PRO BOWLING'S U.S. OPEN& “BATTLE OF THE SEXES”

There will be a new twist to the U.S. Open Champtionship this year. The men and women will hold their champtionships simultaneously in Columbus, Ohio. This will be followed by a single game bowl-off between the men's and women's champions. Even better, it will be shown live by ESPN on Saturday, July 27th starting at 9:00 AM (PDT). If you're working Saturday, set your DVR to record it.

SURE, I'LL TAKE ONE FOR FREE

Bowlingball.com is having a drawing for a Brunswick Aura Paranormal. Click the link to enter.

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LEAGUESECRETARY.COM

Got stats?

There's an easy way to obtain copies of our league's stats and schedules. If you look over in the right column under the LEAGUE INFO header, you'll find a link for LEAGUE STAT SHEETS. Click on it and you'll be sent to our league's page at leaguesecretary.com. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter your name and email address.

Once you've done that, leaguesecretary.com will email you whenever our stats are updated. The email will include the link to our latest stat sheet. Once there, you can access older shat sheets, schedules, and other information for the league. You no longer have to wait until the day we bowl to see where we stand. This can be done for any league you're in that uses leaguesecretary.com's service.

HOT SPOT - WEEK #8

Strike Force: 3
Balls Deeeep In Ya Pins: 1

I still don't have the results from week #4 so I can't provide the full season's scores and statistics. Last night we got off to a slow start but turned it up in each of the subsequent games. We lost the first game by a mere five pins but won the second and third games by a wide margin. The game/series scores were 701-706; 811-674; 850-706; 2362-2086.

WEEK 8    01  02  03  SER
DIETRICH 189 234 155  578
MARK     203 178 247  628
WILL     134 180 224  538
KIMLANG  175 219 224  618
TOTAL    701 811 850 2362

By going 3-1 last night, we boosted our record for the season to 24.5-7.5. We had a 2-1/2 point lead entering the night. Team 23 swept Team 21 so they gained a point on us. Their record improved to 23-9 and they remain 1-1/2 points behind us.

HOT SPOT - WEEK #7

Strike Force: 4 - Team 2: 0

I haven't updated the stats since I got back in town because I don't have the scores from week #4. The stat sheets for Hot Spot and Mike Rocha's Trios are now available at leaguesecretary.com. However, a few weeks are missing for Hot Spot and week #4 is one of them. Maybe I can get a copy of it tonight.

By the way, we took over first place last week with a record of 21.5-6.5. Team 23 was a half game ahead of us entering last week but we swept Team 2 while Team 23 lost 3 of 4 to Team 20. We now have a 2-1/2 game lead over Team 23 (19-9) and 3-1/2 over Teams 20, 27, and 8 who are tied for third place (18-10).

WEEK 7    01  02  03  SER
Dietrich 204 203 166  573
Mark     182 191 154  527
Will     192 237 180  609
Kimlang (188 188 188  564)
Total    766 819 688 2273

MIKE ROCHA TRIOS - WEEK #8 RESULTS



Will To Win: 5 - Lloyd Johnson Trucking: 2



Eli's hot hand carried us to a 5-2 night. We were just a few pins away from a 7-point sweep but we lost the second game by seven pins. The three consecutive splits I had in the 6th through 8th frames of the second game were the killer. Still, it was successful night for us.

We entered the night tied for fifth place with a record of 25-24. Our record now stands at 30-26.

WEEK 8    01  02  03  SER  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600 700
WILL     171 169 195  535 21  3868 184.2 235  586   6   7   0   0
MARK     213 187 214  614 21  4159 198.0 234  657  11   3   3   0
ELI      254 241 190  685 24  4830 201.3 257  705  13   4   2   1
DIETRICH                   3   615 205.0 235  615   1   0   1   0
TOTAL    638 597 599 1894 69 13472 195.2 681 1948  31  10   6   1

Handicapping gave us 26 pins per game. With that, the game and series scores were 664-625, 623-630, 625-571, 1912-1826. It should be noted that we won our five points without the aid of handicapping. The scratch scores were 638-625, 597-630, 599-571, 1834-1826.

MIKE ROCHA TRIOS - WEEK #6 & #7 RESULTS

Will To Win: 3 - Team 6: 4

I'm back home after nearly three weeks on the road and I have some catching up to do.

This week it was just Eli and I as Will was out sick. We bowled pretty well but our opponents were on fire. Gary shot a 289 game and a 705 series and Shane (subbing against us for the fourth time) also had a strong night with a 267 game and a 680 series. They also had Diario visiting from Cloverleaf Bowl who subbed and bowled a solid 608 series. So as you can see, we were up against some tough competition. Even though they were spotting us 61 72 pins and we bowled well, they won the first two games and the point for total pinfall. (Thanks to a correction in the handicapping, we took the point for total pinfall.)

Eli's 619 series would have been much higher but he was derailed by two pocket 7-10 splits in the first game. He eventually recovered from the shock but the way the other guys were shooting, we were fortunate to pull out the third game for two points. The scores were 592 603-605, 685 696-707, 698 709-681, 1975 2008-1993. Our record for the summer season fell to 24-25.

WEEK 7    01  02  03  SER  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600 700
WILL    (185 185 185  555)18  3333 185.2 235  586   6   7   0   0
MARK     202 194 222  618 18  3545 196.9 234  657   9   3   2   0
ELI      144 245 230  619 21  4145 197.4 275  705  11   4   1   1
DIETRICH                   3   615 205.0 235  615   1   0   1   0
TOTAL    531 624 637 1792 60 11638 194.0 682 1948  27  10   4   1

Here are the scores from week #6 when Dietrich filled in for me.

WEEK 6    01  02  03  SER  G  PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600 700
WILL     195 169 203  567 18  3333 185.2 235  586   6   7   0   0
MARK                      15  2927 195.1 234  657   7   3   1   0
ELI      202 200 158  560 18  3526 195.9 257 705    9   4   0   1
DIETRICH 197 183 235  615  3   615 205.0 235  615   1   0   1   0
TOTAL    594 552 596 1742 54 10401 192.6 682 1948  23  10   2   1

We won only one game and had a record of 2-5 for the night. Many thanks to Dietrich for subbing in my place.

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DON'T FORGET TO SUB FOR ME

I'm in Chicago now so I won't be bowling in Hot Spot on Tuesday or Mike Rocha Trios on Thursday this week.

Eli will sub for me in Hot Spot on Tuesday and Dietrich will sub for me in Mike Rocha Trios on Thursday. The only thing you guys will need to do besides show up and bowl is fill out one of those USBC application forms. I have already paid in advance for the bowling.

This is the only week I need Dietrich to sub for me in Mike Rocha Trios. The league has the night off for Independence Day on July 4th and I will be back in time to bowl on July 11th. However, I will miss the next three weeks of Hot Spot so Eli will have three weeks of free bowling on Tuesdays.

Good luck, gentlemen!

MIKE ROCHA TRIOS - WEEK #5 RESULTS

Will To Win: 7 - Team 1: 0

We anticipated the need for some big scores this week because the stat sheet showed oppenents who carry averages of 239 and 240. As it turned out, Mr. 240 was up in Reno bowling in the USBC Nationals. Shane subbed for him and as we well know, Shane is no slouch.

We were spotted 33 pins in handicap but they were needed only in the first game. We won the second and third games scratch in an unexpected lopsided sweep. We topped our previous high game in the second and third games and topped our previous high series by 198 pins, Eli was especially hot, shooting a 705 series. As a team, we averaged 216.4 for the night.

The scores:
623-598, 715-550, 709-564, 2047-1712
I'm fairly certain none of us were expecting to outscore them by 335 pins.

WEEK 5  01  02  03  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600 700
WILL   157 224 205  586 15 2766 184.4 235  586   5   2   0   0
MARK   211 232 214  657 15 2927 195.1 234  657   7   3   1   0
ELI    222 226 257  705 15 2966 197.7 257  705   7   3   0   1
TOTAL  590 682 676 1948 45 8659 192.4 682 1948  19   8   1   1

HOT SPOT - WEEKS #1 - #3

Here are the first three weeks' stats for Hot Spot. We've struggled the past two weeks but I'm confident we'll break out soon.. Eli will be filling in for me the next three weeks while I'm on the road.

This week we won the first two games and had a 117 point lead in total pins. Unfortunately, we fell apart in the final game. We lost the third game and the point for total pinfall. What opened as a promising evening turned into a 2-2 split. But no worries. We'll bounce back.

WEEK 1    01  02  03  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600 700
DIETRICH 185 185 185  555                          0   0   0   0
MARK     213 195 232  640  3  640 213.3 232  640   2   0   1   0
WILL     232 174 161  567  3  567 189.0 232  567   1   1   0   0
KIMLANG  177 226 190  593  3  593 197.7 226  593   1   1   0   0
TOTAL    807 780 768 2355  9 1800 200.0 807 2355   4   2   1   0

WEEK 2    01  02  03  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600 700
DIETRICH 172 243 173  588  3  588 196.0 243  588   1   1   0   0
MARK     158 176 169  503  6 1143 190.5 232  640   2   0   1   0
WILL     208 163 138  509  6 1076 179.3 232  567   2   1   0   0
KIMLANG  197 197 197  591  3  593 197.7 226  593   1   1   0   0
TOTAL    735 779 677 2191 18 3398 188.8 807 2355   6   3   1   0

WEEK 3    01  02  03  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600 700
DIETRICH 217 190 150  557  6 1145 190.8 243  588   2   2   0   0
MARK     173 190 178  541  9 1684 187.1 232  640   2   0   1   0
WILL     186 208 126  520  9 1596 177.3 232  567   3   1   0   0
KIMLANG  152 231 185  568  6 1159 193.2 231  593   2   2   0   0
TOTAL    728 819 639 2186 12 5584 186.1 819 2355   9   5   1   0

TUESDAY HOT SPOT NEWS

As I noted earlier, Will and I are bowling in the Hot Spot league at Albany Bowl on Tuesday nights. I will be out of the state from June 22nd through July 10th so I'm going to need a sub in Hot Spot and Mike Rocha Trios.

Eli agreed to sub for me for the three weeks I will miss in the Tuesday Hot Spot league (June 25th, July 2nd, and July 9th).

I will miss only one night of Mike Rocha Trios at Castro Village Bowl. That will be June 27th. We don't bowl on July 4th and I will be back in time to bowl on July 11th.. Dietrich Skidmore who bowls with Will and I in Hot Spot has agreed to bowl for me on June 27th. Dietrich also bowls at Castro Village. He averaged 199 in the Reno Gamblers league this season so that's the average he will use when he bowls in my place in Mike Rocha Trios.

A few words of warning to Eli -- don't bring a bunch of aggressive balls to Albany Bowl. I'd say you won't need anything more aggressive than your Vibe and your Blue Hammer. Maybe bring something stronger just in case but definitely expect to bowl on lightly oiled or dry lanes. By the third game, you might be using your Hammer spare ball for strikes. Maybe we can get over there for some practice before I leave town.

MIKE ROCHA TRIOS - WEEK #4 RESULTS

Will To Win: 2 - Team 7: 5

We were off our game a bit for a second consecutive week -- and for a second consecutive week, we came out of it with a 2-5 mark. Eli's first game was the only one in which any of us broke 200. It wasn't any one thing that hurt us. We caught some bad breaks, we had some failures in execution, and we had an opponent who warmed up to put up big scores in the second and third games. We managed to pull out the first game but it went downhill from there.

No worries, though. We'll bounce back next week. We'll take on Team 1 who it appears will be spotting us about 75 pins per game. That's what happens when you have bowlers averaging 239 and 240 on the same team.

Surprisingly, none of us has hit a 600 series through the first month of the season. With all that handicap rolling our way, this would be a good time for us to crank out three of them and seize all seven points.

WEEK 4  01  02  03  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600

WILL   189 189 171  549 12 2180 181.7 235  582   3   1   0

MARK   151 175 190  516 12 2270 189.2 234  596   4   3   0

ELI    213 194 187  594 12 2261 188.4 214  594   4   3   0

TOTAL  553 558 548 1659 36 6711 186.4 633 1750  11   7   0

MIKE ROCHA TRIOS - WEEK #3 RESULTS

Will To Win: 2 - Team 5: 5

We entered the evening in a four-way tie for third place with a record of 9-5. Our opponent, Team 5, was one of the teams with whom we shared third place and they were spotting us 20 pins.

It took us awhile to find our stride and we fell short in the first game by a single pin, 529-530. It was a frustrating loss but we bounced back in the second game with our highest score of the season and a 653-569 victory. It looked like things were running smoothly at that point but the third game turned into a seemingly endless string of splits, chops, and washouts. We followed up our highest score of the season with our lowest and a 478-598 defeat.  We also lost the point for total pinfall by a score of 1660-1697. Our record for the night was 2-5 which dropped our overall record to 11-10.

WEEK 3  01  02  03  SER  G PINS   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600

WILL   164 203 138  505  9 1631 181.2 235  603   3   1   0

MARK   161 227 181  569  9 1754 194.9 234  596   4   3   0

ELI    184 203 139  526  9 1667 185.2 214  572   3   2   0

TOTAL  509 633 458 1600 27 5052 187.1 633 1750  10   6   0

HOT SPOT AT ALBANY BOWL

Will is bowling in the Hot Spot summer league at Albany Bowl on Tuesday nights. When one of his teammates dropped out unexpectedly Monday, Will called me to see if I'd be interested in taking his place since I work nearby.

I decided to give it a shot. I hadn't bowled in a league at Albany Bowl since the early 80s. The league looks pretty good, with thirty teams. One thing I wasn't prepared for was the extremely light oil on the lanes. The three balls I brought in were way too aggressive and my shots were sailing past the headpin.

The Motiv Ascent Solid

After the third frame, I ran out to my truck to get my Motiv Ascent Solid, a ball desgined for light oil. From there, everything was fine. I shot 213-195-232 (640). Will shot a 232 in the first game but as the lanes broke down, he experienced the same difficulties I had. It was a struggle to find a ball that would work for him on the dry conditions. He finished 232-174-161 (567).

Clearly, league bowling at Albany Bowl is going to require some additions to the arsenal for extremely light oil conditions. I ordered a Motiv Ascent Pearl that I hope to have ready by next Tuesday. Will is looking for another ball, too.

The Motiv Ascent Pearl

I'm going to be out of town from June 23rd to July 10th so I will need someone to sub for me on June 25th, July 2nd, and July 9th. I will have everything paid in advance. Eli, maybe you can stand in for me for those three weeks.

I will also need someone to bowl for me in the Mike Rocha Trios on June 27th. We're not bowling on July 4th and I will be back to bowl on the 11th. If either of you has a teammate from another league that would like to bowl for me that night, bring him on. He won't need any money. I will have that night paid in advance also..

MIKE ROCHA TRIOS - WEEK #2 RESULTS

Will To Win: 5 - Team 8: 2

Our opponent was Team 8 (yet unnamed) who possessed a team average of 588 compared to our 566. Thus, they had to spot us 22 pins per game in handicap. 

The handicap wasn't needed in the first game as we beat them scratch by a score of 581-577. We needed the boost in the second game as we were short 580-595. Thankfully, the handicap gave us a 602-595 victory. We needed more than 22 pins in the third game as Kenny Thompson's 279 game buried us by a score of 632-609. We outscored them in the series 1816-1804 to earn the point for total pinfall.

With scratch team scores of 583-580-587, we were nearly as consistent as team can be. It was good enough  to win 5 of the 7 points and improve our record for the season to 9-5. Next week we'll be taking on Team 5 who will be spotting us 20 pins.

WEEK 2  01  02  03  SER  G   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600
WILL   238 175 169  582  6 187.7 238  582   2   1   0
MARK   155 234 207  596  6 197.5 234  596   3   2   0
ELI    190 171 211  572  6 190.2 214  572   2   2   0
TOTAL  583 580 587 1750 18 191.8 603 1750   7   5   0

PRACTICE TONIGHT

I'll be at Castro Village Bowl tonight at 7:00 for some practice. Feel free to join me if you're interested.

BOWL BAY AREA'S ONE-BALL TOURNAMENT

Tournament Flier

Are you interested in an unusual test of your bowling skills? Pete Hagin's Bowl Bay Area is hosting an eight-gamer on June 2nd (Sunday) that allows each bowler to use only one ball. That's right -- only a single ball for all eight games. No plastic ball for shooting spares. No changing balls when the lanes break down. The ball with which you start the tournament will have to be used for every shot.

Making it even more of a challenge, the regular house shot will not be used. The oil pattern will not be announced in advance. The bowlers will have to figure it out for themselves during the practice session. Choose your ball wisely. An aggressive ball for heavy oil that plays well in the first few games may be uncontrollable in the later games. A ball for light oil may work well in the later games but will it be too weak on fresh oil? Can a ball for medium oil be manipulated to one's advantage at both ends of the tournament? Hmmmm..... There's one way to find out -- answer the challenge and enter this tournament. To ensure your entry, send an email to Pete Hagin which you can do by clicking here. Count me in for this one.

SUMMER LEAGUE BOWLING -- MIKE ROCHA'S TRIOS

Will To Win: 4 - Team 3: 3

With the Friday Night Trios league concluded and a championship under our belts, Eli and I were looking for a summer league to stay sharp for next season. To fill out our roster, we've teamed up with Will Jackson of Movin' On Up to bowl in the Mike Rocha's Trios league on Thursday nights.

We got started on Thursday, May 23rd and we'll bowl for fourteen weeks, concluding with our league sweeper on August 29th. Here are our scores from our opening night of the season:

WEEK 1  01  02  03  SER  G   AVG  HG   HS 200 550 600
WILL   155 182 207  544  3 181.3 207  544   1   0   0
MARK   181 231 177  589  3 196.3 231  589   1   1   0
ELI    214 190 165  569  3 189.7 214  569   1   1   0
TOTAL  550 603 549 1702  9 189.1 603 1702   3   2   0

The handicap for Mike Rocha's Trios is 100% of the difference between the team's collective averages. The league uses our highest USBC book average as of April 15th with priority given to leagues at Castro Village Bowl. That means it's 191 for Eli and I and 182 for Will which gives us a team total of 564. We use the same 7-point scoring system employed by the Friday Night Trios.

After doing some research on our opponents at the USBC's website, it looks like we were spotting them 36 pins per game. If I'm right about that, we won the first two games 550-526 and 603-591 before losing the third game 549-663. The lopsided score in the third game left us short for the total pinfall point, 1702-1780. I suspect next week's stat sheet will show we opened the season with a record of 4-3.