Wednesday was the final event for res wars and we had it in the bag... or so we thought. All we needed to do was finish in the top two to guarantee ourselves of the overall title, but in our final game, after leading 1-0 at half, the defense fell apart and we lost 3-1. We eventually finished third on the night, and tied for fist overall. I guess it is nice to finish in first, but an undisputed first would have been nice. Oh well.
Thursday was another work day, but I got out a bit at night for my friend James' bowling project for his business class. We played two games and I took first place in each game so I was happy with the results from the night.
Today I had class, but after that, I went to play lawn bowls with my Aussie Sports class. Lawn bowls is similar to bocce, but the balls are weighted to one side, so the ball will curve when rolled. We headed to Mermaid Beach Bowls Club, took our shoes off, and had a few beers. The grass the lanes are comprised of was like walking on a neatly trimmed carpet, similar to a golf green, but even tighter cut and more densely seeded. Lawn bowls is actually a sport mainly played by people over the age of 50, but it is a lot tougher than it seems. I had a difficult time judging the speed of the green, and basically scored 1 point the entire time there. There were about 15 of us playing and we all had fun, so the day was a success.
Tonight (friday night) a few of us were supposed to go see Slumdog Millionaire, but heavy rains deterred us from walking to the bus stop. We will probably see it Sunday, however.
Tomorrow I was asked to play in a 3-0n-3 basketball tournament and we begin playing at 9 am. It is probably a good thing we didn't head to the movie because I'm going to need a good night sleep to get my body ready for such an early contest. Tomorrow night is also Christian's birthday so I am sure it will be a late night.
That's it for tonight. I am exhausted from the week, but gearing up for what looks to be a fun weekend.
Goodnight from Paradise!
MJJ says this:
ReplyDelete"but the balls are weighted to one side, so the ball will curve when rolled"
No the BOWLS (not balls ... even lady bowlers don't have BALLS!) are NOT weighted on one side. The running surface of the bowl is very slightly more tapered towards the side with the small logo and it is this BIAS that causes the bowl to curve.
The "lanes" are actually called RINKS.
Today, almost all the top lawn bowlers in the world are aged UNDER 50 years, and the female Australian champion is 18 year old Queenslander Kelsey Cottrell, who, in winning the Australian women's title last month against some of the best women bowlers in the world, pocketed $18,000 in first prize money.
So glad you enjoyed your experience ... and yes .. the sport really IS much more challenging than most casual observers realise, and that, along with the big prizemoney that can be won by AMATEURS (unlike golf) is why so many young Australians are now getting involved. You can find out more at http://my.sportingpulse.com/ranndystone and the links it offers.