Everything Candlepin

I’ve read about it, but I finally witnessed it.  I saw a 700 game AND a 2000 series in the same night.  It was sad that it was against my team, but such is life.  Some captain I am, coming in the lowest of the ten bowlers.  Take your eyes away from my name and just look at the scores.

Lucky Strike is at it again.  It was awesome to watch as pin after pin after pin rocketed into the pit.  The consistency and teamwork is just silly.

I tried to look into their eyes tonight to see the red light; because man; are they machines.  It was like bowling against 5 T-1000’s!  If any of them asked for John Connor, I was out there!

Watching the 700 game is awesome all by itself – though it is a bit more entertaining when we bowled well too.  630’s will win you a lot of strings on Friday night. Not tonight however.

But then, to watch them throw ANOTHER one (almost!) and be at 1,400 after two strings, I was really hoping for a 2,100 – I’ll be honest.

To watch them bowl as a team is hard to explain.  So many marks.  So much ink.  Almost always managing to make a bad fill into another mark to keep the streak alive.  Another thing to keep in mind is the teamwork, the knowledge of the game, the faith to listen, and the ability to do it.

Tough to visualize, but I am going to try anyway.  Case in point, the shot of the night – and there were a STUPID amount but this shot in particular sticks out in my mind.

Barber throws his first ball and buries the 1-2 pocket leaving the 7-10.  There was a piece wood of laying near the 7 pin essentially making an “L”.  To the right of that piece of wood, two vertical pieces of wood nearly touching, and nearly making a “V” toward the pit.  Just ahead of the right stick, was a flat piece of wood acting as a road block.  Baker leans in and calmly explains – and I’m trying to do the best I can to get it correct – hit the left piece of the “V”.  By throwing your ball to just left of the headpin, and hitting the left part of the “V the ball will hit the flat wood and take the 7-pin, and the right pin will spin around and come toward the lane and take the 10-pin.  So what does Barber do?  He makes it – and he makes it clean.  And I’m saying no questions asked he makes it.  Just to the left of the head pin, hits the left “V” the ball hits the 7-pin and the right portion of the “V” takes the 10-pin.  Maybe they have “Easy Buttons” in their bags?

Congrats to those guys at Lucky Strike.  Another 2,000 and another post.  Two weeks left to do it again.