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…

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.

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.

Sunday gave me an opportunity to see the smooth-sailing Vikings for the second time in an eight day span. I was fortunate to have my friend Brad invite me to the game in his dad’s new lower level seats, Despite my anti-Steelers sentiment, going to any game is a good time, so I was really excited to catch up with an old friend and get to see a good game between two of the strongest teams in the NFL.

The seats were awesome. His dad’s old seats were in the upper level, so the new lower level corner seats were a fun upgrade. Oh, and it helped that the weather was perfect!

The game itself was pretty boring. The Vikings really seemed to control the game with their short passes and runs, but their inability to finish in the red zone killed them. They failed to get in on a goal lone stand, and despite both teams having at least one red zone turnover, the two that the Vikings gave away both ended up as ridiculously long, defensive touchdowns returned in slow motion. James Harrison called…he wants his royalties on that nonsense…

In reality, the Vikings probably outplayed the Steelers, but as we’ve seen too many times, the Steelers defense came up huge when it mattered. They’re effort made up for the offense’s lackluster effort. Everyone is infatuated with the early season success of the Steelers offense, but they’re really only dominating poor teams. Contain Ben, keep the blown plays outside of the pocket to a minimum, and their offense will stall.

Of course it won’t matter. I always claim the Steelers are dipped in shit and this game was just another example of everything going right for them. If Chester Taylor would’ve just closed his hands on the screen pass…

Ugh.

Until the bounces stop going their way, the Steelers are going to be tough to beat. That’s the frustrating reality for a non-Steelers fan.

After our second week of the PSL fall bowling league, I can safely say that after a month off the Nine-Dash Heroes need to practice up…or not.

First, our bowling has been pretty bad compared to previous sessions. Week one saw our team start well enough, setting our starting average at 644…which isn’t bad considering the next closest team had a 555 average. Individually, only Meadows started with a better average than he finished with last session (198).

Unfortunately, our second week didn’t show much team improvement. While Megan, Sam, and myself saw slight pin increases that would get us closer to our last session averages, Meadows dropped 17 pins, which basically offset any improvement the rest of us tried to make. Our team average still went up 2 pins to a 646, but for a team that nearly finished with a 700 average last session we’re way off track.

Of course, this session is basically a throwaway session anyway. Why? Well, because PSL decided to change the schedule because of the G20 Summit. With protests supposed to go down on our first night, the league start dates got pushed back a week, which means the new playoff date occurs when Megan, Meadows, and I are all out of town. Without any hope of participating in the playoffs and kingpin/queenpin competition, the competitive spirit is lost, and it’s showing in our form.

This could very well spell the end of my time with PSL. I’m sick of the poor management, poor scheduling, and the poor rules and officiating. Hell, we don’t even get PSL t-shirts for bowling league anymore.

Last night was our first regular season night of volunteer work for the AE-sponsored Student Rush, and it was a lot of fun. We did a trial run during the preseason, and after asking the student fans in line what they wanted, we returned for this game with everything they asked for.

We played trivia with the fans, giving them an opportunity to win autographed pucks and hats, while also giving out Student Rush hoodies and some AE t-shirts. We brought a DJ to give the fans music, Meadows MC’d the event, and we even had Atwood drive Kunitz, Fleury, Godard, Bourque, Talbot, and Dupuis to deliver 50 Pizza Hut pizzas to the fans in line. The fans went nuts when the players showed up, but they were surprisingly cool with the guys. The media was actually more in the players’ mix than the fans.

I was on photo duty for most of the night, so I had to run around snapping shots of the fans and competed with the media for decent shots of the players delivering pizza. I did have a chance to bother Max Talbot before he headed back into the arena for a photo. Shh…

It’s a shame that the game sucked, as the Pens played the most lackluster game I’ve ever seen them play, but the experience of interacting with the fans and hooking people up with free stuff was awesome. We’ll be doing this for all 5 Student Rush games this year as AE is sponsoring the event. Who knows what our group will cook up for the remaining games, but we definitely made standing in line a little more fun…especially for the people who were there since 8 AM.

Last night I had the pleasure of going to the season opener between the Steelers and Titans at Heinz Field. I hadn’t planned on going, but the Google team purchased tickets to take the AE online marketing team…so since it was now a work-related opportunity, I basically had to go. Plus, who doesn’t like free tickets near the 50 yard line and free beer? Frankly, I’d take that deal for nearly any pro sporting event…well, maybe not the WNBA.

As for the game? Both teams looked like their starters hadn’t taken a snap all preseason, which made for an unintentionally good, but boring game. The Steelers offense was awful, but the defense looked unreal with Troy Polamalu, in particular, making nearly every tackle…until he went out with a knee injury. After he went out, the offenses for both teams started to actually drive. An interception a piece by Roethlisberger and Collins helped keep the game standing still, as did two failed field goal attempts by Bironas – one blocked, one missed. The first points of the game came with 1:29 left in the first half on a Steelers touchdown. The score was then quickly evened up by the Titans on a 34-second TD drive. So, yeah…we essentially sat through 28 minutes of special teams punt coverage drills to see all of the offense crammed into the final two minutes of the first half. Awesome. Just what the NFL was hoping to see from two of the best AFC teams from last season.

The rest of the game was pretty predictable, with the Steelers winning in typical fashion. After Hines Ward graciously gave the Titans the ball at their own 4 on a fumble with a minute left in regulation to send the game to overtime, the Steelers won the toss and the game with their easiest drive of the night. So predictable.

The real highlights of the night, especially since the Titans failed to upset the Steelers, was the Rod Woodson Hall of Fame ring ceremony at halftime. Woodson was a beast, and it was awesome to see him get his Super Bowl ring with the Ravens. It’s just a shame that he rarely talks up his time in Baltimore. I get that he spent the majority of his career in Pittsburgh, but it always feels a little insulting to have to watch Woodson ignore his time spent playing for the Ravens just to avoid offending the feelings of the Steeler Nation. I understand in this particular situation…you know…being in Heinz Field and all…but I cheered for you, too, dude…

Regardless, I’m just excited to see the regular season start. Preseason is such a horrid spectacle. Go Ravens!!!

Another PSL season came to a close Sunday. Only this time, we got to taste a little bit of glory. Not as a team, necessarily, but Megan bowled her highest game ever to earn her the Queenpin title in her first ever shot at it. She almost had her first clean game, too, if not for an open 9th frame, but her 196 was nearly 40 pins higher than any other girls in the competition. It also happened to be her highest game ever. It was an awesome achievement and showed a marked improvement over her 107 average from the Spring season.

The team struggled in the first round – bowling a 640 to miss our chance at another top 10 finish (647 was the cutoff). With our team eliminated, our only chance at any victory celebration was in the Kingpin and Queenpin competitions. This was the first time that all four members of our team were able to compete in the competition, so we had to represent our team well.

Megan obviously bowled out of her mind to win the whole thing and restore some pride into the Nine-Dash Heroes, but the dream 1-2 finish for both competitions wasn’t to be. Sam bowled a 135, which she was bummed about, but wasn’t really a horrible game since she was the only person to not go practice on Friday after our awful Thursday performance.

Meadows and I were bowling with a group of 5 bowlers…of which 4 were in the top 5 of the Kingpin standings. Overall, we both bowled strong games. For the first half of the game, I thought Meadows was going to pull it off as he had a 165 in the 7th frame after a 4 bagger, but failed to hit another strike, finishing 5th overall with a 206.

I ended up bowling a 219, which was a solid effort, but an effort only worthy of a 3rd place finish. I figured that I needed at least a 230 to even challenge for the top spot, which still wouldn’t have been enough. I finished behind a 243 & 240…bowled by two bowlers with a 180 & 181 average, respectively. It marked the 2nd straight season where I finished at the top of the Kingpin standings after 8 weeks, but got crushed in the only game that matters. Oh well…maybe next time.

My goal for next season is to finish in first again, so I’ll aim for a 215 in hopes that it’s the magic number to stay above the returning talent that skipped the summer session. I’m setting Meadows’ goal at 200 – which I know he can do since he had a 200 until the final couple of weeks. I think Megan and Sam should aim to break 160, but I won’t be surprised to see averages closer to 170 in their second season throwing the hook. That sets our team average goal at 735, but I’m thinking that a 710 average would be awesome. We’ve improved every session, so I see no reason to expect a plateau yet…even with me basically flattening out. It’s going to be a struggle to finish with a high team average and win the whole thing, as evidenced by this session, but our goal should be to take highest average in all leagues again.

I can’t wait until the next session!

Last night was one of most comically bad nights that our team has had on the lanes in a long time. Our scores for the night: 566, 694, 585. We got close to our average in game two, but everyone except Meadows bowled under average guaranteeing that our team would go winless in the final week. In fact, Meadows’ game two score of 215 was the only game of the night above average. Period.

Meadows bowled better than the rest of us, but his 549 series was 101 pins shy of the 650 I was hoping he’d roll. His 2-pin drop in average still gave him a marked improvement over last session, a top-5 finish (5th), and his first chance to compete in the Kingpin competition. If anyone from our team has a shot, it’s Meadows. He’s typically bowled really well in the playoffs!

Megan and Sam were both off, too, but they managed to stay ranked 1 & 2 in the final Queenpin standings. The only difference is that Megan dropped to number 2 and Sam overtook the top spot. Everyone was missing easy spares, but throwing good first balls – unlike myself, who couldn’t throw a good first ball to save my life – so they just have to pick up spares Sunday to see an increase.

For me…I should’ve known it would be a long night after failing to find any rhythm in warm-ups. I threw 5 warm-up frames, failing to strike in any of them. I then failed to strike in the first 9 frames of game 1. 14 consecutive first balls without a strike would seem inconceivable in my mind if I hadn’t watched it happen. Adding insult to injury, I finished the night with 10 opens…5 in game one. Considering that only 3 were splits, it’s an accurate assumption that I choked on 7 easy spares to end with more opens in one week than I had in the nearly the last 3 weeks combined. I finished the night with a 498 series. Awesome! At least I was able to keep my 200 average for the season despite an awful night. I needed 488…got 498. Success-ish.

Unfortunately, our collapse this week cost us our team goal of a 700 average…dropping us to a 698. A solid 11-pin drop in one week. The one benefit is that since we’re going to be setting the handicap for the playoffs, we’ve dropped every other team’s handicap by 11, too. That could honestly be the difference Sunday. We still would’ve preferred to stay at our 709, but some weeks just don’t work out. I just hope we bring a better game than last night. After a 4th place finish last time around, we need to improve…especially with the smaller pool of players/teams in the Summer session.

In the 3+ years that I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, I’ve never gone to a “Skyblast” night at PNC Park. Skyblast is basically where the Pirates have crazy fireworks and some musical act play post-Pirates loss (or win…). Call me weird, but I’m just not into fireworks…and DEFINITELY not into them as much as your average Pittsburgher. Regardless, it was pretty cool.

The fireworks were 10 times better than the crappy 4th of July show, with fireworks going off on the Clemente Bridge, Highmark building, the outfield, etc. It was definitely a more impressive display than your simple barge-in-the-water thing last month.

For the musical guest, the Pirates brought in O.A.R., which was actually a nice change from the typical, washed-up-but-still-adored-in-Pittsburgh bands like Styx that are practically Gods here. Like Dimar said, “I know you think those bands suck, but there are a lot of people in Pittsburgh that think those bands are awesome”. Sorry, Styx…I forgot that Renegade will keep you paid for eternity thanks to Steeler fans inherited acceptance of it being thought of as an “awesome” song.

Anyway, I’m not an O.A.R. fan, but it was cool to at least see a band that was still somewhat relevant playing at PNC Park. I was actually impressed with them for the most part. Here’s a band that has 2 decently popular radio hits, both which are major departures from their normal sound, and they opted to save those songs for the end. Instead they played their reggae-inspired jam stuff for most of their hour-and-fifteen-minute set. Of course, they sort of HAD to jam a lot…

Why?

Well, because the lead singer lost his voice about 3 lines into the first song…maybe less. When the band first started, the sound was awful, but unlike John Legend’s sound guy, O.A.R. fixed the sound before the end of the first verse. Too bad he couldn’t restore the lead singer’s vocal cords. Picture Dicky Barrett from the Bosstones singing Crazy Game of Poker, and you’ve got what we heard. I was highly impressed with the band’s ability to jam in an attempt to carry the show without vocals. At one point, the keyboard player decided to give the words a shot, and he did a good enough job to get the crowd back into it, but it was still a tough scene to witness.

Regardless, the show was solid, and I’d rather see that 10 times over than the Zac Brown band. They’re a good group of musicians – nothing spectacular – but talented enough to hold my interest with their simple jams. The fact that they carried on says a lot about their fortitude, and the courage of Marc – the lead singer – to come back and sing anyway to finish the night was impressive. There aren’t a lot of bands that could continue on without a singer. I mean…what the hell would Pearl Jam do if Vedder lost his voice? Have Stone sing? Not a promising thought in the least. So, even with the human malfunction, I will say that O.A.R. put on a good show. All poppy, chart-climbing songs aside, they’re not bad and actually sound really good live. I sort of hope they get a chance to come back and redeem themselves soon…unlike the Pirates…who AGAIN were completely outplayed, outclassed, and shown what real baseball is in a 5-2 beat-down courtesy of the Cardinals.