Reply With QuoteLOL, I am sure Aslan has all of the scores detailed in his journals.
I literally don't remember the scores, they were that bad.Originally Posted by vdubtx
Something like 3-4 (or more) splits per game, and maybe 1 or 2 crap strikes.
The only thing that resembled bowling was the makable spares.
As bad as Temecula was, it was infinitely better than Concourse.
Concourse may have put out an excellent oil pattern, but the wood was so bad I couldn't tell.
Aslan clearly had adapted to those conditions. He would loft the ball 15 feet, with next to no hand, into the drier part of the lane.
It would roll up to the oil line and set in the pocket. I believe he mostly used his frantic.
I tried to lay the ball down at 25, through 17 at the arrows, and the ball wouldn't go out past 10 before turning back to the nose.
That was with urethane, and plastic. Finally I decided to try and swing one way out. Thats when I discovered the dry area, which launched my ball back to the 4-7 area. Given the options I had, I knew my game was over. So I went in to chuck mode, which actually got worse.
LOL, I am sure Aslan has all of the scores detailed in his journals.
High Sanctioned Scratch Game - 300(12) Hi Sanctioned Scratch Series - 822(3)
2016/17 Book Average=221, 2017/18 Composite Average=223
Equipment in the bag - Storm Crux Prime, Storm Physix, Roto Grip Idol, Roto Grip Idol Pearl, Roto Grip Hyper Cell Fused, Storm Sure Lock, Storm Drive, Roto Grip Winner Solid, Roto Grip Haywire, Storm Fever Pitch, Roto Grip Red ball spare.
Rev Rate 400. Speed 18 at heads, 16.5-17 at pins. Axis tilt 10, Axis Rotation 55. PAP 5 5/8 x 5/8 up
Scores LOL
Wow if I HEAR ONE more excuse from Mr White I think I will .... OOOO,,, God.... I think I am ,,,,, yes off to the rest room to BARF up a bunch of excuses I keep reading about his losses to Aslan The GREAT!!!
When the chips are down, Aslan finds a way to win, and does it with all humility, and honor!!
Aslan is such a nice guy, ( I know its hard to fricken believe!! He most have promised Mike that he would not post the scores.)
Maybe Mike offered him a NEW BOWLING BALL, to keep the scores secret, with the Tri-Grip thrown in at no extra cost!
Don't walk on Thin Ice!
Get your *** out to Anaheim before they remove the wood, and lets see if you can do any better?
I think my description of the games (many splits, few strikes) gave a pretty good idea what the final scores were.
WHAT WERE TJHE SCORES??? Simple question LOL
Ouch.... hit a nerve???? WHAT were you scores, and did Aslan beat you?? Was he better at adjusting???
What WERE THE SCORES MIKE!! SIMPLE QUESTION...
Why not fly out here, and bowl me??? Maybe I can find a lane you can bowl on???? Na..... LOL
Don't walk on Thin Ice!
I actually don't know the scores. After a few frames in the first game it became clear to me that we weren't bowling.
Aslan has pictures of the scores, I just hope he has pictures of the lanes also. The first 15 feet look like a battle zone.
Yes, I have the scores documented and photographed for "posterity".
I didn't immediately post them because I was raised to be a "good winner" and wanted to give Mr. White the courtesy of providing his own assessment of the situation. And honestly, and I don't mean to rub it in or anything, but I felt "sorry" for him. I mean, Mike has a great release...better than I think I'll ever have. And he knows far more about bowling than I probably ever will. To see a guy like that...just unable to strike and in some cases unable to pick up spares...it was kinda sad. It was like watching a former great heavyweight fighter get knocked around by some "nobody".
But...the scores were:
Game 1: Aslan: 179, MWhite 124
I had a clean game except for a open in the 6th...a split. Only struck twice, but my spare shooting was dead on. Remember, I had 4.5 practice games on one of the lanes where as Mike only had one practice game on the pair. Mike struggled MIGHTILY in the first game. He only struck once, had 3 splits, and only picked up 3 spares. I've never seen his spare shooting THAT bad.
Game 2: Aslan 212, MWhite 145
Even with a 55-pin lead...from the experience in Temecula...I knew that Mike had the ability to come back. His ability to adapt quickly is what really sets him apart from a bowler like me. But, I started out with a turkey which gave me a 30-pin lead going into the 4th frame. At that point, I just kept it clean. Meanwhile, Mike's spare shooting had improved...but he left 4 splits and only struck twice (to my 5 times).
Game 3: Aslan 191, MWhite 139
Going into Game 3 all the pressure was off. I had a 122-pin lead which meant if I just bowled my average of 165...Mike would need a score in the 280-300 range to beat me. And when I struck in the 1st and he started out with a split (4-6-7-10)...I knew he was done. I'd have actually done better in Game 3 after balling down to the Slingshot, but had 3 splits of my own.
Now, that meant that I not only beat MWhite....SCRATCH...but beat him by over 200 pins.
My assessment is actually similar to his:
1) Yes, the lanes are different. This is a TESTAMENT to anyone out there that thinks "lanes are lanes". WOOD lanes behave NOTHING like synthetic lanes. There are a LOT of high average bowlers in that house...with 202-227 averages....that throw 23mph and loft it 10ft...throwing equipment no stronger than a Tropical Breeze. You CANNOT set the ball down with 400rpms and wait for it to slide, skid then turn. It won't slide...it will grab far too early...and you WILL miss left.
2) My assessment of Mike is...he either doesn't have the physical ability (due to injury) or isn't willing to change the "way" he throws to overcome conditions. He'll change balls...he's got like9 of them...but he wants to keep setting down early with high revs...even if the oil pattern isn't being condusive. Thats why they say you need to develop 3 lines and 3 speeds to compliment your arsenal. You "can" play those lanes inside with higher revs...but it's not easy. OR...you can do what the successful folks at those lanes do...loft it 10ft...or increase your speed. Mike seemed to take a different approach, which is to try and find a ball weak enough that he could throw it how he's most comfortable.
3) It wasn't "his night". Yes...the lanes are bad. Barry Asher heard I bowled at that house and mumbled under his breath that the lanes were ****. And...the lanes are 50% changed over as we speak...because they just weren't in good condition...and a changed was needed. BUT...BUT....in Game 3..MWhite only had 2 splits and missed a single-pin spare 3 times. Missing single pin spares is always on the bowler...you can't blame that on the lanes.
4) It WAS "my night". I shot 94% at single pin spare pick-ups. I've never picked up more than 80% in a series or session. I only had FOUR open frames and all 4 were splits!! I wasn't always "on"...and would first ball an occasional "5" or "6" or "7". But I would convert the spares. I think I was over 51% on multi-pin spares..usually I'm in the 30s.
So not only did Mike come into MY HOUSE...thinking he could take me down...but he did so on one of my best nights ever in a lot of ways (mainly spare shooting). So it was a "perfect storm" that he was faced with. As to Iceman's "critique" about the excuses:
1) Some of them were uniquely valid. I've TRIED to explain to people why I loft the way I do...and they can't seem to reconcile it with standard lanes. Mike saw first hand...I don't usually play on "standard lanes".
2) You have to sort of get to know Mike a little. He's just not the kinda guy that is going to ever admit someone is better than him. His knowledge base is so full of bowling factoids...that no matter what happens...he'll always have an excuse. And there WILL be validity in his excuses.
He noticed the lane pattern in Temecula...and it hurt him. He noticed how the lanes were behaving at Concourse...and it significantly hurt him. But....if Mike were a younger man...maybe more at the front end of his bowling career than the back end...I'd try to convince him to get more "adaptive". Like most bowlers...his house is his world. He doesn't like "change". Thus, he can't adapt to it. I've bowled at like 11 different centers in SoCal and once in Vegas...in only 8 months of bowling. Five months into bowling I tried my luck in a tournament. I "like" that challenge. I "like" that hurdle in front of me...it motivates me. I could never be like some of the bowlers in my Thursday and Friday leagues...that bowl in one house forvever...carrying 180+ averages...and never go to tournaments or anything other than sweeps their entire lives. I could never do that. I don't just want to be the best at my house...I want to be better than the people in my county, and my region...I want to be in a big tournament on the internet...and someday TV. I'll never be Chris Barnes or Walter Ray....but I won't be happy just being "that guy" that bowls Thursdays. I wanna at least me "THE GUY" that happens to bowl Thursdays.
I also have the sort of "bad" tendency to "bowl up" or "bowl down" to my competition. Had the same problem in Tennis and Golf. You pair me with a good person....my game elevates. You pair me with a beginner...I suck. I'll bowl with a buddy after work and he'll beat me 162-118. Then the next weekend I'll be bowling against a previous tournament champion and bowl 3 straight 200+ games. I want to make THEM beat me...not beat myself. I know I won't always win...but I want to at least prove I belong on the same stage.
So...I congratulate MWhite on making the trip. It was an interesting night for sure...one of the last wood lane houses finally going bye bye...and it was a good time. I wish it had been closer so it wasn't AS crushing a defeat...but it was what it was.
In Bag: (: .) Motiv Trident Odyssey; (: .) Hammer Scorpion Sting; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Radical Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 176; Lifetime Average = 171;
Ball Speed: 14.7mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 181
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
OUCH!!! Seems Mike White isn't bowler he's cracked up to be. Even a good bowler would average 160 on such "tough" conditions.
Just ribbin' ya Mike White!!!
High Sanctioned Scratch Game - 300(12) Hi Sanctioned Scratch Series - 822(3)
2016/17 Book Average=221, 2017/18 Composite Average=223
Equipment in the bag - Storm Crux Prime, Storm Physix, Roto Grip Idol, Roto Grip Idol Pearl, Roto Grip Hyper Cell Fused, Storm Sure Lock, Storm Drive, Roto Grip Winner Solid, Roto Grip Haywire, Storm Fever Pitch, Roto Grip Red ball spare.
Rev Rate 400. Speed 18 at heads, 16.5-17 at pins. Axis tilt 10, Axis Rotation 55. PAP 5 5/8 x 5/8 up
Nice job aslan
Very nice bowling, considering all the adjustments you made!!! ,,,, THANKS for the results!!!!!
Don't walk on Thin Ice!
Not really. Thats why they're tearing them out.
SEE! People would tell me to set the ball down 6 inches in from the foul line and I'd think, "but that part of the lanes looks like somebody dropped a dirtbike...or spilled 3 cups of coffee and there's a dime's width crack between the 17th and 18th boards??"
And it didn't help that we probably were bowling on the 2 worst ones...the leagues usually bowl in the 30-40 lanes...."slightly" (but not much) better. I didn't have much choice...they were going to put me on the synthetics and I told them I needed wood lanes...and that was the only pair not being used by leagues. I had to "sweet talk" him just to let us use both because he was trying to keep the right lane closed for league courtesy.
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