Welcome back to the world of Andrew’s Angle! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and trust that all of my faithful readers are ready for an action-packed 2009. Ah, the new year. Although 2008 started out with a bang (securing my first exemption on Tour), it ended with a whimper (missing the cut in Baltimore, driving a solo cross-country trip home, and ending somewhere in the mid 50s in the points race). Fortunately, the nearly three week break was spent entirely at home, and I had plenty of time to relax and recharge.

To fully wrap up the first half on Tour, let me briefly share with you three concrete facts discovered about life as a professional bowler:

1) The learning curve is steep. Wait, that’s not entirely accurate – it’s vertical. As a junior (and well into my amateur career) bowler, I found it easy to get better. Improvement was exponential with every little tidbit of knowledge that I came across. I started thinking about how good I was, how once I learned all there was to know about bowling, I would be unstoppable. Of course I had no delusions about how difficult the journey would be, but nothing really prepares you for the reality of Tour until you experience it for yourself. Think about it like NASCAR. Everyone knows the wall is there, but nobody knows how much it hurts until they hit it. Anybody who tells you otherwise without having experienced it for themselves is simply blowing smoke up your…well, you get the point. Moving on…

2) You are not the worst bowler in the world. I’m sure my father will be very happy and amused to hear me say this. After all, he got me started in this crazy game and has been through every agonizing moment during the times I failed. I’m pretty sure that after all the countless rants I have subjected him to over the years he has earned an honorary degree in psychology. Who saw Rocky Balboa? Even though the one with Mr. T is my favorite (I think that was Rocky III?), the latest installment had one of the best quotes. In the movie, Rocky tells his son, “Life ain’t all sunshine and rainbows…You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” Sure, everyone doubts. Every week on Tour, 32 guys miss the cut on Thursday. Some simply wonder why it keeps happening and some just wonder why it had to happen this week. But all 64 of us move on and get ready for the next week in Denver, Reno, or Indianapolis. Why? Because that’s how winning is done.

3) If you choose to drive on Tour, look out for I-40. The drivers are nuts. I used to think that driving around L.A. and Chicago was nerve-wracking and headache-inducing. But the 2500+ miles of multi-lane asphalt proved me wrong. Usually the biggest problems on highways are the people who drive in the left lane but aren’t passing anyone (you know who you are!). Not here…the biggest problem on I-40 is making sure you don’t get run off the road by drivers who seem to think the Cannonball Run was resurrected.

Luckily, the holiday break wasn’t all dwelling on what I learned and where I went wrong. I spent a lot of time with family and friends for Christmas and New Years, and managed to get quite a few jobs done around the house. We celebrated our first Christmas in our new home, and I got to enjoy some of the awesome apple pie that my wife baked. Aside from the fun and games, perhaps the most ambitious task I undertook was working in the backyard. Since leaving in October, the bougainvillea which came with our house had grown to towering heights and needed to be trimmed a little. If you are unfamiliar with the plant, just imagine a super-sized climbing hedge/vine with thorns the size of small pocket knives. I am not sure what possesses people to install this beastly greenery, but I would have been happier with a nice fruit tree or a tiny shrub.

In addition to being a poor gardener, I did spend quite a bit of time on the lanes reworking my swing and honing my bowling skills for the second half. A friend once told me not to give up, and that it definitely wasn’t too late for things to change. That is as true for life as it is for bowling, and I made an early New Year’s resolution to step up to the plate in the second half (remember the Rocky quote?). Although I work really hard on making Andrew’s Angle an enjoyable read every Wednesday, I suspect that making a few cuts and bowling better will provide some more interesting insight into the life of a pro bowler. As I put my game face on for the homestretch, please continue to send comments or criticism to Andrew@andrewcainbowling.com, and thanks for reading!