Kegling Again

Sad to say, but through much of high school, the Alexander Ramsey High School bowling league on Fridays was about all I looked forward to, at least during the winter months. Now, after a five-year absence from bowling in leagues, I have joined a league in Apple Valley.

The nice thing about this league is that it is three-man teams, which means you are done in about an hour-and-a-half. Five-man teams are a bit too much, because you sit and wait so much. I think four-man teams are ideal, because it is still nice to socialize at the lanes, but if I were to choose between three and five, I definitely prefer three.

It's also nice that there is no smoking in the bowling establishments anymore.

I am only bowling part-time, perhaps once or twice a month. The main thing I want to make sure of is that I get 21 games in by season's end so I'm eligible for handicap tournaments. So far, I've bowled one week.

My intent was to keep a lot of fun stats on bowling this year, but I've temporarily misplaced my makeshift score sheet from my first week. I scribbled it on a torn corner of "The Metro Bowler," a publication only slightly more interesting to non-bowlers than blog posts about bowling.

I do remember my scores: 206, 195, 206, for a 607 series. What was odd, and very un-like me historically, is that I had only one open the whole night, a Greek Church in the second game. My spare shooting has never been my strong point, but I am going about it differently this year. I will go after all 10-pin, 6-pin, and 6-10 leaves with a 13-pound "house" ball. A plastic ball with a conventional grip won't hook (much), and at that weight is easy to control. So far so good, but I've got to string more strikes together next time.

Hopefully, before my next league night, I'll have some new equipment to use and talk about. I'll "spare" you for now...if you've made it this far, that's pretty good.