On Halloween night, I was headed to the local alley. It was kind of eerie as I heard it had become a
graveyard (a term for low-scoring lanes).
It was my worst nightmare as I faced the clothesline (1-2-4-7 or 1-3-6-10 spare conversions) and I choked
as I chopped spare after spare trying to survive.
No matter how many times I would knock them down, they kept coming back to haunt me. The coffin corner
(hardest single pin spare to convert; 7 or 10-pin for left and right handed bowlers, respectively) was
deadly tonight.
The evil witch on the other team threw a creeper (slow ball) and it hit like her broom ball (a good
pocket hit that sweeps all the pins away.)
Our team hit a buzzard (three consecutive open frames); each shot was dead on arrival as we looked at
grandma’s teeth (a random array of pins left standing).
If I could only quit throwing a pumpkin (ball thrown without spin that does nothing when it hits the
pins), maybe I wouldn’t see so many ghosts (pins hidden behind another).
Suddenly the alarm goes off. These bowling nightmares must stop.
Looking forward to Thanksgiving and all those turkeys (three consecutive strikes).
Benefit slated: Al-Mar Lanes will host a bowling benefit for breast cancer awareness on Saturday at 6
p.m. Proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure program.
Cost is $20 per person. The bowling will feature the no-tap scoring system. There will be jackpots,
prizes, and a 50/50 raffle. Those attending are invited to wear a costume for Halloween.
League opening: Varsity Lanes has a limited number of openings in its newly formed "Bumper"
league on Saturdays at 10 a.m. It runs for eight weeks.
Youth of the Week: Youth bowlers who bowled the most pins over their average last week, with pins over,
were as follows.
Al-Mar: Bantam/Prep, Sofia Calderon, 52; James Alfaro, 35; Major/Junior, Chase Ferguson, 57; Kristin
Helberg, 49.
Varsity: Did not bowl during report week.
In a previous report the name of Quinn Beeker was misspelled.
Surviving the game: The five bowlers eliminated in Al-Mar’s "Surviving the Game" with pins
under average were: Dennis St. Peter, 137 and Josh Maxwell, 95, both Friday Night Mixed; Terry Leek,
Elks, 90; Brian Close, American, 82; and Jim Bailey, Sunday Mixed, 78.
High Rollers:
Bowler (Lanes) Game Series
House shot
Brad Simon (A)
279,300 846
John Ferrera (V)
279,278 768,976
Josh Swiecicki (A)
280 753
Chris DeLuca (V)
288 –
Steve Etzel (A) 286 –
Bill Kitchen (A) 279 –
Ron May (A) 279 –
Bill Starkey (V) 278 –
Jan Swerlein (A) 277 –
Pancha Melendrez (A)
248 631
Tiff Turner (A) – 627
Jodie Wint (A) 243 624
Pancha Melendrez (A)
241 624
Brenda Hang (A)
243 –
Nikki Bagrowski (A)
239 –
MaryAnn Dimick (A)
234 –
Robin Butler (V) 231 –
National tourney shot
Jay Jakubowski (A)
266 –
Youth tourney shot
Juan Ybanes (A)
234,215 648,841
Jon Saddler (A) 224,220 818
Cameron Walter (A) 234
Zach Steinman (A) 211 –
Kristin Helberg (A) 205 –