This week's edition of my “road report” comes to you from Herrin, IL which is right in between Marion and Carbondale. Before I report on this weekend’s activities, I need to give you a little “history” of this event. Back in April 2002 I won my 4th regional title in this little 16 lane center. What I remembered most was the fact that this was an “old style” bowling center, the kind that I grew up in. It had wood lanes & approaches, the round settee benches, hand scoring and real bottles of Coke. It was refreshing to bowl in a place similar to the one I grew up in. This was also the first PBA event held using the new match play format ( the one that we use today ). When the PBA changed formats for the regional tour that summer, we were the first event to use it. I remember qualifying 1st by a pretty good margin. On Sunday I was able to go through match play winning 8 of 9 games and beating Mike Mineman for the title. Shortly after that, while a crew was working on the roof, a fire broke out and the “old” place was destroyed. That was a shame because the “old” Herrin Bowl was pretty special. Just about a year later, the “new” Herrin Bowl opened, with new AMF HPL lanes and approaches, new Vantage scoring, a wide open concourse and a new vibrant décor. The one thing that remained the same ( besides the LaBotte family ) was the old style bottles of coke. The new place is great, but I still miss the old version.

Friday September 15th

I made the quick 3 hour drive to Herrin and arrived just in time for the practice session. Due to the small field size ( 49 bowlers ) there were only about 15-20 people practicing.  With us being in a 16 lane center, there wasn’t much bowling going on at all. We were bowling on regional pattern #1 this weekend, which was the same pattern and lane surface as when I won Scott AFB back in March. I took looks at several different balls during practice, including Agents, Pyros, Thunderstrucks, etc… also from different parts of the lane. I was practicing with my “Webmaster” Dennis Hacker and I spent some time with him working on some mechanics and equipment choices. I practiced for about an hour or so, then went out to grab my computer and video equipment. I needed to work on some ideas that I have with Dennis on the website. While I was at it, I videoed Eugene McCune while he was practicing so I could put it into my coaching program. I like to take video of various styles of players to use as “models” for my students. Once I wrapped all of that up, I went to check into the hotel and then off to dinner. I had dinner with our regional director Rich Weber, our laneman Bob Hileman and his wife Mary and Chris Sand ( my Turbo and Storm rep ). We went to the 17th Street Bar & Grille, which was next door to the hotel. I eat there every year because they have possibly the best BBQ in Central Illinois. We had dinner and a few drinks, then I headed back to the hotel to watch a little TV and then get some sleep.

Saturday September 16th

I was on B squad this week, so I went in early to watch A Squad bowl for a while. I sat behind Dennis and watched him for a while. He was struggling with the approaches, and that wreaked havoc on his physical game. He just couldn’t get himself matched up at all. Scores were above average, and I estimated that it would take at least +130 to make the top 16 for Sunday. During the break I went and ate lunch with Mike Wolfe and Chris Sand. After lunch I headed back to the bowl, changed clothes and got my equipment ready to start. I didn’t see anything during A squad that made me want to change my game plan, so I started with an Agent ( stronger one ) standing on 35 and going through around 17-18 at the arrows. The ball looked decent to start with, but it just looked like it was too strong to get it to go through the pins the right way. I went 10 pin, triple, 10 pin, double, 10 pin, strike before a mental error left me with a 6-7-10 in the 10th for a 216 start. I moved to Game 2 and had a similar look, but it really looked like the Agent was burning up and stopping on me. I was using the one with some surface, so I assumed that was the problem. After a couple of early 2-10 combination splits, I switch to my Pyro and quickly threw a 4-bagger. Then all of a sudden I go 2-4-10 ( spare ) and a 3-6-10, 2 of the worst shots I could throw. I rebounded with 3 in the 10th to finish with 210. Meanwhile I’m watching 240’s all over the place, including Ronnie Russell, who I was crossing with. Ronnie was using a Spitfire and making them look like league. I started Game 3 with my Pyro, going strike, ring 10, 2-10. That was all I needed to see, and I sent Chad Kloss out to my truck to get my Spitfire. I hadn’t used that ball much at all, but Ronnie was striking with his, so I figured what the heck. After the switch I went double, blower 7, 2-4-8, then a 5 bagger to end the game at 223, putting me at +49 after 3 games.

Game 4 was a pretty ugly game. My concentration level was terrible and I wasn’t convinced that the Spitfire was the right ball. I had a couple more 2-10 combination splits and finished game 4 with 204. Again, not looking very good after 4 games.  The next pair seemed to have a little more friction down lane, and that really helped get my swing back in line. Its amazing how your swing frees up when you see the ball do what you think its going to do. I shot 258 in Game 5 with 2 ring 10’s in there. That got me heading in the right direction, and got me to +111 after 5 games. Game 6 was on an even better pair. My first shot went sideways, leaving a 4-7-9 ( which I converted ). I made a small adjustment off of that and proceeded to strikeout for 290, putting me at +201 after 6 games. After Game 6 we had about a 20 minute wait before we could start our next game. Our cross was 3 on our pair and we were following a pair with 4 on it. After the break I was pretty stiff and it took a few shots to get loose again. I started with a  3-6-10 and then a 2-4-8-10. Then I felt loose again, and followed those 2 disastrous shots with a 9-bagger, finishing with 260. That put me firmly into the top 16 for Sunday. Game 8 was a pretty well bowled game but 3 blower 7s and 3 solid 9s to finish the game left me with only a 202 and +263 for my qualifying block ( putting me in 4th place for the day ). Later on that night we bowled the Pro-am, then headed out to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.

Sunday September 17th

I started off practice Sunday morning with a Thunderstruck Pearl because they were hooking quite a bit more for me in the middle. I struck quite a bit in practice, but near the end the ball started to push a little too much. I quickly grabbed my Pyro and moved right. When the lights came on I wasn’t totally lined up and started with a 3-4-6-7-10. I followed that with a strike, 4-pin, and a 2-8-10. Not exactly the start that I was looking for. I paralleled everything left and threw a 4-bagger, then a ring 10 in the 10th for 213. That dropped me to 8th place, which this weekend was the last match play spot. I pretty much stayed in the same spot for Game 2, going 258 with two ring 10’s. That vaulted me back up to 5th for the time being. I bowled a solid Game 3 for 235 with a 4-6 in the middle, putting me at +369 and only 9 pins in the number. Game 4 was pretty heartbreaking. I felt like this was by far my best game to this point, but three blower 7’s and two ring 10’s left me with only 214, putting me at the 8th place number. I finished on 15-16,which was the lowest scoring pair of the weekend. I knew that Jason Queen had the best chance to get around me, being only 11 pins behind me. Again, I felt like I bowled a decent game but a 4-pin, two ring 10’s and a bad shot for a 2-10 put me at 216 for Game 5. I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be enough, but Dennis came down and told me that I had stayed ahead of Jason by three pins, good enough for 8th place.

My first round opponent was Steve Taylor from Pekin, IL. Steve has yet to win on the regional level, but its only a matter of time. Steve was the qualifying leader by quite a bit and he finished 160 pins ahead of me. Steve had a great look on the fresh all weekend and I knew he would be very tough to beat on this pattern. Also lurking in the back of my mind was the fact that I hadn’t won a game ( not match, game !!! ) in about 4 ½ months. What happened next we think made PBA history. Steve chose to start the match, and we matched strikes back and forth. Before we knew it I was getting up in the 10th with a chance at 300. I struck out in the 10th, finishing my 300 off. Then Steve proceeded to step up and strike out to match me at 300. Steve then surprised me by choosing to let me start the roll-off. If it were up to me, I’d rather carry the momentum of just striking out into the roll-off by starting, but since he was the higher seed he let me start. We traded strikes back and forth for 5 additional frames. That put both of us at 17 in a row and the crowd was really buzzing. I got up in the 6th extra frame and struck. Steve got up, got a little slow and the ball checked up high leaving a 6-10. Finally I broke my streak and won a game. It took and 18-bagger to do it, but by God I got it done !!! I think that took the wind out of Steve’s sails a little, plus his look really went away fast. I won Game 2 237-192 and Game 3 234-199 to take the match 3-0.

My next opponent was Jason Wojnar from Chicago. Jason is in his rookie season in the PBA and he is certainly a name to keep your eye on. Jason has a ton of talent and an unlimited ceiling. I fully expect him to be a champion very soon, and not stop there. The pair that Jason and I bowled on didn’t hook quite as much as my previous pair. The left lane was especially tight down lane for me. We both started out with the front 4, but I 2-8-10’d in the 5th opening the door for Jason. Jason left a ring 10 in the 5th, then a Greek church  in the 6th, opening the door back up for me. I went 4-pin, strike, ring-10, strikes in the 6th-9th. Jason got up in the tenth and through a double, forcing me to strike in the 10th to win the game. I struck on the first ball, then left a 7 pin to secure my spot in the championship game against Chad Kloss. Again, the left lane on the championship pair was tighter than the right and I had virtually no look in practice. I started with a ring 10 and a 4 pin, before I doubled in the 3rd and 4th. Chad started strike, spare, strike, then split in the 4th. I proceeded to give it right back to him, making a total bonehead shot in the 5th, leaving a 4-7-10, then struck again in the 6th. Chad split again in the 5th, then through a 4-bagger at me. I rang a 10 in the 7th and struck in the 8th and 9th, setting me up for the tenth ( on my bad lane ). I got the first hit in the 10th, but I 2-10’d on the second shot, leaving the door open for Chad to strike to win. Chad got up in the 10th needing one strike to win, but a flat 10 allowed me to sneak out the win, 211-205. At that point I turned to the crowd and told Tim LaBotte he needed to “double your insurance because you remember what happened the last time I won here” !!!

I want to thank the entire LaBotte family and everybody at Herrin Bowl for being fantastic hosts for the last 7 years. They work very hard to make us feel welcome and it’s greatly appreciated. I also want to thank their many sponsors and pro-am bowlers. Without them, we don’t get to do what we love to do.

I also have a few other people I really need to give some big time thanks to. Craig Rhodes and Rex Kinzora spent several hours in the pro-shop last weekend, re-slugging all of my equipment. We’re talking about 25 balls, drilling out slugs, putting new slugs in, scribing, cutting ovals, etc….Without their help I wouldn’t have had the feel that I had. After struggling all summer, we finally decided to adjust my oval in my thumb and it paid off big. I also want to thank John Jowdy for all of his help. He was in town last Friday doing a clinic and he spent a couple of hours working on my swing and chatting with me about various things. Coach Jowdy and I share pretty much the same coaching philosophies, but hearing it from him made it easier to absorb into my own game. Coach Jowdy is a great teacher and I’m very fortunate to have him in my corner.

That pretty much concludes this report. My next report will come from Chillicothe, Mo next weekend. I’ve never been there, so it will be a new stop for me. Until then, Bowl up a Storm !!!