I remember again why I only bowl in The Post-Standard Masters tournament every, oh, four or five years.
My Limp Lizard teammate Steve Vicik and I signed up for the hundreds-of-bowlers in four sessions tourney again this year. We rolled at Strike N Spare Lanes in Mattydale, N.Y., at the 9 a.m. session Sunday morning.
Looking sharp without me rolling.
I had my hopes to at least hit my average, which currently sits at 165.
Before the bad stuff.
Steve’s having a really good season, up there in the 180s. If he hit his average, he’d qualify for match play.
Nope. And nope.
The tournament gets in my head.
You roll one game on three different sets of lanes, each conditioned with different oil patterns. You only get to take practice shots on the first set. The second two games, the first shot you take counts.
I could not find a strike line during the warmup session.
Uh-oh.
I missed my first few spares. My confidence plummeted. My scores, since they are public, online and in newsprint: 121-118-146-385. I beat a handful of people in the tournament. Steve did not reach his average nor qualify for match play.
Now I hope I can regain my confidence for tonight’s Thursday Night Men’s League play for Limp Lizard at Bowling Green.
If you’ve lost your confidence because of a performance, how did you get it back?
Mark Bialczak 
Bro Mark at least you sent the ball down the right lane! I always seemed to send it over to the next one if it didn’t go into the gutter 😇😂😂 That puts you way ahead of my lifetime best!😇😎
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Yes, I also did not throw any in the big blue channel, aka the gutter. Yay, me, sis Angie!
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I spent half of each night in the gutter, but Mark! Literally and figuratively at times, much to my friends amusement 😇
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I spent most of each night in the gutter, bro Mark, much to my friends amusement 😇!
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Hahaha, sis Angie. Funny one you are.
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I try, bro Mark, I truly try!
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hey, at least you did it, and that’s more than most will ever do! good luck tonight, my way is to just jump right back in!
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I bowled one pin above my average, Beth, so last night was a success! Thanks for the encouragement, my friend.
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I did some drunken bowling at Great Lakes Naval Station, IL.
Chicago, if memory serves.
I was not very good, but in my memory… I was great.
Mark, I still get you in my inbox, and yes, I am remiss with my comments, but, that is probably a good thing, n’est ce-pas?
I love your writing, although sometimes, I find it rather vanilla.
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Drunken bowling is always great no matter the pinfall, Lance.
We all have our styles, and you know mine for a while now.
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Bowling is cool. I’m terrible at it, but it’s fun.
Good luck!
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Thanks, Phil. I rebounded to become average again, so I was pretty happy.
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Never got my bowling mojo back…and now, the shoes don’t fit !
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Can’t bowling with ill-fitting shoes, Van. You said it!
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