There was a lot of great bowling by area junior bowlers in this year’s Vir-Mar District Association’s Invitational Tournament. I was present for three of the five sessions and was amazed at the manners and deportment of all the young people involved. Tournament Director Kenny Robinson and his crew did a great job. Everything ran smoothly, and unlike other years, I didn’t hear one complaint from the participants or spectators.
The only negative occurred when a girl injured her shoulder and elbow in a fall after she failed to remove her “footie” (protective shoe cover) before attempting to bowl. For safety reasons, everyone who uses a footie should be sure to remove it before bowling.
The 2005-2006 bowling season is already half over, and honor scores are coming in at a record pace. I already have received 448 honor score award requests, including 45 for series of 800 or higher (with Jim Colley’s 856 the highest), 176 perfect games, 84 299 games, 42 298s, and 101 11 in-a-Row scores.
Some secretaries are not forwarding the award forms to the office on a timely basis. Just last week, I received forms from games bowled in September. These secretaries are not taking care of their responsibilities of forwarding award requests to the association office within 20 days. If they treat honor scores this way, what are they doing with the other awards?
Bowlers should ask their secretary if he or she submitted the requests for all the awards earned in the league. If not, that secretary should not be elected next season because this individual is not performing the duties for which he/she is being paid.
I know it is still early to start harping about the final averages, but I will. We are merging three organizations together and plan to publish the averages of all three in the same book. Thus, it will take a while longer this summer to put the average book together, so I will remind the secretaries quite a few times to submit the final averages promptly following the conclusion of their leagues.
You may have heard about the new association meeting already, but I am going to remind you again. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Eisenhower Metro Center in Alexandria on Sunday, February 26 at 1 p.m.
Several people are calling and complaining about their league rules. The time to change league rules is at the organizational meeting at the beginning of the season. If you don’t attend that meeting, you shouldn’t complain.
Each February, I relay to you whether Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. Well, at 6:23 a.m. on February 2, Phil came out of his burrow on Gobbler’s Knob and saw his shadow. This means there will be six more weeks of winter. Several thousand people visited Gobbler’s Knob this year to see Phil predict the weather.
By the next time I write a column, the new association will have been formed and a new board of directors elected. Stay tuned for all the news.
E-mail Ray Brothers (native of Punxsutawney, Pa.)