Barnes versatility saved him this time, whereas other times it has gotten in his way.  Two different balls, two very different lines, and two completely different releases on the way to the title.  I know many here don't like him for some reason, but he's a heck of a bowler.  He probably had the worst look considering the lane conditions today.  Mika's strength is loft, and Simard and Mallot can get super deep and wheel the lane with the best of them.  Barnes isn't any slouch in the rev department, but he's not going to keep up with the real crankers when the heads get torched.

Sure he threw a bad ball on his fill, but the ball before went really high.  Whether he moved a little deeper or didn't catch the release, the ball didn't react like he expected.  It wasn't like he missed his mark by a bunch.  But over the years, his poor shots have always paid maximum penalty.  If one of those shaking pins fell, he would have been no worse than a tie.  Simard bowled great, but how many really solid pocket hits did he have?  I know the really high rev guys carry the light hit well, but a lot of really light hits kept him in the matches.  How many times did he yell for his ball to wheel because he missed his break point only to have it rip back and carry.  He did leave two really solid 10's on good pocket hits.  His future looks bright and hopefully he'll get his first title soon.
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Telling it like it is.