As the Candlepin Bowling season continues, I’m amazed by the increasing attendance and participation that I am seeing at the events. This event, The Kids/Pros Doubles was no different. I can’t remember seeing a bowling alley so packed. Leda Lanes in Nashua, NH was the venue for the Season 4 kids/pros doubles, and it was filled to the brim with Pro bowlers, Kids, and parents! 
A brief synopsis of the tournament format is that there is a 3 string qualifying round in which 2 Pros are paired up with 2 kids on a lane. Three strings are rolled, and the top 24 Pros and top 24 kids advance to a knockout round. Furthermore, the top 8 Pros are paired with the top 8 Kids and receive a first-round bye.
I did not have a “personal best” day by any means. I opened with a painful 87 on lane 16. An 87? Where did that come from? Sound familiar? You’ll see in my article recapping last month’s Pro Series event, I opened up with an 86. Ugly. Perhaps I have the jitters during my first string. Who knows? I’m willing to bet there were plenty of kids at the event who bowled better than an 87. Anyway, much like last month, I came back strong with a 152 on lane 17 and finished with a 107 on lane 18. This was 346, just enough to make the top 24 bowlers. Needless to say, I didn’t make the top 8, so my name entered the random draw. This was the exciting part, waiting to see what kid I would be paired up with. It was quite suspenseful because before my name was called, all other pros had been drawn! I was last to be called, and I was paired up with none other than little Nate Fontaine, 10 years old.
If you don’t know who Nate Fontaine is by now, you’d better get familiar with him. He is featured in the latest Candlepin For Kids Commercial, and he is a PHENOMENAL little bowler. Nate has a very graceful approach and incredible accuracy. He seems to be a natural Candlepin bowler. Could this be because his grandfather is none other than the legendary Tom Olzsta?!?! For those who know me well, you know that Tom Olzsta was my childhood idol. I was honored to be bowling with a member of the Olzsta family.
Nate and I were up for our fir
st knockout match. We were facing Jason Gauthier and his kid match-up (I apologize, I’m not recalling his kid’s name at this time). They bowled very well against us, and it came down to the last few boxes. Nate threw a sensational 90 game, and I threw a 98. We edged out our opponents by a mere 5 pins. It was enough to move on. Next up, we were facing a team from the top 8, Rich Limone (hey, that name sounds familiar, huh?) and Alex Haesaert vs. Frank DeLuca and Nate Fontaine. This match took place on lanes 1 & 2. Rich and Alex had monster strings which put the pressure on me and little Nate. Did I say little Nate? Perhaps that isn’t appropriate considering that he threw an awesome 104 string! Now, for the embarrassing part. I’m not even going to try and cover it up….I duplicated my 87 string. How did this happen? Ugh! I felt so frustrated! But even more so, I felt like I let Nate down. Regardless, this event was some of the most fun I have ever had while bowling and Nate should be very proud of himself. He’s got a very bright future ahead of him and he beat me by 17 pins!
Of course, we can’t forget the most exciting aspect of this day. Due to the dedication and the extremely hard work of Robbie Taylor, Dan Gauthier, and the Candlepin For Kids crew. The finals match of this tournament was filmed for NESN! This means that Candlepin bowling will be back on television! That’s right, on Saturday December 1, 2012 @ 11:30 AM, the final match (we will not discuss the results) will be aired on NESN. Be sure to tune in and tell all of your friends! This is the best effort in several years to get Candlepin back on television, and I think many would agree that its been long overdue. Its looking good, and I must say that the final match of the day was incredibly exciting. Mark your calendars!
As always, remember to follow the Candlepin Pro Series Twitter account @candlepinseries. You can also follow my personal Candlepin Twitter account by following @CandlepinFrank!