THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411050105
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Around the Alleyways
SOURCE: Bill Leffler
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Do you consider yourself an average bowler? Better than average? Not quite average?
It may not be accurate as a national measuring stick but the computers have churned out all the league scores compiled in the nation's largest bowling association (in Detroit) for the past year.
They show the average male bowler at 167.66 and the average female at 138.68.
Because of the large number of bowlers in Detroit and the virtual impossibility of compiling all bowlers' averages, the American Bowling Congress considers these mean averages fairly accurate.
There was a slight improvement by Joe and Jane Bowler over the previous year.
In the 1992-93 season the men's average was 165.23. The women's average was 137.90.
And just who were average bowlers locally the past season?
To toss out a few names:
Susie Cote, Nancy Flowers, Sheila Howe, Dorothy Matthews and Christina Snow in the Portsmouth Women's Association.
Lori Adams, Bridget Allensworth, Sharon Atwater, Kency Beitlich and 161 more folks down the alphabet to Linda Zaloga in the Tidewater Women's Association.
In the Norfolk Men's Bowling Association there are more than 200 sporting book averages of 168, ranging from Cornelius Aaron to Henry Wilson III.
A few other tidbits of interest from the Detroit survey, which included nearly 200,000 bowlers:
Righthanded men averaged 167.24 and women averaged 138.47. Lefthanded men averaged 171.88 and southpaw ladies averaged 142.33. Obviously many more bowlers are righthanded.
One of every 23 men averaged 200 or more. One of every 1,193 women had averages of 200 or higher.
In five-year increments, a majority of men bowlers are between 31 and 35. No age groups were listed for women. Or else nobody dared to ask their age.
In duckpins, one local center figured up the averages for its bowlers.
The average score for men bowlers was 110. The average for women was 96.
Bowler of the Week honors are shared by Dave Harris and Bobby Wheeler, who excited members of the Monday Scratch Doubles Tenpin League at Pinboy's of Chesapeake with 300 games.
Harris opened with 206 and then pitched his perfecto. He added games of 217 and 205 in the four-game loop for a 928 series.
Wheeler started with his 300 and followed with games of 230, 225 and 233 for 988.
Tenpin topics: Rich Finnigan, who is among only a handful of area keglers with multiple 300 games, registered a 12-striker in the Virginia Beach Commercial League at Plaza Bowl. Finnigan, No. 1 ranked bowler locally three years ago, posted a 777 series. He had a 300 a year ago at the same center. . in the Youth Scratch Doubles League at Pinboy's of Chesapeake. He tossed a 745 series. . . . Another youth leaguer, Jason Smith, zipped 112 over average with a 280 single in the Saturday Junior/Major/Senior League at Pinboy's of Western Branch. He shot 663 for three. . . . Phil Reed began his 267 game in the Saturday Classic Mixed League at Pinboy's of Chesapeake with eight strikes in a row. He finished with a 657 series. . . . Century Club honors went to Kevin Peppos, who averages 147 and fired 257 in the Major/Seniors at Pinboy's of Chesapeake. In the Youth Scratch Doubles League at the same center he pulled in the 7-10 for a spare. . . . A 269 single helped Don Lehner to his 721 series in the Tuesday Rejects League at Pinboy's of Lynnhaven. . . . Tiffany Stanbrough of Oklahoma City, a 16-year-old, has broken the Young American Bowling Alliance record for a three-game series by a girl bowler. She had games of 279, 299 and 247 for 825. A lefthander, Tiffany averages 217. She has racked up $4,000 in bowling scholarships and plans to attend Wichita State University in Kansas. . . . Dean Howard forgot his 138 average and heaved a 528 series in the Lynnhaven Seniors League. . . . In the Pioneer Mixed League at Pinboy's of the Beach Margaret Gregory zipped 126 pins over average with her 630 series and Louis Simonic was 140 over with his 668.
Duckpin data: It's a good thing it wasn't raining when Jim Boykin finished up league play last week. He wore his bowling shoes home. . . . A missed one-pinner (good old No. 10) in the eighth frame cost Bill Ellsworth an all-mark game in the Industrial League. He shot 181. In the same league Coup's Painting chalked up a record four-bowler team game of 597. . . . Brittany Long, a 9-year-old who averages 81 in the Victory Youth League, smacked a 123 game. In the same league Jason Culpepper, who averages 107, came up with a 161 single in a 398 series. . . . Paul Sandefur had a season high 487 in the Stormy Weather League. . . . There are openings for several bowlers in the Sunday, Nov. 13 conclusion of first-round action in the Portsmouth Match Game Duckpin Championship at Victory Lanes. The field in the double-elimination tournament will start getting trimmed on Sunday, Nov. 20 when all 64 bowlers see action. . . . Here's wishing the best for veteran bowler Bob Crosby as he goes to Duke University Hospital this week. . . . In the Naval Shipyard League Vic Haynes forgot his 111 average and smacked a 161 game. In the same loop, Mike Tuckey, who averages only 95, pitched a 153. . . . The Just for You Tournament for morning league bowlers at Victory Lanes is scheduled on Friday, Nov. 11 at 9:30 a.m. Entry fee is $8. by CNB