Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) Get your minds out of the gutter. ;) Bowled my first 300 game! :D A funny story, too. I went to my normal house lanes to bowl today with a friend, but they were closed; they don't do a lot of business in the summer, so they cut back to only being open after 5:00 on weekdays. Well, I asked my friend if he wanted to bowl somewhere else, both places are about 20 minutes away. He picked "ABC West" in Mechanicsburg, PA. They've hosted some PBA Tour events of the past, for those in the know. Well, we get there, and they put us on Lane 21. I prepay 4 games, so does my friend. Well, their lanes are a different surface than my normal house: my normal house, Midway, uses wooden lanes (much like Green Valley), while ABC West uses synthetic bowling lanes (much like Mountaineer). Well, the first three games were pretty average by my standards. 182, 190, 174. Started out that 174 with four straight open frames, just a bad sight. But at the end of that game, I noticed that if I took a particular line to the pocket, it worked almost every time. In the 4th game, I hit 8 strikes: frames 1-4 and 7-1st in the 10th. Ended up with a very nice score, 242. Well, our time was over, but my friend and I were both pretty warmed up, so I go up to the counter to pay for 1 more for each of us. That line's still working pretty good, I bowled a 201 the next game. I felt like I had 1 more in me. So I go up to pay for the next game... I come back, throw the 1st one, perfect. In the 2nd, I get a little high with the ball, but I get a nice high flush tap on the 4-pin to send it down late. And I struck in the 3rd. And the 4th. I had started the 242-game out with 4-in-a-row, so I decided to sit down for a minute, take a little breather. Told myself to go up there every time like it was the 1st frame. Came back up and did it in the 5th, the 6th. Every shot was doing exactly what I wanted it to. I was zoning in on my mark, looking at nothing but my mark when I threw it. Hit the 7th, tied my best start in a game. Broke it the next frame with my 8th. And I drilled it in the 9th with a loud exclamation I shouldn't repeat. And I started to get the shakes... Now, I always told myself that I would sit down after the 9th frame if I ever got to that point. Mainly because I'd be nervous. And I was. My heart was racing, my right arm was twitching. My friend wasn't even looking at me for fear of jinxing it. It's a Friday afternoon, and it was packed. Loud and packed. And people were starting to gather around. After sitting down to calm my shakes to a level I feel I could deal with, I got up for the 10th. First shot, a bit outside but very good backend, nailed it dead flush. Another fist pump, another shout. I stay up there, arm starting to jitter. No time for jitters, just throw it. Threw a high fastball with very little rotation. But it was flush, and all 10 whooshed back into the pit. 1 strike away. Another fist pump, another shout, and I walk around the lane area a bit. Perhaps a minute or so. One shot away from doing something I could only dream about. I get up there. I'm literally shaking. Never did I even think I'd be in this position. I zone in on my mark, I approach, and I release. And I short-arm it. By that, I mean I didn't extend my arm fully on my release, and when I do that, it causes my ball to drift left. Dangerously left. I couldn't breathe as I saw that ball cross over Brooklyn, or to the other side of the pocket for you non-bowlers. However, it was going to hit the pocket. And wouldn't you know it, the shot was perfectly placed. A perfect Brooklyn hit, a perfect break, a perfect game. One of the Top 5 feelings in my life, that loud crash and seeing the pins all at once lurch backward into the pit. I'd put it just under making love for the first time. I really would. I'm literally SCREAMING at this time. My friend rushes out to me, and we reenact the final training scene from Rocky III, right there on that floor. I go and get that bad boy printed out. I call everyone I know and tell them: fiancee on down to my old bowling alley back home. I tell you, I am thrilled. Why do I get so excited over this? Let me tell you, it's HARD to bowl a 300. By far, my best game ever. There as many perfect major league baseball games thrown as there have been of PBA bowlers getting a 300 on TV (18). I've known bowlers who have averaged over 200, who've bowled 25-30 years, and never got one of these. Sure, they've knocked on the door a lot, but they've never had one. One of my old bowling teammates was 47 years old, averaged 205, and had exactly 1. Which I now have myself. Just wanted to share that with you guys. ;) Edited April 25, 2009 by UVAObserver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundy10 10 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 I go to Pikeville College and their women's bowling team has won the national championship twice in 4 years. They take that stuff pretty seriously down here...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JJBrickface Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 Congrats! That's awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate1 10 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublue 939 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 Way to "bowl" Observer :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jets 10 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 Way to "bowl" Observer :) cangrats... and funny pun on gutter and bowling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 cangrats... and funny pun on gutter and bowling LOL, I didn't even intend it. :D But it works out pretty well, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbgfan 856 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 WOW!!! Congrats to you Observer ---your description of the feat made us hold our breath in ANTICIPATION--- Reminds me of how the adrenaline was flowing at Lynchburg, in the 2006 championship game, when Richlands blocked the Rockbridge field goal that would have given them the lead. I was so nervous, I had went to stand at the top of the bleachers and when Brett Clayburne jumped up and blocked the F/G--WOW!!!--I reacted like you---and then again when Fuller made the interception to end the game--knew the PERFECT SEASON was to be!!! Proud of you-GOD BLESS Life has many choices---eternity two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzsawBeaver 12 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 Congrats! You did something most people will never do in their lives! Very impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 DUDE!!! CONGRATS!!! That's classic...a 12th ball Brooklyn strike!!! That's EXACTLY the way I want to shoot my first 300!!! Interesting how you get nervous like that even though it was only "practice". I can honestly say, when I shot my 290 earlier this year, I wasn't one bit nervous. I guess it was because the pressure of a 300 and 12 in a row wasn't there. One question, how did you feel? We're you focused? Not bothered by anything going on around you? You know..."in the zone". That's how I was when I shot the 290...I didn't realize anything was going on around me, almost like having tunnel vision. I felt like I was the only one bowling...didn't hear anything but the pinsetter motor and the ball return, didn't see anything but the lane and the pins, didn't have any thoughts running through my head, almost like everything about me was on "auto-pilot". I knew I was going to strike out in the 10th before I even picked up my ball. bsfoy, who I was bowling with that night, even made a comment about how "focused" I was that game. Just wondering if you experienced the same feeling...its kinda weird and awesome at the same time. BTW, you put this in the wrong forum...it should have gone in the PROFESSIONAL SPORTS forum...LOL... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 DUDE!!! CONGRATS!!! That's classic...a 12th ball Brooklyn strike!!! That's EXACTLY the way I want to shoot my first 300!!! Interesting how you get nervous like that even though it was only "practice". I can honestly say, when I shot my 290 earlier this year, I wasn't one bit nervous. I guess it was because the pressure of a 300 and 12 in a row wasn't there. One question, how did you feel? We're you focused? Not bothered by anything going on around you? You know..."in the zone". That's how I was when I shot the 290...I didn't realize anything was going on around me, almost like having tunnel vision. I felt like I was the only one bowling...didn't hear anything but the pinsetter motor and the ball return, didn't see anything but the lane and the pins, didn't have any thoughts running through my head, almost like everything about me was on "auto-pilot". I knew I was going to strike out in the 10th before I even picked up my ball. bsfoy, who I was bowling with that night, even made a comment about how "focused" I was that game. Just wondering if you experienced the same feeling...its kinda weird and awesome at the same time. BTW, you put this in the wrong forum...it should have gone in the PROFESSIONAL SPORTS forum...LOL... I appreciate it a lot, and I figured you of anyone here might appreciate it most. :) I'm a jumpy, nervous, excitable person by nature. Even in practice. Probably the reason that I was so nervous was that after I sat down after the 9th frame, I thought to myself: "make the most of this, it might be a good long while before you're in this position again." Not the best thing to do in that situation, but I sat for about 5 minutes to get the jitters out. But I wasn't terribly nervous through about the first 7 frames, mainly because I'd struck through the first 7 frames twice before, until Friday. Once I hit the 8th, though, it started to have an impact. I'd never been that far before until this. But at the same time, I was incredibly focused, yes. Definitely tunnel-vision, I'd compare it almost to that state you get when you're intensely focused on a video game: you know what you have to do, and all you have to do is zero in on it. I really didn't notice too much of what was going on around me, most of what I recall I remembered after the fact. I remember lining up, solidifying my stance, finding my mark, zeroing in on that, approaching, and rotating my hand as I come through the ball. At about 35 feet, the ball would catch friction, and ride perfectly flush right on in. There were people every 2 lanes, all the way down, and it was pretty loud in there during the early part of my game. Thankfully, or else I didn't notice it, there seemed to be little ruckus when I was throwing. Probably the latter, though I know for a fact that no one within 4 lanes of me threw a ball during the last 4 frames. As far as the bowling itself, my target was about a foot in front of the first arrow, a very good reference point in my line of vision. When I'm not quite on, I have a tendency to take my eyes off my target and come up out of my swing early. Something in the back of my mind told me, though, to just focus in on that spot and my swing mechanics would do the rest. And it did, just stared it down all game. My high before this was 277, bowled in my Sunday night league this last year: X, 9/, 9Xs, 7. And before that a 267 in practice: X, 9-, 10Xs. And definitely, the pressure of being perfect was off, and it just felt like I was playing with house money from the 3rd frame on in those 2. Probably a bit as you did with that 290 (and in league play, pretty darned nice BTW). Professional, hardly. ;). Though I did fight my way to a 196 average to end the season in my Friday night league. Not bad coming from a 178 the 2nd week after Christmas, I have to say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzsawBeaver 12 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 I don't know much about bowling but my thoughts would have been if ya wait 5 min. you might get out of that groove you were in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 I don't know much about bowling but my thoughts would have been if ya wait 5 min. you might get out of that groove you were in. I agree with you on that...if I'm in a groove, get out of the way and let me roll... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucfan64 309 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Congrats, one of those lifetime momemts....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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