Turning the tables

When I bowled in the early 1990s, was among the top ten percent in average (about 190) while being one of the youngest in the league.

A couple of times I had a game in the 220s thinking it was good enough to win a handicap pot only to lose to an "old man" who averages 150 and feeling better than normal shot a 200 game.

There is a handicap league I play in disc golf. The person who runs it is a high end elite pro in his late 20s who has played high end events.

Similar to bowling leagues, this league favors high end players due to the maximum adjustments that can be made on both ends.

As I write this, the rating of the top player is 141 points better than me which means on an average course on an average day for him and I, he would beat me by 14 shots. In the league the handicaps range from +4 to -6 so the most shots I could have against him for handicap would be ten.

I realized last year the only real chance to win in the league was in my second event of the season making sure my first event was on a difficult course where shooting 6 over (league maximum) or worse would not be considered sandbagging then playing the second round on an easier course.

Last year, I lost a playoff for second place in my second event after my body stiffened after waiting for results.

The first league round this year caused havoc on my body due to three long breaks and I was defaulted to +6 even though I shot +13. Had I shot what was expected, I would have finished +7 so my handicap would have been the max anyway.

For my second league round was the first player to arrive at the course an hour before necessary and that time was used to relax, practice, and get loose. While cards were handed out, I was away from the others keeping loose as opposed to those sitting and or enjoying a product made legal in Illinois in 2020.

My first shot had a lot on it and multiple times in the round realized that in five years of playing that course had my longest drive on a hole even having birdie putts on two holes I never had one before.

My putting was not great and my only birdies of the round were on three of the five holes I can regularly get but my long accurate  drives made approach shots seem easy and par on difficult holes for me stress free.

Finally was able to make two decent putts at the end to equal my personal best on that course (52) and as scores were tabulated, kept loose in case there was a playoff.

The top pro (who the day before on a 19 hole course I try to shoot 60 shot 42) was 11 under 43 and with handicaps, I beat him by one. I still tied for first and was in a playoff with someone who stood around.

My drive on the hole ended up ten feet away while his went 35 past. His putt just missed and I made mine to win.

Since my handicap now drops to -2, I would now need to shoot a career best round to win or even cash for the rest of the year unless I get an ace.

0 for 31

Since NASCAR decided to join the 21st century and ban the display a flag from a defeated uprising which was created to promote enslaving other human beings, a part time driver in the NASCAR truck series decided to retire.

People have joked about the fact that he has not won a race in 31 tries but that joke falls flat and this is why:

First of all, any part time driver in NASCAR competes at a significant disadvantage due to funds and teamwork. The top drivers also have the top teams and are often part of a group of cars which by sharing the same owner can share knowledge and information about the best way to set up their vehicle for the track based on conditions. In many of his 31 failed attempts, he was unable to even qualify for the race itself and no doubt the car was as much as factor as anything.

Also, most races have 40 entries so any driver not winning happens 39 out of 40 times or .975. For 31 failed attempts of winning, the mathematical odds of that happening are 6/5 so if someone rolls 31 D20 dice and flips a coin on the ones, 5 times out of 11, there will not be a one followed by a head.

FYI: In the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series, 33 drivers raced at least 32 times and 21 on them failed to win.

Now if you really want to comment on a bad NASCAR driver that failed to win a race, I have one to show. How about 252 events in NASCAR without a win and all but one driving for a top team? The chance of that happening are .975 to the 61st power for the Xfinity Series and .977 to the 191st power for the Cup series.

The odds of that happening are 400-1. For comparison, the odds of the Chicago Cubs going from 1909 through 2015 without winning the World Series was 238-1.

Who is the failed driver? Danica Patrick.

Granted she did win a race in Indy car in 116 attempts all for a top team where being lighter was an advantage unlike NASCAR where the weight requirement includes the driver.

The retiring truck series driver needs to be mocked for his ignorance but not his record.