First off I would like to start by saying that Day Light Savings is a sham. We live in a 24/7 society these days, why the hell do we have to continue with this farce of an action? I know there are supposedly good reasons to keep it around, but in the grand picture of day to day life, in my humble and crippled mind, it can take a hike. Ok, now that I have that out of my system it's time to move on.
This past Friday in my TGIF 'beer' league, it was once again humbling. It is interesting that I have fewer problems on a Sport Shot than I do a TGIF House league. I can make all sorts of excuses about the number of plastic balls on the lane, carry down, original urethane equipment, or the high rev no thumb bowlers with reactive gear burning up the oil in eight frames. Point is, I need to be good enough for the most adverse conditions and that league certainly provides it. Friday provided those rough conditions and yielded me a weak 598. The interesting thing is how I got there. The first game was going dutch through the 8th frame trading off strikes on one lane and spares on the other. When the 9th frame rolled around, my ball hitched just a bit and went high leaving a 6-7-10, finishing with a 182. The second game featured me trying three different lines and just as many balls hunting for something that would hold and be out of the mess created on the right side of the lanes. A hunt and peck split filled 174 is all I could muster. In a move I hate to make, I grabbed my Hyper Cell, moved way left, lined up with the gutter cap, gripped it and ripped it through the lanes swinging just about the entire playable surface. Adding a dash of loft for good measure. Well if you are the mathematical type, you know that this move worked based on my final series and the previous two games. A solid 242 pulled me within two pins of what would have been a very welcome 600 series. So what did I learn? I learned that I need to force myself to get out of my comfort zone when things are not working out. Plain and simple, so I challenge each one of you out there, when you are practicing take some time to do the opposite of what you would normally try to roll. If you like going down the boards an in with a straighter shot, try moving deep left. If you normally are more comfortable reving up the ball and getting deep, how about moving out to the first 5 boards and breaking the wrist more to create a straighter shot. Bowling is about adjusting against adversity and change, no better way to arm yourself than knowing exactly what you are capable of in a time of need. Try it, you might surprise yourself with what you find.
Since there was no televised PBA action to report on, I watched a bit of the Music City Classic Women's Tournament. Now, all I was able to catch were the final two matches between Vanderbilt vs Fairleigh Dickinson and the finals match featuring Vanderbilt and Arkansas on USBC Bowl TV being streamed on Youtube. However, damn that was some good bowling. It was nice to see some familiar faces from the Team USA trials with their teams fighting for a win. Vanderbilt in the finals looked like a machine on a mission, never really allowing Arkansas to get comfortable in the best of seven match. The nail in the coffin was Vanderbilt going off the sheet with a Baker's 300 to take the point and the tournament win, 4-1 against Arkansas. The wild action however was not restricted to the championship pair. Right next door, as Vanderbilt was going into the 10th frame, Nebraska who finished 5th, also shot a 300 in their final game making the pressure unimaginable for sophomore All-American Robyn Renslow. Watching a 300 right next door, sitting on the front 9 for your own team 300, win it all situation, but with what looked like ice in the veins, Renslow systematically went up and crushed the pocket three times for one of the most memorable finishes of all time. Congrats to the Commodores for a great showing and win at the Music City Classic.
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