I've finally been defeated at bowling

I have been dominating the DUMBO (DaNang Unltimate Moron Bowling Organization) for quite a while now. I have held the championship belt for more weeks than not since the organization was established back in November, and there was one week (last week) where it looked like I was going to hold every single award that the organization had and well, as nice as that sounds I didn't want people to feel as though this organization was built just to glorify me so I'm glad I ended up with only 3 of the possible 4 awards by the end of it all.

There was only 2 people left in the league for me to defeat and thanks to a combination of him having a great day and me playing about 20 pins below my average, I have finally and very happily been defeated.

_{I had almost all of these awards last week, now I have none}

I knew my opponent this weeks was going to be a tough one. He is an older guy that has spent a lot of his life in the lanes and has a 1-point advantage on me as far as our league averages are concerned. For most people, the pressure of being observed by everyone in around the Championship lane has gotten to them and it did have some impact on "Stanko" (my opponent) but this wasn't until halfway through game 2 and all of game 3. Unfortunately for me, I just couldn't get my shit together and I never really bowled with any sort of consistency and I even guttered on a spare TWICE. This is something that never happens to me and is a sure sign that I was off my game.

I had heard some rumors that "Stanko" had been to the lanes every single day since it was announced that he was challenging me for the belt this week and I had mentioned in the past that I was ready to lose it after having it for over 2 months. Therefore, I didn't practice at all. Was this a factor? Almost certainly, but honestly it doesn't matter to me.

Even though Stanko is quite good, it is very unlikely that anyone is going to repeat my 9 week title defense streak and I welcome them to try to do so.

We had a pretty decent crowd of 18 this week with only 1 new member but 5 known regulars that couldn't make it for some reason or another. There are only 12 lanes in the alley and we try our best to NOT use 4 of them because I think most people would prefer to not be playing against the wall or next to a support beam if they can help it.

For the most part the people in the league played about as well as you would expect them to other than me. I was one of the few of the group that was well off of his (or her) average.

So yesterday I lost these 3 awards

• The "gobbler" the award you get for 3 strikes in a row
• The tag team championship (it's tough to keep this one because you are competing against everyone in the league, not just one selected opponent)
• The men's championship which is decided by playing one random opponent each week until the belt changes hands then the selection resets.

We went to a new after-bowling venue this time and the owner was really pleased to have this many people coming in all at once. I think that we should start shopping around to see who will give us the best deal because having 20 people come into your place all at once at 2 in the afternoon is a rarity in these parts. We should start shopping for sponsors.

It was a good day and no, I am not a sore loser about losing the belt as someone suggested part-way into the afternoon when I was being a bit quieter than usual. The fact of the matter was is that I was bored with the conversation that was going on and went and talked to some other people. I am relieved to not be the champion anymore because I am the head of the league already and it is too much responsibility to organize all of this crap and also be the person that plays on the main stage, so to speak. I'm perfectly happy to bowl just for the hell of it and when.

A lot of people were applauding my defeat and this isn't because they don't like me, it is because I had the strap for too long and I can relate to this notion. The problem they are going to face now is that I think that "Stanko" might actually have the potential to be significantly better than everyone else in the league, including me. Hopefully dude will lay off the practicing so that the others have more of a chance.

So this is the first week in many weeks that I don't have any awards to pose Nadi with. I don't think it really matters to her. In fact, she used to regularly growl at the belt, there was just something about it that bothered her.

Next week I will be bowling with the rest of the commoners in the regular lanes for the first time in 10 weeks and honestly, I am ready for it. I have abstained from throwing my name into challenging for the belt and I will likely keep it that was for at least a few more weeks.