Just Dropping Pins And Getting Wins

"They're going down, I'm yelling timber.

They better fall, so I can dance.

It was a night I will remember,

The final score I won't forget."

This past Thursday was the earliest in the season that I bowled a 200 game. The night didn't start well as I threw a first ball into the gutter following a spare and didn't fare much better with my second attempt. I marked pretty well to finish the game above 100 pins, notching 99 at the end of the ninth frame.

After using my first game as a warm-up, I was in the zone. I marked in my first four frames of the second game, three of them strikes. I missed a spare, struck again, then followed that with knocking down one pin on a first ball. I redeemed myself by sparing the frame, then closed the game by sandwiching my fifth strike between two 7-2 frames to finish at 169.

The third game was when the magic happened. I got strikes in three of the first five frames, the other two being left open (a clean game still elusive to me). I then bowled four straight strikes to have seven in the first nine frames. I started the tenth frame with another strike (a badger), then got a split. I knocked down one of the two remaining pins to finish with a 218. I had a 505 series and 168 series average. My season average now sits at 158. My handicap should be about 35.

September 11, 2014
Game 1
8-, 9/, 03, 7/,6/,6/, 9-, 9-, 72, 8/9 = 118

Game 2
X, 5/, X, X, 72, X, 1/, 72, X, 72 = 169

Game 3
X, X, 72, X, 44, X, X, X, X, SX81 = 218