Pepsi/Viper Open
     Hello again, here is the rundown of how the tournament in Omaha went last week.
     We bowled on the Viper pattern, which was recently changed to a 38 foot pattern.  The big difference from last week was the surface was much better, and we saw much more push through the front part of the lane.  This also created more hang down the lane, especially once the lanes were run a few more times.  It doesn’t matter how clean they say the lanes get, it seems as the week goes on, the true nature of the pattern comes out.
     I started with a Bounty for the first game, and had a decent look with it.  We did see some quick transitions through the fronts, and this ball seemed a little strong.  The next game I went to the new Maniac, and was able to stay farther right and bowled a great game.  When I say farther right, it was only around 7-8, and not giving too much of the pocket away.  There was no way to get anything back from the gutter.  I pretty much stayed with this ball for the rest of the block.  One encouraging thing was that the scoring pace was much slower than most of last year.  I hope this is a sign of how the year might be.  I don’t think too many of the exempt guys last year liked feeling like you had to bowl 240 every game to keep pace.  The cut number spent most of the block hovering between 10 and 40 over.  At the end of the block, the number went up a bunch once the hook guys started to get better reaction.
     The second block started off with even more hang to the right, and a little more hook in the middle.  I was able to grind out a 220 game using an Nkryption Code to start.  The next pair we came to, everyone started deep, and the out seemed really tricky.  I moved in with a Black Break, and found a pretty good look to the pocket.  I bowled pretty solid between 200 and 220 the first five games.  The pace started the same, not going up more than 20 pins in the first four games.  I was struggling with carry, and kept trying to find a solution that would open the pocket up.  In the fifth game, the hook guys started coming on strong again and the number spiked about 40 pins.  I tried to make an aggressive move, and move in and start hooking it with my Break S75.  That was the wrong pair to try that on, and I bowled a 150 game.  I was crossing with Pete Weber, and he was going through the same carry problems I was.  He bowled a 150 game on the same pair.  There were definitely some tricky pairs out there.  Now I  backed up closer to the cut number, and had to try something.  I moved a little farther right closer to the track, and went back to my Nkryption Code, and a softer hand through the bottom.  I bowled a 250 game and made the cut.
     We bowled a modified round robin format this week.  I started off with a shiny Bounty.  I wanted to try a different strategy, and try to hook it a little more in the morning.  I bowled a pretty strong 220 game, and I thought I might have the right idea.  The big thing we saw all day was a lot of carry down, and it was hard to keep getting the ball off the spot the right way.  It was really easy to throw it by the break point on Friday.  I saw just as many guys shooting a spare that involved a 2-pin, as much as corner pins.  I went through a lot of different balls trying to find a ball that would keep me in play.  They were so different pair to pair that you couldn’t expect to play them close.  The end of the block, I was able to get a decent look with a Heist, and played pretty deep.  It was a little too late, and I missed the cut to the top 16.
     It was a pretty good week overall, and I look forward to next week in Hammond.  We’re using the pattern that was used in the Dick Weber Open from last year.  This is alternating strips of oil and dry.  I would expect a lower pace again, but you never know.

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