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:
- Bowlinators = 16 pts, 17174 total handicap pins
- Lords of the Lanes = 16 pts, 13970 total handicap pins
- Bowlerines = 14 pts
- X-Men = 13 pts
- Bowleros = 11.5 pts
- PinKillers = 10.5 pts
- bAll In = 8 pts
- 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!
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