Bowlers Bios: Nelson Burton Jr. aka Bo

In this broadcast, Nelson Burton Jr., always called Bo, defeats Pete Weber in the final round of the 1984 Angle Open, which took place on Feb 11, 1984.

This is the tournament in which Bo set the 4-game scoring record of 1050 points, which would stand for 11 years.

1st game: Bo Burton defeats Paul Gibson: 278-218.
2nd game: Bo Burton defeats Marshall Holman: 279-217.
3rd game: Bo Burton defeats Pete Couture: 257-249. 4th game: Bo Burton defeats Pete Weber: 236-184.

Nelson "Bo" Burton Jr.

Nelson Burton Jr., born on June 5, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri, is the son of bowler and bowling center Nelson Burton.

Bo received his nickname because his younger brothers could not pronounce the word "brother."

At the age of 5, Bo participated in Junior Bowling in the St. Louis leagues.

He rolled his first 300 game at the age of 16.

Bo served in the US Army before returning to St. Louis and attended St. Louis University. At the same time he began practice his bowling with the view to perfecting his game so he could go out on the PBA tour.

He entered the PBA in 1964, at the age of 22. He won his first title that same year, in Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1965 he made it to the television finals (featuring the top five finishers) in six out of eleven tournaments on the winter PBA tour,taking second four times.

Bibliography

How to Talk Bowling, by Dawson Taylor, 1985

Bowling Terminology, Part 1

Alley - the alley is the playing surface, once made of maple and pine boards. Today most alleys (or lanes as they are also called) are synthetic.

Most people even today refer to a bowling center as a bowling alley, but business owners prefer to call it a bowling center!

"All the way" - to complete a game from any point with a series of strikes

Approach - the area of the lane/alley behind the foul line. The approach has arrows painted/embedded in it to act as aiming points.

The American Weekly August 19, 1951

Leaague results posting postponed til NEXT week

I won't deny that I did very poorly in my leagues this last week - but I don't want to share the screen captures!

Starting next Sunday, when I've got my game back up to snuff, I'll start sharing them again!

Suffice it to say it's taking me longer to adjust to fingertip than I ever expected.  I keep "tugging" the ball when it's not necesary, misjudging my mark,etc.

But, I feel I'm very close!

Cheyenne USBC WBA Annual Championship Tournament

The Cheyenne Women's City Bowling Tournament, hosted by Warren Lanes on Warren AFB, was held over two weekends - the last weekend in February (27-28 Feb) and the first weekend in March (5-6 March) 2016.

Pocket notebook given to everyone who participated in team event

I participated on the first weekend, and did not do very well. I didn't actually come in *last* in any event - just second to last in doubles.

Our team event (4-woman team) did marginally better because the two people we were bowling with did pretty well...

So, this sets the bar pretty low for future improvement.

The photos below are pretty dim - I'll try to take better ones on Friday and replace the ones below.

Results posted in 2 Bar Bowl

 

Singles handicap 164-136

Singles handicap, I placed 32 out of 46.

Doubles handicap

Doubles - second to last!

Handicap All events

Sunday Happy Moose, 6 Mar 2016 Results

I had practiced with my Storm Hy-Road (14 lbs) and Brunswick Mastermind (13 lbs), both drilled for fingertip, on Friday, and my last two games were in the 170s.

Unfortunately practice did not translate into league success.

Today, we were playing with two dog scores - one on our team and one on our opponent's side (Babes and Balls).

I couldn't get any strikes and I couldn't convert any spares. (Ironically, I left two 7-pins over the course of the three games, and I converted them both. It was the other spares, that I normally can get, that I couldn't get.)

Fortunately, Jacque bowled several pins over her 180 average each game, and so did Kyle. In addition, our opponents, whom we spotted 140 points, were really lousy bowlers.

It was in the third game that my opposite lead-off number,  who isn't very good - (whom I have dubbed Striker) doubled strikes, twice, and ended with a 153. As a result we lost the third game by 18 points - because I just couldn't convert 1 simple spare which would have enabled us to win. I hate it when that happens.

However, by taking 3 of 4 points, we.....

I can't say!

5 hours later, the scores haven't been updated on Leaguesecretary.com.

When they  have been updated, I'll update this post.Hopefully we'll remain in first place. (I know that the folks in second place, whom we lead by half a point, were bowling a pretty good team, so hopefully they lost all 4!)

My Leagues Overview: 5 March 2016

I have been meaning to share photos of my scores, but over the last three weeks my scores have been so poor that I did not want to do so! (The poorness is entirely due to the fact that I made the mistake of switching to fingertip while league was going on, and also getting a ball that was initially too heavy for me. Very frustrating, as I purchased the 14 pound Storm Hy-road specifically for the Cheyenne City Tournament, and because it was too heavy I had my Mastermind redrilled and then I didn't know how it would react with the new fingertip grip, so I pretty much sabotaged myself.)

However, I practiced with my 14-pound Storm Hy-road on Friday, Mar 4, and I think now I'm either holding it properly or my fingers and forearm have gotten stronger. In any event when I practiced I finished out with two 178 games. I'll be using the Mastermind as my spare ball.

So, here's how things stand, with only a few weeks left in each league.  

Sunday Happy Moose 
My team, Chaotic Chaos, is in first place, out of 12 teams, by half a point.

It's a 29 week season, and there are four weeks to go.

Tomorrow is Week 26.

 My average - 140. (So I am in the Low Strike Pot - worth $1,000)  

Monday Senior Pioneers
My team, Peppy, is in 6th place out of 16 teams.

My average is 141. (So, I am in the Medium Strike Pot, worth $500.)

This coming Monday will be week 29 of 34, so we'll be done in the first week of April.

According to the recap sheets at LeagueSecretary.com, I've had a 500 series on this league. I don't remember doing it!

 Tuesday Shoppers
My team, Lefties R Right, are in 11th place out of 15 teams.

 My average is 145. (So, Medium Strike Pot.)

This is I think the only league where I've had a 200 game so far this year, and I've had two of them on back to back weeks.

This is a three-person league (the rest are 4-person leagues), and the only one where I am not the lead-off. I don't really like not being in the lead-off position! Because of a snow day, we're not going to finish this league until the first week of May!  

Wednesday 55 + Seniors
My team, which I am a permanent sub on for the rest of the year [meaning I get to bowl for free], is the Four of Us.

We are in 16th place out of 17 teams.

My average is 139 (so, Low Strike Pot.)

Another 34 week league. We should be done first week of April. 

Video: Earl Anthony vs Mike McGrath, 1973

1973 BPAA US Open

I think it was filmed in color, but all that remains is in black and white.

Earl has his crew cut (a look I much prefer to his 1979-onward do!)

Mike McGrath has a very strange (to me) start-out stance. He stands with his right foot placed out perpendicular to his left foot. Looks totally weird. I asked about this on one of the bowling ball forums and the only response was that he did it for "timing" purposes.

Well, I knew that, but why that particular way of doing your timing?