Well, I arrived yesterday (Friday) around 3:00pm in Albuquerque and went on up to the Convention Center to watch the 2:30 team squad which I would be bowling the next day. Didn't see anything out of context from reports I had seen on here. Inside was feast or famine and the track area was the general area of choice. Accuracy as always was key and the break point for success was no wider than 10 and no deeper than 12. Most were throwing dull or matte finish solid reactive balls (Alot of Cells and Widows). I watched for a game or so and not very many accurate bowlers so I ventured to my suite and rested for awhile with the wife in the hot tub. Then we visited Outback Steakhouse out on I-25 and the food was excellent and th beer was even better.
Ventured back and watched the Mavs choke and lose to the Lakers on the in room big screen.
Got to the center following a great breakfast at the B&B and met up with Joebowler98 and friends and checked-in. Tim(Joebowler98) is really a cool guy and pretty funny to.
So onto the team event we go. Started in practice with my 800 grit Hammer Hawgzilla (pin under ring CG out 45 degrees) up 12 to 8 and found the pocket pretty easily in practice as long as I stayed soft at the bottom of the release. Started the first game with a strike on same line. Next 2 frames transition already set in due to carrydown and left the bucket and chopped it in the 2nd and then hit it at the bottom a little hard and nosed up leaving the 4-7-10. Took my 2 pins and moved on. Strike in the 4th frame and then in the 5th frame I popped the ring finger insert loose on the hawgzilla so the lane monitor was nice enough to send for some super glue but in the mean time I had to throw the Ultra Zone and it wasn't enough surface for where I was at. Once I got te Hawgzilla fixed, I lost the middle finger insert all the way down the lane into the pin deck. Ugghhh! Needless to say, between the ball problems and my lost knowledge of where to throw the Ultra Zone...ended up 177. Next game just no move big enough and no carry but a clean 188..yes I said 188 CLEAN!!! Then changed balls to my 1500 grit and polished Paradiegm (pin over ring)and move to 18 at the arrows and 10 at the breakpoint as they opened up. Ended up with a 226 with a 4-9 in the 2nd frame for a 591 series. All in all, it could have been worse but it should have been better. Tough break on the insert problems but hey, it happens. I really enjoyed the team I bowled with. Met chrisleftwich who bowled next to us on 3-4 (we were on 5-6). Seemed like a very polite and respectful young man. The break down seemed to happen alot faster during this team event than in years past from my memory but that bodes well for me as inside is where I am most comfortable. Tomorrow the Paradiegm will be the first ball in my hand. I will update following the Singles and Doubles. BTW..we ate at a little restaurant on Lomas called Monroe's New Mexican Cuisine this evening and the service and food were excellent and the beer was cold....definately topped my day! Now off to the Hot Tub!!!!!!!!
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Doubles and Singles this morning on 9:20am squad. Started on 31/32 and moved to 29/30 for singles. In doubles, ended up starting with the Ultra Zone as the lanes were alot tighter than we ended on team yesterday so the Paradiegm was not an option. Could not get comfortable but had to keep the breakpoint at the rangefinder at the 10 board. After blowing too many single 10 pins, I found a line in the 3rd game playing 20 to 10 at the rangefinder with the Twisted Fury OOB surface pin over middle finger and drilled to skid/flip. Ended up whopping 542. Throw in at least 6 spares I should have made and it's a 600. Bad execution on spares but once we burned a little open area, we got more comfortable. Then we moved for singles and I thought okay, am lined up throwing the Twisted Fury with last 5 strikes in doubles. Maybe a little tweak. WRONG!! We followed a team with 4 or 5 straight bowlers with different surfaced and they pushed the oil down so bad that the break point at 10 was non-existent for me. Went to the Ultra Zone again in the 6th frame and used it through the 2nd game moving my feet as deep as 32 and hitting 21 to 12. Problem is as I chased the oil deeper the ball refused to face up due to carrydown. Tried changing to the Twisted Fury and moving right and it would barely wrinkle due to carrydown. The Infinity oil they are using this year is terrible in my opinion. It just moves down lane way too fast and puddles up the breakpoint. Especially when you follow the group we followed from doubles to singles. Ennded up with a whooping 570 in singles and ended up making a little on the plus side in brackets for both events. Total effort for 9 games is a carrer low 1703. All in all, tweener hell should be the theme for this year's tourney if you ask me but alot of it was just mechanical breakdowns by myself but I still don't see a tweener shooting big on this condition. Now we head out to play some golf at the University of New Mexico course and Pakko Ridge in the morning. Will update more upon my return home. Thanks all!
Edited on 4/6/2008 2:17 PM
