For those of you who follow my weekly stories in The A-T sports pages, you may be aware that bowling has been a struggle for me this season. The title of this column might lead you to believe that I am going to tell you how I rocked the pins this week and posted a score like I used to shoot. Well, if that is what you were thinking, I must tell you that you are wrong. So very wrong.
First of all, my scores from the "good" old days were never all that impressive to begin with. Shooting a 600 series has always been a goal, but more often than not I have failed to reach that plateau. This year, I have been struggling to just get to 500, and that has proved elusive.
As the anchor bowler, I feel like my job is to come through when my teammates give me a chance to win a point. I had a chance in the first game this week, but my ball chose to blast through the middle leaving the Greek Church. It seems a little unfair that you hit the head pin and only manage to knock down half the pins. What pins remained were not exactly clustered together and another chance to secure a win went by the boards.
That's been my season in a nutshell, however. My teammates have suggested that my job seems to be to not let the ship out of the harbor. A little cruel, perhaps, but my performance warrants the "friendly" comments.
So what am I talking about when I say a return to the good old days? Well the return to olden times occurred before bowling even began. I'm guessing that Dunn's Lanes proprietor Pat Weidner may disagree with the word "good", but it appeared the old days had returned Monday night.
As the bowlers waited for play to begin, Pat and a group of four guys were trying to find out why the machine used to oil the lanes would not work. They checked the machine, the extension cord and the electrical outlet, all to no avail. I was a little surprised that they did not consult me, given my reputation as a Mr. Fix It.
Hang on a minute. My wife just walked by as I penned the last sentence. Her uncontrollable laughter is a bit disconcerting, but she knows that if something goes wrong in our house I call my neighbor. If Gary wasn't living next door, I can't imagine what I would do. Given my inability to fix virtually any kind of problem, I decided not to try to help Pat find a solution to his.
As the delay wore on, Pat finally decided he was going to have to oil the lanes by hand. As he took a towel drenched with the wet stuff to the lanes, I now ventured forth. I wanted to see how the lanes were oiled in those good old days. Old as I am, I had never witnessed this activity.
Pat returned from his trip down the first lane and proceeded to go to the next lane. I asked him how many lanes he could do before needing more oil for his towel. He said four lanes was the maximum and he had to press harder each time to get the same amount of oil on each lane. It was obvious that this was not the first time he had gone through the process.
Alas, before Pat could get through the first four lanes the problem was solved and the machine was put to work. That also was fascinating to watch as the machine needed no help once it was set into motion. After completing the task on one lane, the machine would back up on to the approach and head to the next lane.
I thought maybe a trip down memory lane might revive my bowling game, but it was not to be. I'm hoping for better scores soon, but for now I'm just glad I wasn't asked to oil the lanes by hand. Had I been though, I would know exactly what to do.
Hello, Gary?
Tom Tiell shot a whopping 729 in the Imperial Majorette League which means he beat me by about a perfect game. Kevin Fitch had 679, Steve Steinmetz Sr. 632, Rhonda Fitch 506, Robin Brownell 458 and Rhonda Lewis 361. Scores from the Rock N Roll League included Tim Sturgill with 624 and Kenny Bauman 617.
Rich Yates Sr. was on target in the Sportsman League as he fashioned a 692 series. Chris Rhodes shot 680, Jim Mason 671, Chris Johnson 641, Mike Kisabeth 640, Andy Anderson 639, Rich Yates Jr. 639, Kenny Bauman 617, Kevin Fitch 614 and Jim Ruess 613. Rocket League scores included Mike Kimmet 586, Paul Landers 583, Dave Coppus 567, Steve Barnes 558, Dottie Funk 484 and Ellen Ewing 443. In the Wednesday Morning League David Jumper fired a 668, Rich Yates Jr. 647, Ken Lofton 641, Tyson Shope 612, Mark Huffman 604 and Cheryl Radin Norman 398.
In play at the K of C Lanes Bennett Paulus shot 588, Jerry Schlick 541, Joe Zirger 536, Herb Sendelbach 532, Cliff Jeffrey 531, Tim Gassner 529, Ken Ritzler 529 and Fred Reimer 523 in the Senior League. Lady Knights League scores included Dawn Davis 485, Madonna Gase 446, Lela Gaietto 441, Nerita Streacker 432, Debra Gase 415, Sharon Roach 410 and Carol Burmeister 407. Darl Elchert paced the Tuesday Night League with 637, while Chris Johnson shot 615, Scott Ferguson 579, Jamie Kuhn 571, Jim Lord 570, Steve Steinmetz Jr. 567, Brett Elchert 561 and Jim Rainey 551. In the 55 Plus League Jim Ruess shot 625, Bill Mizen 549, Paul Gosche 536, Rick Hanna 508, John Ferstler 507, Bob Reinhart 502, Dan Coppes 497, Dick Gabel 492, Bob West 492, Jim Ferstler 444, Steve Schafer 422, Paul Fey 393, Dave Everhart 392 and Bernie Tiell 350.
Al Stephenson is The A-T's bowling columnist.
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