Greetings, everyone! Not a lot interesting to report from Thursday night. It was just kind of a ho-hum night. We lost to a team that was on fire, I shot 601, which was high for my team. The only bright spot was one of my teammates, who was making his season debut, shot lights out, something like 120 pins over average. I try not to mention names in this forum, but, way to go, Larry!!

I did receive an email this week from a reader. To paraphrase, he was questioning who I was to write a blog about bowling. He had looked me up on bowl.com, and didn't find much that impressed him. Two 300 games, no 800 series, no composite average over 214. Good thing I don't have much of an ego!😊 Anyhow, I explained to "Bill" that what he pointed out was exactly the point of writing this blog. There are plenty of "expert" opinions to be found concerning the sport of bowling. Ball reviews, coaching, and a whole myriad of other topics are addressed by current and former professional bowlers, coaches, ball reps, influencers, etc. This blog is not that. This is authored by a grinder, an old, overweight grinder at that. I'm not trying to sell anything, or convince you of anything. I would like to provide normal league bowlers with the results of my experiences, maybe something they can relate to, or sympathize with, of maybe make them feel better about themselves after reading about my struggles any given week.

By the way, Bill brings up a very good point. Please question your sources when seeking and following internet bowling advice. Find out who they are, who is sponsoring them, and what their credentials are. There's a lot of misleading advice and information out there, so you need to educate yourself a little before taking what they say as gospel. Maybe most importantly, especially when watching videos, is to pick a bowler or coach that you can identify with, and use their information, almost exclusively. Every expert has a system they believe in, and it's easy to get lost in conflicting advice coming from different sources.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to send them to me at [email protected]. Until next time:

• Clean your bowling balls

• Clean all the garbage out of your bowling bag

• Visit your local pro shop if you think you need some extra help

Craig