WEEK 32 RESULTS

Points Won: 5 - Points Lost: 22

It was another rough week for Team PBS. Quinton was out of action for a second consecutive week. Since we didn't have time to find a sub, we had to suffer a penalty of twenty pins per game. This week's opponent was Beast Mode, one of the toughest teams in the league, so the deck was stacked heavily against us. As one might expect under these circumstances, we were swept again. We failed to reach 800 in any of the three games. Five individual points gave us a score of 5-22 for the night.

Our record for the final third dropped to 64.5-151.5. Our record for the season is 363.5-473.5. Our sad bowler with the 7-10 split has become a regular feature on the blog. It's been eight weeks since I was last able to put up the Garrett-Victory photo. We have about a month to get ourselves sorted out for the Last Chance Tournament.

WEEK 32  01  02  03  SER  PTS   G  PINS   AVG   PTS  HG   HS 200 600 700 800
Quinton 163 163 163  489  1.0  81 14882 183.7  51.0 266  661  24   7   0   0
Mark    202 203 184  589  1.0  93 17593 189.2  61.0 247  659  36   9   0   0
Brandon 199 162 130  491  0.0  96 18481 192.5  50.0 257  688  30   8   0   0
Garrett 156 243 241  640  3.0  93 20647 222.0  68.0 299  876  68  19   8   1
Kevin                           6  1138 189.7   4.0 223  574   3   0   0   0
TOTAL   720 771 718 2209  5.0 369 72741 197.1 234.0 964 2693 161  43   8   1

SINCE MY LESSON WITH BILL HALL...

In the seven weeks since my lesson with Bill Hall, I have been averaging 197.3 and my percentage of 200+ games has been 47.6% (10 of 21). Prior to my lesson, I was averaging 186.4 and my percentage of 200+ games was 34.8% (24 of 69). I am extremely pleased with the results so far. Thanks, Garrett, for arranging that lesson.

WEEK 31 RESULTS



Points Won: 5 - Points Lost: 22
(MAYBE)

Quinton wasn't able to join us this week and we didn't have a sub lined up. This forced us to use a penalized score of 173 in Quinton's absence.

We were beaten rather handily by How Swede It Is but not without some controvery. I'll have more on that later. So far as the bowling went, it wasn't one of our better nights. We didn't break 800 in any of the games while our opponents did in all three, due in part to the controversial issue which I will cover later in this report.

WEEK 31  01  02  03  SER  PTS   G  PINS   AVG   PTS  HG   HS 200 600 700 800
Quinton 173 173 173  519  1.0  81 14882 183.7  49.0 266  661  24   7   0   0
Mark    218 190 211  619  3.0  90 17004 188.9  60.0 247  659  34   9   0   0
Brandon 184 186 194  564  1.0  93 17990 193.4  50.0 257  688  30   8   0   0
Garrett 191 230 197  618  0.0  90 20007 222.3  65.0 299  876  66  18   8   1
Kevin                           6  1138 189.7   4.0 223  574   3   0   0   0
TOTAL   766 779 775 2320  5.0 360 71021 197.3 229.0 964 2693 157  42   8   1

The issue in dispute was the vacancy score used by our opponents. Eric Ellard had to drop out of the league and in his place, a vancancy score of 250 was granted. We found this score baffling. No bowler in our league has an average anywhere near 250 so how is it equitable compensation for a team missing a bowlier? At the time, we went along with the posted score but with the intention of questioning its correctness afterward.

According to our league's rules, the vacancy score is supposed to be the sum of the present members' entering averages subtracted from 785. That clearly was not the case as my email to the powers-that-be at Diablo Valley Bowl explains: 

"Good morning. In last night's Showcase 810 match between Team 6 (Pinole Bowlers Supply) and Team 11 (How Swede It Is), a vacancy score of 250 was used by Team 11. I am unable to reconcile this score with our league’s rules.

According to League Play Rule #6 (page 7), “Vacancy/Blind score will be the three present members’ entering averages subtracted from 785.”

According to Averages Rule #3 (page 3), “To be eligible to participate in this league at less than the maximum average, a bowler must have two years of book averages, of 40 games or more, during the past five years.”

According to Individual Entering Average Notes #1 & #2 (Page 4), “The league will not recognize ANY league average of less than 40 games; with the exception shown in rule 2 following.” (“If you have an average that is between 21-39 games, and it is higher than your 40 game minimum average for that season, then that average takes precedence for that season.”)

Using the USBC listings found at Bowl.com, Lisa Burney’s entering average is 164 and Kevin Burney’s entering average is 187. Dennis Ellard has only a summer league average listed and it’s based on less than 40 games so it is not recognized. (The exception in Rule #2 was not met.) Lacking a recognized book average, I assume his average would be the “maximum average” but I don’t see where that is defined. I noticed that Dennis was absent during the first week of the season and an average of 223 was used in his absence. Perhaps that means the maximum average is 233 and with the required ten-pin penalty for absence, his score for each game was 223. Perhaps he had established a higher average that is not listed on the USBC’s website.

If Dennis’s entering average was established as 233, the sum of the present bowlers’ entering averages was 584 and the vacancy score should be 201, not 250. (785-584 = 201.) If his entering average was 223, the vacancy score should be 211. For the vacancy score to be 250, Dennis’s entering average would have to be 184 and we are unable to see how that could be determined under the existing league rules.

At your earliest convenience, can you please clarify how the vacancy score of 250 was determined?"

I am anxious to see DVB's response to my inquiry. If my figures are correct, we won the second game and Garrett's score in the second game topped the vacancy score. We'd still be on the losing end of the match but by a score of 9-18 instead of 5-22.

WEEK 30 RESULTS

This week we had a position round that paired us with the Four Horseman

Points Won: 11.5 - Points Lost: 15.5

(yes, the subject is singular and there's a woman on the team -- I don't have an explanation). It was a contest between two struggling teams that saw its share of ups & downs. Sadly for us, there were a few more downs than ups.

The first game was a tight one which saw the Four Horseman edge us in the tenth frame. They lit us up with a 924 in the second game, paced by Jason Ysip's 279. We came to life in the third game with Brandon's 246 and Garrett's 257 carrying us to a score of 878 that averted a sweep. The score for the evening was 11.5-15.5 which dropped our record to 54.5-107.5.

WEEK 30  01  02  03  SER  PTS   G  PINS   AVG   PTS  HG   HS 200 600 700 800
Quinton 171 224 173  568  2.0  81 14882 183.7  49.0 266  661  24   7   0   0
Mark    205 213 202  620  1.0  87 16385 188.3  57.0 247  659  32   8   0   0
Brandon 181 158 246  585  2.5  90 17426 193.6  49.0 257  688  30   8   0   0
Garrett 187 203 257  647  3.0  87 19389 222.9  65.0 299  876  65  17   8   1
Kevin                           6  1138 189.7   4.0 223  574   3   0   0   0
TOTAL   744 798 878 2420  8.5 351 69220 197.2 224.0 964 2693 154  40   8   1