Was it the Weather or the Price of Gas?

  Well, the weather was gorgeous, and the price of gas outrageous so the tournament at Westy's Lanes in Boise, Idaho, featured a host of local bowlers. Bob Garrison, of Westy's Lanes, added $1000 to the tournament prize fund.

  The first divisional tournament found very few of the A Division (Age 44 and under) interested enough to participate as there were only nine entrants over two squads. B Division (45-59) fared better with 32 entries - almost half the entire tournament, and the C Division (60+) had 25 entries. The fact that Boise State University was playing somewhere in Oregon didn't help the entries at all.

  The lanes were competitive, however the top A Division qualifier - Jamie Flynn of Caldwell, Idaho - was able to find his mark as he rolled out a 299 game on his way to a 1232, five-game, series. Ed Strommen of Anaconda, Montana, also neared perfection to post a 299 game for a high series in the C Division of 1112. Flynn won the overall $1.00 pot for A Division while Strommen tapped into the STORM 300 Game Pot for $50.00.

  Carl Bond of Elko, Nevada was high qualifier for the B Division bowlers with a 1091 series, but was bested in the one-game playoff by Tom Schmidt of Eagle, Idaho. Schmidt went on to compete for the overall tournament prize against Strommen. The three winners of the division received $500 with the overall tournament winner, Strommen, taking an extra $500 prize. There were questions as to why the A Division winner was not allowed to participate in the final round for the extra prize money. Our format states that there must be at least 18 participants in a division for the division winner to move on. There were only nine in the A Division.

  And now we head for the friendly lanes of Westside Bowling Center in Missoula, Montana, October 8-9. Westside Lanes has undergone extensive remodeling this past summer - new lanes and a new look. As has been done in the past, there will be a doubles tournament on Saturday the 8th. This is a tournament where the teams are made up of two bowlers whose ages must add up to at least 100 years. There are four squads starting at 1 p.m., and all members of USBC are eligible to participate.

   There is $1500 added to the tournament by returning sponsors James Ouellette, DDS (an SISBA member), Overhead Door of Missoula, Summit Amusement & Distributing, Ltd., Southgate Inn, Paradise Falls Casino and Westside Lanes. We truly appreciate all these businesses for their support.

  This will be the second of our divisional tournaments. We are trying this concept in each areas in which we bowl. There will be a divisional tournament in Burley, Idaho, Idaho Falls, Idaho and Roy, Utah. There will not be a divisional tournament in Pocatello, Idaho.

And now for the reason this newsletter was a bit late in being published: Brad Edelman of a High Rollers Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, has generously offered a free entry to the High Rollers Tournament to a SISBA member who participates in each of the SISBA tournaments. This is a total of nine entries, to be awarded to the top winner of each SISBA tournament. A SISBA tournament winner can only win one entry, so if a member wins two tournaments, the entry will go to the next high in the tournament. If an SISBA winner does not want the entry, it will go to the next high and so on. To participate in the High Rollers, a bowler must be over 50 years of age, so this will be taken into consideration when awarding the entry. Visit the  High Roller site for more information on the tournament.

  And on a sadder note: two of SISBA's members have passed away this summer. Glen Vaughan of Ogden, Utah - a Charter Member - died June 1, 2005 in Ogden. He was 85. On July 5, 2005, Lowell Thomas (the BUZZSAW man), of Old Town, Idaho passed on. He was 64 years old. These people will be greatly missed.

Welcome! Welcome! to new SISBA members: Gregory Turney and Tom Reeb of Boise, Idaho; Mike Taylor of Emmett, Idaho; Thomas Schmidt of Eagle, Idaho; Steve and Jan Schmid of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

We also thank Bob Garrison and his staff for hosting a great tournament at Westy's. 

SO!! Who's Winning the Pots?

Check out this month's September 2005 tournament results.