WEEK 2 OF TEAM PLAY!!!

A light showing this week, only five bowlers.  So I bowled in absentia (in Cleveland) on Monday so the team scores would be relative.  A big shout out to Adam at Sky Lanes for setting up the scoreboard with our handicaps and my away games!

On my one good game, a solid 191, I was able to grab total Gross and Net honors this week.  Of course I was able to bowl at an alley that actually had oil on the lane so I had that going for me.  For reference, I bowled at the Roll House in North Olmsted, the same bowling alley where I tossed my 256 earlier this year.   Mike Raynor bowled all three of his games over his 120 average to ride his handicap into second position.  Rounding out the top three was Todd with a NET 595, just six pins shy of the second spot.  It looks like Maurice's rising average and corresponding lower handicap cost him his previous two weeks' spot in the top three dropping one place.

This Week's Individual Results
						Total Pins
First		Last		Average		Gross		Net
Rick		Brooks		163		489		618
Mike		Raynor		128		385		601
Todd		Eveland		141		424		595
Maurice		Snyder		104		312		564
Cary		Saul		121		362		563
Tom		Belt		135		406		550

This week I took some time and managed to get the teams more balanced relative to the team total handicap.  Although, in theory, it shouldn't matter.  The handicap is intended to make the individuals equal across the board before the first ball is sent down the lanes.  The final outcomes are determined by who bowls BETTER than their handicaps.

Week two of the TEAM Competition saw Team Eveland vs Team Belt (Sorry, I didn't make the effort to come up with clever team names this week)!  This week we saw Team Eveland take three of the four* games with three of the 9 individual efforts over the 200 Standard Score Benchmark, and three more within 7 pins of that number.  Team Belt still had a decent showing with two individual games over the 200 pin standard and three more within 6 pins of the standard.  NET Total games around 195 and above indicate that everyone is bowling to their individual averages or above and is a very good indicator of improvement (progress).  So great job everyone!

*Remember:  the fourth game is the total of the three games for the day.  And it is possible to win two of three and still lose the fourth, or total pin count!

This Week's Team Results
Team Eveland						Total Team Handicap		184 Pins
		Todd		Maurice		Rick		Team Net
Game 1		197		199		234		630
Game 2		210		172		182		564
Game 3		188		193		202		583
						Total Score:		1777
Team Belt						Total Team Handicap		187 Pins
		Tom		Cary		MikeR		Team Net
Game 1		171		203		187		561
Game 2		195		194		197		586
Game 3		184		182		201		567
						Total Score:		1714

Here are the averages and corresponding handicaps each of us will be carrying into next week.  With my overall average creeping up ever so slowly, I've managed to keep ahold of the top spot for this week.  In his absence (Liam didn't bowl this week), Liam managed to move up one spot into second place in our group.  Except for Liam's leap frog, the rest of the group remained fairly static.  And as we get more games under our belts and in our averages, point movements will become smaller still.

The Accidental Bowling League Individual Overall Standings
				Current
First		Last		Average		Handicap
Rick		Brooks		155		41
Liam		Brooks		145		49
Tom		Belt		144		50
Todd		Eveland		138		56
Mike		Tierney		134		59
Bo		Dee		128		65
Cary		Saul		124		68
Mike		Raynor		122		70
Maurice		Snyder		106		85
Doug		Kurtis		93		96

Hope to see everyone next week!

TEAM 4-10 SPLIT vs TEAM 6-7 SPLIT

My efforts to introduce our group to League Play would not be complete unless I shared the UPs and DOWNs of TEAM PLAY.  Because League Play is really all about Team Play!

First, a couple of things I'd like to point out.  We've had a couple of fairly large swings with handicaps, up and down, the last two weeks due to the limited number of games that constitute our averages.  As more games are included in the overall average that will smooth out some.  Also, you might note that each individual's average plus their handicap equals somewhere between 190-195.  So for three games, if your Gross Total Pins is around 570-585, you are bowling around your average and you won't see much of a change in your handicap for the following week.  If you are above that range, you're having a good week.  Below that range and you can look forward to a few extra points added to your handicap the following week.

Now, for this weeks results:

Todd's struggle the last two weeks and his resulting 60 pin per game handicap helped him ride a 174 second game to this week's top spot with a three game NET score of 610.  Todd's 174 was only bested by Liam's third game which launched Liam from the middle of the pack (first two games today) up one place from last week into third place for the week with a NET pin score of 586.  Maurice's 114 three game average today with his handicap gave him a solid 606 NET pin score for a move up from last week into second place.  Cary and I finished with NET scores in that 570-585 range for unexciting middle of the pack finishes that won't hurt or help our handicaps.

This Week's Results
						Total Pins
First		Last		Average		Gross		Net
Todd		Eveland		143		430		610
Maurice		Snyder		114		342		606
Liam		Brooks		145		436		586
Rick		Brooks		150		450		576
Cary		Saul		125		375		576
Mike		Raynor		116		349		559
Tom		Belt		135		406		532
Mike		Tierney		119		358		514

Handicaps for next week (below) show a little movement from last week but nothing significant.

The Accidental Bowling League
				Current
First		Last		Average		Handicap
Rick		Brooks		152		43
Tom		Belt		147		48
Liam		Brooks		145		49
Todd		Eveland		137		57
Mike		Tierney		134		59
Cary		Saul		126		67
Mike		Raynor		120		72
Maurice		Snyder		106		84

Now, on to team play:  My team selection wasn't completely random.  I tried to divide the various handicaps so that one team was not significantly advantaged over the other.  I might have done a better job but I was working in the fly trying to get ready prior to everyone's arrival.  

I noticed a good bit of comradery and teammates encouraging each other during the bowling, however the "Trash Talking" was underwhelming if it existed at all.  Something to work on!

Team 4-10 Split started with a 27 Pin advantage which they didn't need to take the first game by 72 Pins.  Team 6-7 Split, however managed to barrel back to overtake the handicap disadvantage to take games 2, 3, and the overall total, which I believe is commonly referred to as the "fourth game" in league parlance.

Team 4-10 Split								Total Team Handicap		249 Pins
		Maurice		Cary		Mike T		Tom		Total Gross
Game 1		224		193		182		190		789
Game 2		195		168		181		160		704
Game 3		187		215		151		182		735
Total Score:										2228
Team 6-7 Split								Total Team Handicap		222 Pins
		Mike R		Todd		Liam		Rick		Total Gross
Game 1		155		205		174		183		717
Game 2		210		234		179		196		819
Game 3		194		171		233		197		795
Total Score:										2331

The next two weeks I will be out of town.  When the bowling announcement goes out, please be sure to RSVP in a timely manner (but not now, it's too early).  I will be forwarding lane/team assignments with current handicaps for only the players that indicate they are bowling that day.  Adam (Sky Lanes Staff) has offered to input everything while I'm gone and I don't want to send more than he needs so there is no confusion.

I hope everyone is enjoying our little blog posts!

Battle of the Sandbaggers!

 (EDIT) In my haste to get out your bowling stats I made an error.  Good thing I'm taking pictures of the scoreboards.  My corrected table shows Cary moving up a couple spots in this weeks standings on a best game of 145.  Cary also moves up a spot in our overall averages.  I also failed to mention Maurice rounding out the top three in this week's NET competition with a solid 615 net score on three 100+ games.

This week's first game was definitely the "Battle of the Sandbaggers." After totally "Bombing" last week I managed to bowl a not totally atypical 196 in the first game. DOG (Doug) last week, gutter-balled his way to an 86 average and a 103 handicap to round out the field. This week Doug managed to raise his average almost 10% and move up three spots in the Net Pins category on the strength of a 145 first game. My 253 total "Net" pins for the first game barely eked out the top spot over Doug's 248 total "Net" pins for that first game.

So, on to this weeks results:

This Week's Results
						Total Pins
First		Last		Average		Gross		Net
Mike		Tierney		161		484		694
Rick		Brooks		170		509		680
Maurice		Snyder		110		330		615
Liam		Brooks		145		435		592
Cary		Saul		127		382		586
Todd		Eveland		134		403		583
Doug		Kurtis		100		258		567
Mike		Raynor		123		368		562
Tom		Belt		138		415		502
Bo		Dee		132		263		399

*Only bowled two games today

Mike Tierney rode three strong games to a 161 average for this week for a WIN for total Net pins. I managed to pull off the high average for the week but it wasn't enough to overtake Mike's combination of POWER BOWLING and established handicap.

Updated Averages and Handicaps for Next Week:

The Accidental Bowling League
				Current
First		Last		Average		Handicap
Rick		Brooks		153		42
Tom		Belt		153		42
Liam		Brooks		145		50
Mike		Tierney		142		52
Todd		Eveland		134		60
Bo		Dee		128		65
Cary		Saul		126		67
Mike		Raynor		123		70
Maurice		Snyder		103		88
Doug		Kurtis		93		96

We had two new bowlers join our new handicap format with Mike Raynor and Liam getting in three games. Both had decent mid-pack showings. Tom came back to the pack a bit after his strong showing last week although he didn't bowl terrible. I came out on top of the spreadsheet's sort function by only a couple hundredths of a point (not shown on the table). Bo's position with our group is more accurately reflected by the second table because, having bowled only two games again this week, his weekly total pins is ten frames short.

Have a great rest of your week everyone...!