Made the trip to Baton Rouge earlier this week and bowled Monday/Tuesday
Team Event:
We don't have teams that will practice or work together so it's kind of a crap shoot to begin with. We bowled the 123 earlier on in the day so I had an ok idea of where I could and could not play despite the different lanes surfaces. I started with a 2000 Modern Marvel (pin over middle no hole) playing farther inside then i've ever been at nationals in my 14 years, approximately 22-12. First game I struggled with my approach and never really got loose enough, ended up with a 163. Game two i moved more in and put up a great game of 276 and followed it up with a solid 237 for a 676 series (my highest in the team event) I put in $400 in brackets and pulled out $1260 which was great.
Minor Events
We had the 920am squad so there was alot of traffic in front of us and one of the pairs wasn't used at 7am. I made the mistake of starting with the same Modern Marvel and struggled to a 170 first game with alot of the same issues I had in teams with getting loose. Switched to a OOB Victory Road (pin down low hole) and got going a little with 203, 227 for a 600 even series. I basically stayed in the same area of the lane making minor moves with my feet and hand positions, seemed like everytime i needed a big strike on either a double or turkey I would leave a ring 10.
Singles started out slowly again with a 184 game again playing the same area with the Victory Road (I did pull out a Frantic on a few fill balls but had the best look with the VR) Second game same story a couple of hits would have gotten the score into the 230-240 range but ended up with 216. Last game was a killer with 170 with a couple open in bad spots.
This squad I had $800 in brackets and pulled out $1080 which for the games I had I was happy with that. So in total I had a 1850 all-events score which is lower than I targeted for but as many of you know that have went they are pretty tough to get 3 good sets together.
One highlight was being able to watch Liz Johnson bowl the day before we bowled. She had something like 16 in a row at one point with 260 and 267 the last two games. I don't think she bowled great the next day but was in the mid to high 1900's i believe, she throws the ball alot better than she looks like on TV, and seems to be a nice lady.
The booths were as normal as they usually are, they had some deals on balls/shirts, etc like normal but were generally expensive especially in the USBC booth. We did not par take in the VIP Lanes but the bracket boards were up by them and they seemed to have an ok set-up for everyone.
Hotels/Food in Baton Rouge
We stayed at the River Belle for two nights, it was way overpriced in my opinion and if the tourney returns there again we will stay at a different place. As far as food goes we ate at the Shucks on the Levee in the Belle and the food was mediocre at best and the waitstaff didn't have that "southern hospitality" you hear about, actually alot of the Belle's staff seemed angry we were there and didn't seem prepared to offer prompt service.
We also ate a a nice italian place called Gino's a few miles away. While it was pricey the food was a lot better. Our only other stop was hooter's on the way out of town, and basically it is what it is.
We traveled to New Orleans for a night, and this town was awesome. I'd never been there before but if you're a younger guy/gal and have some friends with you it can be a blast. We stayed on Conti St (i can't remember the name of the hotel) but it was a block away from Bourbon St. I have to say the one night we hung out on Bourbon St was one of the best times i've ever had. It reminded me of the Hangover movie without Mike Tyson making an appearance....lol....My only wish is we could have stayed an extra day there.
Well that about wraps it up for this year, back to boring old Reno next year.
