One house, 90 minutes, 2 bowling balls, 2 lanes, one pair of shoes - I bowled 12 games to complete my college bowling (I think).

Here are my scores, in order:

Lane 9: 199,247,231,192,268,203

Lane 10: 262,192,226,159,176,185

Halfway through the 226 game I began feeling fatigue. My worst mistake was pausing to get a Gatorade. But I was determined to get through 12 games no matter what. This also shows how out of shape I am. About ten years ago, I could do anywhere between 18-21 games twice a weekend. Injuries and hot dogs have slowed me down over the last few years.

My final average, calculated by me, is a 214 for 30 games. But, if only 26 games are required, my average should be a couple pins higher. I can live with that. Hopefully my average in the fall is around that area.

Hope everyone else is having a good summer!

Since my class let out early today, I thought I might as well go and bowl some more games at Town & Country Lanes. I threw the Freak-A-Zoid on some type of league condition (heavy oil with a dry back end on the inside).

Here are my scores, in order bowled:

197 - Wasn't too bad of a game. Made every spare until the 10th frame, when it counted. I tried throwing the ball with some more spin and missed the pin completely.

200 - Well, I guess it's good...

182 - Here my shoulder began hurting. I'm not sure why, but could be just because it was still tired from the games yesterday. I'm not use to throwing two days in a row over the summer.

276 - Not sure how this happened. I threw eight strikes in a row here. My shoulder was killing me, but I somehow managed to get the strikes.

178 - I was all over the place. I couldn't keep my arm on a straight follow through and ended up throwing the ball in all directions.

195 - The pain and poor shots from the last game carried into this game. But, somehow, I finished with five strikes in a row. The 7th frame should have been a strike, too, but I had an unfortunate break on the 10-pin. I thought it was going to fall, but it leaned half-way. I made the spare.

I'm not sure if I should consider this outing good or bad. Though the scores weren't nearly as good as the past couple of outings, one good game can justify an entire day sometimes. Either way, bowling through pain is always great practice! You never know if you'll get hurt bowling. And when you do, you always want to be prepared.

Also, someone asked me what my average is. If my math is right, which it probably isn't, my current average for college bowling is a 216.5. I can live with that, though I hope it goes up!

Today I bowled on Lane 11 at Town & Country Lanes. I had another impressive outing, again throwing the Freak-A-Zoid. Check out my scores (in order bowled):

194 - Not bad for the first game, but not comparable to the 279 last week. But still, without practice prior to the game, I'm happy with this.

247 - A clean game! Finally, I bowled a clean game. And, had this been a no-tap game, the score would have been perfect.

201 - I struggled a bit with this. I'm not sure why, but I still bounced back and got the strikes when I needed to in the end.

226 - Once again, had this been a no tap game, it would have been perfect! Two clean games in the same day - who would have thought.

241 - I shot great in this game until the 9th frame. Don't get me wrong - I still made my spares in the 9th and 10th, but it was ugly. I could feel myself getting tired.

221 - A good score, but another ugly game. I was sweating more than usual. The summer heat is taking its toll on my bowling game. There was only one spare in this game. The rest were strikes, and two opens.

I left a 7-10 split in the third game (201). A couple frames earlier, when shooting a 10-pin, I actually knocked it over to where the 7 pin would have been. When shooting at the 7-10, I only knocked the pin over half way. But that's still impressive to me, and an improvement. I've knocked the 10-pin over to the 7 plenty of times, but the 7 is never there when I do it. I rarely leave a 7-10 split these days.

But, nevertheless, another good outing! I'm starting to make more spares, which is good. I'm going to try and bowl on some PBA patterns this summer, too. I'll be sure to post when/if that happens.

As many know and some are just finding out, I'm taking bowling for a credit this summer to fulfill one of my Phys. Ed. credits. Today I bowled the first six games (of 26 or something like that.) The scores were up there! Check em' out:

279, 223, 216, 203, 197, 221

With the 279, I left a 10-pin in the first frame, but struck out the rest. I continued to strike into the next game, getting the first three, for a total of 14 in a row. Yep, still no 300.

Something interesting was the 197 game compared to the 203. When I bowled the 203, I had three open frames in a row but still managed to break 200. On the 197, I only had one open frame but fell short.

Out of the six, my only clean game was the last one, the 221. Although many know my frusteration with open frames lately, the scores were still good so I won't complain.

It was nice bowling on a lane with an actual condition. I noticed it breaking down, too. It was nice being able to adjust and feel comfortable on the lanes again.

I hope everyone else is having fun this summer. I'll keep posting!

I still can't believe that I'm returning to college to become an educator. I'm always finding myself doing things I said I wouldn't. Anyway, I thought I'd share my summer and fall class schedule with everyone:

Summer:

Fall:

Yes, you read that right! I'm taking Bowling 1 to fulfill one of my Phys. Ed. credits, lol. My old bowling team coach is in charge of the class so it will help provide me with some practice over the summer and better prepare me for the winter (hopefully.)

Unfortunately, because I have a PBA membership now, I won't be able to bowl for the college again but might be able to help coach if my schedule allows some free time.

Wish me luck!