Bowlers

If your bowling activity is limited to one or two leagues a week, there's a strong possibility you've never bowled in a tournament.Maybe you think tournament games are cutthroat or expensive, or maybe you find some mystery to a tournament.I'm here to tell you there is no high stakes, expense or mystery to local tournaments. Most people are familiar with the professional tenpin tour, where the best men and women professionals battle it outfor cash prizes. But there are tournaments available to the average bowler as well.

Steve Evan's trailer home in Millersville is a living, breathing tribute to an interesting life that on Monday will be 85 years and counting. Only a small part of it speaks to a bowling career that began when Evan was in his early 40s and trying his hand at every sport imaginable after going decades without playing one. "I started bowling when I reached 41," Evan said last week. "The rest of my life before that was just work, work and work after going to school and being in the Navy and stuff like that.

That bowling looks so simple, doesn't it? You tune into a Professional Bowlers Tour event, see some apparently ordinary Joe or Mark or Bill roll strike after strike and immediately you think, "Gosh, I could do that."Well, don't kid yourself, rookie, says ABC bowling analyst Nelson Burton Jr. Knocking down pins in your Friday night league is one thing. Doing it on Saturday afternoon, as the professionals will do in the finals of the Greater Baltimore Open from the Country Club Lanes in Rosedale tomorrow (3 p.m., Channel 2)

Fully vested into his 10th year in the NFL, Ed Reed is still waiting for his first Super Bowl title. But the Ravens free safety isn't concerning himself about whether an 11th season is on the horizon. “I'm taking this one game at a time, taking this in stride,” he said Thursday. “The only thing I'm worrying about right now is this game, this year.” Reduced productivity and injuries have added more fire to the speculation that Reed's decision could depend on the team's results in the postseason.

More than four months after a five-alarm fire destroyed the Greenway Bowling Center, owners of the building say they have made no plans to do anything with the site."

If you like league night at your local bowling alley, it might be a good idea to stop by Middle River this weekend.But, this event is not like your average pro bowlers tour stop, or even a night at the local alley, for that matter. More than 100 bowling teams from around the country are convening at the Country Club Lanes, 9020 Pulaski Highway, and Brunswick Perry Hall Lanes, 4359 Ebenezer Road, in the Brunswick World Team Challenge.More than 500 bowlers will be competing on five-player teams for a chance to qualify for the $150,000 Grand Championship in Reno, Nev., where they would bowl against teams from around (( the U.S. and the world.

County bowlers did so well at the state finals of the National Junior Bowling Championships in La Vale that they raised some eyebrows."Three out of four finalists again this year were from Anne Arundel County. Is it something in the water down there?" asked Meri Mallette, spokeswoman for the Maryland State Young American Bowling Alliance.In the Girls Grades 9-12 Handicap Division, Rachael Kiessling, bowling out of Greenway Odenton, rolled a 192 scratch game (199 overall) to defeat division leader Bonita Harbaugh to finish first.

Multiple sclerosis: a diseased condition marked by patches of hardened tissue in the brain or spinal cord, associated with paralysis and jerking muscle tremor.Courage: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand fear or difficulty.The ages of the 22 to 25 people who bowl in a special Friday morning league range from the 20s to 60s; they come to Brunswick Normandy Lanes from all walks of life. What they have in common is MS, courage and a love of bowling."They take it one day at a time, because with MS, you never know what the next day is going to bring," said Shirley Wolfenden, volunteer coordinator.

The tournament to determine the best scratch bowler in Baltimore has begun.On Tuesday at Country Club Lanes, 35 men and four women bowled five games over five lanes. They will continue to bowl each Bowlingweek for five more weeks, and the person with the highest pinfall will be considered the best of Baltimore, according to Bill Mend, the tournament organizer.David Grant holds the top spot thus far. He rolled games of 246, 259, 232, 222 and 227 for a total of 1,186. That's a 237 average, and it puts him 21 pins ahead of Mike Manning, who averaged 233 while knocking down 1,165 pins.

The women professional bowlers were in town. And no one who watched them at Greenway Bowl Odenton will forget them very quickly.They were courteous, they were affable and they were just a pleasure to be around. They were also awesome on the lanes.They included bowlers such as Debbie Kuhn of Harford County and Carol Tarcey of Jessup, Roxie Nicholson of Arlington, Va., and Ronnie DeShields of Owings Mills.Some names that serious bowlers will recognize immediately:* Carolyn Dorin, known as Spike, the recent winner of the LPBT National Doubles title; Collegiate All-American for three years running.

Ed Reed finished the regular season with three interceptions, his lowest total for a year in which he has played all 16 games in his 10-year career. But the Ravens free safety, who recently earned his eighth invite to the Pro Bowl, said questions about the dwindling amount of takeaways should be directed elsewhere, not at him. “They're not throwing my way. What do you want me to do?” Reed said after Thursday's practice. “They're not throwing my way. I can remember two interceptions that really touched my hands, and I didn't make the play, but I'm not getting action.

Matthew Slater bulked up in a big way the moment he entered the NFL. The Patriots handed the former UCLA standout not just one Yellow Pages-sized binder but two — one for offense, the other for defense. "The first day in this building, they gave me two playbooks," Slater said Thursday in a phone interview. "There was no, 'We'll give you one, then we'll give you the other.' It was, 'Here's both.' I felt like I was in a graduate-studies program, making flash cards and everything.

Despite the absence of 12-time Pro Bowler Ray Lewis, the Ravens defense has been instrumental in helping the team win all four games that the inside linebacker has missed due to a turf toe injury on his right foot. That's not startling to the players tasked with maintaining the high level of play that unit has come to expect from every member. “It's hats off to the system, and it's hats off to guys who work hard and prepare the way they prepare,” free safety Ed Reed said.

Inside linebacker Ray Lewis was present at Tuesday's practice, marking the second straight day the 12-time Pro Bowler was there. Lewis, who saw his streak of 57 consecutive starts end on Sunday because of an injury to a toe on his right foot, was listed as a limited participant on Tuesday's injury report. In a statement distributed by the Ravens, Lewis said he is hopeful of returning for the the Thanksgiving night clash with the San Francisco 49ers. His teammates, however, were tight-lipped on the topic of his return.

Dannell Ellerbe was the immediate beneficiary of the toe injury that shelved inside linebacker Ray Lewis hours before the Ravens' AFC North clash with the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday. But that doesn't mean that Ellerbe had an easy time filling in for the 12-time Pro Bowler. “It's kind of hard to replace the best,” said Ellerbe, who made his first start since Sept. 26, 2010 against the Cleveland Browns. “All you can do is go out there and play your game and let it speak for itself.” Ellerbe played decently in the 31-24 victory over the Bengals.

Ravens free safety Ed Reed is dealing with an eight-game streak of zero interceptions, but the seven-time Pro Bowler insisted that he has no concerns about this current drought. “No, man. I've been playing ball, being where I'm supposed to be,” Reed said Wednesday. “To be perfectly honest, they haven't thrown my way. That's the game plan that some teams come with. So plays will come. I'm not worried about that. We have a winning record, we've been winning, and if me not making a play [means]

It's midnight on Friday, and the lanes are full of the young and the young at heart, who could have chosen any number of ways to spend the weekend night.They chose bowling. Bowling? Yes, but this isn't your grandparents' bowling. Welcome to the world of Cosmic Bowling."It's basically like the Fourth of July inside here with bowling," says 21-year-old Cassandra Vaughn, who was enjoying a game with three friends. "It does make the game a lot more fun."Those words are music to the ears of Carol Malinowski, manager of Brunswick Normandy Lanes in Ellicott City, one of two area bowling centers offering Cosmic Bowling.

Looking to speed up play in your bowling league this season?"There's three primary reasons that league play is too slow," says Joe Rineer, owner of Mount Airy Lanes."

The Ravens, who are preparing for the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday, confirmed in Wednesday's injury report that inside linebacker Ray Lewis did indeed miss practice. Lewis, who was not reported to have suffered an injury in Sunday's 22-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, was described as dealing with a foot injury. It's unclear how this injury will impact Lewis' availability. Lewis has not missed a start since Dec. 30, 2007. Defensive tackle Arthur Jones (head) and rookie running back Anthony Allen (thigh)

A day after missing practice Thursday, Ravens free safety Ed Reed and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs returned to Friday's session. Reed and Suggs had sat out Thursday with what the team described as a shoulder and knee injury, respectively. Both players had fully practiced Wednesday, and their return Friday would suggest that they should be available for Sunday's game at the Seattle Seahawks. The only player absent was rookie running Anthony Allen. He did not practice Thursday because of a thigh injury.