"Bowling Blind"-The PBA Experience

PBA Xperience-Farmingdale Lanes


"Where we last left your hero, he was bowling on the Chameleon pattern on Thursday night...we flash forward to a month later and yes, we are back on the Chameleon..."

Yes, yes, yes...I know that are wondering where I have been the last few weeks, not posting up my weekly blogs on the PBA Experience league I have bowling Thursday nights this summer of 2009. The answer to that lies in some very important issues that I have been meaning to bring to light:

1) I am moving. As in, out of the house and into a swank, new apartment in Worcester, Mass. with Michelle in the fall. Things come in order and primarily speaking, financing the apartment, as well as moving some things in and out of the room. The computer has stayed however, but I have had other pressing issues on my mind.

2) Work. Syosset Lanes is in a very serious attempt to rehab its infrastructural image. What I mean by that is heading into the new fiscal year, our management has had to be more creative with ideas involving customer service to make budget from previous year. We have also been more diligent in keeping our lineage rates similar from one system to another (in this case-Centaman to Qubica), to make our numbers match up. We have also stepped up our crush on staff members adhering to dress codes and personal conduct. Not that this should be an issue to most who work in AMF, but for some reason, I have dealt with some rather snobbish, overbearing, stubborn, spoiled brats in my year and a half working there. For whatever reason, they fell in line with a certain style of work ethic and quite honestly, it doesn't suit what I feel is a professional worker in a bowling center with such high exposure. My only issue is that these people have been around the longest time at Syosset and it is seriously affecting my ability to manage people there. All of this though, is a mere moot point with the move and the transfer to AMF Town and Country in September.

3) Just bowling. No time for thought process and typing away. I just wanted to bowl and not worry about setting up weekly blogs, but something suddenly came up in the month of August. For years, I have wanted to adamantly defend my loyalty to my favorite music band, Third Eye Blind. I was never sure how to do this without getting laughed off the face of the earth, but with their new album coming out on the 18th of the month, I felt it was time to express my feelings about how profound an impact they have had on my adolescences and early adulthood. But....that's for another time, lets flashback, shall we?


OK, so after the Chameleon pattern would be the Viper, but I was not in the area to bowl. I had the USBC Championships in Las Vegas and my sub was....well, no one. No one could fill the shoes for me because mostly, any sub I wanted were all out in Las Vegas. Subsequently, I had no bowler and won no points and I was leading the league going into that week.

The next week was the Shark, which has played awfully rough for me. I ended up starting the league in 8th after getting zero points from the previous week. I shot 763 and struggled with ball reaction all night long. It did not help matters that I was bowling with Darren Andretta, who is making a habit of bringing great tools to the sport of bowling, but with no discernible way to use them.

After the Shark week, I was in 11th place-the lowest seed I have been all summer. But I had quite the exit strategy: the Cheetah pattern. Now before you get on me about 'oh, he's a lefty and he should score well on this pattern' junk, I was bowling with two other lefthanders that night in Eric Taylor Sr. and Tommy Genova (subbing for Andretta). They shot 694 and 653 respectively. I shot 909 for the night and once again swept the night for 17 points, making my season on the Cheetah 34 for 34 in possible points won. On that pattern, with its potentially high scoring pace, that is a tremendous feat.

The following week, it was the Scorpion pattern. I was now 3rd in points, but still had to bowl with two other lefthanders in young Alex Garger and reigning league champ, Joe Costanzo. Of course, the league leader was Mike Perrone, the lone righty. The Scorpion played much tougher than it did the previous time out, but I still got 16 points and shot a tough 816. That pattern was not easy bowling with two other lefthanders and then having to chase another lefthander in Frankie Calca the next two games.

Whewwwwww....OK, we are now up to speed. This past Thursday was the Chameleon. I come into the night 2nd in the league at 90 points, a half point behind Perrone and had some daylight from 3rd (Calca) and 4th (Marc Bieler). Once again the lanes played with a zone inside the track area, but with some different equipment choices.

Practice: Last time the Chameleon was out, I had success right from the start with my Scout Hi-Flare, but with another lefty on the pair, I was not going to have the fresh backends to have that ball recover later downlane, as practice predicted. I needed something stronger and that was my U-Turn Pearl/Particle. It is amazing how much mileage I have gotten out of that ball this year and this night was no different.

Game 1: 232. Frankie beat me....or he should have beaten me. I was in the same area of the lane as I was last time, and Frank was left of me. I am shocked to see how good his look was from around 8-9-10, while I did not have that. We get to the 10th, I strike out and I cannot lose the game. Frank could tie me if he did the same, but I knew I could not lose if I delivered. The first shot was pretty good but went soft 7, spare. I struck on the fill to force Frankie to step up and his ball caught the lane too early and overreacted right through the face, leaving a split and getting the 3 points.

Game 2: 228. Kept creeping right to find the fresh and use Frankie's area against him, which once again coincided with him needing a double in the 10th frame to beat me and coming up short again. I will be honest, I was lost. It was a lost 228 game. Two shots struck on the cross, but I took them knowing that I was probably due to get a few bad breaks. Two games and two wins, you run away and move on.

Game 3: 162. Lowest game of the year...and it still got me 2 points for the game. Frankie did shoot 191 to grind out the win but the righties were having a miserable time. Mike shot a dismal 141 and Marc shot a just as dismal 152. I was very fortunate for the 2 points. The lanes were giving me two different looks, but I just didn't read it until the 4th game. I juggled between the U-turn and Scout that game and had no idea where to go on each lane.

Game 4: 242. Best game I bowled all season long. Forget numbers or strikes or spares, this was the kind of mental awareness and lane management game I had been lacking and it clicked for 10 frames. I decided to use two different balls for the last game. The U-Turn on the left lane, and the Scout on the right lane, which was at this point on FIRE!!! I just had to tell myself with the Scout you've seen this before dating back to the first time I bowled on the Chameleon. The U-Turn on the left lane until that lane broke down to where I could use the Scout, if need be. That need be would be a be needed...if you follow me. After a quick 4 bagger and a couple of spares, you can see the left lane beginning to break down like the right lane. Now it was time for the Scout to finish the job off. A late 5 bagger to shut out both Mike and Frank got me the win, an 870 series (sensational bowling on this pattern) and now the lead in the league with a 16 point night and 49 of the last 51 points won in the last 3 weeks.

Now we get to this coming week and the Viper pattern, for which I feel is my favorite pattern and was last year for me in terms of overall consistency. However, this will be my first time bowling on it this season and the patterns at Farmingdale have been a case study in finding out how the lanes are playing week in and week out with the new pattern lengths and oil ratios. Until then folks, remember that you strike for show...but you spare for dough.

Namaste.