I have been slinging the rock in league competition for more than 30 years. I thought I knew nearly every term the makes up the lexicon of the sport. It appears I was wrong. In searching the Internet, I found some terms I was not familiar with.
Let's see how you do on this so-called bowling quiz. Perhaps some of you old-timers will know these. I'd be willing to bet if you're not of legal voting age you will not know many of the following bowling terms.
We will start with GRANDMA'S TEETH. Actually I have heard of this one, though the definition was a little different. I thought it was the 4-7-9-10 leave. The explanation I found was "an array of pins left standing." Whatever the case, I think it's totally unfair to accuse only Grandma of having a number of teeth missing when Grandpa frequently has the same problem.
Let's take a look at some other terms I was just not familiar with.
BALSA: A powerless hit to the head pin. I use to get those balsa wood airplanes at the hobby shop growing up. I had no idea the term was used in bowling and am trying to visualize what would constitute "powerless."
BUZZARD: This term refers to three open frames in a row. Now, a turkey is three strikes in a row. How does the turkey buzzard know what's going on?
TICKLER: When the 6 pin gently topples the 10 pin. I've never heard of this one. Come to think of it, I don't know if I've ever SEEN the 6 pin gently topple the 10 pin. This one is not exactly a rib tickler.
CURTAIN: Missing in the final frame when a spare would have won the game. Been there, done that. It's no fun.
PUDDLE: A gutter ball.
MOAT: The gutter. You know, like when you throw a puddle into the moat. Said it out loud, didn't you? Sounds funny to me, too.
CRAWLER: A strike made by missing the head pin. The 4 hits the 2 which in turn knocks down the head pin. I've heard the term "backdoor" to describe this, but not crawler. We have all had a crawler strike. It is hysterical when you or a teammate do it. When it's the other team, you want to scream, "It's not fair, it's not fair!"
RAT CLUB: A team that shoots low scores for one game. We've all been there, too. Heck, I've been on teams where we shot low scores for the entire evening. Our opponents didn't refer to us as rodents. They pretty much said thanks.
PAR: Hey, that's a golf term. In bowling, par is a score of 200 for a game. In golf it's good to be under par. In bowling over par is preferred. Now, me and the old turkey buzzard are confused.
LOOPER: Another golf term. In golf a looper is a caddie. In bowling a looper is an extra wide hook ball. I think that means the hook is wide, not the ball. I don't normally have the big bend on my bowling ball. I did throw some loopers once in Myrtle Beach. The hotel had a set of alleys on one of the floors and oil had never touched those lanes. I threw the ball from one moat to the other, which did not make for a very high score.
Well, there you have it. Perhaps I have added to your bowling knowledge, and then again, maybe not. Some of you, no doubt, already knew these terms. Before ending this instructional message, let me share something else with you.
I found this gem under bowling secrets. "Bowling several strikes in a row is the key to achieving high scores."
Really??? Now that the kitten is out of the burlap folks, I would expect to see some higher scores.
Speaking of high scores, let's start with the Big 8 League. Jack Book apparently threw several strikes in a row as he fired a huge 796 series to lead the way. Scott Plickert shot 781, Jeff Smith 707, Mike Hill 706, Ken Bauman 705, George Bridinger 701, Bob Wilson 678, Brian Kidwell 668, Chuck Jones 657. Wow, those guys are good.
Robin Dickman shot 606 to top the Alley Cats League. Jan Houk shot 549, Cindy Bowman 529, Lorrie Williams 522, Carla Siebenaller 510, Nita Doran 503 and Carol Fry 484. Scores for the Wednesday Morning League included Zach Gaietto 724, Rich Yates Jr. 702, Dave Jumper 699, Aaron Sherman 691, Tyson Shope 641, Mark Huffman 607, Ken Lofton 600 and Cindy Conger 546. Tim Sturgill shot 603, Mick Thallman 591, Eric Vanover 581, Roger Coppus 567, Tom Tiell 561 and Phyllis Swander 373 in the Rocket League.
At the K of C Lanes, Chris Johnson shot 577, Jim Lord 574, Ron Ransom 546, Buster Morgan 546, Darl Elchert 545 and Dave Porter 541 in the Tuesday Night League. Scores from the 55 Plus League include Bob Reinhart 607, Bob West 551, John Ferstler 530, Rick Hanna 520, Paul Gosche 507 and Jim Ruess 498. In the Senior League, Mike Reser had 546, Bennett Paulus 540, Joe Zirger 525, Herb Sendelbach 520, Donny Reinhart 508 and John Englehart 502. Carol Burmeister had 477, Theresa Carp 435, Sandy Troiano 431 and Val Krombach 413 in the Lady Knights League.
Deb Cleveland led the Ladies Classic League with 479. Anne Laughlin shot 457, Virginia Vanover 457 and Sandy Smith 444. In the Sunday Night Rock N Roll League, Chris Rhodes shot 630, Bob Steele 618, Jim Hershberger 617, Mick Thallman 610, Bill Biddle 604, Tim Sturgill 604 and Janice Young 527. Twilight League scores included T.J. Morrow 643, Nate Lofay 636, Tom Tiell 601, Rhonda Fitch 573 and Teresa Slosser 445.
Steve Steinmetz Jr. led the way in the Imperial-Majorette League with 583. Steve Steinmetz Sr. shot 572, Rusty Kuhn 551, Linda Brookes 547, Rhonda Fitch 515 and Dawn Davis 514. In the Sportsman League, Jim Mason rolled a 629, Greg Tiell 626, Chris Johnson 623, Ron Yentzer 614, Greg Anspach 589 and Frank Mangiola 583.
A reminder that the Tiffin Men's Bowling Association will hold its meeting to plan the City Bowling Tournament this afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Al Stephenson is The A-T bowling columnist.
Read his blog at:
