I was on 3 teams as a regular and subbed on 2 others this past season. All 3 of my regular teams finished in 1st place so I guess you could say it was a successful season. I also participated in my 1st TQR and I'm really looking forward to bowling in a couple of Regional events this summer. I'll be applying for my PBA card in a week or so to allow me to bowl in an unlimited number of events next year.
Just a suggestion to anyone else out there on their respective USBC board of directors...
We ran brackets for leagues 2 nights a week and were able to raise about $40 per week on average for our general fund to purchase certification equipment. We are going to try to get brackets going for every night next season and hope to raise about $100 a week to put towards fun things for the association members and scholarship funds. You will need to get enough volunteers trained on the software to have 2 people for each night you run the brackets. I would suggest getting about 6 people trained so that the volunteers don't get "burned out". I was spending 4 nights a week at the bowling alleys either bowling or running brackets or both. I would not suggest running brackets and trying to bowl unless you are only helping to collect scores. You can't truly concentrate on your bowling if you are running back and forth from the computer to the lanes to bowl. Remember that you bowl because you enjoy the friendships and competition. It's very difficult to enjoy those things when you are trying not to make mistakes inputting data for the brackets.
I'll be bowling in the PBA Experience league this summer so I'll post a few times to let you know what I think of the league and the patterns that we will use.
Well it finally arrived. If you have the means and abilities; you have to try to compete in a TQR at least once in your lifetime. The week started with a meeting on Tuesday night at the bowling center. I found out that my "mental crutch" was not allowed in competition because it isn't on the registered products list. A word of advice; don't wait until the night before competition to find out that your bowling bag and/or accessories are not allowed in competition. I had to leave my bowling bag and Masters wrist strap in the locker room. I bought the wrist strap last fall when I sprained my wrist and have used it since my wrist healed as a mental crutch. I thought about buying a new approved one but I decided to set it all aside and concentrate on the bowling. Wednesday morning was a tough one for nerves. I arrived at the bowling center around 8:45am. One other stipulation that affected me was the fact that smoking is not allowed during competition. I knew that I would be going through a very nerve racking experience and this would be a tough day. I've never had the opportunity to bowl on Sport conditions let alone the Viper pattern, so when they told us we would have 30 minutes for practice and that we could spend the first 20 minutes on any lanes we would bowl on that day, it took a little bit of the pressure off. It's a little different when you are bowling in leagues with house oil conditions and can pretty much be anonymous unless your shooting for a 300, compared to bowling with your name on your shirt in front of bleachers of people. It was intimidating but since I decided not to put a PBA patch on my shirt, I'm still an amateur so I had that option, I could stay somewhat out of the spotlight. Once they started the competition I was absolutely shaking. The other guys on the pair were doing their best to help me calm down. A big thanks to John Riffle, Ed Smaglik, Chad Kloss and James Wallace for their help. I spent the first 2 games trying to get the lanes figured out and timing the professional 2 lane etiquette. Most of the pros were very helpful in regards to the lane etiquette rules. I knew right away that I wouldn't be the top amatuer qualifier so I just concentrated on not making a fool of myself. I found out the hard way that my lazy way of shooting left sided spares is not an effective way to do it on pro conditions. You had better get used to shooting straight at the pins instead of using/relying on your "hook" to pick it up. Also, try your best to loosen up before the competition. I was so nervous and tight that I couldn't extend my arm out enough to pickup the 10 pin until about the 4th game. At the end of the day I was -141 and clearing out my stuff from the locker room. I had a couple of highlights to be happy with in the end. I didn't finish in last place. I made a few more friends. I had 2 games over 200 and was able to string some strikes together. I picked up a strange 3-6-4-7 split and finished the qualifier on a high note with 4 strikes in a row. So, in the end, you will definitely want to join a PBA Experience league and get with your pro shop to get your arsenal ready for competition. I thought I had all the equipment I needed, but I was lost for about 2 games towards the end. Buying the right "tweener" ball would be critical and could have helped me to be on the plus side instead of on the minus side. I have the "bug" now and feel that I could definitely do better in the next TQR. Hopefully I'll see some of you out there on the road at a Regional event or TQR.
I had an interesting week of bowling, when the snow didn't prevent leagues. I had been bowling on Friday nights off and on for the season. One team apparently put me on their roster as a 6th man. Other teams were allowed to use me as a sub unless the primary team needed me that night. About 3 weeks ago, one team had a member quit so I told them that I'd be happy to finish out the season with them since I was trying to get at least 36 games in on the league. I don't care about the prize money, it's all about practice and maintaining a 200+ average over the course of the league. Everything seemed fine until this past Friday on position night. The team that originally had me on the roster had a full team. The team that I thought I had joined needed someone but couldn't use a sub. They had a 6th man on the roster that was there that night and said that he would finish the season unless "hell froze over". So I'm screwed. 12 games shy of a 36 game participation. I feel like the original team let me down by not releasing me from their roster. They had discussed it with the 2nd team but obviously no one followed through with the plan of attack. I conflicted about how I should feel. On one hand I almost feel like it was a conspiracy to keep me from bowling and other the other hand I feel I should have pushed the team transfer harder to prevent this from happening. Nothing I can do about it now.
I just need to shoot 700's for the rest of the year.
Last week was one of the frustrating weeks that are like a night that you know you should go to bed but can't fall asleep. I was just horrible in my mind but if you look at my averages over the last 10 years I guess you would say that I've improved quite a bit. Spending about $1,500 on new balls does certainly help if you buy them for the right situation. I finished the week with a measly 200 average over 12 games. I completely fell apart in the final game of the week. I had a spare in the first and strike through the 7th. Then I left back to back 7 pins and missed them both in the exact same way. At this point I could have still salvaged a 235 but I was thinking about the missed 7 pins and opened in the 10th as well. I really wasn't rolling the ball bad at all. Which is even more frustrating. Staying with it should be my mantra for the rest of the season and try set aside a bad frame immediately.
I guess I'm a guilty of being a "Bowling Nerd". I checked out the PBA's Fantasy Bowling and setup a team. Is anyone else out there as obsessed with bowling like I am? It's interesting to pick your players based on the oil patterns. I guess I made some good choices with my team this week. All 6 of my team members made it through the first cut and 2 of those are bowling on Sunday. It should be a good week for points. Here's my team that I selected with my million dollar payroll...Ryan Shafer, Parker Bohn III, Chris Loschetter, Chris Barnes,Eugene McCune, Kelly Kulick, Michael Machuga, Patrick Healy Jr., Michael Haugen Jr., and Billy Oatman. If any of you want to give me a heads up about a particular pattern you prefer, feel free. Have a great season.
