This weeks report comes to you from “Sin City”…Las Vegas. We haven’t been to Vegas in several years and I’ve been looking forward to this trip since the schedule came out. My Mom and Dad are coming out for the week and it will be nice to see them, since I haven’t been home in about a month. Another thing that I’m looking forward to is the fact that there is a Hooters inside the Sunset Station. I received an e-mail from Mike Cannington, a member of the Hooters marketing team last week extending his hospitality to us for the upcoming week. Apparently he is a bowling fan and reads my website, so he started us out with a very nice “tab” for the week. I’m also looking forward to bowling on the Viper pattern again. I’ve matched up fairly well on this pattern on this surface before, and I’m hoping to continue working towards my goals

Monday January 22nd

Well, unfortunately the week in the beach house had to come to an end. We had a lot of fun on the beach, but its time to move on to Vegas. We packed everything up, did some cleaning, hauled out the garbage and then hit the road. CJ followed Sean and I on our somewhat short 4 hour drive. We had to stop off at In-N-Out Burger on the way to grab some lunch. In-N-Out is another one of those places that you just can’t get enough of. Since it is strictly a “western” franchise, the only time I get to have it is when we go to Nevada or California. After lunch, we got back on the road until we hit Vegas around 4:00 pm. We checked in to the Sunset Station, unloaded all of our stuff and settled into the room. After a while, I went downstairs to the Hooters and had a small dinner with Pete & Tracy, Schlem and CJ. Afterwards I headed back up to the room to type my report from LA. Sean watched Prison Break, then I got control of the TV for Monday Night Raw. After Raw was over, I went downstairs to watch some of the guys gamble for a while, then headed back up to get some sleep.

Tuesday January 23rd

I spent the morning catching up on some e-mails and doing some paperwork, then headed down to the bowl to unload my equipment. I spent about three hours practicing, and not very well I might add. Nothing felt right again and I struggled pretty badly with just about everything. I even tried going back to five steps, but nothing worked. Finally, after about 2+ hours, things started to come around a little. It’s just very frustrating right now to throw it good one week, decent the next and then feel like a complete moron the next. I just wish I could walk in, shoe up and bowl….not having to “tinker” with my mechanics every week just to be able to compete. After my practice session, I went upstairs to chill out and take a nap. I must be getting a cold because I felt run down all day long. I was very winded during the practice session and just didn’t feel right. I ended up taking a nap, before I met the boys down at Hooters for dinner. A group of about 10 of us got together for dinner and had a great time. We took pictures with the girls and sat down there for several hours. My Mom and Dad finally made it in from the airport and even came in to join us. After dinner, I still wasn’t feeling well so I went right back upstairs and went to bed.

Wednesday January 24th

I went downstairs fairly early to watch the TQR. I still wasn’t feeling well and almost fell asleep watching. I went and grabbed some lunch with Schlem, then went back upstairs to take a nap. We had a new ball come out this week called the Shift. It’s a new core design with the RS2 coverstock wrapped around it. It’s a pearl particle, something that we really need right now. Schlem drilled me one, so I went down a little early to work it out. During practice, I started playing out with the Shift and my array of Thunderstrucks. There was plenty of friction on the lane, and it was pretty evident from the get-go that the lefties were going to have a very good week again. I’ll let that go for now, because I’m very tired of that whole subject. As the lanes transitioned, the righties moved left and the pattern seemed to hold up fairly well. After our practice session was over, a large group of us went to ……you guessed it, Hooters for dinner. Hey, its right there so can you blame us ??? I really want to thank Mike Cannington, the management team and all of the girls for taking such good care of us while we were there. They went out of their way for us and it was greatly appreciated. Unfortunately for me, I was done for the night. My cough came back pretty hard and I needed to get some rest before Thursday.

Thursday January 25th

Well my worst fears came true when I woke up Thursday morning, I was very sick. The whole room was spinning and I had a splitting headache. I went downstairs and got my equipment ready. I had a cereal bar and a banana, to try to settle my stomach but it didn’t do any good. By the time we got started, I was running a fever and I was sweating very badly. Throughout the morning round, I was zoning in and out….not really knowing where I was or what I was doing. My spare game was really suffering, due to my lack of ability to stand upright or walk straight. I missed three single pins in the morning round and never really got myself going at all. I pretty much just made the best shot that I could, then went and sat back down. I had my mom make some calls to get me some medication, so after the first round was over I went straight to bed. I slept right up until time to start and I didn’t even practice before Round 2. Schlem tried to talk me out of bowling, but I was determined to pick up as many points as possible. I actually bowled decent for the first couple of games, but I was deteriorating rapidly. I almost bowled on the wrong lane several times in Games 4 and 5, so I decided it was time to pack it in. It was evident that I wasn’t going to be able to move up any, so I made the painful decision to withdraw and call it a night. I went to the café with Mom and Dad, had a bowl of soup and then went straight to bed.

Thursday, January 25 -- Round of 64 Block 1

Understandably, Jeff didn't keep track of his game by game stats this week.

Thursday, January 11 -- Round of 64 Block 2

Friday January 26th

Slept !!! Spent all but one hour of Friday in bed with cold sweat, a severe cough and a splitting headache. I ordered some soup from room service and Sean and Sara brought me some crackers and Sprite for dinner. Other than that, I watched TV and slept all day.

Saturday January 27th

I woke up feeling a little better, after 40 straight hours in bed, and went downstairs to have breakfast with my Dad. After that, I needed to get out of the hotel so I went across the street to Best Buy to pick up the weeks new DVD releases. I bought the Guardian and season one of Prison Break. I figured I needed to start watching that eventually. I was feeling pretty cocky by now so I went over to mall to walk around for a while and stretch my legs a little, since I hadn’t used them in almost two days. That turned out to be a bad decision because I had a pretty bad coughing spell and my lower back totally locked up on me. When I went to sit down I almost passed out, so I headed straight to the Emergency Room. I was there for a few hours before I finally got to see a doctor and he informed me that I had a combination of a Sinus Infection, an Inner Ear Virus, the Flu and probably a little of my Walking Pneumonia still left over for good measure. He gave me four prescriptions and sent me on my way. After running over to Wal-Mart to get my meds, I headed back to the room to go back to bed for the day / night.

Sunday January 28th

I woke up after finally getting a decent night sleep, feeling somewhat better. The medication was already starting to take affect, so I decided to take a shower and grab some fruit for breakfast. I spent the morning in the room watching the show and catching up on e-mails and messages. I watched the show, then decided to go for a ride downtown with Mom and Dad. I hadn’t really gotten to spend time with them this week since I was sick, so we headed to the strip and had lunch at Margaritaville. I’ve always been a Jimmy Buffett and I love eating at “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” any chance I get. I guess it’s a combination of the music and the atmosphere that just makes you want to go back. After lunch we walked over to Caesar’s Palace to walk around and do some shopping. We spend a few hours over there before I started to break down again. We headed back to the Sunset Station, where I went back upstairs to chill out for the day. I had some dinner with CJ at the buffet later that night, but other than that I was in bed.

Well, that concludes my worst report of the year. I’m sorry that I couldn’t bring you a “happier” account of life in Vegas, but this week wasn’t much fun at all. The worst part of the week was having to withdraw from an event for the first time in my life. I felt bad for the guys on my pair, but I was starting to get in the way so I knew it was time. I do want to thank the Sunset Station for bringing us back and I was happy to hear that the Motel 6 promotion this week went really well. Motel 6 is one of our sponsors that supports us very well, and I for one am very thankful for them. Also, thanks again to the Hooters staff for taking care of us and I should have some pictures available soon. My next report will be coming to you from El Paso, TX. Hopefully I will be feeling a little better and I can get back on track bowling wise. Until then, Bowl up a Storm !!!