Last night signaled our first night back bowling in a league setting, and really, for most of the team, the first time bowling in any semi-serious capacity since the end of the 2009 Fall PSL session. I know for me, I’ve gone bowling 3 times since the end of the Fall session – two of which were Bowl For Kids’ Sake events – so expectations weren’t exactly high coming in. Add to that the fact that while PSL planned on carrying our averages from our last session over, they actually pulled our much higher team and individual averages from the 2009 Summer session over instead, and you’ve got a recipe for a complete letdown on the lanes in week 1.

Of course, it’s bowling, so anything can happen.

Our team average coming in was 696, which for a group out of practice seems difficult to match, but we ended up bowling really well and actually improved our average with games of 708, 726, and 666 while also taking all three games in week 1.

For me, you have to go back to week 7 of the ’09 Summer session to find a game where I bowled three 200’s, but I felt really strong on the lanes. I was able to keep my ball from hitting brooklyn across all three games, and I only messed up my release on three first throws all night. Of course, I couldn’t hit spares consistently, but I strung together enough strikes to keep my scores up.

Meg and Sam both bowled really well, too, improving on their averages by picking up a lot of spares and even putting some doubles together. Meg’s 179 in game 1 was her best game since week 6 of the ’09 Summer session and Sam’s 169 was her best since she rolled a 192 in week 2 of the Fall session.

Meadows started slower than we expected, but he improved as the night went on, which helped lift our third game and keep our team average up, and once we get back into our groove I have to think we’re going to put up strong scores again.

As a team, we only had 37 open frames with a combined 50 strikes! Across 120 possible frames, that’s not awful for the first week. I don’t feel like going back, but I would say those are probably our best team stats in a very long time. If we can maintain this level, our 44-pin lead over Jay’s second-place team should be enough to get us into the playoffs again!

Hopefully my roll off this week shows some consistency…

The Guitar Center Drum Off is awesome, and reminds of how little talent I possess in all things music. I own a drum kit, and I play it quite a bit, but I’m not a drummer…and thanks to this kid, I’m reminded that I’ll never actually be able to call myself one. I don’t think this is the greatest solo I’ve ever witnessed from the Drum Off…wait…maybe it is. It’s mind-blowing no matter what…

Imagine working for a place that would actually spend the money on an off-the-wall effort like this. Who knows if Puma got anything extra out of the people showing up to their viewing party, but I love the idea…especially the yellow cards as promotions. Such a non-threatening, fun way to engage with people on the street.

I remember how excited I was when AC Milan signed Ronaldinho. He wasn’t really playing all that well when they picked him up, but if the performance of most of the aging stars in the Milan camp over the years provided any hint you had to assume he’d find his form again. After watching him his highlights from this past weekend, I must say it looks like he’s back! He’s always been capable of a few highlight reel moves, but he’s finally playing highlight reel games now.

The one good thing about the NFL season coming to a close is the ability to focus on the other teams that I love following!

…starring Willis McGahee and Hiram Eugene.

Willis’ stiff arm is a well-known part of his game, but the one he threw during his 77-yard TD run against the Raiders was a thing of beauty. I actually feel bad for Hiram Eugene, as his team is going to be making some serious jokes about that play when they study the game film.

Go Ravens!

Prior to yesterday’s game at Heinz Field, Steelers fans had all the optimism in the world of their 6-5 season turning around. 3 hours later? Speechless…I mean, even I’m starting to lose some faith in the mystique of the Steelers. This is a team that always seems to get the bounces and find a way to win, especially when you’re talking about a close game.

With free tickets and a free limo ride to the game provided by the Double Wide Grill, we braved the freezing temperatures to check out a game that we all presumed would end in a blowout. Yet again, the unfortunate optimism that convinces me every week that the Steelers have each game won before kickoff let me down.

After three quarters of play, the Steelers were holding a 10-6 lead, which in itself was surprising. 10 points? Seriously? The longer the Raiders kept the game close, the more I started feeling another Chiefs-like upset looming.

Of course, like the Chiefs game, the Steelers had to seemingly take control before they were allowed to blow the game…

After the Raiders took a 13-10 lead, the Steelers drove right down the field to regain the lead at 17-13…followed by the Raiders driving down the field to regain the lead…followed by the Steelers driving down the field and regaining the lead…

With our heads spinning, the Raiders got the ball with about 90 yards to go and 1:48 on the clock. This is where the Steelers of old would’ve just put the game away with a sack/strip or something, but this defense isn’t last year’s defense. Oh, and don’t let the roster fool you. Even with the Steelers injuries, no one in their right mind would’ve thought the Raiders were going to successfully run the two-minute drill needing a TD. The Raiders were missing two starting O-linemen, and well, I barely know anyone worthy of discussing on their offense, so pardon me if I chuckle at the “if we had Troy” argument. I would expect any decent BCS team to stop this Raiders team in a two-minute drill with a career backup QB at the helm. Or maybe I’m just buying into the aura of Dick Lebeau’s Steeler defense again. The lines are getting fuzzy…

Regardless, the Raiders did the exact thing that all the people who left with 4-point Steelers lead and two minutes to go didn’t expect – they won…with 9 seconds left, and Bruce Gradkowski looked like a HOF’er. Wanna see it go down? Watch the highlights (set to The Ramones’ I Believe in Miracles…listen closely…that’s a highlight itself!):

That leaves us with an interesting stat. When Megan and I attend Ravens games, the Ravens are 2-0. When we attend Steelers games together, the Steelers are 0-4, including losses against the Chiefs and the Raiders. With the possibility of us getting tickets to the game on the 27th between the Ravens and Steelers, that stat seems promising…but don’t expect to see me show up at Heinz Field full of superstitious, nonsensical, optimism. I still can’t shake my fears of the Steelers or ignore the ineptitude of the Ravens this season. Hopefully that game means something for the Ravens, and IF it does…well, I hope they find a way to win.

In catching up on my blog, I completely overlooked one of the more interesting sporting events that I’ve been to this year – a little thing I’d like to call the Underpuppies vs. The Champs. The Chiefs were way worse than underdogs coming into the game, as Dwayne Bowe got suspended the week before the game, Larry Johnson got cut for being an idiot on Twitter, and Matt Cassell has shown how difficult playing quarterback in the NFL is when you don’t have Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and the Patriots O-line to work with. Needless to say, expectations for an exciting game were low, but since the trip was planned before the season even started, we had to hope for the best.

So we headed out to Kansas City for the Steelers/Chiefs game, authentic Mexican food, KC Barbeque, and inadvertently, the Hernandez retirement party. There wasn’t one aspect of the trip that let me down. In addition to meeting some great people, the food was authentically amazing and will force me to log many, many miles on a variety of stationary exercise machines in the coming weeks. If you refer to my past history of overindulgence when coming face-to-face with amazing food in seemingly endless supply, you can only imagine the gluttony.

Regardless, I didn’t eat myself into such a food coma that would pass out and missed the main event. I love going to stadiums that I’ve never been to, and the opportunity to hit up the legendary Arrowhead was something I couldn’t pass up…even if it meant missing the chance to stress out while watching Flacco throw the game away late against the Colts (sigh)…and even if it meant being in a crowd teeming with Steelers fans waving their Terrible Towels in a half-empty stadium – leaving the venue, once legendary for it’s diehard fans and noise levels, fairly quiet. In fact, I’ve never been in a stadium that empty for a NFL game, but I guess I’ve never been to game where the home team was struggling like the lackluster Chiefs. Even when the Ravens went 5-11 two years ago, the stadium at least filled up more than this. It looked like the fourth quarter of a 42-0 Steelers blowout…the whole time.

Fortunately, the Chiefs decided they wanted to extend their winning streak to 2 games, which offered the dedicated fans who showed up a special game to attend. While I’m not a real Chiefs fan, per se, the minute we heard that we were planning a trip to KC, I ordered a Priest Holmes jersey. Why Priest? Easy. He was a beast, he was a Raven, and since I was going to be missing the Ravens game I figured I’d support them in some way…all while cheering with Chris and his family. It was hilarious, but by the end of the game, I actually felt like a legit Chiefs fan, and I left there feeling like they’ll be one of those teams I’ll cheer for in the future (when they’re not playing the Ravens, that is).

It was so surreal watching the lowly Chiefs pull off the upset, but I guess we should’ve seen it coming the minute Jamaal Charles ran the opening kickoff back for a 7-0 Chiefs lead. The Chiefs fans were so happy that you would’ve thought they won the Super Bowl, so I guess, for at least a few hours, the fans in Kansas City felt like champions in the midst of another down year. I hope to get back there someday…when Arrowhead is screaming like it used to.

No Ben Roethlisberger? No Troy Polamalu? Heck…no Charlie Batch? No problem, right?

Um…not exactly.

Our love for driving long distances in the middle of the night before a workday is so strong that we opted to go to the Ravens/Steelers game on Sunday night in Baltimore. When the news that Roethlisberger was going to be riding the pines came to our attention Saturday, Steelers fans seemed to have a serious reason to worry. With Charlie Batch out with a broken wrist, and third-string former Oregon standout, Dennis Dixon, as their only option, many thought this game was going to be an easy out for the Ravens.

Of course…this is still the Ravens and Steelers, and even without Troy for half of their games, the Steelers came into the game as the league’s top-ranked defense. Sorry, but even without their starting QB, the Steelers are a formidable opponent. Just ask the Vikings who surrendered two 90-plus yard TD returns to the Steelers defense. You can stuff the Steelers offense as much as you want, but the defense is just plain unstoppable and can change a game at any moment. After this game, I’m standing by the fact that Ben might be a very good QB, but nearly ANY QB in the league can “win” games when they have a defense like that to back him up.

The reality last night was that the Steelers would’ve probably lost by a much larger margin had their defense not stepped up and forced two key turnovers. The first major turnover happened on the opening drive of the second half, with the Ravens driving. After catching a long pass, Mark Clayton was stripped of the ball for a momentum-killing turnover. The Steelers’ pass rush got to Flacco, twice forcing a fumbles – once when the Ravens were driving in the fourth quarter on the Steelers side of the field, and the other right at the end of the game. Although the one at the end of the game was recovered by Ben Grubbs, the Ravens couldn’t stop the clock to try to edge their potential game-winning field goal try closer.

While the Steelers running game did well, their passing attack wasn’t very effective outside of the play-action-based TD drive. The Ravens did a decent job of keeping the ball out of Hines Ward and Heath Miller’s hands, but their lack of pass rush allowed Dixon to keep his composure for most of the game. Regardless, the Steelers offense was as stale and safely played as you would expect for the most part. It was nice to see them draw up a play for their mobile QB on Dixon’s touchdown run.

The Ravens, on the other hand, actually moved the ball really well. Their running game was working against the Steelers, and with Flacco spreading the ball around a little more, the passing game was successful. The real problems began in the second half when the Ravens started dropping back and not focusing on the run as much. When you’re averaging 4.5 yards a carry, keep running. It’s not often that you can move the ball like that on their defense. Enjoy the moment. McClain, Rice, and McGahee were all getting some touches with positive effect. The Steelers have a great pass rush, and I don’t think the Ravens did a good enough job designing plays to get the ball out fast enough in the second half. The Steelers clearly made an adjustment at halftime, and the Ravens didn’t.

All-in-all, the game was excellent…especially since the Ravens won, but I’m weary of being too optimistic. I’m convinced that the Ravens have the raw talent to go far, but they lack the discipline and experience right now. Flacco is going to have to continue using ALL of his receivers if they’re going to keep winning down the stretch. The Ray Rice & Derrick Mason show might have a good ring to it if it’s the next Ravens radio show, but it’s going to kill them down the stretch (like it did against the Colts). Both are extremely talented, and Rice blows my mind every game, but the rest of the offense has to step up.

Special teams were moving the ball, but the penalties are woeful and becoming so consistent that any positive yardage results in me scanning the green fields for yellow cloth. This game, against one of the worst special teams coverage unit in the league, killed potentially great field position with stupid blocks in the back penalties. Billy Cundiff, though, might just be the man (shown above hitting the game winner in OT). After two games, I already have more faith in his leg than I had in Hauschka. With Hauschka you prayed…with Cundiff, you have faith.

The defense is actually playing pretty well for the most part, with Lardarius Webb looking like a future impact player, but Dominique Foxworth has to find a way to improve before Monday. Aaron Rodgers will go after him all game, just like every other QB this year. It’s time for this team to step up, or the end of the season could be a heartbreaker. I have a feeling the Ravens are going to have to win out to get a wild card spot. I guess the hope continues Monday night at Lambeau…

Go Ravens!!!

It’s pretty obvious that I skipped blogging about bowling this session, but frankly, this session sucked. Everyone on our team saw significant drops in average compared to the summer session, and we all sort of mailed it in the minute we knew we couldn’t participate in the playoffs or Kingpin/Queenpin competition due to PSL rescheduling our playoffs for the weekend 3/4 of our team was out of town. Don’t get me wrong…we all tried to bowl well, but you could just tell that no one really cared like our previous sessions.

Megan finished 6th on the Queenpin list, and I finished 7th on the Kingpin list, but that’s not exactly impressive when everyone on our team finished top-10 last session and Megan won the whole thing. Our 10-11 record gave us a 5th place finish on Thursday, but our 640, which was 56 pins higher than any other Thursday team average, got us into the hypothetical playoffs. Sense the bitterness? Maybe a little…

While we like playing with a lot of the teams in our Thursday night league, we’re going to be taking the winter session off and explore our other options…aka, the search for a new league is on. Hopefully some change will reinvigorate our drive to be the biggest handicapped fish in this small Western PA pond. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The best part about the Browns being awful? Cheap seats.

Meadows and I picked up tickets to the Monday Night Football “showdown” between the Ravens and Browns for $50/ticket…3 rows off of the field! While I had originally planned to watch the game at home, the cheap seats were too much to pass up. Unfortunately, the game was probably only worth about $50 total to watch, but it was still a good time.

At 4-4, the game was a must-win for the Ravens as they tried to make a push, ANY push, for a successful second half of the season. For the Browns…well, sometimes getting that second win of the year has to come at some point, right?

The Browns defense actually played really well. In fact, if the Browns had any semblance of a NFL-caliber quarterback, I think they could’ve pulled off the win. With the Ravens playing uninspired – as if they knew that an average game would be enough against the Brady Quinn-led Browns – the Browns defense was able to keep their team in the game until the second half. The scoreless first half, with the sole highlight being what I had to assume at the time was Steven Hauschka’s last field goal miss in a Ravens uniform, consisted of some of the stalest football I’ve seen. There was just nothing going on. Two teams playing it safe, as if they knew the only real separation would be in the turnover column. I saw more punts than canine-related costumes, and other than the two drunken morons that kept rousing Meadows, the crowd aspect of the game failed to inspire.

Fortunately, the NFL came up with the brilliant idea of a second half. With the way the Ravens have been sleepwalking through the first half for the last few weeks, I was optimistic things would pick up during the final 30 minutes. After the Ravens got a big play from Derrick Mason, Ray Rice took advantage of the Browns only having 10 men on the field and put the Ravens up 7-0.

The one thing that I had to assume coming into the game was that the Ravens would be taking out pigskin loans from the Quinn interception reserve. While Quinn was off in the first half, none of his passes made it into the right hands…until the ensuing drive after the Ravens first TD. Quinn’s pass met the hands of Robert Royal, who clearly didn’t want anything to do with it, and the ball deflected into the hands of a surging Dawan Landry for a nice pick-six. After that score, though, Hauschka decided to cement his lack of a future with the Ravens by missing the PAT. I immediately wanted to drive to Owings Mills to tryout.

Of course, Quinn decided that his highlight-reel night wasn’t complete when his pass slightly behind his receiver resulted in another deflected interception by Chris Carr on the following possession. In frustration, though, Quinn’s found his lone success…a low block on Carr’s short return that was quite effective in the spraining of Terrell Suggs’ knee. Great…just in time for the important games. I guess even Quinn wanted to finally see Paul Kruger in action after he hear that the rookie was suited up for the game.

We stuck around until the end of the game, but it was definitely one of those match-ups that we should’ve stayed home for. It was a game that I had to assume the Ravens would win, and despite the soft score line, the Ravens were never at-risk of losing. Regardless, we did have a good time, and the win will keep the hopes alive for the Ravens. They’re going to have to play better with the Colts coming to town this weekend, though, because the Colts DON’T have Brady Quinn behind center.

Go Ravens!!!