This was a pretty long and short week at the same time.  Number one, we drove from Topeka, KS to Reno and back, a 24 hour drive each direction.  Bowled 7pm Thursday, then some of our group bowled D&S 7am Friday, then the rest bowled 1030pm Friday.  There was a mixup with our lineups, one bowler backed out on Tuesday, so my dad took his ball and bowled, and several other people had for some reason heard I was hurt and wasn't bowling, so the guy organizing it had actually replaced me on the team with someone else.  This someone else didn't know he had been subbed in, so he wasn't prepared to go, so I ended up bowling like I was supposed to all along. 

The drive out was horrific.  50-70 mph crosswinds the entire first day.  We saw several overturned semis and campers.  When we got into Colorado, they had completely shut down the highway because of a dust storm and rerouted us.  The second day, we had gotten about 30 miles east of Salt Lake City, and saw the traffic sign boards above the highway saying major delays at mile marker 137.  We got to 141 and traffic on a 6 lane highway was at a dead stop.  It took us nearly 2 hours to get to marker 137, where we saw that an oil tanker had overturned, and it was a 2 trailer tanker.  Heard later they'd lost 4000 gallons of crude oil and had to scramble to prevent it from getting into a water supply for Salt Lake City.  After that it was just a soul crushing journey through the salt flats in Utah and then 400 miles of Nevada, which is the biggest waste of space on the planet. 

Once we actually got there though, it had to be one of the best bowling experiences I've ever had.  Among the people I got to see and/or talk to: Marshall Kent, Danielle McEwan, Ryan Ciminelli, Billy Orlikowski, Kurt Pilon, Jeff Carter, Chris Johnson, Ric Hamlin (JustRico), Matt McNiel, Russ Wilson, Jay Futrell, Joe Keltner, Chris Greene, Clara Guerrero, and Ronnie Sparks Jr.  I'm sure there are a few I forgot but there were so many names there that it was hard to keep track of.  I got a couple hours worth of video, so I'll eventually have something, but it will probably be a while before I get it all edited. 

As far as the actual bowling, it was completely average across the board.  We shot 3008 for team, so that wasn't bad for a bunch of guys that see a sport pattern once a year, then in D&S, my doubles partner had the front 9 first game of singles and shot 697, another buddy had the front 7 twice, other than that it was fairly uneventful.  I only took 2 balls, and that didn't turn out to be enough.  Once we worked in a track I was ok, but I didn't have enough hook to start out with.  There was a shot from wherever you wanted to play, but the shot played a LOT wetter in the oil than it looks on paper.  Not that there wasn't hook, but the oil was so heavy in front that ball reaction was delayed, and that made angles tricky.  Plus I just made a lot of really bad shots. 

We bowled the Bowlers Journal earlier in the day before team to get warmed up, and it was supposed to be the D&S shot, but it ended up being nowhere close.  It played significantly wetter than D&S, but that's what we had heard all along.  It was really hard to reign the ball in after 200 games of house shot all year, kept wanting to send it right, and when the oil up front was already pretty heavy to begin with, that made it interesting. 

I could make this a million miles long, but basically I didn't take enough equipment, made a lot of really bad shots, and still managed 1800.  Not good, not bad, just disappointing.  For anyone still going, you can play anywhere, just don't try to create angle.  Team is playable from the start, so you don't have to burn a shot.  If you DO, the oil in the heads is so heavy that the ball burns a lot trying to make the turn.  The shot is inconsistent and the carry is bad.  So if you're trying to create angle off some burn, it won't work, but if you just bump the burn, that works out well.  A little swing from 20-12ish (laydown to breakpoint) worked the best, keeping the ball going right the whole way, then just slowly migrate left.  Again, trying to get it out early to give it a chance to rev and turn just bleeds energy, the ball doesn't hit the hook phase until too late, so carry and reaction is rough if you try to manufacture it, but there is a nice strong move if you keep your angles tight.  The oil volume also gives you a lot of push through the middle that you don't normally have on a sport pattern, so you can play a nice easy fade through the middle, length from any point on the lane is definitely not something you have to worry about. 

D&S is really tight laterally.  It feels just like the team shot, just shorter.  We played the same part of the lane, just a few boards deeper.  D&S DOES carrydown, which made the 2nd game of doubles really tough.  All the sudden the ball starts pushing too far and getting lazy, and trying to square up and move right doesn't work.  What you really want to do is destroy the 10 board as quickly as possible.  It takes a while, but if you can create a wall there and just bump it, you have head oil for days.  If you don't go super strong with surface once you get a track burnt, you can get as deep as you want as fast as you want without worrying about running yourself out of room, the shot holds up extremely well.  I moved a total of 2 boards with my feet in team, and 3 boards with my feet in D&S. 

All in all, very scorable shot provided you don't try to create angle.  If you play a nice firm fade through the middle, the shot will literally be there all day long.  I used a Covert Revolt for all 9 games, and despite it not being enough ball early, once the track got burnt in, if I'd have made good shots, I'd have been looking at huge numbers, I just kept flagging the ball right too often.  Need a bunch of practice this summer, and that was really my downfall this week.  I watched a lot of video and did a lot of homework, just didn't practice enough on something tough.  I'll try to pop a few videos up, there are a few clips I could post.  Overall, it was still a REALLY fun week.  Guerrero, Ciminelli, and Ric Hamlin are some of the nicest people on the planet.  Ciminelli was working the Brunswick booth, and after chatting him up a bit, he took a break when it got slow and came out and sat down with us for a while to watch.  Guerrero was out there on a companion team with some local legends I know from here, and Ric was in town to see some friends among those guys and on the companion team, so we sat down and chatted for a while while we watched.  I was completely star struck, and even though I had my issues (getting to bed at midnight after team, and then waking up at 530am for D&S was REALLY rough, I'm not sure I really woke up), the people I got to meet and talk to made it a really great week.  Going to cash in everything, broke about even in brackets, didn't lose too much in the casino, pretty good week . .

The drive from the area west of Salt Lake City to Reno is 520 miles of supreme boredom. 

Sounds like we could have met there, which would have been fun.  I bowled team Friday the 2nd at 3:00 and minors Saturday at 11:00am.  Team event was best for me.  I played pretty straight up 8-10 with my Mastermind at about 4000.  Great look and reaction.  Only moved about 3 & 2 the whole set.  Shot 647 by missing 2 easy spares and only 2 splits.  Overall not great, but okay. 

Day 2 pattern I had the same look but with a weaker ball. The Lt-48 at about 3000 read the pattern beautifully.  Good length with a strong arc back to the pocket.  Carry was excellent.  My biggest down fall was poor shot making.  Nine splits and some washouts were on me.  I am bowling with a torn rotator cuff and another bicep issue, with surgery scheduled for 5/23.  It was much more painful the second day.  When I hit the line though, it was beautiful.  Bowled with some really nice guys who played outside with me, and we barely moved 3 boards the whole six games.  Ended up with a poopy 537 and 544 with all events at 1728.

I talked for a few minutes with Jeff Carter, and he summed it up pretty well when he said "on these shots you either hit 'em or you don't". 

I did get to see a little of Billy O. and his guys bowling their minors.  What a different game!  They roll it so well, and I... DON'T!

Nice read.  My only question would be why (if driving) you wouldn't bring more equipment?

I wasn't anticipating the oil volume.  Like I said, it played MUCH wetter than I expected and than it has in years past.  In years past I've been just fine with a polished Taboo, Sigma Tour, Sigma Hybrid, etc., so I felt confident that my Covert Revolt at 3000 would be perfect.  It just went too long on the fresh.  I'm also not a big equipment guy, I feel like having too many choices is more confusing than helpful sometimes.  Plus like I said, I made way too many bad shots.  If I make good shots, my first game in team and my first game in D&S would have been the only rough ones.  The last two games in team were 238-236, but in D&S I was pretty gassed to start with, and maybe that caused more bad shots, but bad shots were my downfall.  A more aggressive ball would have minimized the damage the first game of each set though for sure.  Also I was expecting to be able to create more angle.  And as an interesting side note, I'm getting ready to watch Matt McNiel's group bowl D&S.  I didn't hear how he did in team, but I'm really doubting his typical down and in off the 5 board will work this year, at least not for the first game or two, I bet he has to migrate in a bit to 7 or 8 and play straight or bend it just a hair.  5 board is just too much angle on that shot, and it's super touchy out there to begin with. 

Nice read.  My only question would be why (if driving) you wouldn't bring more equipment?

Dear Gizmo823:

Thanks for your report, and it's good to see your conclusion that you consider it "a pretty good week."