SBL-NYC Newsletter Issue #4 December, 2008

The Fun of Bowling in an IGBO Tournament
Ross Hewitt: SBL President

This past year, I bowled in three gay tournaments: Gotham in April on Long Island, IGBO National in Atlanta in May and Holiday in Milwaukee in November. I had a blast, and I want to encourage all of you to do it at least once. There will be two opportunities nearby in 2009: Sweetheart in New Haven in February and Gotham in Jersey City in April.

The basic premise and structure is the same: participating bowlers have to be USBC sanctioned, and members of a league that is a member of IGBO, the International Gay Bowling Organization. Each bowler bowls in three events (3 games each event): Singles, Doubles and Teams. Teams can number 4 or 5 bowlers depending on the tournament. In Singles, you compete as individuals. In Doubles, your score is added to your partners—the sum score competes. In Teams, your team’s total score competes. So, you end up bowling 9 games over two days. There is also the All Events event, where you compete as individuals using your total for all 9 games. These scores are all handicap-adjusted. So you don’t have to be a 200 average bowler to compete! You only have to bowl at least your average and a little better to be in the money. There are cash prizes for usually the top ten to twenty and trophies for the top three finishers in each award category—similar to our end of the season awards.

You pay an entry fee that is usually around $90, and this includes fees for bowling, prize fund and a banquet ticket. There are always raffles with lots of cash raffle prizes. In Milwaukee, they gave out raffle prizes ranging from $25 to a $1000 grand prize! So, plan to buy some raffle tickets. You have the expenses of hotel (which can be minimized by sharing a room—under $100 a night) and travel (which can be minimized by sharing a ride if you drive). There are also hospitality suites at the hotel where alcohol flows freely and trips to the local bar scene. There is plenty of opportunity to meet (and hook up!) with people. It can be a little disorienting bowling on lanes that are different from your usual ones, but if you focus on the ten pins, you make the adjustment pretty quickly.

At Gotham, I bowled with members of our Mixed Company team—we ended up coming in 6th place for teams and winning $55 each! I bowled with Charlie Starner in doubles—he used to bowl on our league a few years ago—we ended up 12th—and won $40 or $50. I ended up in 6th place in singles, where I won a little more, and, to my amazement, I finished first in All Events! I now have a little glass apple trophy to prove it! I ended up bowling 40 pins over average for the total 9 games—the best I have ever bowled in my life!! I certainly don’t expect to repeat the feat, but I have to admit it was fun competing with all of these other bowlers with higher averages who were much more serious and intent on winning than I was.

In Atlanta, I bowled with Alan Altizer from Balls-A-Go-Go in doubles. We finished just out of the money, which was amazing because the bowling conditions were very tough for us, as we both bowl with a hook. To make tournaments harder, they will sometimes use an oil pattern on the lanes that makes hooking the ball much more difficult—often lowering averages. This was the case in Milwaukee, where I finished with a 161 average, 2 below normal, and yet just missed being in the money.

Tournaments also offer optional competitions, usually based on scratch scores—no handicaps. These are divided into 3 to 5 divisions, based upon the averages of the participants. In Milwaukee, I was in the “C” division, with averages below 167! I managed to come in second overall and 3rd for high game in this optional competition—it cost me an extra $35 to enter—and I won $87 in total. In Gotham, I was also in the “C” division (averages 160 to 179) and placed second overall. I didn’t bowl well enough in Atlanta to qualify for the money!! (But I did win a strike jackpot on the second try!!)

The bottom line is to have fun! Members of the Mixed Company team went to the IGBO tournament in Toronto in August. Ask them about their experience or Alan about his. I would love to see SBL send a few teams to both New Haven (over Presidents weekend) and Jersey City April 17-19. Please let me know if you would like to join me, as I do plan to attend both. The closing date for applications to Sweetheart in Connecticut is Feb 1st! Good luck and good bowling!

Meet The Committee
SBL Executive Committee

The Executive Committee would like to take a moment and introduce ourselves to you. Some of you may know us, some of you may not. Over the next few newsletters, we will be featuring one member of the Executive Committee for you to get to know. This month, we focus on our Treasurer, Rafael (Raffy) Rodriguez.

Rafael Rodriguez
SBL Treasurer

Raffy, as most people call him, is currently in his 4th term as Treasurer of SBL. He currently lives in New Jersey, where he was born & bred. An aspiring actor & writer, Raffy works as a consultant, both in and out of the office. In the city, he works at various locations helping companies with special projects. He also works part-time as a candle consultant for PartyLite, the #1 direct-seller of candles & home decorating accessories. He's giving away TONS of free candles & accessories. Ask him how u can get some.