Hey, I'll try to keep this short, but you know me. Last season I had a post about a falling out with some teammates. We got second in an 18 team league (the biggest league in town, for perspective), but it was interpersonal problems that split us up, or rather split me from them. My 4 teammates and I are all pretty good friends, but they were all in their first year out of youth. They had a tendency to give up too quickly or get so drunk they couldn't function quite a bit of the time, and I was getting tired of it, which in turn made me not much fun to bowl with. We never talked about it, but we all "know." I heard that they'd decided to replace me, so I found another team, or actually was found, before we got into anything. The team that got 1st was losing a bowler, so they asked me if I wanted the spot. It's a handicap league, but they're all good scratch bowlers, so since I knew I was getting replaced anyway, I told them yes. This was at the end of the season in late April.
About a month ago, I heard my former team decided to tell me they didn't need me for the team this year. Lol, I have to admit I felt a bit devilishly pleased at how surprised they were at losing their anchor/captain/high average teammate to the first place team, who are already loaded (our team average will be over 1100). Keep in mind that they didn't know that I knew they were replacing me, they thought I assumed I was bowling with them again. Objectively though, we didn't work out chemistry-wise, and I really doubt any of us are holding grudges or have any bad feelings towards each other.
There's a guy coming out of youth who's pretty good. He's also pretty cocky. He throws a lot of revs and a lot of speed. Think Robert Smith Jr. Seriously. His strength is overpowering and dominating patterns. His weakness, lol, is when the pattern changes. If he has a good line and good reaction, he WILL beat you. Anything less than that though, and he's pretty helpless. He doesn't know how to create his own shot, and the only versatility he has are the other balls in his bag . . Even then he's still decent, but he's prone to falling apart. He's the one my former team replaced me with.
It's going to be competition, but friendly competition. He'll be more at home with them, and I'll be more at home with my new team. It's a better fit for everybody. However, am I wrong to feel a bit prideful about getting the best end of the deal? The team I'm bowling with dominated the second half and won the league last year in a runaway (not to mention slaughtering us in the championship), and my 225 avg is replacing the 212 that they lost . . and I don't think the guy that's replacing me will do much better than 215 or 216 (just under 215 at this house last year, in a youth league with only 3 man teams). Not being cocky, but I won quite a few points for us last year because I could finish games, whether it was for the win or to make up some extra pins that helped us catch up or take the point for total pins. (Lol, also won quite a few card games in the 10th too). This new guy won't be able to do that. I was the best out of the group when I was in youth, and the guys still looked up to me. They all respected this new guy when they bowled together in youth, but that's just it, he's the new guy now, and the youngest of the group. They really don't have much of a team leader anymore. So again, like I asked, am I wrong to feel a certain sense of satisfaction over the whole deal even though I was an equal part of the problems with the team last year? They're still going to be a good team this year (team average will probably be 1060 or so), cause all of them have some experience under their belts now, and I'm not saying that losing me is going to make the team fall apart. There is a big point though. The guys I bowled with last year ALL averaged 220 plus their last year in youth. Their first year on a 5-man team league, the high one of them was at 209 . .
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New member of the Metal Militia!!! If you think Simple Plan is metal, then you must die. And not get to be a member . .\m/!!!
