This weeks report comes from Spectrum Lanes in Grand Rapids, which has been pretty good to me in the past. We are bowling on the Chameleon pattern this week, and I’m 0-2 on this pattern so far this year. In Omaha the pattern played much easier than normal, with the gutter bouncing similar to the Cheetah pattern ( which I don’t match up to very well ). It was no surprise that I struggled badly that week. The second time was in Mechanicsburg, Pa and again I bowled horribly ! The Brunswick lane machines are back this week, but the real key is going to be the approaches. As awesome as this center is, I’ve always had problems with the approaches here. With all of my leg problems this season, this could easily be 7 games and going home. The one positive is there are 7 PBA spots this week in the PTQ, due to an illness in Doug Kent’s family, Robert Smith going home with hamstring / back problems, and no commissioners exemption this week.

Tuesday March 28th

I drove in from home today because it was only a 4 ½ hour drive. Normally I like to get into town on Monday, settle in, and use Tuesday to practice all afternoon. But this week I wanted an extra day of rest and I decided not to practice. I went to the bowl to unload my equipment and several guys were there practicing. Quite a few of the “bubble boys” on the point list were bowling. Thank God I don’t have to worry about that now. All I need to do is try and get through my last PTQ this year ( and next ). Schlem and I took off and went to the mall to walk around for a while. That always is a good way to waste some time, and since we planned on going to a movie later we needed something to do in the meantime. We went to see the new Larry the Cable Guy movie and it was hysterical. If you are a fan of his I highly recommend it. Our group was Schlem, Chuck Gardner ( the Columbia rep ), Rudy Revs, Big Wes, Randy Weiss and myself. After the movie we grabbed dinner at Friday’s and then I headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow !

Wednesday March 29th

I went to the bowl fairly early to watch the exempt guys practice and get a feel for how the pattern was playing. It looked like the out was in play so I headed to the truck to do some ball work. I drilled another Paradigm this week and I needed to work out the thumb and put grips in it. They ended up with 89 entries for the PTQ, which meant 5 on pair again this week ( the PBA norm is 4 on a pair ). All that means is a much longer day. During our 30 minute practice session I found out that the approaches were worse than I expected. Things weren’t looking good right from the start for me. I started with a Pyro from out around 4-5-6, playing pretty straight. I went 229 out of the gates and then followed it up with a 246, with a missed 10-pin. Then I caught a rough pair and struggled for an ugly 196. The next pair was much better and I got back on track with 247. After 4 games I was already +118  and inside the cut number. Since they were taking 7 PBA spots this week I had a little bit of breathing room. I had to start moving left in game 5 and I bowled a fairly uneventful 220. The next game, however, was more eventful. A blower 7-10 and a 4-9 cost me from picking up a lot of insurance pins, as I only had a 212 that game. I was in 3rd going into the last game and felt pretty safe. I couldn’t have been more wrong ! I had 3 solid 9s and another 4-9 for a 200 even, and then had to watch as Brian Waliczek, Kelly Kulick, Jeff Lizzi and Dennis Horan Jr all go around me. Luckily I held onto the last spot. Good thing it doesn’t matter where you finish as long as you get there.

After we got done we headed into the restaurant at the bowl. They have an incredible bar / restaurant there and I don’t see us having any meals outside of the bowl this week. I sat down and had dinner with Liz Johnson. She bowled pretty well the last couple of games to get a check. After dinner I headed back to the room to chill out for the rest of the night,

Thursday March 30th

I crossed with Rick Steelsmith, Mike Machuga and Ray Edwards this week. Another good cross for me ( I’ve been very lucky lately ! ). I changed slide soles this morning and it was a huge help. I felt like I could use my legs much better than yesterday. I guess that’s my fault for not trying that before the PTQ. I started with a Screaming Banshee, a ball that I never give a second look to but we drilled a new one a couple weeks ago and I like this layout much better. I stayed out and played them pretty straight, just like the PTQ round. I started off with 195 with a couple of splits in Game 1, then had to jump 10-5 left in Game 2. I bowled a pretty solid 247 that game. Again I had to jump left again since so many guys were in the same part of the lane, it broke down pretty fast. I had a clean 197 in Game 3 and 203 in Game 4 with a 4-9 in the 10th. I switched to my Pyro in Game 5 and went 244 and 239 for the next 2 games. By the time Game 7 rolled around I was into around 20 wheeling it. I went triple, ring 10, sheet for 279. Good way to end the first round. I ended up 10th at +203

The second round was a totally different story. As good as I bowled this morning, I bowled that bad tonight. I actually got off to a decent start with 201 and 259, playing the lanes the same as I did in Round One. Game 3 is where the fun started. I left 3 splits and chopped a 3-6-10 for 147. All I needed was a midget and a bearded lady and I would’ve had the whole circus going. I couldn’t get off that pair fast enough !!! I changed balls ( Pyro ) and rebounded with a 236 before letting the wheels fall off again in Game 5 for 173. Game 6 was better physically but a clean 193 sure didn’t help my score. I fell all the way down to 26th and I needed a good game to make the cut now. I took a gamble and jumped way left ( around 25-26 ) with a my favorite Fired-Up. Luckily it was a good move because I went front 7, solid 9 for 267. At that point I was just happy to make the Round of 32. Tonight was as bad as I’ve thrown it in a while. Cant let that happen tomorrow !

I ended up at + 76 for the night and +279 for qualifying and in 19th place. I was so drained after that mess I didn’t even eat dinner. I just went back to the room and went to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I get Andres Gomez in the Round of 32.

Friday March 31st

I drew Andres Gomez for the Round of 32. Andres is a fellow Storm staffer from Bogata, Columbia. Andres got his exemption this year from tour trials, and was in danger of having to go through that again. Andres basically needed to win this week to keep his exemption. You never know how people will react when their backs are against the wall. I started out playing pretty straight again. I did this not only because I had done it all week, but Andres likes to curve it and I didn’t want to destroy the pair too quickly. I started with a Screaming Banshee again and won Game 1 220-215. In Game 2 I needed to double in the 10th to win, but I rang a 10-pin in the 11th to lose 227-225. In Game 3 I jumped into around 15 where he was playing and pulled out another close victory 220-212. I had a decent clean game in Game 4 for a 217-165 win, as Andres totally lost his look. He did get lined up in the second half of the game, so I knew I needed to close him out as quickly as possible. With a 3-1 lead I tried to attack Game 5 like it was Game 7, no let-ups ! I went front 4, flat 10, and then struck to the eleventh for 260 and the match win.

The Round of 16 saw me face Mika Koivuniemi, my “arch-rival” from last season. The way the format was last year, I bowled Mika 4 times in the first round going 1-3 against him. As a matter of fact I lost to Mika right here in Grand Rapids last season in 7 games.

With only 5 minutes of practice on the match pair I knew Mika wasn’t going to be able to “shimwreck” the pair on me like he’s done in the past. I started playing out, just like every other round and we were basically tracing each others lines for the first 3 games. I won Game 1 221-218, won Game 2 192-175 and lost Game 3 259-216. Mika’s look was getting better so I had to take a gamble. I went straight to the Fired-Up and jumped way in and started curving the lane. The move paid off because I went triple, 4-7, sheet for 278 and a Game 4 win. Mika jumped in with me at the end of the game, and I was hoping the would play into my favor. Now we were playing my A game instead of his. Game 5 was  a great game to watch. We both traded punches the entire game and it would figure that it came down to the 10th. I could get up in the 10th and strike out for 270 and the win, but a missed messenger on the 10 in the eleventh cost me a chance to lock up the match. I finished with 259 and Mika could step up in the 10th, throw all three and force a roll-off. I fully expected him to do so, but a flat 10 on his first shot gave me the match win. Now it was off to the Round of 8 for the second consecutive week. Another crack at the show.

In the Round of 8 I was pitted against another fellow Storm staffer and 3 time champion Patrick Healey Jr. I didn’t keep notes during this match because I was so focused that I totally forgot. Looking back I only remember parts of each game but I remember in Game One Pat had a couple of nose-dives and a rolled 2 pin for a 233-222 win. Game 2 I also lost 228-194. I was down 0-2 and my game plan of playing straight wasn’t working. I jumped in and went to the Fired-Up again and managed to pull out Games 3 and 4 216-197 and 227-220. My look still wasn’t great, but I was close. The left lane was giving me all kinds of problems. If I got it right of where Pat was playing down lane I would 2-10. I it was left I would go through the face. I was starting to pull my hair out ! I lost Game 5 224-190 and things weren’t looking good at all. Game 6 was the ugliest game that we both could have bowled. I had 3 splits and Pat had 2 splits and missed 2 spares. I managed to hang on for a 169-165 win to tie the match 3-3. Now I was 1 game away from the show. Everything that I’ve worked for in my whole career brought me to this one game. I started of with a double, but another 2-10 took the wind out of my sails. Pat and I both managed to throw a few strikes on what had become a very ugly pair. I got up in the ninth with a chance to strike out and force Pat to strike out and win by 1. As soon as the shot left my hand I would have bet everything I had that it would strike. Unfortunately I left a 4 pin and I was pretty much done. If I doubled in the 10th ( on the left lane ) I could force him to mark, but another 4 pin ended that thought quickly. I lost 224-202 in Game 7 to finished 7th for the tournament. I was very disappointed in myself but far from unhappy. It’s been a long, hard fought road to get to this point and I guess I couldn’t expect everything all at once. It’s a shame that the season is over though. Oh well, time to go back to work this summer and get ready for next season. My plan is to get back in the gym to work on my legs and get ready for next year. Right now I’m going to take a week or two off and get ready for the regional season. My next report will come from the regional in Raytown, Mo. Talk to you in a few weeks.