I have a tendency to want to put a ball away after I've had a really good game with it, and my friend (and teammate) says that's selfish if I do it in league.
I can see his point if the team is still in contention for the playoffs and if the game was a 230 or better or with a really strong finish. To put the scores in perspective, I'm only averaging 172 in this league, but 180+ in my other two leagues, and even with those averages, used to get my fair share of 220 or better games. But not so much this year.
And my team was out of contention weeks ago and we're only bowling for points, but still... I bowled a 215 the first game and then decided to switch to a different ball. I had my reasons and again... the 215 was a solid, reasonable game for me ... and clean too. But it wasn't like I was on fire at any point. And I really thought the ball I switched to would work better or at least as good.
It was a colossal mistake with a bad result, and my friend remembers that earlier in the month I had bowled a 255 in the 2nd game and then put that ball away for the 3rd, with similar results. And even that time, I felt that even though I was throwing a phenomenal shot, I was really laboring to get the ball far enough down the lane to maintain the shot, and decided to switch balls before I started missing my mark if I didn't keep the speed up. He accused me of wanting to put the first ball away so I could put it (figuratively speaking) in a trophy case. He was not 100% wrong, but he was not 100% right either.
Unfortunately that perception is there now. I'm not clairvoyant, so am I not allowed to guess which ball I THINK will be best in the next game....even if it's not the one I just bowled great with?
Granted... if we were in the playoffs or in contention, I would be much more conservative and not want to change ANYTHING. Even what I had for dinner or what street I drove on, etc... and, of course, the ball. But we are NOT in contention, and 215 was decent ---especially for me in that particular house---- but it was not phenominal and off the charts, so I don't agree with my friend's view.
Am I a jerk?
