3/28 The Joel Capucao Show

It had promised to be an exciting evening, but we had no inkling of what we were about to witness.  On a night when four X-Men extinguished all hopes for a win from the completely dominated Bowlinators, a night when the Bowleros bowled over the marauding BowlDawgs, a night when the PinKillers persisted in persecuting team bAll In, one Lord of the Lane reigned supreme.  

Player of the Week JOEL CAPUCAO (always MY player of the week, naks! Go Papa!)

Photo by May Libo-on

FWL Week 10 and it was the #1 team Lords of the Lanes up against the #2 team Bowlerines on lanes 21-22.  The night had started out with a close game, so close it was a tie and each team got half a point each.  But as the night drew on, the stars started aligning towards a cosmic convergence of galactic proportions.  With a 192 in the first game and a 202 in the second game, my Go Papa Joel was admittedly having a great night as it was, but it got unbowlievably better in the third game. One, two, three strikes - okey, he has a turkey.  Four, five, six strikes - okey, folks are starting to take notice.  Joel C is building a fence, stringing his strikes.  Jing, don't watch, don't look, don't think about it, you know how that makes him lose his mojo.  Seven strikes - OMG, seven! Amazing, amazing, on lanes where I could hardly find my line, on the indubitably worst lanes (21 and 22) for the league!  Eight strikes - Chelo comes over, the league record has been broken.  Folks are holding up the numbers in the air, sharing the news with each other (with me too, coz I can't look), sharing how many strikes my Joel has thrown in a row.  Nine strikes - wow, time has stopped and is standing still.  This has the makings of a perfect game and we are all witnesses.  Apparently in the pit, his Lords of the Lanes teammates are telling him to continue doing what he has done before every shot.  No trips for Joel C outside the pit, no looking outside the pit (they know he can't see me), no water, no bathroom break, just focus on the next shot, and Jops tells him, no looking at the score either! Ten strikes - oh Lord(s of the Lanes) have mercy, history is being made.  Only two more balls to go, and oh, the next one leaves the 10-pin, which he converts.  So close to a perfect game, but bowling perfection nevertheless!  Ten strikes in a row and a scratch score of 288 (handicap score of 311!).  A scratch 682 series (751 handicap series) and 227 average for the night (against previous average of 174).  What a show, what a show! Bravo! Go Papa!  The Capucao genes are strong in you, Daddy Jules will be so proud.

Score sheet with Week 10 Performance of the Lords of the Lanes

And at night's end, looking at the score sheets, we realize how lucky the night had been.  The Bowlerines had kept it close and could have stolen the third game: great play!  On the lanes next to them, Joel D of bAll In was all in (214, 180 and 170), both he and Alice had amazing above average scores all night, but the PinKillers, like the Lords, were merciless in their persecution and exacting in their execution of team bAll In: amazing play!  The Bowleros pulled off a win with a great, collective team effort against the BowlDawgs: a 232 from my neighbor Art, wow!

Team of the week goes to the X-Men, hands down.  With all four players playing up to 30+ pins above their averages on all three games, the Bowlinators did not have a chance.  I doubt if any team would have had a chance: they logged a whopping 945 team handicap score in the second game! We knew Dominic, PJ, Paolo and Angelo could play this well, but it all came together on this night.  Amazing, well done!  

Bowlinator Paul had an excellent night, well done, above average all night!  The Bowlinators did not do bad in the first game, the X-Men just built a commanding lead.  Romy and I faded after that, while Blue and Paul stepped up and played well.  If only all the Bowlinators could come together like fireworks, like we did in the first few weeks, the outcome would be different.  But we can only move forward - it is not over till it is over!  

The results of FWL Week 10 have been posted.  Only one more week left in regulation play, and this Friday, Week 11, the Bowlinators (now #5) face the #1 Lords of the Lanes.  No more pressure, we just need to bowl our brains off, and hope that some cosmic karma brings an end to our catastrophic collapse (6 losses in a row!) and helps bring our mojo back.  Bring back, bring back, o bring back my mojo to me, to me.  I hit the practice lanes hard this weekend, determined to be better prepared to deal with the perplexing lane conditions.  There is hope, the confidence must return!

Just like my Go Papa Joel, who has patiently waited for years for that dazzling display of bowling brilliance to come around, we too have such a day waiting for us.  Keep the faith.  As we continue to work hard and invest in our development and continuous improvement, the chances of those days coming (and coming more often) increase to critical mass until we can no longer be denied by destiny.  

Bowl on, people!  Bowl, baby, bowl!

3/23 Two Down with Two To Go

This will be short and sweet

Coz I really need to sleep

At work I have been quite busy

Hu! Work pa po ang siyang sinisi

Blame the sadness in my soul

We seem to lose no matter how well we bowl

I am relying on the Law of Averages

To give justice to those luck ravages

Coz the season is almost done

Can't believe, seems it's just begun

Gotta pull together, and be all in

Go my Bowlinators, fight and win!

 

 

The blog has been idle for the past two weeks, after the Bowlinators devastatingly lost 1-3 on two consecutive weeks: to bAll In on March 14 and then again to the BowlDawgs on March 21. 

Unbowlievably, that makes it five (5!) consecutive weeks of 1-3 losses for my poor beleaguered team: against the BowlDawgs, PinKillers, Lords of the Lanes, bAll In rematch and BowlDawgs rematch.  Yep, we let the dawgs out indeed....  Nevertheless we have fortuitously but tenuously held on to the third place spot in the league based on our dominating early wins.  Yebah!

It is an unsettling trend, one we continue to fight.  Paul has been remarkably consistent, our backbone, our pader (solid wall).  Romy, Blue and I have individually had breakthrough games and some stellar play, but have yet to come together like we did in the earlier weeks.  In the meantime our opponents have played amazingly well, finding their grooves and playing well against us: great play, everybody, congratulations!

There are now only two more weeks left in regulation play.  Will the Bowlinators bounce back and keep in trophy contention?  We shall find out.  

Friday, March 28 will contain blowout spectacular matches, with #1 Lords of the Lanes battling the rampaging  #2 Bowlerines, while the #4 X-Men are up against my #3 Bowlinators.    Random scheduling has given us these match-ups at this juncture, could not have been planned better, sheer utter genius!  Feels like finals already, exciting night!

The league standings for Week 8 and Week 9 have been posted.  Wanted to especially mention our top two teams, the Lords of the Lanes (Ivan, Roy, Jops and my GoPapa JoelC) and the Bowlerines (Grace, Marlon, Alice and Rachel) for their outstanding teamwork and individual performances in the past few weeks.  Hanep sa galing!

I actually have been posting more on my JingGal Bowls blog.  Since I started playing with my new Cruella da Ball, I have actually been playing better on my USBC league, and did not do too bad on my first tournament on March 23, which was sponsored by my coach and pro shop professional Donna Roberts.  I am hoping for better play on the FWL.  Go Bowlinators!

See y'all tomorrow at the lanes. Bowl, baby, bowl! 

3/7 Guerra de Casa Capucao

Our marquee match-up of Week 7 of the Philly Pinoy Filipino Winter League (FWL) was between the Bowlinators (Romy, Blue, Paul and me) and the Lords of the Lanes (Jops, Roy, Ivan and Joel C).  It was an epic battle between the two top teams.  Since you probably already know the outcome, you will understand why I asked my Go Papa Joel C of the Lords to be our guest writer for this week's blog.  Here is Joel C's blow-by-blow report:

Guerra de Casa Capucao

So it was March 7,2014.  The Bowlinators and Lords of the Lanes met at the Palace.  After 7 weeks of league play they were #1 and #2.  Joel C had been sick with flu symptoms for a few days.

The first game started hot for the Lords but Bowlinators became hot.  Blue was throwing strikes galore. All of Bowlinators were above average and Jops Datu had problem finding his line.  Bowlinators were leading by more than 70 pins at the 10th frame but Joel C's 3 strikes decreased the Bowlinators lead to 51 pins for the game.   Still first game goes to the Bowlinators.

Second game the Lords fought back.  Jops found his line and bowled a 200 game.  For the Bowlinators Jing and Paul were playing well but still the Lords won by 50 points, erasing the deficit for the first game.

Third game the Lords got early lead but Bowlinators crept closer.  10th frame was close, less than 30 pins difference. Ivan threw a strike,  Paul threw a strike, then Roy had a strike, then Blue had a spare (and a second 200 game!).  Jops threw a split, however Jing misses a spare.   It comes down to the 2 anchors.  Joel spares to clinch it and the Lords win by eleven pins for the game and 10 pins for total pins.  Lords wins 3-1.

Bowlinators and Lords of the Lanes (L-R): Paul Ficarra, Blue Sapalaran, Romy Libo-on, Roy Compendio, Jops Datu, Ivan Masanga, Joel Capucao, Jing Capucao

Photo Courtesy of May Libo-on

Facebook comment from May on the photo above:  Huhu talo... may balimbing kasi !!!  LOL !!!

Text message comment from my god sister Brenda-Pinkillers on Friday night:  Mabait kang wife, you let Papa Joel win which made him happy.

I love you both, my dear sistahs! 

But I really did take the loss hard, especially since I had the chance to make a difference in the outcome and just could not convert.  I know it was so close and could have gone either way.  Here is what I wrote on Friday night, before I gave up and decided to hand over the write-up to my Go Papa:

Ang Lords of the Lanes ang nakatalo sa Bowlinators ngayong gabi. Ako po'y sawi, ako po ang nakapagpatalo sa kanila. Kung nakuha ko lang ang aking marka (1,2,4-spare, natira ang 1 pin dahil lumiko), nagkapag-asa sana, nguni't talunan tuloy.  Nakikinikinita ko pa ang bolang nagmintis na aking inihagis. O kung maibabalik ko lang, grabe ang pagsisisi.  Ngayon ako'y nalalasing sa mga sawing jukebox hits nina Imelda Papin, Eva Eugenio at siempre si Claire dela Fuente, dahil SAYANG (heto po ang bersiyon ko):

Sayang

Bakit bola ko ay lumiko

Tuloy Bowlinators ay bigo

Si Jing

Sadyang tinadyakan na ng tadhana....

"Over" was my Go Papa's reaction to those lyrics.  I have attributed the missed spare (as relayed to Roy) to the "transference of cosmic convergence (evidenced by random manifestations of choking and buckling under the pressure) resulting in projectile dysfunction".  Onward!  The Bowlinators have more winning to do! 

My heartfelt congratulations to the Lords of the Lanes for a well-played match!  Ivan was stringing strikes like a pro.  Roy was a consummate Sparemaster, converting on a difficult 5,7 split and even a virtually impossible 4,7,10 split: exhibition!  Jops' 200+ score on the second game shifted momentum.  And Joel C's persistence in Game 1 kept the total pins close.  Great team effort, y'all!  

Congratulations to the plucky Bowlerines on their sweep of the X-Men, which garnered the #2 spot for them in the standings = hanep!  The Bowlinators are now at #3 = still in trophy-contention, so don't count us out.  Congratulations to the Bowleros who swept Team bAll In, and to anchorman Dennis who enabled a 4-pin advantage in the 3rd game.  It was a split between the BowlDawgs and PinKillers. 

Kudos to all the winners this past week, a shout-out to all the individuals with outstanding performances.  The Week 7 results have been posted at this link.


Outstanding Performance by a Family goes to the Quimbos: 

• Raul-PinKillers: 523 series + 174 average against 139 previous average = that's 35 pins above average! 
• Paolo-XMen:  585 series + 195 average against 166 previous average. Great play!  Unfortunately, it was a repeat of your MFL quotable quote of "I threw a 5-bagger and had such a great score (235 on Friday night) but we still lost!"
• Let's welcome Joy Quimbo to the league, playing for the PinKillers as a replacement for Ming Pai who has left the league for personal reasons. Joy bowled a 160, 138 and 155, for a 151 average against a previous average of 139.  Way to go, Joy!

Congratulations to our Commish Jay- BowlDawgs for playing his FIRST 200 game this Friday. He appears to have almost singlehandedly won the 2nd game for the BowlDawgs vs the PinKillers with that score. He also played above his average all night. Cool beans, man!

And to all those who played well and made the difference between their team's winning or losing = I may not mention y'all here but you know who you are and I salute you (bow).  May I make that kind of difference to my team in the weeks to come, may we ALL spell the difference, coz there are not many weeks left to go!

But let me mention my team mate, Blue-Bowlinators:  Blue had an outstanding 568 series (204, 156 and 208) for a 189 average for the night against 168 previous average. Blue, Blue, Blue: you got it!  It has been consecutive weeks that my Bowlinator team mates, Romy, Blue and Paul, have individually had outstanding performances in weeks where we have collectively lost.  We are due for a breakthrough week, to turn the tides in our favor and come together as a team.  We'll be back!

So in the Guerra de Casa Capucao of the FWL, my Go Papa reigns supreme.  The battles continue this Friday. 

Till next, see y'all at the lanes.  Bowl, baby, bowl!

2/28 Who Let the (Bowl)Dawgs Out!

Last day of February, and it was Week 6 of the Philly Pinoy Filipino Winter League.  By the way, why do I keep calling it the Fall Winter League?  Am I wishing for a Spring Summer Fall Winter League?  Wow, year round, patok yan sa mga bowling addicts!

Sorry, that was a prime example of my ADD showing.  My beloved Bowlinators (Paul, Blue, Romy and I) were up against the up and coming BowlDawgs on lanes 25 and 26.  It was the top team vs the bottom team, and the bottom team, bursting with unrealized and unrewarded potential, was hungry for a win and long overdue for a breakthrough night.  The BowlDawgs are a powerhouse team, comprised of four bowling veterans all hailing from the bulubundukins of Chester Springs.  First on their lineup is Mang Lino Matamis, whose Pilipino pork barbecue is beyond compare (iniisip ko pa lang, naglalaway na po ako!).  In practices, Lino has been logging in 200+ games, and he has consistently been playing above his average in the past few weeks at league.  The BowlDawgs team captain is Philly Pinoy Sports Commissioner (Commish!) Jay Lizardo, who had an impressive breakthrough night last week, playing 40 pins above his average.  Their third player, James Que, had prebowled and so was not present.  James, Grace and their two kids Gavin and Gabriel all bowl = bowling dynasty!  Olee Ramiscal is their anchor, a left handed bowler whose ball has a wicked hook.  This entire team is capable of exploding and scoring 200+ games, and James and Olee have logged strings of strikes in our league.  With their performances in the past week showing signs of them finding their mojo, and our performances showing signs of us needing to find ours, we were set for a close and exciting fight!

Practice felt good, the lanes seemed to not be that dry yet, but this quickly changed once play began.  Paul started out hot with a turkey, hallelujah!  He was keeping it clean and getting his spares: Mr. Clean!  I was playing 9-pin no-tap but not getting my spares (oh no, it felt like my bad practice this Wednesday...).  Lino put on a show by converting on a 5,7-split = super WOW, sambahin!  As the game progressed, the Bowlinators started pulling away and eventually took the first game.

Next to us on lanes 27 and 28, the Lords of the Lanes were battling the PinKillers who had a 125 pin advantage off the bat.  After two bowlers had played in the 10th frame, it looked like the Lords had it by a small margin.  When I looked again, the PinKillers actually won it.  What happened?  The PinKillers converted on spares and stole the win.  A heartbreaking portent, it seems.

On lanes 21 and 22, Giyera de Patani was raging between the Deos in bAll In (JoelD) and the Bowlerines (Alice).  Before play started, JoelD was unwielding and unyielding: no mercy!  At the end of the first game, he had an 8-bagger: amazing!  But bAll In still lost Game 1 to the Bowlerines.  No mercy!

Also next to us on lanes 23 and 24 were the Bowleros up against the X-Men.  Poor Dennis of the Bowleros had to play his blind due to a swollen foot.  With Angie sitting with him in the back, they were as angels watching over the two teams.  Stellar play from the X-Men gave them Game 1.

Second game starts and my ball collection is not helping as I struggle to find my line and convert on my spares: what to throw, where to throw, ayayay, batuhin ko na silang lahat!  In the meantime, the BowlDawgs are rallying with Jay and Olee bowling like YEAH.  The Bowlinators were keeping it close but never seemed to get the upper hand.  We still had a chance, down to me and Romy in the 10th frame, but as my first ball sailed too far left and my second ball did not bite and missed the head pin on a 1,3,9,10-spare, so were our hopes dashed.  Oh, the regret...kung maibabalik ko lang, ang bolang ika-labing isa...(for the rest of my lyrics, check out this link).  With the second game going to the BowlDawgs, we are tied: let the games begin! And what a tie it was, as the difference in total handicap pins between the two teams was only ONE PIN.  Pantay na pantay!

It was interesting to note that by the end of the second game, ALL match-ups were tied 1-1.  What are the odds?  No one is getting a sweep (or getting swept) tonight!

Unfortunately the second game signalled a significant momentum shift towards the BowlDawgs, who were now bowling like the champions of old.  Diyos na mahabagin, wala pong patawad, concede, concede!  Romy played an awesome 225 game but with the rest of us struggling, a win was not to be.  Ang galing galing nilang lahat na BowlDawgs (kahit si James na nag prebowl), hindi na kami makahabowl.  So the Bowlinators came in with a roar but departed with a whimper. Congratulations on your impressive win, BowlDawgs.  I guess we let the BowlDawgs out, what a show!

Near the blue wall, the Bowlerines were putting on an impressive show with Alice and Rachel showing the guys who is boss of the lanes (pants!).  Their strong team showing gave the Bowlerines three points for the win against bAll In.  No mercy talaga!

The rampaging X-Men were struggling but the Bowleros appeared to be struggling even more, allowing the X-Men to pull away and garner three points for a win.

The rest of the teams had packed up and gone home as Game 3 for the Lords of the Lanes and the PinKillers was winding down.  It was looking like the PinKillers were going to pull another fast one, but the Lords fought hard and started to pull away, ending up with three points for the win.  Calculators were whipped out as we realized that the Bowlinators and Lords of the Lanes were now tied with 16 wins a piece.  But with the addition of total handicap pins for the night, the Bowlinators hold on to the top spot.  Whew!  Now it means that next week will be another "go for the jugular" fight for the top spot between the two teams tied for most number of wins, as the Bowlinators battle the Lords of the Lanes.

So the unofficial team standings for Week 6 are as follows:

1. Bowlinators = 16 pts, 17174 total handicap pins
2. Lords of the Lanes = 16 pts, 13970 total handicap pins
3. Bowlerines = 14 pts
4. X-Men = 13 pts
5. Bowleros = 11.5 pts
6. PinKillers = 10.5 pts
7. bAll In = 8 pts
8. BallDawgs = 7 pts

Our 200-clubbers for tonight are Romy-Bowlinators (225) and JoelD-bAll In (223 and 203).  Amazing games but unfortunately they did not translate to a winning night for your respective teams....*sigh*

Outstanding breakthrough performance of the night goes to Rachel Arcia Ditan of the Bowlerines, with scores of 174, 161 and 181 resulting in a 172 average for the night against a previous average of 151.  That is a whopping 21 pins above her average.  IDOL! 

It was a truly stellar night for the Bowlerines as Rachel's performance was bolstered by tonight's (parang Academy Awards) Best Supporting Bowler: Alice Deo.  Alice showed no mercy tonight, logging in scores of 151, 145 and 165 for an average of 153 for the night against a previous average of 141.  In tandem, Alice and Rachel effectively knocked out their opponents: one-two punch!

Not to be outdone, Joel Deo of bAll In had an outstanding  breakthrough performance of his own, with scores of 223, 203 and 149 (191 average for the night) against a 165 previous average (halos 30 pins above average, hanep!).  Wow, the Giyera de Patani seems to have inspired truly stellar play in the love team of Deo and Deo.  Awww....inspired....

And then there is the tale of two anchors, holding close to their averages and allowing their teams to stay close and (unfortunately only for one) to bag wins.  Both Raul-PinKillers and JoelC-Lords of the Lanes stayed close to and kept all games above their averages. Their consistent play made them the ROCKs on which their team mates could build their mighty fortresses, the anchors they could rely on to make their wins possible tonight.

So congratulations to all the winners.  There were many more notable team and individual performances tonight, the blog tries but does not give justice...  As mentioned on email, I am honored and humbled to be a witness and to recount your many adventures and accomplishments.  Thank you for making each week AMAZING! 

It truly takes a team effort to win, as evidenced by the winning teams tonight, whose team mates individually delivered and collectively won the night.  That appears to be the lesson for those of us who struggled tonight to even make their averages, that individually delivering is the name of the game.  As a prime example, I was 20-30 pins below average all night (145 night average against 167 previous average: shame shame shame), and my spare shooting was dismal.  You can bet there'll be lots of practicing going on this week.    Have faith, Bowlinators, we shall overcome!   Onward, bowlers, next week will be here before we know it... 

See y'all on the lanes.  Bowl, baby, bowl!