Day 116: Soccer Fever – Belgium vs. Panama

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 116: Soccer Fever – Belgium vs. Panama

There are two things that bring people together … a disaster and an international sporting event. If you’re feeling a little feverish, not to worry, you’re not the only one, millions of others share your fever, soccer fever that is.

People who usually don’t follow soccer, now sit glued to their television, computer monitor or handheld device to see 22 men run around after a ball. I know, it doesn’t sound very exciting, but for some reason it is.

Those who can’t watch the match, life or televised, still keep track of the score via life updates on FIFA’s website. I’m one of those people. I prefer not to watch a live match because whoever I support loses. And not just in soccer, in all kinds of competitions. Whether it’s an Olympic event, American Idol, a beauty pageant, or an award ceremony, my favorites never ever win.

Take Belgium vs. Panama for instance. Being from Belgium I took a special interest in the Red Devils, but in the first half of the game, Belgium did nothing. There was a lot of running around and kicking the ball back and forth, but nothing qualified as exciting.

The second half I couldn’t watch because I had things to do. And that’s when it happened … the players were barely back on the field when Mertens scored a goal. Having finally woken up, Laluka decided to follow suit and planted a ball in Panama’s net too. So happy was the crowd that he decided he gave them an encore. Final score 3 – 0.

Safe to say, I won’t be watching Belgium’s next match. I’ll keep an eye on the score, but watching the match itself … no way, the men do far better when I’m not around.

Anything you can do, I can do better

Give that man a handkerchief

Stand back, I got this

Brother, this is not the time to dance

I believe I can fly

That's my leg man, not a chair

Does it look any better from down there?

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Day 104: Let’s go Bowling

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 104: Let’s go Bowling

Those of you who know Dieter and me know that we are dedicated bowlers. There was a time that we bowled three times a week: league on Thursdays, practice on Saturday mornings and more practice on Sunday nights. Whether it rained buckets, blew a gale force wind or froze the balls off a brass monkey, we walked to the bowling alley.

A serious illness forced me to drop out of the league and after a painful back injury, I couldn't even practice anymore. For five months I didn’t see the inside of a bowling alley.

Now I’m back though and to commemorate my return Dieter bought two T-shirts, a blue one, and a red one.

  

The blue T-shirt is typically me … bowling, cursing when I leave the 7 pin, 10 pin, or worse a split, then praying for a spare and doing the whole thing over again. My highest game ever … 257.

The red T-shirt suits Dieter as he makes a lot of strikes. In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before he makes a 300. That is if he can keep his eye on the ball (so to speak). Whenever he has a good run, with five, six or even seven strikes in a row, he makes a mistake. He then comes off the lane, looking like a thundercloud, moaning ... “I forgot to lift” or “I went too wide”. When I asked him why he forgot to lift or why he went too wide, he merely shrugs.

I often wonder what Dieter thinks about when he stands on the approach. When a bowler gets ready to throw the ball, he/she is supposed to gather his/her thoughts about what he/she is about to accomplish. But what does Dieter think about … lunch, dinner, what to watch on TV, how much money he has in his account … who knows. Still, I’m confident that he will get it right someday. His highest game … 289.

It seems like yesterday when we started bowling. A new bowling center opened in Dalcrest, South Africa and since we knew the city planner, we were invited to the grand opening. I’d never bowled before and the idea of standing on the approach, being watched by everyone terrified me. So, I chickened out.

One year later I got the same invitation to attend the first anniversary of Dalcrest Bowl and this time I did go. I threw my first ball in the gutter, my second ball followed suit. The third ball rolled quite promising, but near the end, he veered to the left and once again ended up in the gutter. I adjusted my standing and throwing position, threw the ball and once again it looked good, only this time, near the end of the lane, my ball veered to the right and … you guessed it, fell in the gutter. I thought it was the most frustrating game I’d ever played.

When a lady approached me and asked if I wanted to join a league, I thought she was joking. In my first game, I hit … oh I don’t know, 25 or 30 pins, in my second I managed to knock down maybe 50, and in the third game, my score was rather similar. What would a klutz like me do playing with seasoned bowlers?

She convinced me though, I joined a league, started working with a coach, and … well, the rest is history. A few years later I was invited to represent Eastern Transvaal in the Interprovincials three years in a row.

Not only did the team do well, but together with Lorraine, I won first prize ladies doubles.

And so now on Saturday, I'm bowling in a fundraiser for the Toronto Cat Rescue. Donations are needed for medical care: spay/neuter and general health of the cats and kittens.

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/toronto-cat-rescue-bowl-a-thon-9/

Bowling, bowling, bowling

I’m starting the New Year in the best possible way … bowling, bowling and more bowling. 

The short version:

·       A bowling party at New Year’s Eve

·       A tournament on New Year’s Day

·       League bowling the day after. 

If this isn’t THE WAY to start a year, what is …

The long version:

On New Year’s Eve Kennedy Bowl is organizing a bowling party, starting at 10:00 p.m.  The atmosphere will be cosmic bowling.

While cosmic bowling is a lot of fun, it also presents a few problems.  The alley is lit up only by black lights and strategically placed spots, aimed at a glitter ball.  So, not only is lane visibility limited, every now and then colourful images (projected from the glitter ball) glide and sweep across the lane.

I find cosmic bowling particularly challenging as I rely on the target arrows on the lane to direct my ball.  In the darkness, I can't see those arrows until I’m right by the foul line.  Then again, we’ll be bowling for the fun of it, so I shouldn’t care (too much) about my score.

On New Year’s Day I’ll be taking part in a bowling tournament.  While this will be fun too, it will also be very serious business.  I don’t think I stand much of a chance, competing against men and women far better than I am, but … one never knows, right?  

January 1^st might just be my lucky day.  I’ve won tournaments before, on my own and with Dieter, so I know I can do it.  The main thing will be to keep my cool and not be too impressed by my competition.

Then on Wednesday it will be business as usual with league bowling.  It’s a very serious league, with very serious bowlers.  We’re doing well though.  We, “The Expendables”, were at one time in last place, but by winning a few points here and a few points there, we’ve managed to scramble into 10^th position.

Anyway, I’m planning to have fun in the next three days and continue to do so in the year that follows.

Does bowling with music makes for better bowling?

It just occurred to me that I neglected to report on last Wednesday night’s bowling league.  Yeah well, let’s just say that you didn’t miss much.  Let’s talk about today’s practice session instead.

I always do better during practice than during league, but apparently I’m not the only one.  When I spoke to a seasoned bowler today, whom I thought always kept his cool, he admitted that he does better when it’s just for fun too. 

My scores of today say it all:

191 – 164 – 222 – 226 – 166

That is an average of 193.8

Dieter did even better.  He scores were:

174 – 224 – 209 – 157 – 235

That is an average of 199.8

If only I could bowl like this during league.

Then again, the conditions were ideal today.  The oil pattern on the lanes was perfect and the atmosphere was relaxed and happy due to up-beat music piped through the speakers.  I always do better with music.

I’ve asked numerous times for music during the league, but so far this has not been approved because music messes with the serious bowler’s concentration.  Serious about bowling as I am, I guess that makes me a non-serious bowler.

The loudness also plays a part.  Soft music does nothing for me, but turn up the volume and my spirits lift while my bowling scores rise. 

In the absence of bowling alley music, I could listen to music privately through headphones, but this seems so anti-social. 

Before next week’s Wednesday night league, we’ll have another practice session tomorrow night.  Let’s see if I can do well two night in a row.

I need all the practice I can get for the upcoming Halloween tournament.  Last year Dieter and I won the competition.  Can we do it again?

Bowling update

Yes, we went bowling yesterday, but I’m somewhat reluctant to talk about it.  To say that we did bad would be an understatement.

Last night we bowled against Jeff and Adele (not their real names), less than average bowlers.  Beating them should have been a breeze, but it wasn’t. 

My first game was bad, my second was a better but with room for improvement.  In my third game I flirted with a 200 and during my fourth I crashed and burned.

How did Dieter do?  Well, let’s just say he didn’t even get off the ground.

I was rather surprised, because in the three previous weeks we did rather well.  In the first week we took the majority of the points; in the second week we got a beating, but managed to snag 2,5 points; in the third week the winnings were split between the two teams.

Last night we only managed to take 4 points.  Not a total loss, but considering who we played against, we should have taken everything.

Which makes me wonder ... is our bowling performance influenced by the opposition?  Do we bowl better when we are up against bowlers betters than us? 

Far more distressing though is the lack of fun we had last night.  There was no interaction, no talking and certainly no laughing.  Can that make a difference?

I’ve wondered about this before ... when did bowling stop being fun?  We had such good times in the past.  When we first started bowling, making a strike was such an achievement.  We would scream and shout and dance around like crazy.  When a spare was made, we would be amazed like ... did I just do that!

Now a strike nothing and we don’t even blink when a spare is made.  On the contrary, now we’re amazed when we don’t make a strike and blame our inability to anything and everything. 

The ball was too greasy – the ball was too dry.

The lanes were too greasy – the lanes were too dry.

The pins were stubborn.

The pins were too well balanced, they wobbled but they didn't fall.

The walk was wrong.

The hand position was wrong.

The delivery was wrong.

The speed was wrong.

Why can’t we just accept that we failed and walk away?

That’s the difference between social bowlers and league bowlers.  Social bowlers don’t care (much) and have a good time; league bowlers (especially those with a few years under their belt) expect too much of themselves. 

Instead of learning to get better, maybe we should learn to enjoy ourselves again.

Next week better?

Weekly bowling update - by an inch or a mile, winning is winning

I’m a little late with my weekly bowling blog update, aren’t I.  To tell you the truth, I would just as soon forget the whole thing, but I’ve promised an update every week, so here it is.

The whole of Wednesday I was in good spirits.  Everything is better and brighter when bowling is on the agenda that same day.  I felt so optimistic that I made the Facebook entry “I ho, I ho, it’s off to bowls we go.  Strike or spare, we don’t care, I ho, I ho, I ho, I ho.”

You should have seen me 30 minutes later.  At first I wasn’t worried when meeting the competition.  I recognized Maria and Louis from previous encounters and from tournaments.  We played them before and we had beaten them before.

My confidence evaporated when I saw the score sheet listing the players and I noticed Maria and Louis’ average and handicap.  Holy cow ... their worst player was better than our team’s best player.  We were in trouble, serious trouble.

Without confidence, a game is as good as lost.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, bowling games are won and lost in a bowler’s mind.  If he doesn’t think he has a chance, he won’t stand a chance. 

As it turned out, we really didn’t stand a chance.  Maria blasted off with a 200+ game and I couldn’t do anything right.  My ball went to the left, my ball went to the right, he went everywhere except where he was supposed to go ... in the pocket of the pin deck.

The second game was worse.  Maria made 11 strikes and ended up with a score of 289.  I won’t even tell you my score, it’s too embarrassing.

After a smoke break between the second and third game I came back and prepared for another round of punishment.  My game improved though and ... hello, I was catching up with Maria.  She made a strike, I made a strike, she picked up a spare, I picked up a spare.  We were like two bulls locking horns. 

When the score was tallied up with handicap I held my breath.  We had both bowled our hearts out.  Would I have enough for a win?  As it turned out, we drew with an equal score.  On the one hand this was kind of depressing, all that work for ½ a point, but on the other hand ... hello, if I could equal her, I could beat her.

Which is exactly what I did in the fourth and final game.  Admittedly, I only won by 3 pins, but as Vin Diesel said in The Fast and the Furious ... “Whether you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.”

I really must practise positive thinking more often.