WEEK #15 RESULTS

Elm Trio 7 - Kalifornia Roll 0

We ended last week's series with a one-point win and we started this week's series with another one. The second game was another tight one which we pulled out by 15 pins. After two very close contests, we enjoyed a 121-pin blowout in the third to complete our second consecutive 7-point sweep.

The game play was slow because our league's holiday pot luck (a few photos can be seen here) had our bowlers munching much of the evening. Still, we didn't let us affect us much. Entering play tonight, our opponents, Kalifornia Roll (56-42), were in second place, one point out of first. We were in sixth place, six points out of first (51-47). With tonight's sweep, we improved to 58-47 and moved past Kalifornia Roll (56-49).

WEEK 15 01  02  03  SER   AVG   G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI    170 151 194  515 171.7  45  8188 182.0 264  664   8  11   2
LARRY  155 123 185  463 154.3  45  6179 137.3 199  496   0   0   0
MARK   181 240 219  640 213.3  45  8725 193.9 253  660  21   9   5
TOTAL  506 514 598 1618 179.8 135 23092 171.1 623 1720  29  20   7

WEEK #14 RESULTS

Elm Trio 7 - Strike Or Bust 0

After enduring a month-long slump, we bounced back on the strength of Eli's 664 series to earn a sweep of Strike Or Bust (Team 1). Eli's 264 in the first game set the pace and the rest of us did our best to keep up. Only the third game was a tight struggle. Rich Heavingham rolled three strong strikes to finish the final frame for Strike Or Bust but came up one pin short as we held on to complete the sweep by a score of 523-522.


WEEK 14 01  02  03  SER   AVG   G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI    264 191 209  664 221.3  42  7673 182.7 264  664   8  10   2
LARRY  136 177 155  468 156.0  42  5716 136.1 199  496   0   0   0
MARK   158 212 159  529 176.3  42  8085 192.5 253  660  19   9   4
TOTAL  558 580 523 1661 184.6 126 21474 170.4 623 1720  27  19   6

WEEK #13 RESULTS

Swept by the OJ's, 0-7

The OJ's beat us up pretty badly tonight as we were once again on the wrong end of a sweep. After week #9, we were in first place with a record of 40-23. Since then, we've gone 4-24. After week #13, our record stands at 44-47. If we continue at this pace for another month, our record will be 48-71 and we'll likely be sitting in the basement.

The antiquated scoring system at Castro Village Bowl continues to be a source of frustration. I bowl all over the East Bay and at no other place do scoring errors occur so often. Making matters worse, the score keeping system is so difficult to operate, the Castro Village Bowl staff struggles with it to make the required corrections. Hint to Castro Village Bowl - an upgrade is long overdue.

WEEK 13 01  02  03  SER   AVG   G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI    168 163 194  525 175.0  39  7009 179.7 235  603   6  10   1
LARRY  125  95 111  331 110.3  39  5248 134.6 199  496   0   0   0
MARK   233 157 159  549 183.0  39  7556 193.7 253  660  18   8   4 
TOTAL  526 415 464 1405 156.1 117 19813 169.3 623 1720  24  18   5

WEEK 12 RESULTS

The Guzzlers 5 - Elm Trio 2

The outcome of tonight's bowling is uncertain because The Guzzlers had a sub bowling and we don't know his average or the handicap. We were well below our average in the first two games and a fair amount over it in the third while surrending a handicap of over 100 pins per game. We may have earned two points for the third game. I'd guess we were 2-5 at best. We won't know for certain until we see the stat sheet next week. (Note: my guess was correct. We won 2 points and lost 5 in week #12.)



WEEK 12 01  02  03  SER   AVG   G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI    168 158 184  510 170.0  36  6484 180.1 235  603   6   9   1
LARRY  111 113 138  362 120.7  36  4917 136.6 199  496   0   0   0
MARK   149 217 216  582 194.0  36  7007 194.6 253  660  17   7   4
TOTAL  428 488 538 1454 161.6 108 18408 170.4 623 1720  23  16   5

PRACTICE AT CASTRO VILLAGE BOWL

Practicing the night after Thanksgiving

The league took the night off because of the Thanksgiving holiday but that didn't stop all of us from bowling. Linda and Kat of the Hot Mamas and Flaco of Sumbitch joined my Dad (Larry) and I for some practice.

My Dad was having some trouble with the fit of his Storm Natural and Columbia 300 Blue Dot so he took them to The Bowler's Advantage pro shop at Diablo Valley Bowl in Concord. Ray Spackman at The Bowler's Advantage found the previous drilling was off which was causing him to squeeze the ball. After a new fitting, plugging, and re-drilling, it was time to give the new balls a try. Here is some video:

WEEK 11 RESULTS

2-5 & 0-7 in weeks 10 & 11

Here are the stats for the past two weeks. Neither week was particularly good for us. Since we took over first place in week #9, we've stumbled back out by going 2-5 in week #10 and 0-7 in week #11. Our record for the season has fallen from 40-23 to 42-35 in the past two weeks.

We have next week off for the Thanksgiving holiday but we're coming out anyway for some practice. Some other folks from around the league say they're coming out, too. With a little practice, perhaps we can put an end to our slump.

WEEK 10 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI    184 176 215  575 191.7 30  5500 183.3 235  603   6   8   1
LARRY  111 139 122  372 124.0 30  4255 141.8 199  496   0   0   0
MARK   170 223 160  553 184.3 30  5863 195.4 253  660  14   5   4  
TOTAL  465 538 497 1500 166.7 90 15618 173.5 623 1720  20  13   5

WEEK 11 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI    138 156 180  474 158.0 33  5974 181.0 235  603   6   8   1
LARRY  113  78 109  300 100.0 33  4555 138.0 199  496   0   0   0
MARK   168 185 209  562 187.3 33  6425 194.7 253  660  15   6   4
TOTAL  419 419 498 1336 148.4 99 16954 171.3 623 1720  21  14   5

CATCHING UP

I finally got my scanner working again so I caught up on our league stat sheets.  The stats for the last three weeks are now present on our STAT SHEETS page. (Click on the link here or on the STAT SHEETS tab above to reach it.) I ordinarily have the results from our latest series posted within a day or two but I seem to have lost our copy of the scoresheet from last week's bowling. Solve one problem and create another...

WEEK #9 RESULTS

Elm Trio 7 - Let It Roll 0

We weren't at our best but we did well enough to pull off a seven-point sweep. After being swept ourselves last week, a good night was needed to put us back on track. Our record improved to 36-26 which I expect will bump us up a spot or two in the standings.





WEEK 9 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI   203 171 167  541 180.3 27  4925 182.4 235  603   5   7   1
LARRY 117 147 155  419 139.7 27  3883 143.8 199  496   0   0   0
MARK  170 182 237  589 196.3 27  5310 196.7 253  660  13   4   4
TOTAL 490 500 559 1549 172.1 81 14118 174.3 623 1720  18  11   5

WEEK #8 RESULTS

ELM Trio 0 - Thermy Trio 7

Our opponents, the THERMY Trio (Team 14), pre-bowled so it was just the three of us on lanes 11-12 tonight. Once we were finished our opponents' scores were revealed and we learned that we were swept.

        AVG   1   2   3  SER          AVG   1   2   3  SER
NICK     90 110 111 126  347  ELI     182 161 169 215  545
CATHY   121 128 109 130  367  LARRY   147  95 134 144  373
BOB     197 255 195 223  673  MARK    196 171 214 201  586
SCRATCH     493 415 479 1387  SCRATCH     427 517 560 1504
HDCP        105 105 105  315  HDCP          0   0   0    0
TOTAL   408 598 520 584 1702  TOTAL   525 427 517 560 1504

 WEEK 8  01  02  03  SER   AVG  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 500 600
ELI     161 169 215  533 181.7 24  4384 182.7 235  603   4   6   1
LARRY    95 134 144  373 124.3 24  3464 144.3 199  496   0   0   0
MARK    171 214 201  586 195.3 24  4721 196.7 253  660  12   3   4
TOTAL   427 517 560 1504 167.1 72 12569 174.6 623 1720  16   9   5

WEEK #7 RESULTS

We're still waiting on the league to correct the numerous errors on our league stat sheets. We won seven points the third week of the season but the standings show us losing seven points that night. Also, our scores from that night have not been included in our stats. As a result of these errors, the handicapping has been incorrect every week since. The third week was a good one for us and because of our high scores, our averages are higher than the averages used by the league since then. Thus, the handicap we surrender is also higher than the handicap used by the league. This affected the outcome of one game -- the third game of the sixth week appeared to be a game we won by three pins but with the correction of the handicap, it turns out we lost it by five pins. Once the corrections are made, we will have seven more points for the third week and two fewer points for the sixth week.

According to my calculations, our record is 29-20. These are the scores from last night and our updated stats for the season:

WEEK 7  01  02  03  SER   AVG  G  PINS   AVG  HG  HS  200 500 600

ELI    183 182 168  533 177.7 21  3839 182.8 235  603   3   5   1

LARRY  119 118 125  362 120.7 21  3091 147.2 199  496   0   0   0

MARK   181 229 190  600 200.0 21  4135 196.9 253  660  10   2   4

TOTAL  483 529 483 1495 166.1 63 11065 175.6 623 1720  13   7   5

FINALLY! A LEAGUE BOWLER DISCOUNT

I stopped by Castro Village Bowl yesterday after dropping off my daughter at Aran's Art Studio nearby. I learned that they will soon be giving a discount on open play to their league bowlers. They will give a card to each league bowler. Show your card when you come in to practice and you'll get a rate of $2.00 per game.

It's about time. It was ridiculous that league bowlers had to pay $5.00 per game to practice. I pay $1.00 per game to practice at Diablo Valley Bowl in Concord because I bowl in two leagues there. It would be $2.00 per game if I bowled in one league and free if I bowled in three or more. All of Diablo Valley Bowl's league bowlers can bowl for free on Sunday mornings from 9:00-11:00. Though Diablo Valley Bowl offers more price breaks to their league bowlers, I'm satisfied with Castro Village Bowl's $2.00 rate. I will practice more often at Castro Village once I get my card.

WEEK #6 RESULTS

We had another strong week as we scored our high series for the season. On the surface it appears we earned a three-game sweep and seven points but we can't be certain at this point. Since the league still hasn't included our statistics from the third week of the season (a very good week for us), the handicapping may be off. Last night we won the first two games handily but won the third one by only three pins. It's possible that once our stats from week #3 are included, we could be giving up more pins in handicap and that three-point win could be a loss. I will send a written request to the league secretary asking that the ongoing discrepancies and omissions in our weekly stat sheets be corrected.

Here are our scores and averages including this week's games:

WEEK 6 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS
ELI   211 162 197  570 190.0 18 3306 183.7 235  603
LARRY 159 183 148  490 163.3 18 2729 151.6 199  496
MARK  253 215 192  660 220.0 18 3535 196.4 253  660
TOTAL 623 560 537 1720 191.1 54 9570 177.2 623 1720

STATS FOR WEEKS #1-#5

Here are our statistics for the first five weeks of the season. The league stat sheet still hasn't been updated to include our stats for week #3 when our opponents were absent. I spoke to the league officials and learned that Team 4 is not going to make up the games they missed. This means it's a forfeit and we earn a win for each game we bowled within 45 pins of our team average. Our team average was 500 on the nose so we had to score at least 455 to avoid a loss. Since our scores were 595-579-488 we earned three wins (2 points each) and claimed the point for total pinfall. This gave us a 7-point sweep for the night. Next week's stat sheet should finally have our games from the second week included.

WEEK 1 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS
ELI   219 169 193  581 193.7  3  581 193.7 219  581
LARRY 199 148 136  483 161.0  3  483 161.0 199  483
MARK  142 157 167  466 155.3  3  466 155.3 167  466
TOTAL 560 474 496 1530 170.0  9 1530 170.0 560 1530
         
WEEK 2 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS
ELI   169 199 235  603 201.0  6 1184 197.3 235  603
LARRY 125 136 176  437 145.7  6  920 153.3 199  483
MARK  156 213 207  576 192.0  6 1042 173.7 213  576
TOTAL 450 548 618 1616 179.6 18 3146 174.8 618 1616
    
WEEK 3 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS
ELI   188 195 147  530 176.7  9 1714 190.4 235  603
LARRY 188 151 157  496 165.3  9 1416 157.3 199  496
MARK  216 233 184  633 211.0  9 1675 186.1 233  633
TOTAL 592 579 488 1659 184.3 27 4805 178.0 618 1659
    
WEEK 4 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS
ELI   176 180 185  541 180.3 12 2255 187.9 235  603
LARRY 134 140 134  408 136.0 12 1824 152.0 199  496
MARK  223 245 177  645 215.0 12 2320 193.3 245  645
TOTAL 533 565 496 1594 177.1 36 6399 177.8 618 1659
    
WEEK 5 01  02  03  SER   AVG  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS
ELI   147 164 170  481 160.3 15 2736 182.4 235  603
LARRY 151 144 120  415 138.3 15 2239 149.3 199  496
MARK  189 165 201  555 185.0 15 2875 191.7 245  645
TOTAL 487 473 491 1451 161.2 45 7850 174.4 618 1659 

WE HAVE A NAME

I figured it wouldn't be any good to be called Team 2 all season so I asked Eli if he had any ideas about a team name. He looked up at the scoreboard which showed each of our initials and said, "There it is. Our initials make the word elm like an elm tree so let's be ELM." I suggested "ELM Trio" and that was it. We are now the ELM Trio. Now it's time to find some bowling shirts.

Oh, by the way. we bowled pretty well. Eli nailed a 603 series and I scored a 576. As a team, we scored 618 in the third game. The opposition was absent and they're supposedly going to make up the games soon.

I JOINED A THIRD BOWLING LEAGUE!

Have you seen bowling shoes like these?

I'm bowling three nights per week now. I joined the Friday Night Trios league at Castro Village Bowl with my Dad. We didn't have a third player but CV Bowl found one for us, a gentleman by the name of Eli Daniels. Eli is a cool guy and good bowler with an average of 182. How can you bowl in shoes like these and not be cool?

Our season opened this week and I bowled like garbage. Eli and the Old Man bowled pretty well but I gave them no help at all. We'll be using our entering averages the first few weeks so the handicap and outcome are uncertain at this point. I'll have to pick it up next week or they'll be ready to toss me off the team.