well, here's my report from raytown. when i found out "a" squad was on the lanes from 8am till 1:15pm i knew i was in for a long day. "b" squad started right on time at 2:30pm. laurel lanes has 16 lanes and there were 5 bowlers on a pair. during shadow balls i tried my brunswick fury( 4,000 abralon )and my best look on the cheetah pattern( 35' ) was a down and in shot straight down 3. i could miss to the right a little and it would come back. a slight pull resulted in some hold.

the guardian overlay has a reputation for causing balls to burn up early and it's true. after 3 games( 190's, 220's, 210's )i had to put the fury away. the reaction from the guardian fooled me. i saw the ball not coming up to the pocket and i told myself the lanes had tightened up----wrong, the ball was burning up. i wasted several frames with a morich awesome hook ( 1,000 abralon ) to get more hook and all i got was hook and quit. my brunswick bvp rampage( 2,000 abralon + brunswick polish )came out of the bag and this was just what i needed. good length and plenty of backend. i had several good games and several bad games with this ball.

this ball also started burning up and out came my brunswick bvp punisher ( 4,000 abralon + rough buff + brunswick polish. this got me back on track but by now( game 7 ) there was so much early friction i failed to move in soon enough and was left behind. i finished with 1,591---- -9 for the day. low man to make it to sunday was +43.

i finished where i deserved. i was disappointed with my spare shooting----i missed a 7 pin, a 10 pin, chopped the 2-5, and chopped the 2-4-5-7. this was not a good spare shooting day for me. i also don't think i threw the ball that well. my neck and back are showing signs of needing a much deserved rest. i'm happy to report that i had no gutterballs playing almost the entire day outside the first arrow. i got to talk to jeff carter for only a minute and he too expressed his displeasure with guardian. i talked to steve jaros a lot as he was next to me the whole day. he's very friendly and personable----the pba needs more players like he and jeff carter.

i'm hoping that this post will help others  when they venture out to the regional level .

Edited on 4/21/2007 10:52 PM