I wish it were the case that I shot in another TGIF, but sadly I didn't. As a little background and a major contributor to the situation I am in with my bowling, my job has me traveling all over the world. Even worse, it can be at a moments notice. It is not surprising for me to get a call Monday morning asking me to be in Amsterdam the following day. Before you start thinking to yourself that it would be cool to travel the world on someone else's tab, it is only fun for about a week or so. After that, it become just as much a part of your day to day as driving into work and being stuck in traffic. Living out of a suitcase, being crammed into an airplane for hours on end, and the worst situation of all... not being able to find a good cup of coffee. In any case, I take every situation I am in and try to turn it into a drill that I can apply on the lanes. Such as a pre-shot routine. The key to perfection is repetition. This philosophy can translate to just about any situation you are in that you want to become better at. Be careful though, I caught myself at conference about to get on stage and found myself wiping my left heel and folding my dinner napkin like I do my bowling towel. Funny thing is, no one in the room caught it.
So I guess that brings me to what is on my mind at the moment. I will start by saying that I am very proud of our sport. However, I have found that it is perceived quite differently depending on what part of the US or even the world you are in. For example, I was at a dinner event on Friday. As we were introducing ourselves to this small group of people we got off on the subject of what we were missing this weekend due to the conference we were at. This is small talk for frequent travelers, instead of how's the weather, it's what are you missing while you are away from home. At any rate, I mentioned that there was a tournament I was missing and I wasn't too happy about it because of my new resolve to my game. My comment took the group back a bit. One person even asked "Ummm is bowling a metaphor for something else... if you know what I mean". Although funny and I did laugh, I found myself energetically explaining that it was in fact competitive bowling. Catching myself before I went into full geek mode about it, the faces of the people around me told the whole story. it was a canvas of "you have got to be kidding me". Not wanting to insult me, the people that hadn't slinked away yet, made nice gestures to include themselves into the subject by telling a story about their kids birthday party and they went bowling or how when they were back college they would get drunk and try to throw the ball as hard as they could. So I did what I always do, chuckled and told a few non-bowler bowling stories as well.
As Saturday rolled in and another day of the conference was in full swing, I kept finding my mind wandering back to that moment. Then I started to compare it to all of the other times this had happened to me. I know that our sport has had the reputation of overweight middle aged men, and lanes with a permanent smell of beer. Paired with the out of beat crash of pins and the occasional yell at the rack, it is not a sport that has really been able to shake that persona. Those of us who are bowlers, we know the truth. It is an exciting thing to think about. A place that brings a smile to your face when you know that you have a chance to hit the lanes at the end of the day. And the people, the people that are just like you when you are there. They are like family or members in a special club. On top of that, you will find all walks of life. It is one of the few places where you can have a doctor, a mechanic, a fast food worker, factory lineman, a lawyer, a stay at home mom, and an owner of a company on the same pair of lanes. No one judging or bringing up the crap that society tries to pin people to. It's all about bowling. In some respects, I think it's the rest of the world that should take a cue from us. Sure there are people that we don't get along with, yes we get mouthy and competitive, but we also leave it on the lanes. Well for the most part. You know what I am saying. At any rate, the point that I am making is that overall, bowlers are a different breed of person. Evolved.
So Sunday for me was a day of sitting in a plane. Working my way back to Texas from Florida, making it home for the second half of the Super Bowl. Problem was that the game was pretty much over by the time I was able to turn on the TV. Even worse, I missed the very first Super Clash between Jason Belmonte and Sean Rash. No love lost between those two guys, that's for sure. It would have been great to catch those two head to head. Thank heavens for Xtra Frame and DVR, otherwise I would probably miss most of the best moments in sports. This match up, from what I understand, did not disappoint. Belmonte took game one, 258-238. The comeback kid Rash, edged the second game, 258-241, closing in on Belmonte's lead into the final match. With the lanes beginning to torch up at this point, the match came down to execution. Both bowlers left splits that could have tipped the scales in either direction, but the reigning player of the year, Belmonte, held on for a decisive, 244-222 win, and the overall match, 743-718. In addition to this great head to head battle, there were highlights from the 5th Annual Chris Paul PBA League All-Star and Celebrity Invitational. Chris Paul over the years has used his big NBA name and passion for bowling to assembled some of the best people inside and out of the sport for this great charity event. I highly recommend that everyone take some time to learn about his charity and check out how he has used bowling to get people involved. Aside from this being a great cause, the Super Clash and events like this are the things we need to help get bowling into household conversations. Spread the word.
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