Aaron Smith blog: The one-of-a-kind Women's Championships
June 12, 2010
Well, here we are again.
You know, I've seen a lot of bowling over the course of the past 15 months. I know I've said this before, but it's pretty crazy to look at when you write everything down.
Here's my resume for USBC tournaments in that span:
2009 Women's Championships
2009 Queens/Senior Queens
2009 Junior Gold Championships
2009 Youth Open Championships
2010 Masters
2010 Open Championships
2010 Women's Championships
2010 Intercollegiate Team Championships
2010 Queens/Senior Queens
Granted, several of those events were held during the course of a bigger event (like the ITC and Queens during the Women's Championships run this year), but that's still working and covering 11 tournaments in three states and time zones.
I'm not going to lie, that's pretty cool.
So why do I mention this? Because I can truly say, the Women's Championships is the most unique of them all.
The Queens and Masters feature the top bowlers in the world. Both events are tense and have a lot of money at stake. Competitors wear their hearts on their sleeves. The double-elimination match-play formats and three-game series to determine who advances creates a grind like no other for two of the most coveted titles in the sport.
Junior Gold is really tough to describe until you see it in person. There are three different centers and patterns. There are thousands of young ladies and gentleman competing on demanding conditions. I automatically feel old.
Then they reach the final 16 on both the boy's and girl's side. It's absolutely crazy. Go to Indianapolis and watch it for yourself.
The Intercollegiate Team Championships may have been my favorite event so far. Did it help that I had a vested interest in a particular team? Yes. Did it help that I got to watch that team make it to the finals and eventually finish second? Yes. Did it help that people were referring to me as "McLovin'" during the live stream? Yes.
But the teamwork, camaraderie and respect I saw from each team was a refreshing sight. It's good to know that the sport of bowling has plenty of great ambassadors ready to take the game to the next level.
The Youth Open was full of, well, youths. They were everywhere! We had some children as young as 7 and 8 competing! It's great to watch them try so hard at the sport they love. Unfortunately a few tears were shed when results didn't go quite the way they hoped, but it was fun to interact with the new generation of keglers.
The Open has the history. The tournament is drenched in it. I think that's the coolest part by far. I love it. There's a story behind every story. It traces back to 1901. Joe Norris.
That leaves us with the Women's Championships.
Out of all the previous tournaments, the Women's Championships lacks one thing all the others have: the cut-throat attitude that hinges on whether or not one bowls well.
Is it still there? Sure. But would you see someone break out into dance after getting their first strike in their third game of the team event at the Open? Probably not. Would you see the entire team join with her? Definitely not.
I just saw this happen. It was great. There wasn't a person in the general vicinity who wasn't smiling.
I can't tell you how many times I've asked someone how they were bowling to hear the response, "I'm doing terrible." Then I'll ask if they're having fun. The resounding response for that number is usually, "I'm having a great time."
Try that after someone drops a 130 game at the Open. You probably won't get the same response. Masters or Queens? Forget about it. Fuhgeddaboudit! In case you wondered, there are precisely 368,294 ways to spell that.
A few nights ago, during game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, a few teams from Illinois, who also happened to be HUGE Blackhawks fans, were competing during the 6 p.m. squad. That squad happened to coincide with the game. Since that is usually one of my slower times, I volunteered to keep them updated (wait, did I just admit to watching an entire hockey game during work?).
I honestly believe they were more excited when I strolled by their pair to give them an update on the game then what was actually happening on the lanes.
Is that a bad thing to say? I really don't think so. They had a blast (especially when they got the final score). And that's what this tournament is about.
We all want to bowl well. We all want to win in brackets. We all know this won't happen every time. So why do people hinge their entire experience on this? It doesn't make sense! It creates unnecessary stress!
And speaking of unnecessary stress, I have to give some encouragement to USBC Marketing and Ambassador Program Coordinator Andrew Ewig. I forgot to mention him in my last blog as one of our final candidates to knock Matt Cannizzaro off of the top spot on the USBC media/marketing/design team leaderboard at the Open.
My main man, Emil Williams Jr., put up a valiant effort, but finished short of Matt's 1,801 in his tournament debut. So it's up to you, Drew. Win one for the right-handers.
But remember, win, lose or draw, have a good time out there.
You know, I've seen a lot of bowling over the course of the past 15 months. I know I've said this before, but it's pretty crazy to look at when you write everything down.
Here's my resume for USBC tournaments in that span:
2009 Women's Championships
2009 Queens/Senior Queens
2009 Junior Gold Championships
2009 Youth Open Championships
2010 Masters
2010 Open Championships
2010 Women's Championships
2010 Intercollegiate Team Championships
2010 Queens/Senior Queens
Granted, several of those events were held during the course of a bigger event (like the ITC and Queens during the Women's Championships run this year), but that's still working and covering 11 tournaments in three states and time zones.
I'm not going to lie, that's pretty cool.
So why do I mention this? Because I can truly say, the Women's Championships is the most unique of them all.
The Queens and Masters feature the top bowlers in the world. Both events are tense and have a lot of money at stake. Competitors wear their hearts on their sleeves. The double-elimination match-play formats and three-game series to determine who advances creates a grind like no other for two of the most coveted titles in the sport.
Junior Gold is really tough to describe until you see it in person. There are three different centers and patterns. There are thousands of young ladies and gentleman competing on demanding conditions. I automatically feel old.
Then they reach the final 16 on both the boy's and girl's side. It's absolutely crazy. Go to Indianapolis and watch it for yourself.
The Intercollegiate Team Championships may have been my favorite event so far. Did it help that I had a vested interest in a particular team? Yes. Did it help that I got to watch that team make it to the finals and eventually finish second? Yes. Did it help that people were referring to me as "McLovin'" during the live stream? Yes.
But the teamwork, camaraderie and respect I saw from each team was a refreshing sight. It's good to know that the sport of bowling has plenty of great ambassadors ready to take the game to the next level.
The Youth Open was full of, well, youths. They were everywhere! We had some children as young as 7 and 8 competing! It's great to watch them try so hard at the sport they love. Unfortunately a few tears were shed when results didn't go quite the way they hoped, but it was fun to interact with the new generation of keglers.
The Open has the history. The tournament is drenched in it. I think that's the coolest part by far. I love it. There's a story behind every story. It traces back to 1901. Joe Norris.
That leaves us with the Women's Championships.
Out of all the previous tournaments, the Women's Championships lacks one thing all the others have: the cut-throat attitude that hinges on whether or not one bowls well.
Is it still there? Sure. But would you see someone break out into dance after getting their first strike in their third game of the team event at the Open? Probably not. Would you see the entire team join with her? Definitely not.
I just saw this happen. It was great. There wasn't a person in the general vicinity who wasn't smiling.
I can't tell you how many times I've asked someone how they were bowling to hear the response, "I'm doing terrible." Then I'll ask if they're having fun. The resounding response for that number is usually, "I'm having a great time."
Try that after someone drops a 130 game at the Open. You probably won't get the same response. Masters or Queens? Forget about it. Fuhgeddaboudit! In case you wondered, there are precisely 368,294 ways to spell that.
A few nights ago, during game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, a few teams from Illinois, who also happened to be HUGE Blackhawks fans, were competing during the 6 p.m. squad. That squad happened to coincide with the game. Since that is usually one of my slower times, I volunteered to keep them updated (wait, did I just admit to watching an entire hockey game during work?).
I honestly believe they were more excited when I strolled by their pair to give them an update on the game then what was actually happening on the lanes.
Is that a bad thing to say? I really don't think so. They had a blast (especially when they got the final score). And that's what this tournament is about.
We all want to bowl well. We all want to win in brackets. We all know this won't happen every time. So why do people hinge their entire experience on this? It doesn't make sense! It creates unnecessary stress!
And speaking of unnecessary stress, I have to give some encouragement to USBC Marketing and Ambassador Program Coordinator Andrew Ewig. I forgot to mention him in my last blog as one of our final candidates to knock Matt Cannizzaro off of the top spot on the USBC media/marketing/design team leaderboard at the Open.
My main man, Emil Williams Jr., put up a valiant effort, but finished short of Matt's 1,801 in his tournament debut. So it's up to you, Drew. Win one for the right-handers.
But remember, win, lose or draw, have a good time out there.