2013 USBC Open Championship

It's 5:01 AM PDT, and I'm in my room at the Sands Regency in Reno, Nevada, logged in to look at work emails for the bargain price of $12.99.

That's for the WiFi, not the room.  The room was a nice $32 even after taxes, but I only stayed the one night, because the Friday and Saturday night rates were much higher.  So I opted for the cheaper, in every meaning of the word, Motel 6 for the first two nights of my trip.

After getting about 3 hours of low-quality sleep, thinking about having to pack, check out, check in for my flight, and return the rental car, I decided that as long as I'm going to get poor sleep, no sleep can't be much worse, and perhaps I'll get a few productive things done. So I went through my "urgent" work e-mails and other tasks, but not until after reconsidering what items I consider "urgent" from my hotel room at 5:01 on my day off.

I figured I might as well instead blog about the Open Championship bowling tournament I just completed, my third now, and best so far ('though still not quite where I want to be). I will get some money back, although certainly not enough to pay for next year's entry fee again. I just about broke even in the brackets department; a 136 to start doubles kept it from being profitable.

Before I post the scores, here are the top good and bad takeaways from this year:

- I'm getting better at reading lanes.  I just need to do them more quickly.
- I also need to know my equipment better as far as what each ball will do in comparison to each other.
- Spare shooting still needs improvement.  This will be, and I mean it this time (no, really I do), a top priority over the summer and next year.
- Another priority will be to work on hand positions at release.
- As much fun as I had this year, being on a team of ten guys who are all on the same "page" will be a goal of mine. Next year would be nice, but it may take more time than that.
- Consistent with what I think about my league bowling, I need to better focus in the earlier frames of my games.

To that last point, consider these stats for my nine games:

Open Frames: 18
Open Frames after the 5th frame: 7
Of the 7 open frames, amount in the 136 game: 3
Of the 7 open frames, number in the 11th frame (and thus, not critical): 2

So except for the 136, I'm pleased with how I was able to "hunker down" to get the most of my games despite some rough starts. I was also generally pleased with my ability to focus on most of my shots.  The goal of course is 100%...someday.

OK, enough geek stuff, here's the image of every game, frame-by-frame, from the opening nerve-induced three-count (which I converted), to the closing missed spare, that even though I just got done saying wasn't critical, it did cost me $7.50 in brackets, as I ended up tying one of them.

One thing I can't figure out: An asterisk on the sheet means it was a split. So why, in game two of my singles event, is there an asterisk before my strike in the tenth frame? Perhaps readers from the bowling community can help me out with that.

Bowling balls and fortified candy bars

My equpiment is all set, and the latest changes to my game are in place, so all that is left is the packing and anticipation. I look for a much better USBC Open Championship than last year's debacle in Baton Rouge. Team event is Saturday the 27th; S&D on Sunday.

Yes, I've bought new equipment before.  Yes, I've made changes to my game before.  So I will not post on those until after I return from Reno.

I'm munching on a MetRX protein bar right now, and will be packing plenty for my trip. I'm trying to budget well, so I won't be doing to many traditional meals in Reno.  Although it's a relatively expensive bar at $3.49 at my company store and other convenience stores, Walmart carries them for $1.98/bar.  Cheaper than Micky D's in Reno for sure.

Hard to believe MetRx has been around for over 20 years now.  So many supplement companies come and go, primarily because people eventually realize the latest and greatest is nothing but the same stuff (or no more effective than the stuff) that other companies are selling.

I've seen so many of these companies come and go, and many of them went with some of my money.  Cybergenics. Hot Stuff. Weider, back when he was king. EAS is barely hanging on, or so it seems.

I like protein bars only for the convenience.  It's too inconvenient to get my daily intake of protein, so there you go. But I do laugh at the mere thought of them selling what is basically a fortified candy bar, or clump of cookie dough in the case of my personal favorite offering.

When MetRx first came out, it was as a powder that came in two parts, perfectly formulated so that you mix them together to form the perfect food and only supplement you would ever need. My bullshit detector was not as sharp back then, so I only questioned to myself casually why, if this was the perfect combination of milk and whey protein, was it OK per the directions to mix it with either water or milk?

Anyway, now it's a sugar-sweetened clump of cookie dough, so perhaps the original product wasn't so perfect after all.  And of course, Bill Phillips, of Body-for-Life fame, who co-promoted the product, spun off his own company and competitive product (EAS/Myoplex), and touted his as the superior product. My naivete of yesteryear was a trigger point to future financial issues.  I bought over $500 of the stuff on a credit card, back when I was a rookie DJ making $6/hour.  I justified it by kidding myself into believing I would hardly need any other solid food, so the cost would be offset somewhat. The credit card balance would grow and grow for more than just a few years, and led to some seriously lean and turbulent times ahead for me and my soon-to-be first wife.

I have never tried, nor intend to try, recreational/anabolic steroids, but I've spent many a dollar trying to find the perfect natural supplement.  Hint: It doesn't exist.  I still like to try new products, but more for the convenience of them, and the workout energy. Nothing works anywhere close to steroids - a lesson I wish I had fully learned many years and dollars ago.

Time to Start Living Vicariously

In less than two weeks, I will take a trip to Reno, Nevada, to bowl in the USBC Open Championship, where if all goes well, I will win back a portion of my $180 entry fee, to help take the sting out of a $1000 extended weekend.

I've been told by friends and family that I have a wide array of talents, bowling being one of them.  I don't think I'll sound too lacking in humility to say that they are, to some degree, correct.

I am "good" at a lot of things.  I'm "great" at nothing.

My family, on the other hand, is loaded with talent. My older sister the valedictorian and musician, my younger one the actress.  Real life got in the way of their dreams, but they have more talent than I could hope to.

I also have five talented children.  My son the rock drummer and aspiring producer. My daughter, who is already hearing from Ivy League schools in her sophomore year in high school.  My other daughter the dancer. My younger sons, who are already showing the gifts that their older siblings have.

I have a cousin who is an amazing freehand artist, his brother a former pro ballplayer and three-sport star, their father the former pro football player and current German League champion coach. I have another cousin who owns multiple patents, and currently markets an amazing hunting product (deer attractant), which has allowed him to do such things as hunt with Ted Nugent. (He can jam at the guitar nearly as good as Ted as well.)

It's a little depressing to know that you're too old for your dreams of yesteryear.  My remedy will be to create new dreams.  And to live vicariously. Anyway...

Not the least of my talented family members are my parents, both doctorates and both having risen to the highest levels of their chosen professions.

Even at the second cousin level, I have one who is a D-1 college golfer. I have a first cousin, once-removed, who is a D-1 hockey player.  (Oh, and before I forget, my wife was a D-1 swimmer.)

And lastly, but not leastly, I have another first cousin, once-removed, who is presently at the doorstep of bona fide stardom.  She started just from a desire to learn songs, some four years ago.  Now age 13, she's won talent shows, including the Minnesota State Fair pre-teen finals, and has developed quite a following on the Internet.

Below is a link to her recent release; written and recorded at the age of 12. That's not a typo.

I hope to share more of my talented family in future posts. I said "lastly" above, but there are some I didn't even mention.  It's precisely this breadth of talented family that allows me to say that I am indeed good at many things, yet without feeling braggadocious about it.  With the level of talent I'm surrounded by daily, saying I'm merely "good" at something is basically admitting inferiority.

(I'll still shamelessly brag about my kids, however.)

Enjoy.

Josie Nelson - Never Again

Tenpin Daycare

I promised a friend that I would make a long post about equipment advances in sports such as bowling, softball, and golf, and this was about two months ago.  Still haven't done it yet.  I've touched on the subject more than once, but still fell like I have a lot left to share for anyone who cares to read about it. It will have to wait a little more, but I'm hoping to do it within the next couple of weeks, or at least for sure when I have some down-time in Reno at the end of April.

For now, I just have a few bowling comments, as I was feeling nostalgic tonight.  Not about old Yellow Dots and Black Beauties, but rather something that was a sign of the times in more than one way: bowling alley nurseries.

My first memory of a bowling alley was being walked by my babysitter/day care provider to the bowling center's nursery, and seeing the pins in the distance. I was practically hooked on the game right then and there.

League bowling was popular enough back then, and enough women were homemakers, to make it work. The bowling alley I worked at in the early/mid-eighties had such a nursery, run by Vivian. I used the crib mattress in it once in between my college classes and league time.

As radical (laughable? ridiculous?) as it may sound today, I think the concept could work again. Perhaps bowling center proprietors would fear liability too much, but assuming that could be worked out with insurance or what have you (waivers?), I don't see why it couldn't be popular again.  Sure, not as much as it once was, nowhere near in fact, and not necessarily during weekdays. But if a couple of centers in a given Metro area offered it, I think it would have a chance, and here's why:

1) Bowling centers in states with indoor smoking bans, like Minnesota, are child-friendly now
2) Thanks in large part to #1, but other factors as well, bowling centers don't have the seedy "bowling alley" reputation of yesteryear
3) Every-other week leagues, or shorter seasons, could help remedy the big problem most people who are turned off by league bowling complain about, and that is the time commitment required

I'm sure I could think of a few more.  Perhaps my readers who are into bowling could chime in with a few as well.

Bowling Update

To date, I haven't talked too much of my bowling season, either here, Facebook, among work colleagues, etc., because it was, for a while, going horribly.  But I've averaged 228 over my last 7 weeks, raising my average to 213.

Yep, that's how bad it was going.  203 at the low point.

The changes I made started to pay dividends, spare shooting has improved, and now I'm genuinely excited for the trip to Reno because I am having some work done on my equipment.  I am also shopping for a new ball.

I have no illusion that I'll shoot for an Eagle, or even profit from the trip.  But I'd like to think my chances of cashing in some events is much better now than a few months ago.

The thing I find interesting about my equipment changes is that, for the first time since reaching adulthood, I will be narrowing my span by about a quarter inch.  I tested a ball today with a span about 3/8 inch less span than mine, and it went great.  Oddly, no loss in revs, a natural increase in speed, and a nice, effortless roll off my fingers were the results.  Not to mention 8 strikes in 12 shots starting cold.

It's sad that I've been self-taught so many years.  Had I sought the advice of a pro (and this goes for golf, too), I probably would have discovered long ago that a wider span does not necessarily equate to a better, more powerful roll. Yes, to some degree, as compared to a conventional grip, it does.  But there is a point of diminishing returns where one has to start squeezing more and work harder for no better results.

At nearly 47 years of age, I'm glad to know that I can still learn (quite) a few things.  But it's embarrassing some of the things that I should have learned long ago.  And it's a bit upsetting to think that stubbornness and/or whatever else causes me to always want to be self-taught has cost me several years of better results, and the enjoyment that comes with them.

Trying Trifocals

Before yesterday, I hadn't worn prescription eyeglasses since my son or sons destroyed my previous pair. I don't recall whether it was my now-five-year-old or now-seven-year-old, but no matter, I now have a new pair.

They are trifocals of the modern type: no lines. So far?  I hate them.  The mid-range I have no use for.  The long range is only on the top of the frame, so, for example, when I was looking down at the bottom shelf in the grocery store, I still couldn't read anything, because I was looking through the bottom part of the lenses.  So it means I often have to tilt my head awkwardly to see what I'm trying to see.

The bottom part is useless as well.  These are the typical smaller-type frames that are most common today, and thus, if I need to read a prescription bottle up close, I could easily find a sight-line below the frames.  My close-up vision is perfect without lenses.  When I wear contacts, I need readers.

What's more, even though they are without lines, there is a very small "window" through which I can read the close-up things. My face has to be nearly perfectly square to the object I'm reading or focusing on.  When I read from a magazine, I actually have to move my head with the printed lines.

I'm giving them a few days like they told me to, but I'm not optomistic (see what I did there?).

I only hope I can get at least some of my money back.  The one other annoying thing was that when deciding what to get for glasses, I asked how much this pair with all the frills would cost after insurance.  The number the lady quoted me was modest, so I was pleased.  No fewer than three times, however, during our discussion and her reading of the features, she discovered a cost she omitted.  They ended up costing more than twice as much out-of-pocket as she originally said.  

It was the old boiling frog bit; each increase was minor enough as she discovered it that I just said, "That's fine."  Had she said the correct price from the get-go, I'm sure I would have said no to them. But by the time she did get to the correct price, I was so excited to get these specs with all the cool features, that I wasn't turning back.

I wish I had. My neck is stiff just from the short time I've typed this post thanks to these damned things.

Flu Season

The hype around flu season this year is no exaggeration, at least if my family and acquaintances are any indication.  My wife got the flu shot this past fall.  No help - earlier this month she got the flu.

I again did not get a flu shot this season.  I haven't had a full-blown flu since my first year in law school, ten years ago, a flu which knocked me out for a week and got my WRAP (Writing, Representing, and Presenting) professor a little anxious as he awaited the completion of one of my longer writing assignments. I can typically work sick, but not that week.

I should say I hadn't had the full-blown flu since then. My wife says I have a great immune system.  I admit it's better than hers, and I used to think it was pretty great, but not only do I seem to catch something at least once/year now, albeit typically small and short-lived, I also got the full-blown flu this year.  Apparently I'm not quite the antibody host I perhaps once was. I've also heard that this is a different strand, which might explain why she got it despite getting the shot, and why I couldn't fight it as well as I've become accustomed to.

Certainly I was being foolish thinking I could get by sharing the bed with my sick wife.  Last time I picked up flu-like symptoms, they lasted about 24 hours.  This one began two days after she got it, and it lasted about six full days.

So then, my 7-year old comes into our bed yesterday morning with a fever.  Oh-oh.  Thankfully, it seems to have been short-lived, as it was gone, and without medicine, by early this afternoon.  Perhaps he has an immune system superior to mine.

Hopefully, so does his 5-year-old brother, with whom he shared the same bed the couple of days prior to him getting the fever.  They like to do that every now and then.  The little one is the only one in the household to date who hasn't caught it. Of course my concern first and foremost is for his health, but it is also concerning that my wife and I have used up almost all of our sick time for 2013, and we've only just finished the first month.