frame, he was set to continue bowling in the groove in GAME 3. And bowl up a storm he did! My struggles ended in the third game as well, Super Striker Girl was back. And to make it even better, my Secret Weapon with the Batman tail Lowen found his authentic swing. So while Team MONAY continued to play well in the third game, Team BALUT gave them a good fight. A close and exciting fight, but a good spirited fight that in the end, went to the ever hopeful and always optimistic though always downtrodden Team BALUT. We all bowled above our averages: Edmer bowled a fantabulous 192, Lowen the Magnificent bowled a 140, and I had a 179. Chelo had an incredibowl 148, Edwin struggled and logged in at 132, and Art was all in the 200's all night, with a 200 in the third game. Yebah, my friends! Two points a apiece for MONAY and BALUT. It's a tie, and a match we are happy to share with such good friends and great competitors.
Dear Alice and Chona/String were there to handle the 50/50 raffle. Chelo was the lucky winner of $46, biggest pot so far! Team MONAY earned the distinction of being the only team with all three players as winners of the 50/50 raffle. Art even won it twice. They are truly in the MONAY!
Since the blog is late, the official league standings are already posted on the Palace website. It was such an exciting night with many, many outstanding performances = way to go, leaguers! Week 9 outcomes and league standings from my tracking spreadsheet (which match the Palace info) are provided here:
| Team # | TEAM | RANK | CURRENT | Wk 9 | |||
| win | loss | win | loss | ||||
| 7 | DAING | 1 | 25.5 | 10.5 | 4 | 0 | |
| 3 | KROPEK | 2 | 23 | 13 | 3 | 1 | |
| 9 | PISBOL | 3 | 22 | 14 | 3 | 1 | |
| 8 | ADOBO | 4 | 21.5 | 14.5 | 4 | 0 | |
| 4 | TAPSILOG | 5 | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | |
| 5 | MONAY | 6 | 17 | 19 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1 | LAPU-LAPU | 7 | 17 | 19 | 0 | 4 | |
| 10 | SISIG | 8 | 12 | 24 | 0 | 4 | |
| 2 | BALUT | 9 | 11.5 | 24.5 | 2 | 2 | |
| 6 | GOTO | 10 | 10.5 | 25.5 | 1 | 3 | |
So next weekend November 10 is a bye week, to allow folks to practice for the finals on November 17. A few reminders about the finals:
- Bowling fee of $15 will still be due on day of the finals.
- We will have a potluck dinner, please bring something to share = tables will be set up on the dance floor as early as 6 pm so we can enjoy dinner before we play. Pizza and soda will be provided.
- We will have the awarding of the cash prizes right after the finals (same night). We are distributing the $282 earnings from 50/50 raffle to all players, such that each player will receive at least $20 (100% increase from original budget, yebah!). In addition, we doubled the special individual prizes for male players, such that 50% of individuals will be receiving special prizes (10 male and 5 female). O di ba? Limpak limpak na salapi!
We will be sending out more email reminders and details about the finals in the days leading up to November 17. I still owe you a pahabol blog, with songs for ADOBO, TAPSILOG and MONAY (hmm, masarap pagsamahin ah...). We 're going out with a BANG, my dear MFL players!
Da-DAING ba ang KROPEK sa finals? O dudurugin ba ng KROPEK ang DAING? It's the super DEO battle, Alice vs Joel! Naks, super galing nila, uy! Abangan, abangan, oks na oks, exciting!
See y'all at the lanes...bowl, baby, bowl!
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