We have had 4 league bowling nights since I last blogged about bowling…I am sorry, I have to catch you up… between work and visits from family and friends (and of course the required beach and pool time), time gets away before I can catch up.
It is only fitting to start off by introducing the man who makes this all possible… Here is the legendary Bobby D!
In addition to owning the greatest bowling alley in the whole world, he and his wife also rescue dogs. Could I love them any more?As you know from my first bowling league blog, in week one Parador beat us, but we put up a good fight. We also had a lot of fun.
However during our “post game discussion”(read: [self appointed] Coach Kurt endlessly bothering us with tips and thoughts) which lasted all week, we realized that week 1 we were too excited and worrying about our hand slaps and booty bumps. The second week we knew we needed focus, we needed to get out there and show them what Las Chusas de la Suerte was all about. And we are about the business of winning.
When the big night rolled around, we planned our “uniforms,” brown shirts this week. We thought that maybe wearing a darker color would help to hide a little of Kurt’s sweat. That kid needs all the help he can get. The only time Linda and I will stand anywhere close to him on bowling night is when we first get to the alley…long before he throws his 1st ball (as we were here), and even then it is risky.
And here is our whole team photo...we hadn't yet gotten Victor to join our "uniform" requirements...though in the last 3 weeks he has been on board.When we got to Bobby D’s, we were surprised to find out that we were once again bowling against Parador. Seems this league isn’t very big, not much of a surprise considering it is the smallest bowling alley in the world. And while we were a little disappointed that we weren’t playing against a different team, we were happy to see Parador; they are great guys and a lot of fun. However, they are also pretty good bowlers and have a considerable advantage as they have 6 guys on their team (therefore having the ability to have drop their two lowest scores).
They once again beat us the 1st game and we quickly realized that before the 2nd game began, we had to get a plan together or else we would be 0-2 in the league, clearly not acceptable. The plan went something like this: knock down more pins…and buy Parador beers. Clearly a lot of thought and strategy went into this plan. But the fact is, while our game improves with beer, theirs goes down hill considerably, we had to get an edge on them somehow.
Seems as though our plan worked because while all of their scores went down, my score increased by 70 points in the second game…giving me the highest team score to date, and resulting in us not only winning that game…but winning overall for the night.
That’s right baby… we had our first “W” because of yours truly. And yes, I will sign autographs when I return to the states.
6 out of 10 frames I got a strike or a spare…sadly 3 of the other frames I guttered on both throws. Ah, what could have been!
Here is our score sheet...
We were clearly very happy with our first league win and were joined by Willie (the answer to the “Almost Famous” puzzle…Willie from Real World Philadelphia), Kevin and their friend Paul for a celebration. Over all it was a great night, I was, of course riding the high from my big win. But the best part about the whole night was the newly adopted celebration by the Parador team. Seems as though they like our style, frankly it is hard not to (video at the bottom of the posting).
The following week, Bobby D called Kurt to confirm our game for the night (as he does every Monday) and told him that word of my score had spread through the bowling community. Kurt also claimed that his name was thrown into the notoriety, but I don’t believe that. And frankly, I was a little bitter that after my big night of bowling I didn’t wake up to my “coach” bringing me gallo pinto.
We called a cab to drive us down to the alley, and were surprised to find the fanciest cab of all times…it was a very new and clean van, with a video screen playing old 70’s disco videos. With this kind of start, we just knew we were in for one heck of a night. Here is Kurt doing his best rendition of “YMCA.”
When we got to the alley for our warm up, I threw a strike and a spare right out of the box, causing me to get a little big for my britches. I got even more cocky when I found out that the guys at the pool table watching my warm up were on the team we were getting ready to play, La Mansion.
After my 2 big warm up throws, Kurt was convinced I was going to have a great game, and was encouraging me to “own it” all night…and said that when I threw a ball and could “feel it,” I should turn around and walk away from the lane, not even watching the ball knock down the pins. Great idea…if I would have actually bowled well…which I didn’t.
I think I bowled my worst game to date. Guess I am not quite ready for the professional circuit. However I would like to point out that La Mansion was the league champs last season and one of the guys on their team, Martin, has the alley’s highest score (commemorated with a picture in a plastic paper protector on the wall) and was throwing strikes like it was his job…which as we later found out, it kinda was. Turns out La Mansion takes the bowling league very seriously, and rewards their employees financially for strikes and spares. I need a new coach!
Here he is, live and in person in front of his "plaque" and below celebrating yet another strike.
However, I was not the only one who had a tough game…we all played like crap. And while the guys of La Mansion were nice… they kicked our asses. We lost by a total of over 100 points….not pretty my friends, not pretty. Guess I should have thought about that before I said “mira y aprende” (watch and learn) to them on my first couple turns. Nothing like eating your words in Spanish.
It is a funny thing, there really isn’t any heckling here like in the states… that is until we are around. But we have had to tone our heckling down a lot in recent weeks. After our game against La Mansion, we realized that we weren’t going to win the League Championship Title and are now trying for the “Miss Congeniality” award. Clearly we have already won the award for “Best Dressed,” which in my mind is most important anyway.
Here we are with the team from La Mansion.
Here is the La Mansion team celebrating their victory. You would have thought they just won the World Cup....instead of beating a team of Gringos during League night at Bobby D's. Though if our team won the championship we might do the same thing, however, I wouldn't be willing to get that close to Kurt he would be a sweat mess.
But in other big news... it seems as though Linda and I are trend setters. Here is my favorite video...Martin and Leslie, from Parador, celebrating a strike Las Chusas style.
