Gutter Gossip

Less than a month into the new season and the first 300 game has been rolled. Bowling on Silver Strikers on Tuesday afternoon, Sep. 22, Bob Hines fired warm-up games of 213-222 before rolling 12 straight strikes in his third game for the season's first perfect game. A 192 average senior, Bob's 735 series put him at the top of the leader board for the league. Congrats to Bob.

DITTMER, MITTMAN ROLL PERFECTOS

Two days after our first 300 game, two more were rolled on Sep. 24 during the Thursday night Hit & Miss Classic league. Jim Dittmer and Kevin Mittman both rolled 300s in their second game. Jim sandwiched his between a 184-192 for a 676 series. Kevin had 226-227 to finish with a 753 series. Those 300s were #100 and #101 in the history of Hallmark Lanes.
 

DUST OFF THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME

Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 31. That night, we'll hold our annual Halloween Spooktacular. It's an adult/youth scotch doubles tournament and we'll be giving out prizes for scores as well as costumes. Costume prizes will be awarded there also.

DON'T MISS AN NFL GAME

We're sure you've seen the commercial about only getting 4 NFL games each Sunday on Time Warner Cable. Since everyone in Texas is a football fan, we didn't want any of our friends to miss a single game. So -- with DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket, we can get every game every Sunday. Of course, with 3 sets, we can't watch every game all the time, but we sure have access to all of them. We open the doors each Sunday at Noon and have all kinds of food and beverage specials. Only in our lounge, there's 2 Buck Cuervo shots, 2 Bucks for most domestic longnecks, Dollar Dogs, and all the popcorn you want. These are in addition to the $6.00 pitchers and $1.50 mugs already available anywhere in the center. And, of course, we make our BS Flags available at no charge. And don't forget, since we have DirecTV, those games later in the season on the NFL Network that's not available on cable, is available here. So, if your team is playing that night, come join us. Even if your team isn't playing, join us anyway.

YOU MIGHT NOT GET THE NFL NETWORK, BUT WE DO

Later in the season the NFL has some Thursday and Saturday games on the NFL Network. You don't have to miss them. Time Warner Cable doesn't carry that network, but we do get it. The games start on Thursday, Nov. 12 with San Francisco hosting "da Bears". Other games are Miami @ Carolina on Thursday, Nov. 19; the New York Giants @ Denver on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 26); the New York Jets @ Buffalo on Thursday, Dec. 3; Pittsburgh @ Cleveland on Thursday, Dec. 10; and Indianapolis @ Jacksonville on Thursday, Dec. 17. Then on Saturday, Dec. 19, New Orleans host the Cowboys. The final game on the NFL Network is Christmas night when San Diego visits Tennessee. All of these games start at 7:20 p.m. Remember, These games won't be on cable. They'll be here in The 11th Frame Lounge.

Jeff Hough topped a field of 59 entrants to capture men’s division honors in the 22nd annual Bowler of the Year Tournament held May 14. Qualifying in the Partytimers league with a 187 average, Jeff fired games of 235-243-258 for a 736 series, 175 pins over his average. That was barely enough as Robert White, sporting a 190 average, rolled a 728 series to take 2nd place, just 17 pins behind. Dan Willeford (Guys & Dolls) finished 3rd at +131 while Glen Dewald (Hit & Miss Classic) was 4th with +109. Others who cashed were Carlos Rodriguez (Partytimers) in 5th with +108; Harry Kirshner (Friday Duos), 6th with +100; Kevin Mittman (Hit & Miss Classic), 7th with +72; Jimmy Long (Friday Duos), 8th at +69; Bryce Ellison (Top Gun Scratch), 9th at +68; Robert Billman (Guys & Dolls) and Herbert Dixon (Friday Duos), tied for 10th with +57; and Mike Entler (Guys & Dolls), 12th with +54.

Tess Wheeler (Monday Nite Madness), competing in her first Bowler of the Year Tournament, captured the women’s title by edging Lucy Billman (Guys & Dolls) by just 1 pin. Tess rolled games of 134-161-169 for a 467 series, 95 pins over her 124 entering average. Lucy rolled games of 158-184-196 for a 538 series and 94 pins over average. Dana Barnum (Friday’s Best), also a first year bowler, took 3rd place with +79 while Grace Duppstadt (Friday’s Best) cashed in 4th place at +78.

The Outback Steakhouse again graciously sponsored the Bowler of the Week competition with a complimentary dinner to the winners. Our thanks to Bill White and his staff for their support. A total of 292 league bowlers qualified for this tournament by being Bowlers of the Week or rolling at least 100 pins over their average during league play.

GET YOUR LEAGUE STANDINGS SENT TO YOU VIA E-MAIL -- FREE

We’ve had a few inquiries as to how to get your league standings e-mailed to you via leaguesecretary.com. Some folks are telling us they are being asked to pay. NOT SO!!. They’re just not going to the right place on the web. Here’s how you do it:

1. Using you web browser, go to www.leaguesecretary.com. 2. On the home page, there’s a box on the left side that says "Search", then lists "Centers", "League", or "Standings". It’s probably easier to click on "Centers". 3. When you click on "Centers", you’ve got two options: Search by Location or Search by Zip Code. Use the Zip Code option and type in "76542" and click on "Search". 4. Here you’ll see four bowling centers listed, two on Fort Hood that are no longer in business, Hallmark, and Killeen Bowlerama. 5. Click on "Show Leagues" under Hallmark Lanes. 6. Scroll down that page until you find your league. Click on your league name. That will bring up a data screen for your league. 7. In big red letters, you are asked to either "Log on" or "Register". By clicking on "Register", it will bring you to a page that asks for a User Name, E-mail address, your first and last name, and your Date of birth. Enter that data, then click "Register". If all is correct, you will soon receive a confirmation notice via e-mail telling you the registration is complete and valid. When that’s done, there’s nothing else you have to do. Each time we process your league and send it to leaguesecretary.com, you’ll automatically receive a e-mail with the standings.