First let me say that I can’t find my game by game notes for the weekend. I didn’t bowl very well this weekend so it probably won’t do very much good anyway

Just a little background on this stop before I get started. Raytown is one of the best stops in the Midwest. Jerry Stover treats us fantastic and we always enjoy coming here. The pro-ams are top notch and the junior bowlers are the best I’ve seen as a group. They not only are great young players, but they dress and act the part as well. It’s really nice to see young bowlers treating the sport with respect and working as hard as these kids do.

Friday, April 21st

After a “short” 4 ½ hour drive, I got into town for the practice session. We were bowling on Pattern #2 this weekend ( mainly due to the older guardian surface we were bowling on ). I could tell right away something wasn’t right with the pattern. There was some hang on the gutter and the middles hooked a lot !          ( Later on we found out that a change was made to the pattern to allow both sides to play the lane similar and to let the right side hold up longer, obviously that backfired ! ). I used just about every ball I had with me and never really found anything that I liked. After practice we headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings for some lunch / dinner. I was scheduled to bowl the 5:00 and 7:00 pro-ams. Both pro-ams that I usually bowl are both youth squads and I’ve been bowling with the same kids for several years now. I have to admit I had a blast ! These kids were a treat to bowl with. I managed to successfully execute several trick shots and tried my best to entertain the large crowd in the 16 lane center. Like I said earlier, Jerry and his group does it right !

Saturday, April 22nd

My day was a total roller-coaster all day. I really only had a few games that I had a look and somehow I managed to take advantage with a couple of 250 games ( one of them in game 8 ). I ended up at only +57 for the day, which is very low for how this pattern usually plays. I never felt comfortable physically all day and I continually struggled to get matched up. Luckily the scores were low so I was pretty sure about getting a check.

A group of us left and went to Hooters for lunch and to watch some of the NBA playoffs. After lunch I decided I wanted to go see the Royals-Indians game. It was a nice night and I didn’t want to go back to the bowl so I headed to the stadium. I walked up to the ticket window and was able to get a front row ticket behind the Royals dugout. After all they had lost 11 in a row !

Parking - $9.00
Ticket - $27.00
Dollar Hot Dog night – priceless !!!!

Sunday, April 23rd

This was probably the worst block I’ve bowled in quite a while. I never got matched up on the lanes or approaches. Nothing worked and nothing felt right. I bowled absolutely miserably. I finished around even I think, which was good for 19th place. All in all it was a totally wasted day for me. Time to head home and get back to practice. I’ve been taking some time off since the tour ended and it’s starting to really show.

A big thanks goes out to Jerry, his staff and all of the youth bowlers that made this a great tournament again.

My next report will come next week from Madison, WI.