Many have arrived and The Gathering has officially begun.  Lanes were reserved for us from 10 AM - 5 PM and when I arrived shortly after 10 janderson, his nephew, a_ak57 and his 3 friends, Kev3inp and his wife were already on the lanes.  Alakazam and his wife arrived shortly after.  Joe Falco, crazyyankee and his wife, Toma, and Nollster all have arrived. Ron, Karen, and Cindy are also here and shy little Susan is at the desk.

Wednesday I met novawagonmaster and his wife.  He bowled the sweepers and we talked.  Strider arrived fort he 2nd sweepers.

Yesterday I bowled with Kevin and Diane.  Alakazam and JoAnn came in and made an appearance.  Dinner was ar BLL an outstanding Italian place.  Ron recommended the rotisserie chicken, it was fantastic!

I am taking it easy on the knee so I bowled 2 games yesterday and 3 so far today.  Scotch doubles is coming up tonight and I want to have the knee feeling good.

So far, as usual a great group of people.  We're still awaiting the arrival of Dr Joe and those Chaos Twins, SrKegler and his wife, and others expected to arrive sometime today.

More later!  Signing off from Creekside Lanes, your on the spot reporter TP
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USBC Bronze Coach

"I cannot change the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination." Jimmy Dean
Quaker 10/93 - 4/07
Quaker

Edited on 7/30/2008 5:48 PM

I've already left the entire back row....blech!

It has begun!

I showed up at about 6:30 to find that the entire group (with the exception of a few of the folks) had gone to dinner before the scotch doubles tournament this evening.  I made the good decision to bowl with Mrs. Magic Carpet (Karen) but failed to really perform in the tournament.  I did Karen the disservice of leaving a couple of back-to-back splits in game 3.  That effectively locked us out of the money (out by 20 sticks ).

Other than that, the conversation has been jovial and the bowling fun.  I look forward to redeeming myself at the poker table tomorrow night.
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Scolaí

)O(

I'm Not Fluent In Idiot So Please Speak Slowly & Clearly

I think this Gathering has to officially be called The Gathering of the Walking Wounded or maybe the Bowling Wounded.  Kev3in decided to punch some boxes and the boxes punched back resulting in a sore bowling hand.  Karen did battle with a hammer and whatever was getting the hammer hits, hit her back in the thumb.  Joe Falco's foot is protesting.  My knee, which has been a problem a good part of the year has decided to sideline me at least temporarily.  I believe I heard about some hips and arms as well.

Aside from that it has again been awesome.  Dinner was at Franco's, an Italian lace with awesome food.  We actually took almost half of the place with our group.

Scotch Doubles was a blast.  I made sure Toma and I were ahead of Joe Falco and I due to the Rick Wunder episode two years ago.  Toma was a happy camper when I opened with a strike.  We got 4 in a row before I forced him to convert my spare, a split I think.  

Poor Joe, after the strike with Toma, I left him an ugly split.  Toma smiled as he recalls being the receiver of those designer splits I must admit I didn't leave Joe as many as I did to Toma back then.

Breakfast and socializing is on tap for today.  Unless there is a miracle, I will be heckling the Bragging Rights Bowlers
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USBC Bronze Coach

"I cannot change the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination." Jimmy Dean
Quaker 10/93 - 4/07
Quaker

Your up to the minute report -

With 2 games completed, no one is yelling, screeming, or pulling their hair out (at least those who have hair ) and all seem to be in fairly good spirits.

Angela is still hanging on to first with 505, Jess has moved into 2nd with 473, and Toma is in 3rd with 458 (he doesn't have to worry about picking up the splits left by his Scotch Doubles partner )

JJ aka janderson has moved up to 32nd place 20 pins ahead of the new Last Place Bragging Rights person, Darrell.

Soon I will have the Ultimate 2008 BRAGGING RIGHTS TOURNAMENT Champion's name!
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USBC Bronze Coach

"I cannot change the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination." Jimmy Dean
Quaker 10/93 - 4/07
Quaker

I just got in from Strider's place a few minutes ago.  We had a good time playing No-Limit Hold Em (though Strider will probably protest that sentiment considering he was the first one off the table in 10th place).  Yours truly was put out in 6th place when my pocket 10's failed to survive someone's A-rag.  Ah, well, the fun of playing poker.

Several other folks were shooting pool (and the breeze) in the other room.  All in all, it appeared that a good time was had by all.

And remarkably, not a single discussion of a religious nature ever came up.  Imagine that...

See some of you guys tomorrow.  The rest of you - drive alertly and be well.
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Scolaí

)O(

I'm Not Fluent In Idiot So Please Speak Slowly & Clearly

Anyone who wants the Official results sheet can PM me your email and I'll email it to you.  I used BLS 2007 software to handle the scorekeeping, so I created a "League" sheet.
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USBC Bronze Coach

"I cannot change the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination." Jimmy Dean
Quaker 10/93 - 4/07
Quaker

The trip homeis not starting out too well.  I got to the airport and found I do not have my cell phone.  I had it when I got up this morning at 3:45 Am, so it has to be at the hotel.  They have no phone or internet access, so if anyone in the area can stop by and pick it up, I will ay shiping to get it back.

Okay, on to the Gathering.  It was a blast as always, though I was unable to bowl very much.  Hopefully next year the knee will be 100% and I can entertain all with my bowling skills, or lack there of.  It was great to see old friends and meet new ones.

Glenn and Linda were definitely missed.  SrKegler was a no-show, again a disappointment.  I looked forward to seeing him and the Mrs again.  BigWillyStyle made an appearance with Angela and asked for help from Ron with bowling "correctly."  We'll see what happens next year.

As soon as I find out Andy and company's Nationals dates, I'll be posting the dates for 2009.  It is looking like either the last week of July or first week of August.
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USBC Bronze Coach

"I cannot change the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination." Jimmy Dean
Quaker 10/93 - 4/07
Quaker