I can still remember the spring evening a decade or so ago when Tobe Cardone and I sat after the Cosmopolitan League, and he spoke of his frustration with the those that would depart the lanes each spring and summer to play golf and not continue to bowl the summer season. Many of you who also knew and loved Tobe can imagine what that conversation must have been like.
You have to wonder what he would have felt about the creative Derek Dukes and the crack staff of Southgate Lanes and the Accuracy Masters that was rolled last weekend at “The Gate.” I am not even sure what the Original World Famous Gators would have thought of the merger of the two sports.
Shane Bugner was the winner, where essentially low man wins just like on a golf course. Get this, his best score of the weekend was a bogey equaling 45.
Speaking of Shane, his alma mater, the University of Northwestern Ohio, is also off to a good start this season.
The young men and especially the young women fared relatively well in the Racer Classic. The fact that the men finished a little back in the pack is misleading; they rolled better than their finish.
The young ladies dropped a match to Notre Dame in the final frame to finish third, and then Notre Dame fell to Wright State in the final frame of their battle, resulting in the Raider title win.
Since that weekend, the men and the women have each taken titles, the men in the Baker Shootout at Ball State and the women this past weekend at the first of the WHAC jamborees for the season.
It certainly is setting the table for a great season for the UNOH Racer bowling program. I think I will book my reservations for sectionals and nationals.
It is amazing what you can see on Facebook. We have already discussed the RTS website, and if you have not liked that page and the drive that Robert Smith has to contribute to bowling in the community, please check it out today. You should look up the Lima Bowling Association site and Lima Bowler as well. You may even find a ball to buy. Let me tell you, it seems like 10 or so are advertised daily.
If you look real quick, you may even see the smiling face of Jason Moneer, who recently rolled a 300 in the Mega-Cash League at Westgate. We will get a list of all, and I do mean all, the 300s bowled already this season and keep you updated. Meanwhile, congrats to Jason.
So very sorry to see that the LBA Team Event shift for today was cancelled. Condolences to Norada Lanes proprietors Vickie and Fred Wolber who had a death in the family.
Next up for the LBA are The Youth Doubles that will be held next weekend at Southgate Lanes in Bluffton. I certainly hope that they have replaced all of Bugner’s divots from last weekend by the time our youth hit the lanes.
Incidentally, great planning on the part of the LBA in getting this tournament in place prior to the opening of the high school season. It sure would be great if the OHSAA would learn to not interfere with individual association activities.
Speaking of the high school season, we are close to the beginning of another great season. Shawnee and Lima Senior will be rolling in the WOHSBC, and Kenton has gained at the least a club bowling program. If we could only get Bath and Elida moving forward.
In closing, I had a great moment with one fine gentleman as Dominion took the chill off my home.
Tony Wilkerson had even toastier words for the late Anita Ambroza and her husband Nelson, the patriarch of the Ambroza family.
Tony spoke of how the couple, especially Nelson, pulled him aside and taught him the nuances of the game. For Tony it went bigger than how they helped him elevate his game. It was about the love and the character that they always demonstrated around him.
He exposed Nelson as a strong Christian man who has made an impact upon his life.
The moment with Tony was special, and I would imagine that there are those around that have had similar significant moments with others in the bowling world. I want to hear about those moments, and we will share them here.
Maybe the time will come when the seniors will have their day.
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