If you've read my posts in the past, you'll know that I'm long-winded, so if you're not down for that, turn back now; you've been warned!
Travel - I still think that Southwest is the best option for bowlers since you can use the two "free" checked bags to account for your equipment. All in all, other than waking up mid-flight to find a strange woman's head on my shoulder as she napped, I have no complaints regarding travel. In fact, I like that Southwest now has kiosks for you print your own bag tags before going up to the counter (at Chicago Midway). It seemed to save time.
Hotel - I stayed with a buddy of mine at Mandalay Bay. Obviously, it's quite pricey. My share for the two nights I stayed was roughly $250. Still, it's a nice hotel, and if you're looking for a quality pool scene during down time, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better spot.
Gambling - Why do I bother? You know how Dick Allen calls himself THB (Typical House Bowler)? I'm going to call myself NBL, Natural Born Loser. I should've given them half of what I was going to bet, gone out back and let them kick me in the nuts and then called it a day. I don't think Syracuse is known for casinos, so maybe I can save a few hundred bucks next year!
SouthPoint - We've all heard that getting around that facility is something of a pain, and I can't say I disagree. Getting your stuff from the entrance to the regular bowling center for practice, from the regular center to the arena for the event, and then from the arena down to the sports book for bracket payouts is less than fun.
Now, with all of that being said, the arena itself is a very nice center. I king of like the back-to-back layout as opposed to having 60 lanes all in a row. I had zero complaints about the actual center. The racks were good, the approaches presented no issues, etc. The only think I didn't like was the march out. They march everyone out one way. If you're on the other side, you have to basically do a lap around the arena to get to your starting lanes. I did that with a 3-ball tote in each arm and my carry-on suitcase (since I had to go straight to the airport from bowling). That wasn't fun!
Squad room/weigh in - Everything was pretty much status quo there. Nothing really jumped out as being better or worse than previous years. One thing that I think was different was that each scale operator had a drill press behind them. I assume that would've allowed them to make subtle adjustments to balls that came in out of spec. In the past, I know that I had to run out and hit a booth when that happened to me, so I thought that was convenient. One oddity though was that I saw 2-3 bowlers have balls double-checked or disallowed on Day 2 after having been sent through without issues the day before. I guess it just depends on the scale operators day to day.
Team Practice - It's held in the main SouthPoint center, and, as always, I think it's a great benefit. It really gives you a handle on the shape of the pattern, ball choices, surface adjustments, etc. To me, they hooked a bit more in practice than they did in the arena, but the difference wasn't drastic.
Team
Scores - 173-136-160 - 469 - 2545\
Balls used - Hyroad (1000); IQ Tour Solid (2000); Black Widow Spare (Box)
I started out like we did in practice trying to go up 4-5. The shot was there though, as I said earlier, I felt like that area played tighter in the arena than it did during practice. As advertised, the shot is tricky. Playing up the extreme outside like that is difficult. You have to keep the ball in front of you because if you get it moving away, it's going in the ditch all day long. The plan was to stay out as long as possible and keep the moves as subtle as can be by balling down so as not to have to mess with the middle of the lane, which was really hooking. Sadly, our group lost its discipline as we had guys moving in pretty quickly. As you can imagine, that made things quite difficult. Now, I was surprised at how far left I was able to eventually get on that pattern, but the look was never great because there was no hold in, and I had over under getting it back to the pocket.
However, the biggest issue was right-side spare shooting. Knowing that the oil at Nationals is usually way slicker than what I see at home, I thought I could get away with bringing my Black Widow Spare, a cored spare ball. That was a mistake. There is a lot of friction in the middle of the lane, so that ball picked up just enough to make 6 pins, 10 pins, and the like trickier than they should have been. I should've just brought my Target Zone. That's probably my biggest regret. Now, if you're throwing end over end, you can get the ball to the right. However, if you're used to being able to throw your plastic the same way you throw your strike ball and have it glide to the right, be wary. If you have some hand, that won't work here.
Doubles
Scores - 169-144-203 - 516 - 1026
Balls used - Edge Solid (1000); IQ Tour Solid (2000)
This set was really frustrating as I really threw the ball well that first game and a half despite the terrible scores. I attempted to start off playing them the same way we had the day before, going as straight as possible up 5-7 or so. Being that I'd heard minors was a bit longer/heavier, I balled up to an Edge Solid at 1000 grit. I really focused on keeping my speed soft and going up the back of the ball to keep it from going crazy off the spot. The look was good, and the ball read beautifully. Sadly, I couldn't get it to carry. I went flush pocket 7 times and only carried three of those hits. Add in more pitiful spare shooting on my part, and a game that felt like 220 resulted in another sub 170 game.
I stuck with the Edge until I blasted a pocket 7-10 in about the third frame of Game 2. From there, I started creeping further and further left with the IQ Tour. Sadly, I found several opens and very few strikes before finally finding a home. Game 3 was better as my look was getting better as I continued slowly migrating left. Despite another gaff or two, I managed to grind out a 203 for my first decent score of the tournament.
Singles
Scores - 157-243-217 - 617
Balls used - IQ Tour Solid (2000)
One of my biggest struggles when I bowl no-thumb is maintaining consistent axis rotation. This game epitomized that because although my look was still good, release inconsistencies caused varying reactions, some splits, and very strikes. That led to another solid -43 start. To my credit (I deserve very little), I actually stayed composed and just focused on making better shots, and, for the most part, I did from that point forward. I started Game 2 with a four-bagger before a shaky release led to a partial bucket. I thought I made the spare, but I left one behind. Other than that, only a solid 8-pin and high-flush four pin kept me from striking. Still, 243 is a good score in that environment, so I was happy to take it.
As I had been, I just kept moving slightly left as I went on to Game 3. By that point, I was basically playing 20 to 8-9 or so, and the look was pretty good. The extra length of this pattern gave me a touch of hold if I was in, and I had no problem getting the ball back with authority as long as my release was good.
All told, I finished with 1602 for all-events, which is the third lowest effort I've had in my 8 years at the tournament. Still, considering I didn't shoot anything above 175 for the first five games, I guess I can't complain too much when it was all said and done.
Like always, this tournament is tough. There are no magic bowling ball or inside tip that is going to get you to a big score. You have to be a good player, one who can repeat shots in regard to accuracy, rev rate, axis tilt, etc. If you're capable of doing that, you'll do just fine because both patterns are more than playable. If you're a normal house hack like me who is somewhat inconsistent in the aforementioned areas, you're likely to struggle at various points because these conditions are far from forgiving. Then again, that's what this tournament is supposed to be about, showing us all what it really means to be a good bowler.
If you have questions that I have failed to answer during this manifesto, feel free to send them my way. Thanks for reading.
