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Well it is US Open Time Again!  I did not think I would bowl in it this year given my spectacular 70 game last year.  I still can not believe that I could bowl 2 games which did not total 200 and finished that night 4 or 5 spots higher than last place!

 

So I made myself some goals which if I reached I would enter the tournament.  If I could find the cash by the time the entries closed I would enter.  Well wouldn't you know it, even though I spent some of the the cash on a Storm Virtual Gravity and was now below the $500 I needed to enter, the new ball pays for itself plus a few bucks.

 

I like to bowl in this event because it is more prestigeous than the USBC, I can drive to it, and I get to bowl with and against the PBA exempt players.  Where else can you participate in your sport with the Pro's for at 4 days for only $125.00 per day?  I get unlimited access Sunday to Saturday, The paddock area access for 4 of those days can be very interesting. 

 

Last year I got to listen in while Norm Duke gave Brian Voss the business when Brian put his equipment in the exempt area.  Norm asked him to move his stuff to the non-exempt player area.  So there are locker room politics and rewards for being exempt.  When I worked on my ball last year Patrick Allen, Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Chris Barnes were all prepping their equipment.  It was very interesting to see how they interacted amongst themselves.  There was a definite US vs them attitude in the paddock area.  They were all nice, but you could tell they would rather you were not there.  Can't say I blame them, it is their lively hood, for me it is entertainment/instruction.

 

I wonder who I will get to bowl with and next to this time.  Watch for Tim Mack to make some shows, so far I have been lucky enough to have bowled with some Pros who were on the upswing and made shows despite bowling with me.  I still think that they burn up their Stike line during practice. All 3 seemed to start off less than their practice seemed to indicate.  I saved my my line, not that I really had one in the sense that they use, but I started strong 3 or 4 in a row, and then ....  I guess that is why I bowl in league.

 

I will be posting a blog about my experience each day come check it out.  My goal is simple, enjoy every moment, and my lofty goal is to finish 50 places higher than I did last year.  Cashing would be wild.  Not totally impossible, but then again I do not bowl for a living.  I bowl for fun, and sometimes I have it.

 

Enjoy your bowling!

Brian