Eight-time PBA Tour champion and 2015 U.S. Open winner Ryan Ciminelli is a guy who often says he wears his heart on his sleeve as a PBA Tour player. It is safe to say he wears his heart on his sleeve in this interview, too. This is one of the most forthcoming and candid conversations you'll ever hear on this podcast.

Ciminelli is at times brutally honest about the many factors that contributed to his July 6 announcement that he is retiring from full-time tour competition to pursue a steadier job in his other passion, which is construction management.

He opens up here about the PBA Tour achievements he is proudest of, and also about things he said and did that he wishes he could have back. He is honest about when and why his mind went to some very dark places on tour. What it was like to wait out long dry spells--the anxiety that at times almost was too much to bear, the gnawing self-doubt.

He also expresses the hope that his days in the winners' circle on tour are not done, even while his opportunities to contend for titles now will be fewer and farther between as he embarks on a different career path.

What you get from Ciminelli here is as honest a self-assessment as one can ask of a professional athlete. You're not going to want to miss a word of this conversation. Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/user-658733792/podcast-ryan-ciminelli-on-why-he-retired-from-full-time-pba-tour-competition