Who's in the West Burbs

[Phonetek]

I'm brand new to the West Suburbs. When I used to bowl out here as a kid it was at Lombard Lanes but they are gone. I didn't see that coming. I've shot over at Fox Bowl so far and it seem like a nice house and they have sports leagues. I've been inside Wheaton Bowl which was like stepping into Peebody & Sherman's "Way Back Machine" but I didn't bowl there. I would though, I just went past figured I'd check it out.

There are several houses very close within about 15-20 minutes. Right now after 10yrs I'm back to it. I'm not on a league because it's past mid season and I'd rather start fresh. Plus I need to put together a fresh arsenal because what I have is junk. Normally I don't do summer leagues but I might just to get back into it full swing. Anyone around here? I wouldn't mind having a practice partner or possibly shoot in a doubles tourney or some low level pot games for the fun of it. I know nobody around here and I'd rather not get slapped on a random team. Although that can work out well, I'd prefer to join with people I know. It's only Feb so there is plenty of time. Chime in if your interested.

[TCJ]

I'm so far in the west suburbs that it's actually quiet, peaceful, and low traffic around here. That means that I'm actually not in the west suburbs.

[Phonetek]

LOL Yeah then you are "Far West Burbs" No traffic around here means it only takes 10 minutes to pull out of my subdivision

[Phonetek]

That also probably means to come here to bowl with me would be too long of a drive

[TCJ]

I live 40 minutes from the West suburbs, actually. I consider ten minutes a long way to get to a bowling alley because I live 2 minutes away from one center and 5 minutes away from the next.

[Phonetek]

Yeah that's a definite NO then for you coming east. LOL Who knows, once I get hot and heavy in the tournaments I may end up out by you at some point. Once I get things rolling I plan on hitting every tournament I can find like I did in the old days. I used to travel all over the place. When I was 14 I bowled in Maine, New York and Niagra Falls for different youth tournaments. When I got older I went to the ABC's in Vegas once and another in Florida but I don't remember what it was called. So although I have several houses very close to home, 40 minutes to your lanes wouldn't phase me.

[Phonetek]

I wish there was more of you guys local within a reasonable travel distance. I'd love to put together a "Bowlingboards event" It would be a breeze for me to do where I work. Bowling would be cheap as heck and a great way to get to know each other outside of the board. Unfortunately everyone is so wide spread on here. I see there are quite a few from the boards past who were from around here but they haven't been on in a long time, some many years.

I try to spread the word about this site but not dealing with many serious bowlers it's hard to get new people. If more members could spread the word to their fellow league bowlers or team mates maybe one day we could get some events together in each state. Maybe even have a state little competition? That's a heck of a stretch and probably not very realistic but it would be cool. My guess is we have about 50 regulars on the site and that's probably a high number but a guy can dream can't he? I wish I was around when this site was at it's peak of popularity. It's ashamed it's not like it was back in the day.

[bowl1820]

I wish there was more of you guys local within a reasonable travel distance. I'd love to put together a "Bowlingboards event" It would be a breeze for me to do where I work. Bowling would be cheap as heck and a great way to get to know each other outside of the board. Unfortunately everyone is so wide spread on here. I see there are quite a few from the boards past who were from around here but they haven't been on in a long time, some many years.

I try to spread the word about this site but not dealing with many serious bowlers it's hard to get new people. If more members could spread the word to their fellow league bowlers or team mates maybe one day we could get some events together in each state. Maybe even have a state little competition? That's a heck of a stretch and probably not very realistic but it would be cool. My guess is we have about 50 regulars on the site and that's probably a high number but a guy can dream can't he? I wish I was around when this site was at it's peak of popularity. It's ashamed it's not like it was back in the day.

It's peak of popularity wasn't that much different than it is now.

We also had two "Bowlingboards events" They were called the "The florida mini-gathering" since most of the users of the site were from Florida. The site was called BBAM (Bowling Balls and More) then it changed a little later.

The Mini was Named After the larger annual multi forum 2-3 day event called "The Gathering" at Ron Cliftons Creekside Lanes in Winston-Salem, NC. which happened for 6-7 years.

[Phonetek]

It's peak of popularity wasn't that much different than it is now.

We also had two "Bowlingboards events" They were called the "The florida mini-gathering" since most of the users of the site were from Florida. The site was called BBAM (Bowling Balls and More) then it changed a little later.

The Mini was Named After the larger annual multi forum 2-3 day event called "The Gathering" at Ron Cliftons Creekside Lanes in Winston-Salem, NC. which happened for 6-7 years.

That is a surprise that back in the day it was similar to now. I see where it says there was 387 members online in 2014 so I figure that was it's hayday. Must have just been more bots then. LOL

That's awesome that there was events like that. I know first hand how difficult it is to put them together. I did an even with my FB groups a couple years back. They are specific muscle car enthusiast groups. I had a huge turnout. I rented all the pavilions at a state park where I used to live and we had a car show, parts swap meet, bbq, live music and a 200 mile cruise afterward. It was a weekend event and everyone had a blast. I had people come from a dozen different states for it, very cool.

That was easy though. I had over 10k members in my groups at the time. You tell a bunch of gear heads about a car show and swap meet with food, music and a cruise and they will come out of the wood work. My groups are still running on FB and still successful but I had to walk away and hand the reigns over to my co-admins. They took over my life. It's a long story but lets just say I did the right thing. This is a different community than gear heads but I'm sure it's every bit as fun.

[bowl1820]

That is a surprise that back in the day it was similar to now. I see where it says there was 387 members online in 2014 so I figure that was it's hayday. Must have just been more bots then. LOL


Yes the majority of those are bots, spiders, crawlers from search engines and spammers.

[Phonetek]

Yes the majority of those are bots, spiders, crawlers from search engines and spammers.

Yep, same as my FB groups. It was always something. I always had people trying to infiltrate to post porn or their warez that had nothing to do with the group, just spam. Posting links that hacked accounts, trojans, viruses or keystroke recorders. The screening process for new members was a full time job. I seen one sister group go down because whatever it was they posted sent thousands of notifications to all members repeatedly.

The only way to stop it was to leave the group. They had 18k members one minute and gone within a couple days. Very sad, it takes a lot of hard work and time to build up that kind of membership. People are jerks with nothing better to do but to cause grief. Another reason I threw in the towel as an admin. Sucks to leave my creations behind but there were other reasons.

[Stormed1]

I'm in the southern burbs, close to the Indiana line. Once I get my prosthetic and gt back to cowling I would be glad to meet up and toss a few games. A few years ago w had a gathering from another site off Dundee Road and 53. We got about 20 people

[Phonetek]

It would be a pleasure, the more the better. Whenever you're ready just let me know a bit in advance and I can reserve the lanes however many. If I know ahead I can pick a day to get the best price. As an employee I can have a few guest for 50 cents a game but not 20+ LOL I think the max is 5. Either way you Stormed would be my guest so don't worry. We have specials on different days $1 a game and such if you bring a bunch of others. If it's you and just a couple others then any day will do as long as I'm not working. I'd rather bowl with you than serve you LOL I'll give you the full tour and take you behind the lanes to poke around if you are interested.

[bdpeters]

Boy if I could I would but its a bit of a drive for me. Only been out that way once and that was just passing through on the Grayhound bus. I have not seen many on the board in my area either. Some folks from Las Vegas and Chip in Wyoming. At one time I tried to put a fishing gathering together for locals on the North American Fishing Club. Rented a pavilion at a local lake and no one showed up.

[Phonetek]

Boy if I could I would but its a bit of a drive for me. Only been out that way once and that was just passing through on the Grayhound bus. I have not seen many on the board in my area either. Some folks from Las Vegas and Chip in Wyoming. At one time I tried to put a fishing gathering together for locals on the North American Fishing Club. Rented a pavilion at a local lake and no one showed up.

That bites. It's a lot of work to put those things together and in your case money out of your pocket. In my case we raised the money for the group to go using gofundme. It was a huge success. At least 500 cars showed up from the group. An awesome sight to see 500 similar make and model cars cruising in a huge line through town and doing the 200 mile journey. We turned a lot of heads, people pulled over to watch the convoy go by. Really cool.

[bdpeters]

Cool, I love car shows but it makes me dream a lot. There is a descent one in June that is just down the street. After it is over I love watching them all leave.

[Phonetek]

Yeah, I've owned what should have been a show car and a piece of history for 30 years. Suffice it to say it's a piece of crap instead and I've officially thrown in the towel on trying anymore with it. That dream is over. I'm a much better bowler than a car restorer so I'll stick to that.

[J Anderson]

Yeah, I've owned what should have been a show car and a piece of history for 30 years. Suffice it to say it's a piece of crap instead and I've officially thrown in the towel on trying anymore with it. That dream is over. I'm a much better bowler than a car restorer so I'll stick to that.

Show cars, whether you’re talking about street rods, rat rods, or purist restorations that look exactly like they came from the factory, are like boats. It’s better to have a friend with one than actually owning one.

[Phonetek]

I was going for the factory like option. I gave it the ol college try many many times. Every time I made progress then something set me back. All I did was get nowhere fast for 30 years. It just wasn't written in the stars. I still have it but it's more likely to start a new life as soup cans than reborn as factory fresh muscle car. Trust me, I didn't make the decision easily but the last set back made it worse than starting over. I'm done and moved on. I'll probably be happier because of it. It's a very long story that I'd prefer not elaborate any further on.