League Night - NSAC - Victory Lane - Kankakee, Illinois

I truly believe that I am becoming a better bowler each and every time I take to the lanes; however, nights like this still creep up to show me how much room I have to improve!

Game 1

X X 8/ 81 8/ 9/ 9/ X 9/ 9/8 - 190

I began the night using my Mastermind Genius and standing around 27-28, which has been pretty standard as of late. Sadly, I just didn't execute very well during this game. I felt like I was leaving my lower half open at the foul line, which caused shots to go out the window in both directions, inside and out. Not fun. After the opening double, I went 6-10, 2-10, 3-6, 10-pin, and 3-pin before finishing strike, 3-pin, 9-pin, pocket 7-10. All in all, at least my spare shooting was good enough to keep this game from getting really ugly.

Game 2

7/ 9/ X X 72 8/ X X X XXX - 234

I stuck with the Mastermind Genius during the early portion of this game, and, truthfully, the look wasn't bad; however, a wise bowler once told me that if you're going to throw it bad anyway, you may as well try throwing it bad with a different ball. As such, I switched to the Melee Jab in the 7th, and it seems to have been a good move as I threw six really good shots in a row, doubling my strike total up to that point in the evening and allowing me to go back into the plus column at 424 through two games.

Game 3

X X X 7/ X 9- X X X 9- - 212

On the whole, I've been very happy with my single-pin conversion rate this season. Sadly, when I miss them, I tend to miss them in bunches, and that was certainly the case here. I flushed the first three shots of the game, running my string of strikes to nine in a row from the previous game. Sadly, I threw the next shot out the window to the right, resulting in a 1-2-8, which I converted. I didn't miss the pocket with any of the final six shots. Sadly, two of those six resulted in 10-pins, and, like a dummy, I missed them both. So, when all was said and done, I managed to butcher an easy 230 plus game all the way down to a measley 212.

I can't lie and say that I'm happy with these results because I absolutely flushed some pins down the toilet tonight. The only comfort I can take from it is that I managed to right the ship and execute some pretty good shots during the second half of the set after throwing it like complete garbage during the first half. In the past, a night like tonight could easily have been 550, so I guess I should appreciate the fact that I'm getting a bit better at pulling things out of the fire. Still, I need to be better if I'm going to get where I truly want to go. Oh well; next week is another chance.