Sheheen Strikes in the 10th Frame for Victory
STATEN ISLAND, NY
A fitting honor for a lost bowler
February brings the final regular season event for mediocre bowlers far and wide. Luckily, the weather took a break from snow long enough for members (including the several DSNY members) of the league to attend. The T.D.K. Memorial gives everyone a last chance at snagging top spots on the season leaderboard and coveted end of year trophies, such as Rookie of the Year (highest newbie average) and the Most Mediocre Pin (arguably the most sought after award of the season, reserved for the league member who comes in closest to the entire chapter’s average for the season).
The event, which mixes end of season revelry with funerial energy, honoring The Big Lebowski’s Donald Kerabotsis, kicked off with similar mixed messaging. With half the lanes shrouded in “cosmic bowling” lighting, there were cries of scandal. Whether people wanted to be included in the cosmic energy, or not, wasn’t easily discernible but people were loud about it on both sides of the cascading black light.
You’ve now entered…the cosmic zone
In the cosmic zone, Jon Marotte on lane 20 was already off to a tumultuous start with an injured thumb that was openly bleeding. But while the injury was grisly, his bowling was on point with multiple strikes and spares in his first game and he powered through game one with a competitive score of 192, determined that this event would be the one he’d home the win. But Tom Ryan, 2025 T.D.K. Champ, on (cosmic) lane 21, threw a 174 and Keri Sheheen, on (cosmic) lane 19, was hot on their heels with a 172. The cosmic vibes were good!
J-Robbed
Once the lights were turned back on, to the relief (or ire) of the masses, game two commenced. Marotte, Ryan and Sheheen continued to impress and keep close in the race, scoring a 183, 187, and 184 respectively. While some competitive games emerged on other lanes, Krystal Stanley with a 162 and Alex Cihanowic with a 156, it was going to take more than that to take the event.
The heinous sun
Luckily, honoring a bowling aficionado like Donny requires three games so some additional contenders could still pull it off! Geoff Celis, famously returning to the league after a multi-season hiatus, showed his game has been officially dusted off, finishing game three with a hambone and a score of 209, same as Paul Drozek on lane 11. Ryan Petersen threw a 208 and Bill Seaquist finished game three with a 188. Unfortunately, with lower scores on their earlier games, none of these were enough.
Celis carves off a nice piece of ham(bone)
By the end of game three, the focus was back on Jon Marotte who finished his day with a bandaged thumb and a 175.3 average. He sat patiently waiting while Keri Sheheen, the underdog star of MBA’s 24-25 season, finished her last game. And while it looked good for Marotte when she entered her 9th frame with a 127, she stepped it up and bowled a turkey to end her game three with a 171. With that, Sheheen squeaked the win by 1/3rd of a pin - a final average of 175.6. And for the second time this season, Marotte missed out on the win by a fraction of a pin.
Underdog no more!
Other notables for the event include:
With the season’s conclusion, the league’s data team started crunching numbers. Final scores were put into spreadsheets and the results of this year’s final leaderboard reveals the contenders for the Munson Cup and the regular season superlative trophies. Check your inbox Sunday AM for the big reveal before the award ceremony on the lanes before the 2025-26 Playoffs commence!
Additionally, this mediocre league wants to say THANK YOU for an incredible season - every year we are blown away by the people, the passion and the truly mediocre performances of everyone out on the lanes. In recognition, we have a special end-of-season gift for you! And, believe me, these hand designed bad boys are anything but mediocre. Can’t make it to this event? We’ll get in contact and confirm your mailing address to get it to you!
#cupcheck
Event Scores:
Event Winner: K. Sheheen (175.6 AVG)
Gutter Trash Award Winner: V. Fabiani (9)
Highest Total Strikes: T. Ryan (12)
Highest Total Spares: J. Marotte (17)
Highest Total Gutters: V. Fabiani (9)
Highest Score: G. Celis, P. Drozeck (209)
Lowest Score: B. Gagliardi (84)