Friday, October 13, 2006

The Ball is Round....

Bowling

The ball is round or something like that.

For the past 10 years or more, our company’s bowling team had been constantly at the top of the annual inter-company tournament. The trend ended a year ago, when all our key players had been separated from the company due to various reasons. These were our main players:

The Boss – He is the Boss to all. All he wants is to win, and win at all cost. No one dares ask him to step aside even if it is his off night. He blames his golf when not doing well on the lanes. He always wants to be the anchor when he plays. Ave. 165.

The Painter – The cool steady hand of this old man makes wonders, especially after a glass of beer. The accuracy of his marks, made up for his lack of form. Before the game ends, he’s drunk already. Ave. 170

The Claims Specialist – He can do the most damage on most nights. Ave. 175

The Collector – He heads the C&C department. Before he left the company, he was able to collect 2 girlfriends, and 2 babies, nine months after. He said he’ll form the bowling team of his new employer. Ave. 165

The Rugged Mechanic - He comes to the game with greasy hands and shirt. If you look at his form, you can’t believe he can hit those strikes, doubles and even turkeys. Ave. 170

The Cool Captain – He’s the soul of this team. The opponents wondered how this guy played very well, when they do not see him practice. He has this unusual approach and armswing where the ball kisses the gutter before spinning to the middle of the lane. Turkeys and four-baggers, are a familiar sight in his scoreboard. Ave. 195

The Master – I’d like to call him the Master. Not that he’s a real martial arts master, or a bowling master. But he’s a cousin to the PBMI Master, and there’s an obvious resemblance. He’s the best of the reserves in our team. Ave. 160

I was on the reserve too. I was just happy to be included in the line-up then even though I only played very few games. Maybe we just needed to fill up the 12 names.

Now, the second stringers became the starters. Last night was our last game for this year’s tournament. Gone are the cheerers. Heads down and obviously lacked the passion. I must admit that I and The Master lacked the motivation. We played below our previous tournament averages and did not lift up the team. We also missed several games. Our opponents even contemptuously asked us about our ex-stars, and we had no ready answer.

We struggled all throughout and landed at the bottom three. I am not sure if we can still compete next year due to this year’s awful performance.

The ball is round. When can we regain our lofty position?

7 comments:

bords said...

whoah!! ang gagaling!!! we also had our bowling tourney every year sa dating company ko... i only ave. 125... and i really miss bowling... ilan ba ave. mo? :)

Lazarus said...

last year's average was 155. but dipped to 140 this year. Walang praktis.

pauL said...

wow! bowling!!! L-O-V-E bowling!!! due to my hectic sched once in a blue moon na lang ako nakakalaro... i think the last time i played bowling was february of this year...

practice lang and im sure your team will take the spotlight soon...

jef said...

Hmmm...great bunch you got there.

You know what I thought bowling is just a piece of cake but it's easier said than done. Mahirap rin palang umiskor.

Have a great weekend ahead and God bless.

Unknown said...

aba bowler ka rin? buti di naapektuhan ang badminton skills mo, mabibigat ang bola ng bowling.

Francesca said...

i once played bowling,here in France, first time:

waah, kabigat ng bola! then when I throw it away, sumama ako semplang on the floor, sumabit ang fingers ko sa holes ng bola, huuuuh, kakahiya!

next ko, windang windang ang bola nong ihagis ko, parang lasing baga! pero STRIKE!
Gulat ang lahat,LOL
Laban kayo? hehe!

Lazarus said...

Paul, dedictation to practice lang talaga kailangan. But bowling is not cheap.

Jef, di madali ang bowling. Very difficult to master. We really had a great bunch of players in the past. Di na kailangan ng praktis.

Cruise, our bowling tournament has the same sched as our badminton games. Divided din yung attention ko. I don't play bowling if there's a scheduled badminton tournament in the weekend.

Madamme, try mo lang yung light balls. yung mga 8-10 lbs lang. A strike can surely lift up our spirits when bowling.