Wow...What a week!  I'm now firmly back into the daily grind.  However, those that are seeing me for the first time since I returned are all coming up to me and offering their congratulations.  The respect and admiration that people have shown me really means a lot.

As the week went on, a myriad of thoughts went through my mind.  Since my practice session wasn't very crisp the entire time and I had a decent ball reaction, I really didn't take much out of it because of how different the lanes were last year between practice and the tournament.  I was, however, very astute about the characteristics of the various parts of the house.  Right there was a good sign that I was mentally prepared for the upcoming grind.

The first day of the tournament left me feeling uneasy because I didn't feel like I made many really good shots and, while I was making the correct reads on the lanes, I didn't feel like I threw it well.  However, -56 for the block had me feeling a reserved confidence because I knew I left a lot out there.  Boy was I right!

The 2nd round was a bit of a roller coaster.  I started out solidly and then had my worst game of the tourenament to drop to -85.  I started to feel a little pressure which probably led to me throwing away a good pair by only shooting 211.  This was the same mistake I made last year.  I was frustrated because I knew I still had work to do and the lanes were just going to get even drier.  Little did I know that I would get locked in on the next pair and shoot 268, the game of my life.  Now within striking distance of a plus sign, my confidence soared, but I wanted to avoid the letdown that never happened!  After shooting 223 and 185 to finish the block at +3, I knew I was a trouble-free block away from making the cut.

Wednesday night, I could barely sleep.  Worried that I wasn't going to hear the alarm, I asked my girlfriend to give me 6AM wake-up call.  Well, I was so antsy that I woke up first and gave her the wakeup call.  I got to the lanes my customary 45 minutes before my block to make sure my equipment fit and make any necessary adjustments.  The lanes came on at 7:45 and I was remarkably composed and realized very quickly that I had the same look as the day before. This just added more to my confidence.

A couple of bad breaks and slow reads to the transition led to a 186 and a quick return to the minus side.  Emotionally I was fine, but I knew that I had to stop the bleeding quickly, or else I'd start pressing.  Game 2 had me bowling on lanes 1 & 2, where my run last year ended.  I ground out 211 in the transition and got back to even.  At this point, I started thinking that I just wanted to get the games off the schedule.  In game 3, I threw it well, stayed out of trouble, and wound up with 198 due to three 4-pins and two fast 8's.  -2 with 3 games to go and I was starting to sense that I was going to be able to grind my way into the cut.

The 4th game set me at ease as I pounded out 264 to get to +62 and basically a lock to make the cut.  I gave back a few pins in the last two games, but I after making my spare in the 9th frame of the 6th game, a tremendous sense of pride emotion overtook me because I realized that not only was I cashing in the most presitigious PBA event, but I was doing so with rather ease.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy, but I knew that I didn't have to sweat out the entire day on the bubble.

The emotion of what I had just done fully hit me after I signed my scoresheet and put my equipment away.  I started calling my mother and burst into tears.  She didn't answer her phone and I finally talked to my father.  I was so emotional that I could barely talk.  I think I cried for about 20 minutes as I talked to my girlfriend and my coach.  For the next couple of hours, my phone lit up with calls and txt messages from friends that had been tracking my progress online.  Once those emotions subsided, the sense of pride returned and stayed with me for the rest of the day.

I remained in the bowling center for most of the rest of the day rooting for my other friends from this area.  Unfortunately, none of them could muster enough of a ball reaction to join me in Friday's round.  However, all of them supported me throughout the week and I am forever thankful for that support.

Friday's round was simply icing on the cake.  My attitude was that I couldn't lose because if I bowled well, the dream would continue.  Otherwise, I'd get to return home to my friends, girlfriend, and about 80 junior bowlers.  Unfortunately, my legs quit on me during the block, but the pain I was feeling was "happy pain".  I was just soaking in the atmosphere, while cheering on Chris Loschetter as he made it to the top 24.  I think I had a perpetual smile on my face throughout the entire round because for one day, I was one of the best bowlers in the world.

Having cashed on the PBA National Tour, I'm really drained from the nearly 25 years of hard work that I've put in to get there.  All I can think of now is that I have the best group of friends, family, and colleagues that I could ever ask for.  However, the one thing that made the week complete was that first hug from Elisha when I saw her.  After sharing a little time alone, her and I, and several of my closest friends went out for snacks and drinks.  They all toasted my success and we celebrated into the night.  Even though I was in a complete daze and felt like the world was a blur around me, it's a night and week that I'll never forget.

As I mentioned above, the response from everybody has been overwhelming.  Having been asked to put into perspective where this ranks in my bowling career, it's right up there with my National Junior Championship, which I also earned through hard work and dedication.  Where I go from here is anybody's guess.  All I know is that this has been a dream come true and being able to share it with everybody is the most special part.

Thank you again to everybody for your support.  I could have never done it alone. 

I love you all!

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to post an entry for the Casher's Qualifying Round last night, but one of my closest friends came to watch me bowl and then we went out to lunch before I headed home. 

I walked into the center at about 7:45 and found out that I was paired with Chris Loschetter, a regional pro, and a fellow non-member.  I wasn't very intimidated and my outlook was that no matter what happened, I couldn't lose.  Afterall, if I bowled well, I'd get to continue; otherwise, I'd get to go home to my friends and about 80 Saturday morning junior bowlers.  What could be better than that?

Well, I started out and it was good to see that I didn't have anybody on my pair that hooked the ball more than me.  So, the transition should stay under control.  I had a really good look and started with 224 to move to +35.  Knowing that Loschetter and I were playing the lanes almost identically, I was very comfortable.  However, I threw a couple of bad shots in the next game and wound up with 182, followed by an ugly 186.  It was in the third game that the wear and tear of the 4 previous days of bowling finally caught up to me.  My legs simply quit on me and therefore, playing in front of the ball return - where the shot was most of the week - became pretty much impossible with the ball I needed to throw.  The 4th game I had a reaction that I hadn't seen all week and I struggled to 170, my lowest game of the round.  I ground out 180 and 187 the next two games after switching to a ball that I could at least get through the heads with minimal effort.  Unfortunately, the ball didn't do much on the backend.  Regardless, if there was a such thing as happy pain, I was experiencing it.  I had cashed in a PBA National event and was watching Chris Loschetter make the lanes look easy while running to the Top 24.

I was bound and determined to go down fighting and remain in the top 100.  That's exactly what I did.  I mustered 222, 194, and 206 in my last 3 games to finish the tournament at -35, 79th place.  Despite shooting -49 for my 9 games, I finished one spot higher than I had started the day.

I could continue this post, but it would get really long because of my reflections of this week.  However, I will post them in a separate column for all of you to read.

Cheers!