Hey everyone,
In the spirit of Jeff Carter and his online journals, I figured I'd give anybody who may be interested a look into my regional experience.
Friday, May 30
Practice session
I arrived at the lanes about 45 minutes early, so I took my time getting my stuff inside and getting changed for practice. This was my first time throwing at the Scorpion, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to see what look I had.
As usual, I was something of a practice champion. I was standing at 12 and crossing the arrows at 4-5 with my Bite and just watching it arc back in to crush the hole. I threw a ton of strikes and stayed on that line for quite a while because I wanted to start seeing where and how the shot was going to move.
After 25-30 shots, we started to see some hang on the right lane, so I went to the bag for an earlier-rolling piece. My Hawgzilla rolled earlier, but it really didn't give me enough punch on to the hole, so I put it down and grabbed my Seek & Destroy. I had given this ball away, but the guy never punched it, so he gave it back to me. I'm glad he did because that ball actually gave me a nice look on that tighter lane.
After that, I began moving across the house to hit some of the pairs that I was going to see on Saturday. The shot was pretty much the same across the place. I was looking good standing 12 and crossing at 4-5 with the Bite. If I saw hang, out came the Seek.
I then decided it would be a good idea to find a step down ball in case the Bite started reading too early. I pulled out my Raw Hammer Pain. Now, I've never liked this ball on our house shot, but I've kept it around because I've heard it's very good on tougher patterns. I heard correctly. The Pain actually gave me a very nice look. I was able to stay up five, but with this ball I was actually finding a board or two of room to both sides. It was a pleasant surprise.
At this point I was convinced that I knew where and how I should start playing the lanes on Saturday, but since I've always found them to play quite differently on Saturday, I decided to jump inside in order to give myself a back-up plan.
I played around with my Twisted Fury, Black Widow Solid, and N'Sane LevRg standing anywhere from 17, 27, 32. My best looks came from 27 and 32 with the N'Sane; I just had to watch my speed. After throwing some strikes from in there, I was convinced that I was prepared as I was going to be for Saturday, so I packed it in and went home.
Saturday, June 1
Crossed with: Eugene McCune
Mark London
Thomas Rogers
After dropping my daughter off at Nana's house, I got to the bowl around 11:15. That gave me just enough time to change clothes and get my gear out to my starting pair. I brought my Real Deal and Razor Blade out to the lanes during practice just to see if either one would be a better option when they tightened up. I was able to get to the hole with each during practice, but the Bite still looked best of all, so I opted to start with that.
Game 1--189 (-11)
I started out with a double, but the nerves were still there a bit, so my release was not as clean as it needed to be. I kept the ball in play, but I caught a washout in the 7th, and I couldn't put a double together to end it.
Game 2--183 (-28)
This game was frustrating. I was following Eugene, and since he was playing out, I was trying to stay in his general area, so I moved my feet to 16 and began crossing the arrows at around 12 with high speed. I was in the pocket the entire game, but I had no carry. I just couldn't quite get the right mix of speed and revs to get the good angle. I flagged the 2-8 and then caught a pocket 7-10 late. It was a rough go to hit the hole pretty much every shot and come away worse than I had the first game.
Game 3--191 (-37)
We were at the high end of the house, and this pair had a very big discrepency from lane to lane. The Bite was flying more than it had all day when I was on the right lane, but the left lane was tight, so I pulled out the Seek & Destroy. I missed a chance to throw a big double late, and I flagged a 10-pin (moron), so, unfortunately, the numbers kept on creeping in the wrong direction.
Game 4--202 (-35)
By this time, Eugene had moved in to 4th arrow. I waited until about half way through the game before grabbing the N'Sane and going from inside myself. I was still having trouble coming up with the big shot to get me going, but I kept myself out of trouble and finally took a few sticks off the negative total.
Game 5--216 (-19)
I stayed inside with the N'Sane, and this was another game that could've been much better. I was pretty much going dutch, but I got a hair fast and blasted another pocket 7-10. Still, I regrouped and managed to throw a 4-bagger to close out and put up another positive number.
Game 6--269 (+50)
Ah, if all pairs could have been like this one. I was standing at 37, and I had a great look with the N'Sane. I came out with the front eight, but I missed the ninth shot a pinch at the bottom and came in light for a 2-pin. I got the first hit in the 10th before grabbing the eleventh ball a hair and notching a 4-pin. Still, this is now the highest game that I've put up in PBA play, so at least that was somthing. Now only if Patchen wouldn't have shot a damn 299 that game, I would've won $125 in the game pot. Greedy SOB!
Game 7--147 (-3)
How quickly the stupid will fall. I stayed on the same line and started with a strike, but that was about as good as it would get. This pair was flying a ton more than any we had hit up to that point, and I was too stubborn, blind, and stupid to realize it until it was way too late. I went into the beak and split twice in the first four frames. I then threw a terrible shot to wash out. I picked it up and muddled my way around cleanly until I ripped a pocket 7-10 in the eighth. Again, by the time I realized where I should've been on this pair, I had already crushed myself.
Game 8--206 (+3)
Realzing now that I had to move a whole lot deeper, I began purposefully driting further and further left around the ball return to get deep. I hit the pocket pretty much every frame, but I was having a hard time getting the angle right. I left 3 flat 10s and 2 ringers early on before stringing a couple together late to push me over a deuce and salvage a plus finish for the day.
All in all, I am content with the day. This was my first tournament as a PBA member, my first encounter with Scorpion, and my first tournament of any kind in 2 years. I only missed one single-pin spare, which I know is one too many, but it's not terrible. Overall, I missed 4 easy spares all day (10 pin, chopped 2 off the 8, chopped the 6 off the 10, and took only the 5-pin out of the 2-4-5). Aside from that, I was decent.
The big thing that people who only bowl on house conditions can't appreciate about the PBA patterns is the fact that, for the most part, everything has to be good in order to get a good shot result. On a THS, as long as you don't miss drastically, you'll still be in the hole with a good chance to carry. In PBA play, a slight grab at the bottom can be the difference between 10 in the pit and through the beak for a big 4. Getting a just a smidge fast can be the difference between a strike and a 2-8-10. I'm not saying you have to be flawless because the best players out there do find ways of creating some room, but it's not easy to do.
As a final note, I would like to say that all 3 of my crossing partners were a pleasure, even Eugene. I've heard several people bag on the guy over the years, but I really didn't find him to be bad at all. Sure, he's intense. I mean, I heard the F-bomb more times than I can count, but he kept it quiet enough as to not be silly about it. When the session was over, I wished him luck during Sunday's match-play round; he said thank you, and he even engaged me in a brief conversation about how the round had gone. So, again, I'm not saying that others don't have their reasons for the opinons they may have of him, but I certainly didn't have any issues, and I wouldn't mind crossing with him again someday.
Well, that's my very longwinded report. If any of you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc, please don't hesitate to message or post!
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I''ve only bowled 300, but I''ve benched 345
http://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?mp=519&ms=9130&s=2006-2007
