We can't blame the weather for the poor turnout Saturday, we do BLAME THE WEATHER FORECASTERS!  It never did snow on Saturday, at least in Tacoma.  But, for those who "Braved" the erroneous weather reports, we all had a good time.  Boy did our gang take advantage of the "House Shot"!  The scores from all levels of bowlers were UNBELIEVABLE!!  In the 1st squad, we all thought Mick Hodge was on his way to a 300 game, when he started with the 1st TEN natural strikes... nope 288.  At the same time on another pair, Ted Sherman a 174 average bowler, started with the 1st EIGHT strikes.  In the 4th game, John Nissen got into the act, after starting with a spare, he then strung the next ELEVEN strikes for a natural 290 game.  That same game, Harold Soares started with the 1st TEN strikes and we thought that now we were going to get that 300... nope 286.  This was just the 1st squad!?!?!  We thought we were seeing 9-Tap scores.  In the 2nd squad, Mitch Vernon got on a roll stringing strikes and we thought, maybe Mitch would do it... YEP all 12 for a Natural 300 game!  But, that wasn't the end of the fireworks!  In the 3rd squad, Rob Richards who 4 years ago became the 1st 9-Tap member to shoot a natural 300 game, got into the 'groove' stringing the 1st ELEVEN strikes for a 296 game.  I've NEVER seen scoring like what we had at Bowlero, except maybe on the Pro Tour.  CONGRATULATIONS to the 3 members earning USBC Honor Score awards, one for the "300" and two "11 In-a-Row" awards.  All those shooting over a 900 did cash Saturday.

Our 10-Pin Open Champion John Nissen, stretched his 2nd half of the year "Hot Streak" into his 3rd Title, with an amazing 995.  He didn't even use any of the new "Hot" bowling balls to take advantage of the House Shot.  Instead, he 'dusted-off' his 1996 vintage Brunswick "Danger Zone".  John thinks that Pat Johns, at HiLine Lanes, may have drilled it, but it was so long ago he wasn't sure.  The payouts weren't very high this week, due to the thin turnout, but John was still happy to pocket the $928.00 along with some Side Pot money.  John has had a great run in the 2nd half, jumping up to at least a Top2 finish for the 2008 Bowler of the Year awards, which the final results won't be revealed until the Year-End Championship.  John is retired and in addition to his bowling, he's also an avid golfer.  CONGRATS John on #3 and the Honor Score!

In 2nd place, George Ureche just missed the Title by only 6 pins, good for $464.00.  It wasn't just the high average guys this weekend.  George was one of 5 on the cash list with 30 pins handicap or more.  Newcomer Ted Sherman was also close, finishing another 6 pins back in 3rd place.  He said he's looking forward to taking another crack at Title.