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Sunday February 25th
I woke up Sunday morning to find out that we were going to be traveling in bad weather all day. We already had freezing rain and it was getting worse. CJ and I decided to wait until around noon to leave, hoping that it would warm up a little and make driving easier. We grabbed some lunch at Subway, got gas and hit the road. The drive was horrible, with little or no visibility for the first 2-3 hours of the drive. It ended up taking us around 7 ½ hours to get to New Jersey. I went straight to Carolier to drop off some bowling balls, then went to check into my hotel. We ( me and Rash ) were staying at a Howard Johnson’s this week ( through Priceline.com ) and the place was a total dump ! I stayed there last year, but unfortunately I got the same hotel this year. That’s the only downside to Priceline. I tried to get the Motel 6 Studio Suites, but the rate was double what we were paying here. Anyway, there was a Fuddrucker’s next door, so that’s where CJ, Devaney and I ended up grabbing some dinner. Afterwards I went back over to the HoJo, unpacked and started watching some more Las Vegas. Sean finally showed up and since he had to practice at 8:00 am, we turned in for the night. |
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Monday February 26th
Monday was practice and pro-am day this week. I had the 12:30 practice session ( which ended up being the 1:30 practice session ), so I went to the bowl early to watch some of the other squad practice. I got my equipment off of the player services truck and found a little corner of the locker room to store my stuff for the week. There are 492 bowlers bowling this week and we have a locker room that should hold about 200 max. It was a pretty tight fit all week. I finally got to practice and I pretty much stayed with Agents and Dominations, and a few other balls mixed in. It was evident that there was more volume this week and the pattern MIGHT hold up better, but you never know in this tournament. You’ve got so many people out here that are only here so they can bowl next to Pete Weber and Walter Ray. In our sport, you can pay your $500.00 entry fee and shoe up in bowling’s biggest event. Does that make any sense? It sure doesn’t to me. What this does is really destroy the pattern, but there isn’t anything that anybody is going to do about it, so why worry about it? Anyway, I practiced for a few hours and I actually felt like I was throwing it pretty good ( at least better than recently ). After practice, Schlem and I ran to drop some stuff off at UPS for the Walter Payton Foundation’s auction, then headed over to Pizza Hut to grab some lunch / dinner. The way the schedule is this week there will be several days of only having one meal. After we ate, we headed down to Union to the mall so I could pick up some new dress shoes. I left mine at the bowl in Morgantown, and I had to get some new ones. [Editor’s Note: I think that an explanation is called for here, don’t you all? How does one forget where one left one’s shoes???] Then it was back to the bowl for my pro-am…I got lucky and drew the area of the center that had the junior bowlers. The pro-am was pretty full and there were people everywhere, which is very typical for this area and the US Open. I got to bowl with some great kids with a ton of talent. After that, I headed back to the room and Sean and I watched some more Las Vegas. As you can tell, I’m already hooked on the show. Since Sean had A squad and had to bowl at 8:00 am, we retired pretty early. |
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Tuesday February 27th
Since I had C squad and didn’t bowl until 6:30 pm, I had all day to waste. I got up early though and went to the bowl to watch Sean bowl his first round, then headed over to Chili’s to have lunch with Jason Couch and Jeff Fehr. After lunch I headed back to the bowl to watch B squad bowl on the “burn”. They got pretty deep, which was expected, but the pattern looked like it held up pretty well. Finally, it was my turn to shoe up. My mindset this week was to bowl aggressively and have fun. My game plan was to “go for it”, which meant making quicker ball changes and adjustments than I normally allow myself to make. I also decided not to look at the leader boards, the point lists, the prize funds or anything that would make me think about anything other than each individual round. Carolier is a split bowling center with 50 lanes up “top” and 32 lanes “below”. There are about 6-7 steps between the 2 ends, so moving from side to side can get pretty difficult. Pair that with 164 bowlers per squad and hundreds of fans, and it was pretty tight getting around the building. Also, the two sides historically always play totally different. In practice, the low end ( which ironically is higher than the “high” end ) hooked more than the high end which is pretty consistent to the past history. I started on 73-74 and decided to start with an Agent. The key this week will be controlling the direction change downlane. The US Open pattern is by far the toughest pattern we bowl on, so the game plan was to be patient, be smart and make spares. For Game 1 I was standing around 33, going through around 17-18 at the arrows. My breakpoint was the outside range finder ( 10-board ), so you can picture the shape of my ball reaction. |
| ROUND 1 |
235 |
221 |
256 |
232 |
186 |
224 |
1354 |
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6th |
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Tuesday, February 27th -- Qualifying Round 1 -- C Squad
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Game 1 – 4-pin in the 2nd, 10-pin in the 3rd, 3-6-10 in the 6th, 2-pin in the 11th. Very pleasant surprise to start with. I generally struggle on the US Open pattern until the lanes open up. Much needed good start !
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Game 2 – 6-7-10 in the 4th, 10-pin in the 9th, 3-10 in the 10th. Another solid game, but a careless shot in the 10th cost me some pins. Still, I’ll take 221 anytime here. This pair played similar to the first pair, even though we changed ends. I was just waiting for the pattern to blow up and have to move an arrow left.
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Game 3 – 3-6-10 in the 1st, 2-4-5 in the 2nd, solid 9 in the 5th. I started with a bad shot in the first, but then the shot in the second burned up and stopped. I didn’t hesitate to switch to a Domination and finished the game strong.
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Game 4 – Blower 7-10 in the first, 2-8 in the 7th ( which I hooked by ) and a 3-10 in the 11th. Normally the blower 7-10 start would have rattled me, but my mindset was to remain calm no matter what this week. It paid off because I rebounded with a 5-bagger before I missed a spare in the 7th. The 2-8 this week was extremely difficult because of the friction in the middle of the lane and the hang to the right.
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Game 5 – 10-pin in the 2nd, 6-10 in the 5th, blower 7 in the 6th, bucket in the 7th, super washout in the 9th, and 4-pin in the 10th. The right lane on this pair was very tight downlane. I never could make a crisp enough shot to strike on it. I finally switched to a T-Road, but made an errant shot in the 9th, leaving a super washout. Still, 186 at the Open isn’t that bad I guess.
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Game 6 –
2-4 in the 2nd, 4-9 in the 3rd, 3-6 in the 7th, 4-pin in the 11th. Went back down to the high in for this game and went back to the Domination. Made just enough good shots to pull out a 220 to finish up the block at +154 ( 225.67 ), which was good enough for 6th place after Day 1. This was by far my best block ever on the fresh at the Open, and this was also the highest I’ve ever been at anytime in this tournament.
Round 1 stats –
Games bowled – 6
Average – 225.7
High Game – 256
Low Game – 186
Strike % - 64
Pocket % - 80
Pocket Strike % - 79
Spare % - 89
Single Pin Spare % - 100 ( 9/9 )
Split % - 8
After I was finished, Sean and I grabbed some dinner at Wendy’s and went back to watch some Las Vegas. I know, I know we’re both hooked now. If you’ve ever watched the show, you’ll know why !!!
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| ROUND 2 |
235 |
201 |
210 |
256 |
232 |
185 |
1319 |
2673 |
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1st |
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Wednesday February 28th -- Qualifying Round 2 -- B Squad
Well this was the day that I was waiting for. Normally I bowl very well on the “burn” squad, so I was really looking forward to hitting the lanes. In the past I’ve had good luck with weaker balls from between 5-6th arrow, including 2004 when I finished 11th using a weaker ball all week ( I was with Ebonite then, using a 2-pc pearl Stinger ). I went to the bowl early to scout how the morning squad was playing the lanes and how the guys that were bowling on the pairs that I would hit were bowling. Finally at 12:45 I got my chance. I was very lucky to the fact that my starting pair was still playing pretty much like it was when I finished Round 1. I started with a Domination, standing around 38, going through 20-22 at the arrows ( breakpoint still around 10 ).
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Game 1 – 10-pins in the 1st and 2nd, 2-8 in the 8th, 10-pin in the 9th. I started with 2 ring dimes, then threw a 5-bagger to give myself a boost. Another 235 start was just what I was hoping for.
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Game 2 – Washout in the 3rd, 4-pin in the 6th, solid 9s in the 7th and 8th, 4-pin in the 10th. When I got to this pair, the guys ahead of us were still bowling. I noticed that they were much deeper than we were in Game 1, so I grabbed a T-Road Pearl and jumped 5 left. Other than the washout in the 3rd that I totally “overthrew”, I could certainly live with my shot making during this game. More importantly, I made a good ball choice and my confidence was improving.
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Game 3 – 2-4-5 in the 2nd, 10-pin in the 3rd, washout in the 4th, 3-6-10 in the 5th, 10-pin in the 6th, 6-10 in the 7th. This was the epitome of a grind out game. I struggled with the T-Road early in this game, before switching back to a Domination in the 6th frame. I made a couple other minor adjustments before throwing the back 5 to salvage the game.
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Game 4 – 10-pin in the 1st, 4-pin in the 2nd, 2-pin in the 8th. I guessed right to start this game by going right back to my T-Road Pearl and moving back left. By now I was crossing around 28-29 at the arrows and trying to control the ball downlane with a little weaker layout in my T-Road. This pair was one of those pairs that you always dream of hitting on a tough pattern. It literally felt like bowling league for a game.
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Game 5 – 3-6-10 in the 1st, 3-6-10 in the 2nd, 2-4-5 in the 8th, blower 7 in the 9th and a 2-pin in the 10th. This pair was on fire !!! It was like it was hooking in the air. I switched to my Jolt Pearl in the 3rd and immediately threw a 5-bagger.
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Game 6 –
1-3 in the 2nd, 10-pin in the 3rd, 6-pin in the 4th, 4-pin in the 5th, 2-4-5 in the 6th, 4-pin in the 7th, 10-pin in the 8th. This pair was totally impossible. I hit this pair in the pro-am, and even on the house pattern it hooking 10 more. My shot in the 2nd missed the head pin left….with a JOLT PEARL !!! I chopped the spare, then decided to bowl on the left lane and just throw it at the head pin on the right lane. I managed to catch a “nose-dive” in the 10th for a lucky double.
Round 2 stats –
Games bowled – 6
Average – 219.9
High Game – 256
Low Game – 185
Strike % - 51
Pocket % - 76
Pocket Strike % 67
Spare % - 90
Single Pin Spare % - 100 ( 19/19 )
Split % - 4
I finished the round at +119 ( 219.8 ), and +273 after 2 rounds. When the last round finished for the day, I was sitting at the top of the leaderboard. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being in the position. But like I said before, one round at a time and it was still very, very early. After I was done, Schlem and I grabbed some lunch in the coffee shop. I ran into Matt Frieberg in there, and gave him my condolences since his father passed away over the weekend. Matt is a great kid and I just wanted him to know that I was there for him if he needed anything. I hung around for a while and watched some of the late squad, then went back to the room and went straight to bed since I had to bowl at 8:00 am.
PBA Press release - http://www.pba.com/news/feature.asp?ID=283
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| ROUND 3 |
186 |
221 |
189 |
214 |
208 |
194 |
1212 |
3885 |
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2nd |
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Thursday March 1st -- Qualifying Round 3 -- A Squad
This was the squad I was dreading all week, 8:00 am. I always have a hard time getting my body to function this early in the morning, so I was just hoping to have a decent set and put myself into position for a run at match play. The 8:00 am squad on Wednesday was pretty brutal, so I expected the same. As I expected, the lanes were pretty brutal. There was more hook in the middle and less recovery downlane. This was certainly going to be a “grind-out” set. I started with a Domination, playing the lanes similar to what I had on the other fresh squad.
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Game 1 – 4-pin in the 2nd, 3-6-9-10 in the 4th, 2-pin in the 6th, 4-9 in the 8th. Anybody see the trend here ? You guessed it, I was one lane Johnny for this game. The left lane was pretty tough. I switched to a Shift in 6th and finished decent. Not exactly the start I was hoping for, but I still avoided the disaster game.
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Game 2 – 3-6-7-10 in the 3rd, 4-9 in the 6th ( which I converted ) and a solid 9 in the 10th. I switched to a Domination in the 2nd, trying to recapture the reaction that I had on Tuesday. It was close, but it still didn’t look quite right.
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Game 3 – 3-10 in the 2nd, solid 9 in the 3rd, 4-pin in the 4th, ring 10 in the 5th, 3-6-10 in the 6th, ring 10 in the 8th, 3-10 in the 9th. This was one of those games that you just shake your head at. Make a bad shot, pay the penalty. Make a good shot, shoot the spare. Oh well, I avoided the disaster game again.
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Game 4 – Washout in the 1st, 7-pin in the 5th, 3-6-7-10 in the 7th, 7-pin in the 10th. We made the flip to the low end and it was much, much tighter. I made a big jump right on this pair. I made a very bad shot in the 7th, but other than that I was happy with this game.
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Game 5 – Blower 7-10 in the 2nd, 1-2-4 In the 6th ( which I chopped the 1-2 off of the 4 ), 2-pin in the 7th. Again, another pair that was tighter. I moved right a little farther and just plugged away during this game.
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Game 6 –
1-2-4 in the 1st, 1-2-4 in the 2nd, 2-4-5 in the 3rd, ring 10 in the 7th, big 4 in the 8th, 2-4-10 in the 9th. This pair was totally ignorant !!! My first shot missed the head pin….I moved right and my second shot missed the head pin….I moved right again and my third shot missed the head pin. I ran to the locker room and grabbed my strongest Agent and immediately threw a triple. Then back to back splits killed the momentum. I ended up salvaging the game for 194.
Round 3 stats –
Games bowled – 6
Average – 202
High game – 221
Low game – 186
Strike % - 55
Pocket % - 75
Pocket Strike % - 73
Spare % - 89
Single Pin Spare % - 100 ( 11/11 )
Split % - 14
I finished the block at only +12, but the scores were lower all day long. After 3 rounds of qualifying I was at +285 for 18 games. I was hoping to stay in the top 10 and be in good position to make the Top 24. I hung around to watch Sean whack the “burn squad”, then ran over to Chili’s to grab some lunch. After lunch I went back to the bowl, watched about half of the last squad and then went back to the room to watch some Las Vegas ( hey, its been working so far !!! ). By the time the day was finished, I sat in 2nd place behind Mika Koivuniemi. Even though I was very happy with my position, I still kept telling myself “one round at a time”. I tried very hard not to allow myself to let up mentally. I knew that I needed a big week this week and I had to keep my foot on the gas. I’ve always had a tendency to get complacent, and I was bound and determined not to let that happen this week.
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| ROUND 4 |
194 |
191 |
269 |
248 |
243 |
206 |
235 |
222 |
190 |
1998 |
5883 |
2nd |
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Friday March 2nd -- Cashers Qualifying Round
Sean and I got up early because we had to check out of the hotel Friday morning. I only pricelined [Editor’s Note: Jeff likes creating his own verbs.] the room through Friday because if I didn’t make match play I was heading home. We packed up and headed to the bowl for our 9:00 am squad. The lanes in practice played a little tighter throughout the entire lane for this round. I started with an Agent, standing at 32 and going through 16 at the arrows.
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Game 1 – 4-7 in the 3rd, ring 10 in the 5th, 4-9 in the 6th, 7-pin in the 8th, solid 9 in the 9th, 3-9-10 in the 11th. I had a pretty good ball reaction for this game, just couldn’t create the right angles to strike with. Just like every other day though, the key was to stay out of trouble. The number doesn’t usually jump very much during this round, so my game plan was still to grind out 190’s to 210’s.
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Game 2 – 10-pin in the 1st, 2-8 in the 2nd, 2-4-8 in the 3rd, 4-pin in the 4th, 6-pin in the 7th, 6-10 in the 9th ( which
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