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View Full Version : Andrew's angle 11/5/08



onefrombills
11-05-2008, 03:31 PM
Before I begin chronicling the adventures of my most recent week on tour, let me start by thanking those of you who have been gracious enough to email me with comments about Andrew’s Angle. Especially David from England, who took me seriously in last week’s blog.

Thursday morning I checked my email, and discovered a bowling video link hidden amid the messages. I suspected I had been Rick Rolled, but, after checking to make sure my picture was still pasted next to “gullible” in Webster’s Dictionary, I clicked anyway. It’s funny how young David’s bowling form oddly resembles Rick Astley sporting Ray-Bans in a low-budget extravaganza of “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Shaking my head in shame (at myself and poor Rick’s hairstyle), I came to appreciate that at least one reader was truly paying attention to my writing…maybe I will ask for money next time!

Moving on, I must tell you that I was deeply concerned about the weather this week. Last time I was in Omaha there was a blizzard and a high temperature of 9 degrees. This time temperatures were in the double digits, despite 45 degrees hardly being considered “warm” and 50 MPH wind gusts hardly constituting a “light breeze.” Luckily, the skies cleared early in the week and the PBA Pepsi Viper Championship began under the most perfect of weather conditions. For golf. Not to say that I was ungrateful for the unseasonable California climate we received, but I’m pretty sure a players' poll on Thursday would have seen the majority voting for 18 holes instead of 14 games.

Ah yes, the 14 game Thursday qualifying. On tour, after a bad week, you simply have to try and convince yourself that next week will be better. Notice I said simply, as though it were really that easy. I was focused and well rested going into Thursday, and actually had a promising morning block. I was tricked by the shape of my ball path on the 38-foot Viper pattern to start, ending up -41 after 3 head-scratching games. Had I opted to not open up my angles and look for hold on the lane, as opposed to searching for more hook, I would have been more successful. I employed that new strategy in games 4 through 7. The result? +115 for 4 games, +74 overall, and a jump into 33rd place, just outside of the cut number.

Now for the night block…that began with the same strategy as I used in the last games of the morning block. 231. Then I hit a bad pair which resulted in 165. I fought and clawed for 5 more grueling games, but just could not manage to keep pace with the field. Unlike last week, my spare shooting was back up to par (see, practice really does make a difference!), but the 3-7-9 is not your ordinary spare…and I became very close friends with it in Omaha.

For those who are wondering why I haven’t addressed the fact that only one left-handed man and two left-handed women made the respective cuts Thursday, it is because I like the steady number of emails I receive now and don’t wish to be flooded with hate mail! Being a left-hander has unique challenges, and bowling has always been full of lefty-righty controversy. The point is this: the argument has raged for decades, and still remains unsolved. I don’t have a solution and certainly don’t want to waste valuable word space trying to devise one. As a lefty you must bowl on what you are given that day, good or bad, shrug off the criticism, cash your check, and move on to next week. It sounds like a straightforward concept, right? I know I have violated that philosophy on more than one occasion, but it remains the truth, like it or not. If you are nodding right now, we can continue; otherwise, I’m sure there will be a “spirited” debate available in the General Discussion Forum on PBA.com.

With the weather holding strong the rest of the week and my bowling (mis)adventure finished, I managed to sneak in a round of golf with my cousin and a few other PBA players, most of whom happened to be left-handed. And considering how much remaining time I had left over until leaving for Indiana, I spent time practicing, and even four-and-a-half minutes on the go-karts. If you haven’t visited Thunder Alley, you are missing out. This place is roughly equivalent to a Costco in size and has every amenity you could possibly want. And did I mention go-karts? Twenty-six thousand square feet of miniature car goodness, added on to a state-of-the-art bowling facility. Even after a rough week, tour life can sometimes be enjoyable.

Finally, speaking of enjoyable, did you catch the show on Sunday? I managed to watch it live at Thunder Alley this week instead of spending the day driving, and was quite impressed at the energy in the building. Congratulations to Brad Angelo and Stefanie Nation for winning their FIRST titles! Two weeks on tour: two historic firsts. I told you this season would be worth being a part of…perhaps I should quit my day job and become a psychic. Nah, I’d better leave that to the professionals. Please continue sending feedback to Andrew@andrewcainbowling.com, and thank you for reading. I must now abandon the road to Omaha in favor of the road to Hammond…see you next week!