Another step closer

Sitting on top of our division with a slight 1 game advantage over last week's opponent, you would think we would be primed for a big night. Brian's adrenaline was still pumping from the glorious 532 series he turned in last week and was out to prove it was no fluke. In five of the first seven frames he got a strike, recording a 77 in the 3rd and a 109 in the 5th. Each time all ten pins hit the floor Brian would shrug his shoulders and sheepishly give us the
"What the f#%k?" look. I can see the Visa commercial now: Pitcher of beer $9.00.....new balling bowl purchased with gift certificate $20.......goofy "what the f#%k" expression on your face when you get another strike?.....PRICELESS! A little slippage at the end still earned Brian a 171.

Along with Brian's nice game, Dan tossed down a 185. With these 2 scores you would think we were on our way to a solid victory. A victory we got, solid it was not. FNG's 104 had him dreaming of golf season, Pat's 147 was non descript and someone needs to explain to Jim that transposing the numbers of your average (182 average, 128 game) does very little to help the team. Despite this uninspired team effort (40 pins below average) we actually won the 1st game by a whopping 8 pins. Dan's first ball strike in the 10th sealed the deal.

Game 2 saw the team "improve" to twenty pins below average and another victory. I guess it is all about match ups and we were fortunate that "Mr. Wonderful" (Jim K.) took time off from his WWF wrestling schedule to try out his new ball against us.

Continuing the below average theme of the evening, we out did ourselves in the 3rd game, plummeting to a 660 team score, a 117 pins below average. Needless to say we lost the third game and total pins to finish 4-3. I am not sure if it was the cockiness of Pat and Jim with the "Be a man, have only 6 quarters in your pocket" taunt of Dan or was it the image of Dan standing naked in front of a mirror etched in everyone's mind that so adversely affected the team? Either way the following efforts of Jim 480, Dan 448, Pat 432, Brian 422 and FNG 369 (failed to reach the girly 120's TWICE) will not lead us to the success we so want to become accustomed to.

Author's note: Ironically Dan tossed in only 1 quarter in the 1st game while Jim and Pat emptied their pockets.

The hottest ticket around!

A new found confidence spurred on by recent ball purchases has Los Diablos' equivalent of the 8th and 9th hitters in a baseball line-up itching to get back on the lanes. Both Brian and Mark have been finding themselves gazing dreamily into space, mouth a gape with a little drool dripping down their chin, fantasizing of new found glory and respect from their team mates. While we appreciate the desire to demonstrate your improvement, a potential sanction may be levied against Mark for his derogatory reference of "Double gutter" directed towards teammate Scott.

The quick 10-4 start to 2nd half of the season even excited JD so much that he could not stay away and stopped by to witness the growing excitement swirling around the team. We took our league low team average of 775 up against the team tied for 1st in our division and the 2nd low average of the league(784). We may have been caught up in our own success as the combination of us bowling 100 below average and them bowling 100 above average led to a 200 pin ass-kicking. Down a quick 2 points, Brian took charge of the 2nd game, putting up a season high score of 199 (up from 119 1st game). Everyone improved over the 1st game: Pat 123 to 190, Jim 149 to 168, Dan 145 to 170 and Scott 130 to 166 which led to a team 893 which is well over our average. This performance tied us 2 to 2 going into game 3.

In the 3rd game Brian again stepped it up and improved his season high of 199 up to a career high 214 on the way to a 532 series. Dan matched Brian's 214 (529), Jim had a 175 (492) Pat shot 167 (480) and Scott had a 127 (423) all leading to a 3rd game victory. Unfortunately, the 200 point deficit in game 1 was too much to overcome and we only came away with a 4-3 evening.

As always, we have a good time and take away certain tidbits each team we play. Whether it was the Mini-Me's, menstrual-like pheromone influenced double strikes or Neal's absolute obsession and irritation with our ability (luck?) of knocking down strikes on the wrong side of town, we can always share a smile with each other. Looking forward to Tuesday, boys.

Los Diablos....back on top!!!

A late rally at the end of the fall season moved Los Diablos into 2nd place in our division. Hard to believe with our once pitiful winning percentage at the beginning that we would somehow manage to "earn" an end of the year play off spot. With only 4 teams per division this seems a little questionable but Brian insists we are in (sorry Jim, no winnings are dispersed in December).

The 2nd half of the season started the week of Christmas, and the team seemed inspired by the $40 gift and free drink coupons, winning the evening 5-2. A much better start to the season than how we did back in the fall. Both Brian and Mark took the plunge, showing up with new balls (bowling not groinal). A sheepish Brian looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar as he was picking out his ball and Dan walked in, only to hear the bowling ball consultant ask: "You want to get better, don't you?" With Dan as a witness, Brian really only had one option for an answer.


With the week of New Year's off, the team showed they were serious about the 2nd half of the season as all 5 core members showed up for Sunday practice. Although Pat and Brian were not able to play this week, Scott and super sub JD filled out the team and we took the evening again winning 5-2. At 10-4 this will put us solidly in 1st place and put our overall record at an even 63-63. This is quite an improvement since we were 24-46 in November!!!

Jim carried us in the 1st game on the strength of 7 consecutive strikes on the way to an impressive 245. JD's career high 225 (215) in the 2nd game led to an excellent 513 series while Mark's career high 178 (165) led to a solid 443. Scott was entertaining as always, at one point completing the classic "Prybel", picking up the spare after a gutter ball. He may have been intrigued at the prospect of having something named after him, so he proceeded to do the unthinkable of throwing a gutter ball in the right alley followed by a gutter ball in the left alley. A stellar 17 in the 2nd frame followed by a 17 in the 3rd was picture worthy but we did not get one. Like it or not, the double gutter will forever be known as an "Atlas".

Oh yeah, one last tidbit. Twice, we had 4 of us get a strike in the same frame, and twice we had the same person miss in that frame. We did get a round of shots out of it though.

King of the Hill

For the 2nd week in a row JD broke what used to be the unattainable threshold of a 500 series. His 511 (161, 135, 215) in week 13 helped us to a 5-2 victory. He topped that in week 14 with an inspired 562 (209,181,172) which propelled us to an impressive 7-0 for the evening. At this pace we may become a 500 team in the standings!!

An interesting tidbit over the last 2 weeks was the fact that 2 weeks ago JD was the only bowler to top a 500 series. Brian was close with a very nice 489 but Dan (437), Todd (408) and Jim H. (412) failed to flirt with 500. Jim H. started strong with a 175 but the 3rd game of 93 (yes, his 1st sub 100) put any hopes of a good series to rest. By contrast, in addition to JD's 562, Jim M. (526, high game 224), Dan (522, high game 200) and Pat (516, high game 176) all managed to exceed 500 in week 14.

Our overall record has improved to a season best 44-54!!!.

Captain Brian is a Star!

The core team of 5 was back together for the last 2 weeks and it was clear to Brian that he needed to shake things up in his role as team captain. Going with the "dress for success" philosophy, Brian looked radiant as he donned a smart looking blue blouse with a large white star emblazoned upon his chest. The other team members noticed that his physique looked slightly more "puffy" (too bad Jim D. was not there to admire the body change as he did when he commented how Jim M. was filling out his clothes last season). It was not until the 3rd pitcher of beer when Brian revealed not only the reason for the puffiness but his unusual choice of body jewelry. Author's note: I would have bet his would have been pink, not brown!!!

Whatever the reasoning for the change, the team appreciated it as Brian bowled like a man deserving to wear a star upon his chest. Three games all over average (150, 165 and 157) and a very respectable 472 series to overcome our 1st game massacre to win the night 4-3. Jim M. returned to the solid Jim of 2008-2009 with a 550. Dan (439) and Pat (462) put in sub par performances. Mark, fresh off last week's dominating performance that led to the cocky, walking out to the car comment "I told your I was a 160 bowler", finished up with a 390 (that's a 130 average for anyone mathematically challenged).

Two comments regarding the commitment to the team and new ball purchases: 1) After Brian's performance I hope he does not feel he is just fine with his current equipment 2) After our opponent's "What is that, a 12 pound ball?" comment to Mark, I hope he has been quilted into a purchase.

14 game losing streak..FNG returns!

Since the last entry when there was a comment about how our .314 winning percentage had taken a nice jump up to .428 by virtue of some recent stellar team play, our winning percentage has plummeted to .333! This is what happens when you go 0 -14 over a 2 week period and your overall record drops to 24 and 46. Not sure what the answer is but we are just not in sync this year.


There were no real highlights last week except Jim's solid 567 series bolstered by his 2nd game 224. Other than the always appreciated "I'm carrying the team" commentary from Jim nothing of note occurred as no one else cracked the 500 barrier (pointed out by Jim).


You might have guessed that to go 0-7 a 2nd week in row would also have very few highlights but you would be wrong. Dan (181, 185, 198) and Pat (177, 172, 185) both smashed the 500 series mark and battled throughout the evening as they tried mightily to hold the struggling team together. Wow, 2 others over 500 and of course Jim probably broke 600. Wrong. Mr. Broad Shoulders was reduced to a quivering mess as he struggled ("I have a scab on my leg, don't you know?") to a JD-like 457. FNG beat him in the 3rd game for crying out loud.

Beer Frame - noun. The act of all five members of a bowling team rolling a strike in the same frame. Achieving the five consecutive strikes is traditionally rewarded with a round of drinks provided by the bowling alley.

After 3 seasons the pursuit of the elusive beer frame has finally come to an end. There was an increased amount of talk about this throughout this particular evening.....did everyone sense this was the night? How could this rag tag collection of 60% regulars and 40% subs even think of it, especially when the man who has been carrying us (so graciously and humbly, I might add) was not present? The tension built as JD knocked them all down, then Brian (yes, BRIAN!) followed by Jim H. The two subs and Brian did their part, now it was just down to the brothers. Could they hold up their end of the bargain? Pat, Mr. Clutch when he needs to make the perfect bags throw (but also the owner of the most gutters this year) came through followed by Dan. The team's reaction as the 50th pin fell in the 9th frame of the third game was as if we had just won the Super Bowl or the World Series. The rest of the bowling alley must have thought someone had a 300 game. There was a collective shaking of their heads as they realized it was just Los Diablos finally getting a beer frame....losers.

It was this 3rd game where everything came together. It helped erase the memory of the 8 pin loss in the 1st game where everyone but Pat failed to mark in the 10th. We rebounded in the 2nd game and won by 38 pins. It was on the strength of the beer frame that the bowling gods smiled upon Los Diablos. Brian finished the game with 5 consecutive strikes, Pat got his 4th and 5th straight strikes in the 10th on the way to a 216. Dan threw a strike in 6 of the last 7 seven frames to overcome a 3rd frame score of 33 on the way to a 202. Free haircuts for Brian, Pat and Dan.

Our 11 and 24 record (.314) of a few weeks ago has been improved to 24 and 32 (.428). It's fun to string some winning weeks together boys...let's keep it going.