The main reasons for the fewer posts are: 1) I've run out of ideas that take more than a couple of sentences to cover, and 2) I've used Facebook to express my couple-sentence thoughts.
It's a lot like the songwriting I used to try to do. When I was younger, I would just write, and even if I felt the writing sucked, I'd just go with it. It eventually, however, turned into less and less writing because instead of just going with it, I'd wait to write until I had a complete thought to go with. Those became less and less frequent until I did virtually no more writing.
I don't want blogging to go that route. So instead of, say, waiting until I have my complete post about technology and hobby sports (bowling, softball, and golf, for example), I'll start the thought here and just go with it. I won't complete it today, but hopefully will piecemeal it until it's a "finished product."
I had remembered an old newspaper clipping a friend of mine had saved on the sudden increase of sanctioned 300 bowling games. It was largely due to advances in ball technology, lane technology, and relaxed rules.
You might think the article was from the early 2000s. It could also be from circa 1992 when reactive equipment became the norm. Or perhaps you remember the short-oil trend of the late '80s that saw a spike in perfectos. (My first and only sanctioned 300 was from this era.)
In fact, the article was from circa 1983, and when I find the image in my old cell phone, I'll reproduce it on this blog (or have my friend re-send it). The reason at the time was the advent of urethane balls like the original AMF Angle, and I would also guess that lanes, even though still nearly 100% natural wood, were much more consistent with their resurfacing.
So look for that in the near future.
I also wanted to discuss my 2014 experience at the USBC Open Championship, which was my most successful yet. Even though scores are up this year, I was quite pleased with my 1857 score in all events. Some of the success came from bowling with bowlers who were more on the same page with regard to how we were playing the lanes. Part of it was the slightly easier conditions. Part of it was that I truly have become more educated and just better at bowling on a sport shot.
While it was by far my best Open Championship yet, by 153 pins in fact, I have plenty of reason for optimism in future tournaments as well. I attribute that largely to the education I've received from bowlers like my Pro and old friend, who gave me post-tournament tips in starting out better. You'll see from my scores that I had poor starts in each of my events, largely due to leaving splits, either of the wash-out type (e.g., a 2-8-10 split), or from going through the nose.
Cashing in every event was very gratifying. Doing so despite averaging 166.33 in my first games gives me hope for better things to come.
Here is my final scoresheet:
