It has been a long time since the Chamber’s sales and marketing team had been out all together. In fact, the last social get-together was the Christmas party - parts of which will live long in the memory (other parts cannot or should not be referred to ever again!) So, as a reward for all the hard work of the team we treated ourselves to a night out at the Hollywood Bowl in Bradford.
For a very reasonable rate that included two frames of bowling, burger and chips and a drink, seven of the team donned the dodgy shoes to battle it out for the prestigious and catchy title of “Bradford Chamber of Commerce Sales and Marketing and Policy and Representation (Male or Female *delete as appropriate) Bowling Champion Q2 2013”.
The match reports for the womens and gents competitions are detailed below, but before we get to the results it is worth saying that those who attended enjoyed the evening's activities. Sometimes, it is easy to overlook the benefits of having a bit of ‘fun’ outside of the workplace. Some companies (as recently shown on an episode of TV’s The Apprentice) can spend a fortune on team bonding and away days. However, just a couple of frames of bowling and a drink afterwards can do a lot for reinforcing the team ethic and we look forward to arranging our next social event.
Match Report
After some discussion it was decided that there would be a female and male competition. The winner being the individual with the highest aggregate score over two legs. There was early controversy suggesting that the women’s competition should be allocated less prize money but in the end it was agreed that there would be a fifty/fifty split i.e. one bottle of wine each.
The men’s competition:
The first set proved to be a tight affair as reigning champion Mike, new boy James and yours truly, Mr Darren Precious, traded blows. Mike, with his fifty years of bowling experience, was justifying his self-awarded tag as the George Clooney of the Hollywood bowl. He set the standards high but could not shake off the attentions of the stylish young pretender James who rallied late to tie the first leg on 111 points each with little ol’ me just 3 points behind on 108.
The second leg maintained the high standards of the first and it was Magic Mike who looked to take the game by the scruff of the neck as strike followed spare. It was unfortunate to see Mike resorting to ‘mental disintegration’ of his younger opponent James however who he accused of being ‘all style and no substance’. Amazingly, his tactics seemed to work as James faltered, blaming greasy fingers from his beef burger.
After a shaky start, I managed to put together a hot streak in the middle of the frame and as Mike's stamina fell in the final third it meant that the game became a victory parade with me as the new Champion! Yes, Darren ‘The Strike’ Precious posted an impressive 140 to be crowned champion!
The women’s competition
The fantastic four of Vicky, Kiri, Liz and Caroline took to lane nine to battle it out for the honour of being crowned the inaugural Women’s Champ. Pre-match favourite was Caroline who has a track record of winning pointless events. She is the current Little Germany under-40 Pancake Race Champion. It was evident early on that each competitor had their own style. Indeed, Vicky caused concern to the Hollywood Bowl management team as she insisted on bouncing the bowl towards the pins ignoring the traditional ‘rolling’ method. After the first set, only 10 points separated the four players meaning it was all to play for in the second frame.
All four raised their game and with one throw remaining, Kiri, Liz and Caroline were all in contention to take the crown. However it was almost inevitable that Caroline added to her list of questionable glories to come through and claim victory. There were sad scenes at the end as Liz refused to shake hands, grabbing her make up bag and storming out of the building. An investigation will follow.
Posted by Darren Precious
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