We have friends!

It was the last game of the season. We went into it in 3rd place and came out in 4th, missing 3rd place by 7 pins. But so is life. We played G-Squad who had been one of the top teams this season with bowlers averaging in the 180s. We narrowly beat them by some twenty points in the first game with a strong game by the hubby. They trounced us by 60 points (and it would have been more) if we hadn't finished with a strong 10th frame. One guy hit 250! Strung 6 strikes in a row! The third game they helped us out a bit and we came on stronger, but missed winning the total points by one spare. Oh well, considering we'd never played in a serious way before this, out of a field of 19 teams, we did pretty well!

We've been making friends with the other players saying hello and chit-chatting. M from the other team, also a beginner came over with his motto for the night, "X marks the spot". But after the first game, there were only a few xes on anyone's scoresheet. Hmm...need a new motto.

I was waiting for my turn watching the other team bowl. This one guy was on a run of strikes and his score doesn't tally until it stops. And if we were going to win this game, we were going to need some help. Then he bowled a split which killed his run. I said to myself, "We have friends!" We had gotten the help we need. Then when I bowled, I kept thinking about how "we have friends" and bowled a strike! I tried the "we have friends!" motto a couple more frames before passing it around to the rest of the team.

I'm really not sure who or what our friends are. Certainly the team. Our bowling balls, maybe even the pins. Sometimes the other team. There's certainly something reassuring to saying, "we have friends!" I know we're down, but we'll get through it because we're not alone, we have friends! Our friends will pull us through.

I think we might keep the motto on to winter league. Even when you're down, you can't help but feel good after saying it. Then you want to do well after that. And when you're feeling good, you keep feeling good cuz WE HAVE FRIENDS!

4th place does get some kind of award, I think it's cash. Next week is called Sweepers, where basically each bowler is going for individual glory and prizes. And next month we head to the Jubilee bowling tournament in Palo Alto since we were a top 10 finisher.

In the end it doesn't matter how we did, because, say it with me people, we have friends!