I've been getting a lot better in bowling and you may recall that I ended the 2020-21 bowling season with my highest average ever, finishing with over 200 for the first time. Last night, I did something that I never had done before: I started a game with 11 strikes in a row. Usually in the past, I miss around frame 6 or 7. That's also when the pressure starts building up because you realize you're halfway to a perfect game in bowling, which is 12 strikes to record a 300.
My nerves really kicked in on the 10th frame, in fact I don't even remember watching what happened to my teammates before my turn because I was zoning out so hard. As I approached the lane on my 10th frame, I knew that everyone was watching. I couldn't see anyone down the lanes to my left or to my right. It's like I had the whole entire bowling alley to myself. 3 more strikes is all I needed to record my first ever perfect game.
My first ball went down the lane and perfectly hit the pocket and I could hear my teammate Butch yell out behind "GET UP!". One strike down, two to go.
My second ball, I tried to stay focus, but had so much adrenaline in the system. I let it fly and it wasn't as clean as the previous strike, but everything still went down smoothly. I clapped my hands pretty hard after that and was then holding them up to my face, breathing through them as if they were cold and I was trying to warm them up. Just one more strike to go.
The last ball of the game felt like an eternity. I was up on the lane going through my pre-bowl routine and almost wanted to stop to take a sip of beer so that I could calm the nerves more. I decided not to and thought to myself, "just get this over with". I was throwing well all game, it should fall right? I ended up extending my pre-bowl routine because I was so nervous, my body hadn't felt something like this...like ever? I let the ball roll, it was a great ball, and in the end the only pin that didn't fall was the 10-pin.
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And so my game ended, with a 299. Not perfect, but literally the closest you can be otherwise. It's my best game ever, and here's hoping that I can get it someday. Everyone came over to congratulate me on the game, the bowling alley announced it over the intercom afterwards. Some of the top bowlers came over to give me encouragement, telling me that it's happened to them before, or when and how that perfect game eventually came. It was a definitely a wild ride and so unreal that a game could make you feel like this. :)
Anyway, here's the three throws in final frame of the game. Thanks to leaguemate Crystal Kennedy for recording this. Yeah, I don't like watching myself bowl and my pre-bowl routine was exaggerated because I was so nervous and it helped calm my nerves. Until next bowling night!
