Bear with me on this one, because I need to rant.  It's therapeutic, though admittedly whiny.

Maybe some of you feel the same way....or maybe some of you want to tell me "sheddup", but I swear, do you ever get the feeling you just never catch a break?

Every week like clockwork, I have a game that I'm pounding the pocket like crazy and not carrying anything and/or get an undeserving split that takes what could be a great/good game, and turns it into a good/mediocre game.

I've bowled physically better than I did last night, so I'm not bitching because I think I deserved to shoot 700.  But 578 was plain outright b.s.  And I wonder why I'm stuck at 196 avg forever?

Game 1: 2 strikes.  Count em.  It doesn't take long. 1......2.  There wasn't that easy? Wobbly 7 pins multiple times, 10-pins.  Not like I was all that bad. My spare shooting sucked though, and had 2 opens, missing a 7-pin and 4-pin that sat in the oil mid-lane and never moved even though I threw it slower than a turtle stuck in the mud.  Ok, so 174 is not completely ridiculous considering that, but a simple carry once or twice out of the 5 non-strikes that could have been, isn't that much to ask.

Game 2: I'm crusing right along, on target for a nice 230 or so.  I've got a turkey going, and 5 of the last 6 strikes.  I come in a little high in the 9th.  I mean SLIGHTLY. 4-7-10. WTF!  The guy on the other team even said "that didn't look like a bad ball".  Yeah, no chit!  So I open, and drop 20 in the 10th for a 213.  Not bad, but wasted pins I didn't deserve to lose.

Game 3: Again, lack of carry, and another split. My only open was an 8-10 split that was driving nicely and looked as good as any ball I threw all night.  It was no spinner.  But I could only muster up 4 strikes, and no doubles.  So I end up with 191.

I completely get that bowling can be a messed up game sometimes, and some nights you're going to get the shaft.  I can live with that.  But nearly every single week? I'm tired of damn splits that shouldn't be, ruining my good games, and not carrying good shots week in and week out. Every guy in my league shoots a 250+ game at least once a month, if not many times.  There are a lot of good bowlers, (60% of my league is over 200 avg.) and I don't begrudge them anything.  But c'mon man, hook me up.  I haven't had a 250 all damn year.  I'm not Chris Barnes, but I deserve better than this crap.

There....I said it.  Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go stuff my head into a ball return and hope a Shock and Awe knocks some sense into me, or puts me outta my misery :)