IF THE SLIPPER FITS….
March 30, 2010
What’s Happening!! A whole bunch, thanks for asking. The college basketball tourney is winding down, the final four is set, which always makes for a great Saturday afternoon even if three of the four are Butler, an average Michigan State team, and West Virginia. Cinderellas have more appeal in the first weekend of the tourney than the last, but kudos to Butler for their run. Not that I am good at picking college basketball, but my choice would be West Virginia to cut the nets next Monday.
Glory glory by this time next week the boys of summer will be taking the field again. As much as I hate the salary structures in baseball, it’s always a good day when I can catch a ball game when I get home from work. I do like rooting for our gutty little Diamondbacks, the feisty bunch that can make a playoff run on a within-reason budget. Haven’t read much about the status of Brandon Webb, nothing could be as bad as losing him for the season on opening day a la 2009.
We’ve got an amazing battle at the top of the standings, with only 6 weeks left literally half the league is still in contention, making our stretch run a fun one. Can’t say that about half the teams in the MLB now can you?
WINNERS:The mind of your editor came up with his best trivia concoction yet last week. Virtually all of our regular participants took the fake and offered some form of “The Blind Side” as their response, but Sandra’s Oscar winning movie had nothing to do with the answer. I was redeemed when league prez Brian Cail nonchalantly provided me with “Health Care Reform” (“The Alf car, Mr. Oher”), though he could not chalantly(?) attain a +10 in game#1. So the good news is last week’s 15 games carry over to this week. I’m gonna sweet-talk Mr. Brendan and see if we can ramp up this week’s bounty of games, stay tuned.
Our game#2 gift card giveaway scores returned to a more normal level this week(+105-c’mon!) and that suited Dave Edwards just fine. As part of his fine 696 set, Dave rolled a +61/247 in the money game, good for top spot and a $25 gift card. Dave picked the always popular Starbucks card as his reward. Great job Dave, enjoy the joe!
WITH SYMPATHY: This past weekend I ventured to my favorite wings destination, the Native New Yorker across the street from Via Linda Lanes, to take in this week’s UFC event. Oh to my surprise and disappointment to find that it had changed hands, with Saturday being the debut of it’s replacement, Versus Bar&Grill. Can’t say that I was too happy with this discovery nor with the wings I was served with, nor the beer that came in a plastic cup. Guess that’s one less decision I’ll have to make going forward:-(.
STARS: I finished early last week so I did not get to see Mike Drown’s 11-bagger to open game#3. Mike could not get #12, but did finish with a fantastic 297 game. Mike is a teammate of Gary Achtziger on #16 Meg’s Boys, Gary shot a 296 last week. Guess that means we’ll be seeing Meg rolling a 298 this week!!
Ladies Scratch: Gwenn Sigsworth 678:(Gwenn is renting a spot in the Ladies Scratch section); Laurie Jones 599: Cindy James 564; Joyce Houle 554.
Mens Scratch: Mike Drown 754; Ken Sigsworth 744; Bill Evans 705; Bill Buchanon 701.
Mens P-O-A: Dave Edwards +138 P-O-A; Carlos Bardequez +106; Gary Achtziger +81; James Boren +77.
Ladies P-O-A: Barbara Downen +138/606 series; JoAnn Kottler +83; Courtney Rysdon +75; Hattie Santucci +74.
STANDINGS: Holy Logjam Batman!! This will be an expanded standings section, as we have a staggering 11 teams within 7pts of first place, and 14 teams within 8 pts. So a couple of sweeps could really alter the inhabitants at the top of our standings. As follows:
Red&White 53pts
Kitt and Kaboodle 52pts
Anybody Anytime 51pts
Get Pinned 50pts
Dead Wood 50pts
What’s A Spare 49.5pts
Megs Boys 49pts
In The Hole 49pts
Something Better 48pts
Splashground 47.5pts
Allen’s Landscape 46pts
Wow, don’t blink. Or better, don’t miss that single pin spare in the 8th frame ‘cause it will come back to haunt you.
With so many teams in the lead pack, there are obviously some great match-ups this week. Among them are front-running #35 Red&White vs 44.5pt #25 Like We Care, #5 Anybody Anytime vs #14 Meg’s Boys, #20 Get Pinned vs. #11 Splashground, #30 Something Better vs. 45.5pts #34 Eight Balls & a Split. So don’t expect a lot of constants with this section in the weeks to follow.
Free Bowling on the Blog Trivia: (NOTE-QUESTION MODIFIED SLIGHTLY ON 03/31, 10AM, THOUGH THE ANSWER REMAINS THE SAME) I was called out last week by one of our participants, because she felt my question wasn’t trivia but more accurately word-play. So to prevent a repeat uprising (J-Ro), let me state upfront that the following would be more properly described as a logic problem. Ignore the jargon, it is not a technical math problem, so put away the paper bags and get your breathing under control. My thanks to Dave Burgstahler of #15 Triple XXXs for reminding of my encounter with this in my past.
(This one is for all those weeks of this being too easy for all of you:-)
Dispersion around a mean value(i.e., the average return) is measured by a calculation called the standard deviation. The standard deviation measures the tendency for an individual investment return to cluster around the average return and is a measure of the variability of the return. The larger the dispersion, the greater the standard deviation and the larger the risk associated with the investment. This presumes a normal distribution around the mean, half the sample greater than and half the sample less than. This is commonly displayed as a bell curve. Mathematically, one standard deviation is considered a 68% certainty.
In English, if my avg return is 10% and my standard deviation is 10, that means I have a 68% certainty that all my returns would fall between +/-10 of 10%, i.e., between 0 and 20%. (Note the intentional use of red print for all the numbers to increase the levels of stress you’re feeling at the mere appearance of a math calculation:-)
The number of free games available is still in a TBD state, it will be at least 30. Using the details from the above example, what is the % likelihood that in a given year I will not lose money on my investment?
Good luck, enjoy the weather, baseball’s almost here and a final four on tap to boot!! See you on Wednesday!!
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN!
March 22, 2010
(Trivia Done!)
What’s Happening!! March Madness has taken hold! Some Game#2 madness at Via Linda, another 200++ pins-over average effort, a 155-pin turnaround, and our league’s 2nd 300 game,…and the Jinx. Who needs the NCAAs, we’ve got High Society Madness!
Winners: It’s taking more and more each week to walk away with our Game#2 gift card and this week we reached another extreme. Setting the stage, I playfully announced the current high as a very reachable +33, no such thing, I merely wanted to get people reporting to me. Dave Burgstahler was first, giving me a very worthy +68, a great number(part of a great night for Dave, see Stars below), and one that on most nights would take the prize. Lois Mcclees would have none of that, as she rolled a fantastic +80 game. The prize shifted hands, but it would not remain there long. Lou Piccerillo then reported his +82 game, part of a monster set for Lou. The prize shifted hands again, and Lou was considered a near lock. Until Gary Achtziger rolled strike#8. Then #9, 10, and 11 in a row. Gary was denied #12, but his 296(!) was good for a ridiculous +105, and that would seal the deal on our game#2 gift card giveaway. Gary chose a $25 PF Changs gift card for his effort. Great games, great efforts, you guys take this giftcard stuff serious!!
Our Game#1 Free Bowling on the Blog Trivia is going to sound rather bland after the excitement from Game#2. 18 games were up for grabs, and three of our members walked away with free games. Lou Piccerillo(get used to Lou’s name in today’s column) tore up in game#1(and #2, and #3), rolling a 238/+73 to lead the way, taking 8 free games. Chelle Stafford and Bob Bigham took 5 games apiece to complete the distribution.
Great bowling, lots of fun, congratulations to all or our winners for Week#29!
Stars: Joe Russo climbed from the depths in Week#29, going from the valley to the pinnacle. Joe struggled to a 145 in game#1, kept his wits, improved to a 222 in #2, a 77-pin improvement. Joe did one-pin better than that in game#3, going +78 over his game#2 222 for our league’s 2nd 300 game. I asked Joe if he was going to receive another 300 ring, he said he’d get “one for the big toe”. Show-off 
. Great bowling Joe!
Ladies Scratch: Laurie Jones 605; Jan Fogel 600; Andrea Pozza 597; Gwenn Sigsworth 593.
Ladies Pins-Over-Average: Lois Mccless +94; Alicia Dimond +82; Jonnie Seery +69; Courtney Rysdon +60.
Mens Scratch: Craig Wilson 754/+103; Dave Burgstahler 748/+115; Mike Bohe 728; Bill Evans 721.
Mens Pins-Over-Average: Lou Piccerillo +235/730; Eric Schade +113; Shawn Porter +108/717; Chris Marino +102.
One more mention for Lou! Just a week after Michael Morton’s +215 bust-out, Lou Piccerillo of first-round winner #11 Splashground goes 238/247/245-730/+235, WOW! That’s +73/+82/+80 for his three games. Any of those numbers would have made for a game#2 gift card winner, heck any of them would have made for a nice series over average!! Great bowling Lou!!
Standings: We’re just past the halfway point and we are seeing a squeeze at the top of standings sheet. Last week’s top-5 combined for just 13 of 35 points, the jinx raised it’s ugly head again, and we now have 10 teams within seven points at the top of the charts. Top 5 as follows:
#35 Red&White 50pts Speaking of Red&White, anybody see Dan Duffey’s Green hair last week?
#23 Kitt and Kaboodle 48pts
#26 What’s A Spare 47.5pts
#5 Anybody Anytime 46pts
#32 Dead Wood 46pts
And Week#30 brings critical match-ups for each of our top-5 teams. #32 Dead-Wood rolls against 6th position #30 Something Better led by “One for the Toe” Joe Russo. #5 Anybody Anytime faces a strong #16 Uncle Milty, while #26 What’s a Spare faces scratch power #15 Triple XXXs. Finally, a rare 1vs2 matchup as #35 Red&White&Green faces #23 Kitt and Kaboodle. Things are getting exciting at the top!
Free Bowling Trivia Challenge: 15 games available, have fun!
Remember that recent movie, I think it was a drama, with quite a bit of confusing, hilarious dialogue involved, when Leigh Anne Tuohy said she favored “The Alf car, Mr Oher”. LeighAnne, a southpaw, felt there would be long-term savings with this decision, but Sean Tuohy, a righty, felt this to be completely untrue, and that the timing for the Touhys to incur such a cost was poor. SJ Tuohy said it would help him deal with his congenital heart condition. Coach Burt said it was unlikely the family would notice much impact by the decision, and that their Chevrolet coverage would not be subject to the proposed excise cost. Mrs. Boswell said we would really know how people feel about it in another 8 months, and even moreso another two years after that.
What the heck are they talking about?
Good Luck, see everyone on Wednesday!!
WORLDS COLLIDE!!
March 17, 2010
For the past 28 weeks, the really swell members of team#8 In-The-Hole(rumor has it they’re mostly virgins have bowled next to the rowdy fellows of team#10 Go-Rillas(cantankerous ex-cons the lot of them). So tonight on St. Patty’s Day the two polar opposites finally get the chance to settle their differences as they meet head-to-head. There’ll be no chance for finger-pointing or bitterness tonight, both teams say they’ll leave it all out on the lanes. Maybe it’s not Leonard-Hearns or Ali-Frazier III, perhaps a bit more like Lou Gossett in Diggstown. Grab your green beers and watch these two middling teams bowl it out on lanes 9&10.
THE BIG BANG THEORY
March 15, 2010
What’s Happening!! This week’s title refers to the explosions heard throughout the league last week as scores went through the proverbial roof. In no particular order: Ken Ferrell 670; Jeff Gerlinger 664; Patrick Sawyer 266/679; Mike Drown 268/699; Tim Soukup Sr. 268; Dave Wood Jr. 266; Kevin Kla-Diihbah 267/701; John Vitale 256/684; Dave Burgstahler 262/698; Chuck Royer 671; Phil McCormac 700; Chris Webber 266; Pete Santucci 687; Shawn Porter 684; and these are the numbers that did not make the scratch honor roll!!
Winners: Kevin Kla-Diihbah had a really nice night this past week. While bowling a superb 210/267/224-701 set, Kevin took 1st place in our Free Bowling on the Blog Trivia, good for 7 free games, and his 267 game was good for +79 pins over average and a $25 Best Buy gift card. Way to go Kevin!
We had two additional winners in our free bowling giveaway. Michael Crofts made it two weeks in a row, rolling +20 in game#1 and taking 4 free games, while Ron Francisco did just enough to qualify, going +10 with a clutch strike on his fill-ball in the 11th to also win 4 free games. Congratulations to all of our winners!!
Stars: Here are our league members that did make the Honor Roll cut.
Mens Pins-Over-Average: Kevin Kla-Diihbah +134; Michael Walters +116; Ken Ferrell +91; Dennis Sibal +90.
Ladies Scratch: Cindy James 638/+83; Gwenn Sigsworth 631; Barbara Grasmoen 624/+93; Laurie Jones 624.
Ladies Pins-Over-Average: Meg Hornak +91; Linda Wright +75; Debbie Hanauer +72; Bev Franklin +63.
Mens Scratch: Michael Morton 764/+215; Brian Cail 743/+131; Bill Evans 289/723; Rick Mitchell 722.
Gotta comment on Michael Morton’s big night. His 764 was not only a thing of beauty but a picture of consistency as he put together games of 256/249/259 for his evening. And his +215 means he was just shy of 72 pins over average for each game!! Not sure if the 764 marks a personal best, but it made for a darn good night!!
Standings: I am already in possession of this week’s league sheet, so there is minimal doubt about the accuracy of our standings heading into week#29.
#35 Red&White 48pts
#26 What’s A Spare 43.5
#20 Get Pinned 43pts
#25 Like We Care 43pts
#23 Kitt&Kaboodle 43pts
No comment on the team that has crept into the top 5 for the first time in round#2. Shhhh! Don’t even think about them!!
Free Bowling Trivia Challenge: 18 games available this week. Identify the individual.
My name is not Corey. Even though you were named after your father and your father’s father, you’d truncate your name too if you were born Wilfred _____. His career saw him as a caretaker for his Uncle Martin, a widowed father on a courting, and a magician. Strongman character role countered cruelly by life as a victim of prostate cancer. Tragically saw son die from Acute Epiglottitis. Biggest success came in a role that Larry Hagman turned down. Big Screen offered Eric and Eddie, I am loyal to his small screen version. Anger management issues. Not the other Corey either.
Hopefully google proof!
Good Luck, see everyone on Wednesday, hope we blow the roof off again!!
I KNEW YOU’D COME AROUND…
March 9, 2010
What’s Happening!! Closing in on Conference Tournament Week, so excuse me if I seem distracted. A good thing about bowling on Wednesday is that all games for the tourney of 64 run Thursday-Sunday, so no excuses to miss your Wednesday date. Jeff Bridges won the Statuette for his portrayal of “Bad Blake” in Crazy Heart. Saw it recently, enjoyable tale, great music, not necessarily what I would call “Extraordinary”, but would still recommend it. This past Sunday also marked the passing of two of the oldest living people in the U.S. Mary Josephine Ray passed away at the tender age of 114 years and 294 days, and was followed later that day by Daisey Bailey, who lived to 113 years and 342 days. Rumor has it Daisey threw a mean back-up ball:-). And it was confirmed last week that The Jinx still lives!! Details later in this column.
Winners: Our third repeat winner of the season in the Game Two Gift Card Giveaway was Barbara Grasmoen rolling a 244, good for +68 and a $25 Starbucks gift card. For our 2nd consecutive week, we experienced stiff competition as Barbara overcame games of +60, +62, and two bowlers with +65. Congratulations Barbara, good to see a female take our game#2 prize.
We had thirty games on the line in our free bowling giveaway, and 4 bowlers came away making the grade led by Kevin Kla-Diihbah at +28, good for 10 freebies. Michael Crofts, Bob Bigham, and Scott Bigham also cashed, taking 7 free games apiece. We’ve now given away 466 games this season, hope you’re taking part and getting your share.
PBA Update: Mike Scroggins defeated Bryan Kretzer 206-195 this past Sunday to claim the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator tourney this past weekend. Kretzer struggled the entire match, having tossed only 2 pocket strikes entering the decisive 10th frame. Victory remained in reach however, as Scroggins channeled a 7-pin spare in the 10th that would have clinched the match(I can relate). So naturally Kretzer went Brooklyn beak and carried on his first shot in the 10th, but his 2nd shot failed to finish, leaving a 2-4-5-8 bucket and giving Scroggins the title. Pro Bowling at it’s finest!!
Stars: Jeff Bridges taking the Best Actor Oscar, paying tribute to his parents in his acceptance speech(Guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue!).
Men’s Scratch: Chris Webber 703; Jeff Gerlinger 698; Tom Callens 677; Dave Wood Jr. 670/+94.
Men’s Pins-Over-Average: Chuck Mixey +100; Vito Bolettieri +74; Bob Bigham +72.
Ladies Scratch: Gwenn Sigsworth 639; Rhonda Sigsworth 614; Laurie Jones 598; Cindy James 595.
Ladies Pins-Over-Average: De Bachman +126/606 Series; Kathy Paya +67; JoAnn Kottler +52.
Standings(The Jinx Lives!!): We’ll get to the standings in a minute here. Through much of the 1st round, I jested about an apparent jinx my column had on the fortunes of one of my favorite teams, #25 Like We Care. The team put on a phenomenal run for most of the round, but seemingly struggled every time I commented on their performance. Unfortunately they faded late, coming in 2nd for the round. I share some of the blame. A mention of their team in a “Spotlight Match” early this round had the same effect. The team went on a two-week bye for weeks 24 and 25, methinks protesting the blog and it’s curse, returning week#26. With no ill intended, I commented last week on the turbo-charged run of #20, Get Pinned, winning 14 straight, and actually 19 of 21, to move into a tie for 1st position. So naturally….Get Pinned got pinned last week, losing all 7 points to fall out of the top spot. More lethal than the Sports Illustrated cover jinx!!
#35 Red&White 46pts
#23 Kitt and Kaboodle 43pts
#20 Get Pinned 41pts
#32 Dead Wood 39pts
#26 What’s A Spare 38.5pts
To avoid making additional enemies, I will not comment on any particular team this week:-).
Free Bowling Trivia: Thought I came up with a good one last week, but from the feedback received I made it entirely too easy to qualify for the 30-game bonanza. Even though I only have 15 games available this week, I am still gonna make all of you work for it. Here goes:
Characters please. Wyatt and Gary. Johnny Smith but not Christopher Walken. Thought to commit suicide with a flare gun after failing a school shop class project. Another Joker victim. . I’m getting ‘feedback’ here that I’m reading as relatively hostile.
Identify the Individual.
(Only 8 more weeks of making this stuff up, sheesh.)
Good Luck, see everyone on Wednesday!!
TECHNOLOGY BREAKDOWN
March 9, 2010
In this era of everything instantaneous, this week’s entry has been delayed by….. a defective printer. The staff at Via Linda has had printer problems for the past few weeks, so I find myself without recaps for last week. Christina is trying to remedy for me, so with any luck we’ll have something posted tomorrow. If not, at the least I’ll post last week’s winners, a PBA recap, and this week’s trivia question. Thanks for your patience .
DON’T DRINK THE PUNCH!
March 2, 2010
What’s Happening!! Ugly quake in Chile this weekend brought some scares. Always unnerving to awaken to scenes of cars on their roofs, cracked roadways and collapsed bridges. An 8.8 is an awfully big number. More unnerving to hear of the tsunami warning in Hawaii, with maps highlighting Ewa Beach as a target, and having family in Ewa Beach. The family evacuated, but no harm done as the tsunami caused nary a ripple.
All week long on the Today Show they are reuniting famous TV families of the 70’s. Besides being an obviously slow time for TV post-Olympics, it serves as a reminder to how old some of us are. Hard to imagine that I was a big Partridge Family fan, and the show debuted in1970! I do distinctly remember growing out of the Partridge phase(and the Brady Bunch phase too) as I ‘matured’ and felt the show was digressing. Such a critic at 10 years old. I can say if they had a ‘Little Rascals’ show that it pre-dated any possible fandom from me.
WINNERS- Another ‘mind of your editor’ trivia question resulted in just one qualifier for our game #1 free bowling. Here was the stumper: Army Navy, Air Force, Marines. Good Men, commanded Nathan Jessup “Is That Clear?!” Prominent in capture of Saddam Hussein. Headlines for apologist sentiment. The ‘logic’-sentence#1 is more of an ode to the movie ‘Stripes’, but indicates military. Sentence#2 is from ‘A Few Good Men’, and Tom Cruise’s answer to Jack’s fiery outburst was “Crystal”. He headed the Joint Special Operations Command forces that captured Saddam in his mole-hole. (He was also criticized for his role in the cover-up of local hero Pat Tillman’s death by friendly fire.) And he was in the news recently for going on Afghani TV apologizing for a bombing incident that claimed the lives of many civilians. I was looking for General Stanley McChrystal with this one.
Regular participant Bob Bigham was the one player who got it right, though under the harsh spotlight of a 15-free game showcase, Bob could not achieve the goal of +10 over average. Tough break for Bob, good break for week#26 as we will have 30 free games available this week.
Papa Pete Santucci broke through a highly competitive game 2 pins-over average competition, rolling a plus-72 279 game to take the prize. Pete overcame several games in the +60 range to claim a $25 AMC movie card. Congratulations Pete!
Stars: Bill O’Neill of Southampton PA rolled to his first ‘major’ title, claiming this weekend’s U.S. Open PBA event. O’Neill cruised in his first match, 203-152 over Tommy Jones(152? On TV?) before unleashing a 267 to top Mike Scroggins for the title.
Ladies Pins-Over-Average: Brigid Skoog +67; Jackie Valencia +61; Meg Hornak +64; Barbara Downen +59;
Mens Pins-Over-Average: Dave Roberts +89; Larry ‘L-Wood’ Underwood +86; Bob Feller +74; Richard Rotmistrov +74.
Mens Scratch: Rick Mitchell 710; Tom Callens 703; Jack Stewart 702; Jeff Gerlinger 701.
Ladies Scratch: Gwenn Sigsworth 637; Rhonda Sigsworth 605; Christina Sullivan 576; Laurie Jones 562.
Standings: Potentially shady math here(left league sheet at home) so this section may be amended. Note #20 Get Pinned has won 14 straight.
#35 Red&White 41pts
#20 Get Pinned 41pts
#23 Kitt and Kaboodle 38 pts
#32 Dead Wood 37pts
#12 Loose Balls 36pts
#26 What’s A Spare 36pts
This upcoming week will mark the halfway point to the second half, so we’ll start paying a bit more attention to the standings going forward.
Free Bowling Trivia BONANZA!! 30 games this week. Wish I could do that every week, but I guess if I gave 30 that would grow numb and I’d want to give away 45 a week. Let’s try to make 30 fun:
One of the title-stars was a Brooklyn transplant. Perhaps the original of the buddy-buddy cop themed shows and movies. Justin Fargas was one of the top high school recruits in the country, signing with Michigan, breaking his leg, then coming back to play for USC in the early Pete Carroll days. Don’t let the devil take your soul. The second headliner was a Duluth Minnesota native. A striped tomato can ruin a good sandwich.
Identify the movie/show/play/book/musical…..
This should be fun. Good luck, see everyone on Wednesday.
HEALTH CARE REFORM DISCUSSION
February 23, 2010
What’s Happening! Sunday had the televised final for the PBA Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles tournament. 5th seed Diana Asbaty and Hall of Famer Brian Voss climbed up the stepladder format and were cruising through the championship match in the 8th frame…and Voss whiffed a 10-pin. From the squawking of the announcers you’d have thought Voss had given the match away, but Voss and Asbaty held on for the win and tournament title. Just made me feel a bit better about my struggles with a certain malicious corner pin that has spoiled many a nice game and series for me.
Racy ice dancing in Vancouver! http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Aboriginal-leaders-Russian-ice-dancers-routine?urn=oly,221290
See what we’ve come to, as we continuously stretch beyond acceptable societal boundaries, taking ice dancing to new extremes. Nothing is sacred!! I am getting old I guess. More like my father every day:-).
Winners: 18 games up for grabs in week#24 and we had two bowlers step up to claim their share. William(not Bill) Stafford and Ken(not Lisa) Ferrell each rolled +26 pins-over-average in game#1 and split the prize, taking with them 9 games apiece. Through 24 weeks of bowling we’ve given away 435 free games(!) of bowling to league members, many thanks to Via Linda GM Tim Brendan.
Our game#2 gift-card giveaway was secured by Ben Royer rolling a +61/257 game. Ben has missed a lot of time due to nerve damage 
in his throwing arm, looks like he’s back on track. Ben selected a $25 Best Buy Gift card for his effort. Good bowling Ben, congratulations to all our week#24 winners!
Free Bowling Trivia Challenge: 15 games available this week. (LATE EDITORS EDIT-MODIFIED THE CLUES TO AVOID ANOTHER “ONLY IN THE MIND OF THE EDITOR” WEEK)
Army, Navy Air Force, Marines. Good Men, commanded Nathan Jessup, “Is that clear?” Prominent in capture of Saddam Hussein. Headlines for apologist sentiment.
Identify the individual.
Stars: Kelly Kulick became the first woman to win a PBA title, taking the Tournament of Champions event on January 24th. Wow. Next thing Danica will win a Nascar event:-).
Ladies Scratch: Gwenn Sigsworth 653; Rhonda Sigsworth 605.
Ladies Pins-Over-Average: Ilene Semer +83;
Mens Pins-Over-Average: Lou Piccerillo +150; Steve Semer +129: Michael Walters +115; William Stafford +90; Steve Vitale +90.
Mens Scratch- Jeff Gerlinger 725; Domenic Mordino 719; Ben Royer 708; Chuck Royer 708.
Bowling Feets of Greatness: On January 25th a Phoenix mixed threesome rolled an 807 game with three games of 269. This team score is currently the high score in the nation for a team of 2 ladies and 1 man.
Standings:There were six teams that went 7-0 last week, and five of them rank in the top six of this week’s standings. Note, a few of the recaps came back a bit sketchy, so while I believe this listing to be accurate, don’t hold me to it!!
#35 Red&White 38pts
#23 Kitt and Kaboodle 36pts
#20 Get Pinned 34pts
#4 Minds In The Gutter 34pts
#12 Loose Balls 34pts
#32 Dead Wood 33pts
Free Bowling Trivia Challenge: Has been reassigned to another section within the blog:-)
Good Luck, See everyone on Wednesday!
JOE VS. DICK!
February 16, 2010
What’s Happening!! 6 weeks down means we’re 33% through round #2, approaching the halfway point. The NBA All-Star game actually means March Madness is soon upon all, and therefore all is good. The Winter Olympics, sadly opened with tragedy. And Joe Biden and Dick Cheney squaring off on the Sunday morning funnies, er, news shows, means good entertainment for all. Week 6 as follows:
Winners: Brian Dimond took gift-card honors with a +59/254, allowing him to claim a $25 Starbucks card as his pleasure. Four bowlers reaped benefits from our free bowling offering led by Mark Shample taking 6 games. Taking 3 games apiece were Julia Evanello, Lisa Ferrell, and Ryan Bigham. Congratulations to all our winners!
Bowling Feets of Greatness: We’ll play it seriously here. This weekend saw the great Walter Ray Williams take his 47th PBA tour victory, most in history, as he claimed the USBC Masters event in Reno, Nevada. At the age of 50 in a sport where power and revs often rule, Walter Ray is a tribute to precision and endurance.
Stars: Walter Ray of course. Rolled a 290 in the title match for title #47. Hope he keeps it going long enough to get to 50.
Men Pins-Over-Average: Eric Kleinschmidt +152; Chuck Mixey +112; Steve Semer +97; David Marshall +90.
Ladies Pins-Over-Average: Rinette Corbin +80; Mary Singleton +55.
Ladies Scratch: Rhonda Sigsworth 610; Gwenn Sigsworth 589; Cindy James 578; Joyce Houle 576.
Mens Scratch: Craig Wilson 739; Dave Roberts 666; Bill Evans 664; Ken Klusman 662.
Standings: Red&White stays on a roll through week#6. Of course that is absolutely meaningless at this stage, but it’s always good to be the king, even if the reign is brief!
#35 Red&White 34pts
#23 Kitt&Kaboodle 29pts
#12 Loose Balls 27pts
#4 Minds In The Gutter 27pts
#20 Get Pinned 27pts
Free Bowling Trivia Challenge: 18 games this week to those taking the challenge:
Holder of 5 gold medals. “Start spreadin the news…”. Ranked as one of the 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century by ESPN in 1999. The Haile Gebrselassie of his sport. Member of the US Bicycling Hall of Fame. An orthopedic surgeon.
Good Luck, see you on Wednesday.
WHO DAT!
February 9, 2010
What’s Happening! It’s been quite a week, NLIT day, Palmgate, the Super Bowl, week#22, lots of stuff. I’ve resisted the desire to host an open discussion on NLIT day, in spite of your insistence, because it can be an unhealthy obsession if abused……..What is NLIT day? You jest! It is actually referring to the first Wednesday of February, when high school seniors announce their college of choice. Much like the draft for NFL fans, this is of HUGE significance for fans of college pigskin. And since the coach of my favorite college team went AWOL just a few weeks prior, of great concern. Turns out it was of no concern, as the oft-stupid Lane Kiffin did just fine, vaulting everybody’s favorite Los Angeles-based team well up the NLIT rankings. You don’t care?
Palmgate revolves around Sarah Palin(please just go away!!) having crib-notes inked on her palm for her speech before the Tea Party group. The same palin(did it on purpose) who has chastised Obama for his tele-prompter use, the same palin who criticized a member of Obama’s staff for his use of the word “retarded”, but defends Rush Limbaugh’s use of the same word. Oh well, all I can do is turn the channel.
And the Super Bowl became the most viewed TV show in network history, surpassing the MASH series finale way back in ’83. Great game, great victory for the team and the city. Tough game to choose sides on, unless you’re from one of the participants locale, with Manning and Brees as your dominant figures. When asked I offered the Saints on the money-line and the under, but I didn’t wager so I won’t boast. And now six and one-half ssslllooowww months waiting for next season. Can’t get here soon enough.
WINNERS: 33 games on the line….and one winner. Bob Feller was the sole participant to crest hurdle#2, going +23 in his first game to claim all the spoils. From talking to Bob it sounds like he and his teammates use these games, so they’ll certainly be put to good use. Congratulations Bob!
Captain Jack Stewart has come close many times, but last week he sealed the deal in our gift-card giveaway, rolling a big 285 game good for +79 pins-over-average. Jack selected a $25 AMC movie card for his effort. Enjoy the popcorn Jack!
Bowling Feets of Greatness-back in the day of manual pinsetters, 1929, “Skang” Mercurio rolled 65(!) errorless games before missing a 10-pin in the ninth game of the 66th game. Two comments: why couldn’t I have been named “Skang”? How cool would that have been? Second, in the very first bowling league I ever participated in, 8th grade Stephen White Junior High, at “Bowl-O-Drome”(still there!) in Torrance, CA(still there!), there was a team with the name of “MFTP”. I finally know what Skang has known all along!
STARS: Drew Brees, 32/39, 288 yards. Two tds. Awesome performance in the biggest game of his life.
Men’s Scratch: Chris Webber 756, Frank Smith 738, Jamey Jiminez 724, Dylan Taylor 722, Jeff Gerlinger 715, Dan Duffey 706, Domenic Mordino 701.
Men’s Pins-Over-Average: Steve Semer +87, Mark Shample +69, Jack Stewart +64, Michael Morton +62.
Ladies Pins-Over-Average: Sherry Mixey +97, Ginny Benenati +76, Ilene Semer +64.
Ladies Scratch: Gwenn Sigsworth 668, Christina Sullivan 571, Rhonda Sigsworth 566, Sue Evans 565.
Standings: Top 5 through 5 as follows:
#23 Kitt and Kaboodle 27pts
#35 Red & White 27pts(Dan Duffey 3-straight 700 series)
#12 Loose Balls 25pts
#26 What’s A Spare 24pts
#21 Dos Equis 24pts
Until next week of course.
Spotlight: #21 Dos Equis faced off against #25 Like We Care in the first of our spotlight matches. To begin I will say that I will not spotlight Like We Care again as the jinx factor just resonates every time I mention them in this column. I am concerned that just this feature could jinx them this coming Wednesday, vicious is the curse! The Dos foamed to 5 pts, led by Ginny Benenati +76, Greg Abel +23, and Lou Abel +21. Like We Care was led by Rick Price +18, and David Marshall +14.
Our second match was between #4 Minds In The Gutter and #26 What’s A Spare. The Spare-meisters rode a huge set by Frank Smith, 738 scratch and +114, to take 5pts from the R-rated Minds. Craig Wilson led #4 with a 660 scratch series.
Early Bird Special: Our sponsor is still running his February Tax Filing Special, book an appointment for this month and have your taxes prepared and e-filed for $89. This price includes all necessary schedules and forms, for $89. Book now while spots are available.
Free Bowling Trivia Challenge: Seems so uninspiring to offer 15 freebies after our 33-game jackpot last week. As follows:
Eccentric star known for toilet pyrotechnics. …..To Be Taken Away. What’s on second? Watch your medicine, dead at the age of 32
Good Luck, see everyone on Wednesday!!
