Back in late January I inducted Spencerport Lanes into the MHOF. While I do not have any regrets about this induction I do have to say this about the place.... If you keep your thoughts straight and focused while bowling there it will help you improve your game. I say this as it has helped me take advantage of my talent when I actually get to a hall that puts out a good shot so that I can be more consistant in hitting my target and therefore score well. Spencerport Bowl forces you to make good shots, unless you have the luck of a leprechaun which I do not, to score. Even the good shots do not carry as my teammates had a good laugh at my expense in the third game tonight when I left a stone eight on a beautiful shot but I digress. Going back to the gist of this blog entry I bowled in a tournament this past Saturday down in Geneseo. It was a no-tap tournament where if you get nine pins on your first ball it counts as a strike. It is a tournament the Geneseo Firemen hold every year at this time and it is a lot fun. I went into the tournament trying to answer a few questions about myself that bowling in Spencerport has generated in my simple mind such as: Am I really in a major slump? Do I really stink as badly as my scores at Spencerport have indicated lately? Is Marshawn Lynch a real idiot? Am I washed up? I went into the tourney with two thought patterns, either I was going to stink out the joint or I was going to light them up. There was going to be no middle ground. It did not take me long to answer these questions as the second train of thought was proven the right one. I was hot!!! I did not stink nor am I washed up!!! I started off with the first eight natural strikes before my first no-tap strike and finished with a 298 scoring 10 out of 11 naturals. The first game brought back memories of eleven years ago when I proved my moronica by throwing a natural 300 game in this same no-tap tourney. I took serious razzing and paid steep stupid fines to my Friday Night Scratch League kangaroo court when they found out about it. The second game started with a sad first frame, then I had strikes from the second to the ninth frame but in the tenth frame I got lazy with my release on the first shot, the ball did not finish strong and it cost me as I left the 2-10 on a light hit but I still finished with a 243. The third game started slowly but I got the needed nine on each shot until I made the necessary two and one moves on the lanes and started pounding the pocket again finishing with the last seven natural strikes and scoring a 300 game winning $25.00 in the process. I finished with a 841 series and combined with handicap it totalled an 880 series. My team finished second in the tourney and at this time I do not know what we will get for it. I owe a small debt to Spencerport Lanes as it helped me realize that when I do have a chance to bowl on a good shot at another hall I should do well and the handicap I have from my average from bowling at Spencerport is a bonus.
I still have pride in my game and wish I was creaming the pins there at a higher rate but I guess I can live with the torment that place causes me as I can see the light at the end of the tunnel that this tournament showed me there is. It was good to get back out there and see people that I have not seen since my retirement from bowling after the 2003 season. At least they now know I am not dead. Mark my words...I HAVE returned and with a vengeance!!!!! Now I just have to get new equipment as mine is fossilizing.
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