A mixed bag at the 10 pin bowling alley today.
First score of 77 was a complete embarrassment. Nearly every ball pulled to the left. Even when I realised this and compensated it made no difference. I think the problem might have been the people in the left hand lane but more of that at the end of the post. Anyway suffice to say by the end of this game I was down to 15Kmph in a vain attempt to control vaguely where the ball was going :(
Next game was possibly the best game I have played in my life :-D !!! Only got a score of 137 but I was so close on nearly every bowl. Not really sure what changed but I was definitely in the zone and a score of 150+ should have happened. I think the beer was just starting to take effect and I have a belief that a little bit of beer helps my game (works the same for pool too), possibly because I start taking a few more chances. Of course, too much beer means I take too many chances and it all goes to pot ;-) Anyway I was back up to 22/23 Kmph, which is about my optimum speed to bowl at.
Final game was OK, with a score of 119. Should have been better but I usually start to tire - yeah sad I know but I am a 10 stone weakling ;)
Now maybe I am being a pompous English ass, brought up using good manners and expect everyone else to show the same respect to one another I hope I show to other people ;-) Or maybe people who participate in 10 pin bowling are just ignorant or maybe I am just ignorant of 10 pin bowling etiquette? All entirely possible :)
So is it acceptable for people from one lane (to our left) to wander in front and behind of someone bowling in another lane? I had to put up with this constantly during my first game (which may explain the score).
Is it also acceptable, when towards the end of the second game someone from one of the right hand lanes wandered up to the area where the machine returns our bowling balls to (I assume this has a name but I have to confess I am ignorant of it) and helped himself to one of my 10lb balls, despite the fact there were a number of 10lb balls in the stack behind his lane and my lane. I know this because I had to walk over to the rack to obtain another 10lb ball immediately afterwards.
Now at the beginning of a game I always pick up 2 balls for my wife (7 or 8 lb) and 2 for myself (10lb) - yeah I know I'm a light weight - from the stacks behind the lanes, and place them in our lane's retrieval area. I, and my wife, find waiting for a ball to be returned after my first bowl affects our concentration. Now don't get me wrong. I am not a serious 10 pin bowler - hell look at my scores but I like to try and do the best at whatever I do and have a bit of fun at the same time.
Anyway I let this go, although it ruined my game, only to watch as during our final game the partner of the guy who took my ball then wandered over and took one of my wife's 7lb balls from out retrieval rack. Now there were mitigating circumstances here as there were precious few 7lb balls available. Neither of us would have had an issue of her taking the ball if she had asked but to take the ball just as my wife had had bowled her first ball and was walking back to take her second I thought was ignorant to the nth degree. It meant my wife standing there, waiting for her first ball to be returned because she couldn't use one of my 10lb balls because they are too heavy. My wife made a very sarcastically comment (we British excel in this area) which either must have hit home or they noticed me put my beer down and start to move over to them because they immediately abandoned their game and swiftly left the bowling alley.
So the question is was it us or were the two groups out of order?