Monday 2pm Solobowl

Lately I've been experiencing some middle-age form of ADD. Perhaps this is a side effect of my latest Caffeine Reduction Act--perhaps there are other forces at work. Whatever it is I just can't focus. In light of Lintinin's tragic burglary and subsequent bowling catharsis, I decided to hit the Shatto 39 for some afternoon solo bowling to clear the head. The Solobowl isn't something I've ever done in my lifetime, but hey, I'm always up for trying new things, and if Lintinin can do it, then so can I, durn it.

The only other guy there was an old Korean man, also there by himself. He watched me and I watched him. He was hobbly and a little gimpy and took long breaks between balls, but I saw him nail a wicked 4-10 split and when I applauded he looked at me and nodded without breaking a smile. Then he sat down.

This is a picture of him, the other Solobowler:



Today I couldn't find a house ball that worked. I have the problem of having big hands with skinny fingers and prominent knuckles. My knuckles usually get stuck in balls 14 lbs and lighter and they swim around in the holes drilled for 16 lb ball throwing behemoths. I'd love to use a little pink or orange ball (preferably swirly, if not glittery), but I can't jam my fingers into these lighter balls and my actual hand spread is far too large. So I usually end up with a dull black cannonball with sausagefinger holes and a bunch of scuff marks. This one said "Clarence" and had a little star above it. Clarence was big and heavy and gave me good pin action but the holes were too large and I couldn't take a proper backswing because:

1. The ball was too heavy
2. The ball would slide off my fingers if my backswing cleared 45 degrees.

So I came with a truncated, arm-bent backswing and the results were mediocre:

Game 1: 144
Game 2: 146
Game 3: 159

But at no point could I really control the ball with any degree of accuracy. For a game like bowling, this is bad:

The turning point was the 6th frame of the 2nd game:



I clipped the spare attempt and slid the 2-pin over a few inches, but it did not fall. If I would have made that spare and struck in the seventh, then I would have marked in six out of seven frames....That would have given me 107 after six with a strike going into the eighth, which could have put me close to 200.

But then that would break the precedent of the late-game choke that the Condiment is famous for.

This is a picture of The Condiment bowling by himself at the Shatto 39 in the middle of the afternoon: