Team USA's Edwards, Janawicz blog from Guatemala
May 20, 2010
Today, three-time Team USA members Brenda Edwards and John Janawicz wrap up their blog from Guatemala City after concluding their experience at the 2010 Pan American Championship of the Champions tournament with a Gold medal in Mixed Doubles. The event was the first competition on the schedule for Team USA 2010, which recently visited Arlington, Texas, for the first Team USA training camp to be held at the International Training and Research Center.
FINAL DAY
Brenda Edwards
Blogamala…Masters Events, Singles and Doubles, Thursday, May 19, 2010: Metrobowl, Guatemala City, Guatemala
As I write this, I am sitting in the Aurora Airport in Guatemala City, waiting for my 6:55 AM flight to depart. It is now 9:06 AM, and our flight is still not scheduled to depart for almost two hours. The agent downstairs (when we checked in at 4:15 AM) mentioned something about the plane being late last night and the crew having to log their eight hours of rest. I guess I’m good with the crew having the proper amount of rest before we go fly at 35,000 feet for a few hours. Coach Stephen and I said good-bye to JJ as his plane left about 7:20 and a happy satisfaction came over me as I began to reflect upon this event.
Yesterday was the Masters Events; that is the match play portion of the top eight individuals, and mixed doubles teams. It is set up bracket style for both events with the top seed bowling the eighth seed, the two seed bowling the seven seed, and so on. For singles, I was the four seed, and was matched against Marie Ramirez from Costa Rica. Marie is a good player; she throws it pretty hard and straight, and seemed to stay out of a lot of trouble during the tournament. The long story short (because I want to get to the good stuff), I lost to her in three games. She won the first game, I won the second, and she won the third. Once again, the long pattern was not my friend. It happens like that sometimes. Pins don’t fall your way and events don’t turn out like you pictured in your head. You learn from the mistakes you made and move on . . . so I did.
JJ was still in the men’s side of the bracket, so I went to watch him. He won his first match against Guatemala in two straight games. His second match came down to the tenth frame in both games, and JJ prevailed against the bowler from Ecuador. In the title match he was matched against Luis from Venezuela. JJ gave it a great effort, but couldn’t overcome Luis. He brought home a silver medal for the USA in Men’s Masters. I’m sure there will be more details about the matches in his blog.
With the Masters Event over for the singles portion, we moved on to the Mixed Doubles Masters. We had the three seed based on our Doubles All-Events score. Thus we were matched against the six seed, Costa Rica. All we had to do was win this one match and we would be playing in the medal round. I desperately wanted to bowl well in at least one event. I felt like I had been throwing the ball well all week, but missing the match up the lanes were giving. I always seemed to be off with my angles, or ball selection…something. JJ and I talked before the match, and he had a strategy for this match. We were getting 10 minutes of practice before we started, and he wanted to use his sanded urethane on the long pattern up about the 2nd arrow in order to burn up a spot for us to use. My look had been terrible on this pattern all week, and by doing this, it would allow both of us to stay further right and play to our strengths, rolling the ball to the spot. I chose to do the same thing, and sanded my Brunswick Wild Card with the pin down no less than four times during practice so as to help JJ with this mission. Let’s just say it worked well for us.
The short lane was playing much tighter than usual for the week, and I started the match kind of unsure of my reaction. As game one started, I was a bit lost until Coach Stephen, JJ and I talked and decided it would be best to use the same ball I was using on the long on the short as well. All I can say is, GREAT CALL. I ended up using my Brunswick Wild Card with the pin under the ring finger and large hole, surface at 1000 on both lanes. I was playing the long pattern pretty much right up 10-11, and the short pattern up about 4-5. I had to stay very aggressive on both lanes for this to work, but there was nothing to lose, no tomorrow to look forward to. Our mission was GOLD, and that would be all we would settle for.
Costa Rica won the first game. They had some good carry on their side, and even though our 410 score would have won every other match in the center, their 485 was beyond what we could get to that game. Game 2, on the other hand was a different story. My carry for what seemed like the first time all week was great. It felt amazing to be able to pull my weight, and know that when I stepped up on the lane I had a consistent reaction. That alone loosened up the arm swing, and allowed me to finally put a string of strikes together. JJ did as well, and we prevailed in game two, 477-393. Game three went much the same way, as JJ put up 244, and I added 236, for 480-374 victory.
That meant Team Mexico was next, and their female, Aseret Zetter was coming off winning Masters Gold for the women. I knew she had a good look on both patterns early all week. Their male bowler Isi Eskenazy is a talented left-hander that attends Wichita State. Again, I knew that we were going to have to be focused and hungry. Game 1, again on a fresh pair (with only three minutes of practice), was touchy for Team USA. Both JJ and I kind of struggled to get the exact look we needed. We lost the first game 419-473. But again, being patient was on our side. We knew from the last match that the lanes would open up and come our way in transition. So, we filled frames the first game, and watched ball reaction closely. Communication between JJ, myself and Coach Stephen was crucial. Making the right move on the lanes for me, and making the right ball choices for JJ was the key to our success. We were correct in knowing the lanes would come to us. Both JJ and I put up a pair of 240 games, for a 488-371 win. The match even, we went to a deciding game three. In game three, I experienced a bit of transition. It wasn’t to the point that I lost the pocket, but I couldn’t find the right combination of hand position and alignment for optimal carry. So, I spared them to death the third game. My 202, and JJ’s 245 were enough to post a 447-384 win. Can I just stress the importance of spares to all of the young bowlers out there? Spares are exactly what kept us in this match. Strikes will inevitably come to all bowlers. Many times the difference in winning and losing, comes down to mere pins. Making every one of your spares will keep you in almost any event.
That win put us in the GOLD medal match against a strong Venezuelan team. Patricia De Feria and Luis Olivo both had much success this week. They are both on the PABCON team representing our zone in the Federation Team Cup event in Barcelona in July. Luis had won the Gold medal in Men’s Masters, so we knew once again the foot had to be on the gas. Let me say that I don’t think I have ever been in a more crowded and hot settee area. There were no less than three cameras, two more still photographers, coaches for each team, and players. Many times I turned around to try to get back to where Coach Stephen was standing, and couldn’t get there because of all of the people. It is great to see bowling garner so much publicity from around the world.
Again, we had only three minutes of practice, so even though we couldn’t really burn in a spot, JJ did use his sanded urethane to attempt to try to get the spot started. It was enough for me. We finally managed to win a game one, 423-416. Luis left a big four in ninth frame that gave us a window to sneak out the win. The second game saw the advent of transition for both JJ and I, as well as a tremendous amount of bad carry for us. With Patricia throwing it great and being locked on the pocket we were in a bit of trouble. She shot 253, to propel Team Venezuela to the second game win, 465-425. The motto that game for us was ‘stay hot’.
So here we were…one game, 12 shots for each of us to achieve a goal: GOLD. Once again, I spared. A LOT. I hit the pocket A LOT, and made all my spares. JJ ran away with a 245, and the GOLD was ours. 457-347. I’m sorry I can’t recount more of the final game. I remember almost falling over the ball return on an adjacent pair running out a shot (which didn’t even strike), and yelling 'A LOT!' The rest of it went by so fast that it is hard to explain. Take all of your emotions, all of your love, passion, dedication, and pride for this sport, put USA on the back of your shirt and step onto the approach knowing that a Gold Medal is on the line. The pride of your teammates, coaches, family, friends, etc. All of that is a part of the match. It was an amazing experience, one that I learned so much from, and one that has inspired me to get back to work on my game and my fitness level. I cannot wait to set foot back on American soil and tell the stories to my friends and family. I also want to send heartfelt congratulations to all the competitors at the Championship of the Champions. Every participant, whether a medal winner or not, has much to be proud of in their performances and sportsmanship during this event.
All in all, although we didn’t achieve all of the goals we set for this event, I would still consider it a success. We heard the National Anthem played at the closing ceremonies for us. We made new friends and reconnected with ones we hadn’t seen in quite a while. I tasted new cuisine and learned new customs in greeting and congratulating people. I am mentally and physically exhausted at this point, and my body is screaming at me for some rest. But it is such a good tired. It is the feeling of satisfaction, mixed in with a hunger of challenges yet to come. Thanks to everyone who followed the blog this week, and for all of the good wishes sent to Guatemala.
Who do we play for…U S A!
John Janawicz
Well, it was Masters day, Individual Masters and then Mixed (Doubles) Masters. The format is the best two out of three and the lane conditions were the same as the day before (left lane long, right lane short). I got the Silver Medal for the Individual Masters but I felt kind of fortunate to get there. I bowled Andres Herrera from Guatemala and I was fortunate that he never really got lined up and I caught a couple of three-baggers in the right spots to beat him 2-0.
I then bowled Diogenes Saverio from Ecuador. Frankly, he should’ve beat me 2-0. He could’ve shut me out with a strike in the tenth on the long pattern lane and threw a great shot and left a pocket 8-10. I then needed to strike on the first ball for the win and got it. I knew I needed some count and since I was playing about 13-3 with the Rapid Fire Pearl I wasn’t going to chance one going in the moat considering I almost did so earlier in the game, so I chucked the spare ball down the middle and left the 2-4-5-7. I obviously didn’t do the math real well because I still needed two for the win . . . doh! I did make the spare for the 218-215 win though.
The next game I struck out from the ninth to shoot 217 to make him mark in the tenth. He was one the short-pattern lane for the tenth and he hadn’t missed that lane all game…until the tenth where he left the 4-6-7-10. I managed to escape another 2-0 victory even Diogenes actually out-bowled me for most of those games. Good thing I carried that Brooklyn in the 11th, huh?
I then bowled Luis Olivo for the Masters Gold and frankly it wasn’t really even close. He bowled two solid games of 223 and 235 and he only missed the pocket like twice. I put up an intimidating 187 and 166 for the cheese. I couldn’t hit the left lane to save my life. I was still playing the lanes inside of 18 and had early hook and then I went away it was either flat-10 or 2-pin. My ball did seem to have a radar-lock on the 4-6-7-10 which I think I left 3 times in the two games on the left lane. At least my spare game was good, otherwise the matches would’ve been over in the 6th frame. Congrats to Luis for winning the Gold. He deserved it.
We were now going into the Mixed Masters which was the same format, best two out of three total pins. I told Brenda and Coach Stephen that I needed to try something different especially since my reaction wasn’t real great on the long, especially today since I saw Luis basically never miss the pocket against me in the Men’s Masters Finals (Luis throws the ball pretty straight). I told them that I was going to play closer toward 10 on the long and use surface to get the ball to start up and if anything this strategy will allow the lane to develop better for us if the matches have to go three games. I mean I’ve got 170-ball reaction on the long, why not try something different? Being Mixed Masters we were both bowling full games so there would be more lineage and more transitions. We both had pretty good reaction on the short patterns so we weren’t going to change anything there.
The strategy worked out well and we bowled well….the only problem was our opponents managed to shoot at least one 465+ game at us for each of our three matches so every match went the full three games. I was really proud of Brenda. She didn’t have good ball-reaction all week but she really stepped up for the Mixed Masters and bowled great for all of the matches and averaged close to 220 for the day which really took a lot of pressure off of me.
The Gold Medal match against Venezuela was a great one. We escaped a narrow 423-416 victory in game one. Venezuela then promptly shot a 465 against our 425 to set up a game three. Venezuela was actually playing the long pattern deeper than us. Both Patricia and Luis were in around 20 and Brenda was close to 15-16 at the arrows with a slight swing while I was doing the “dump and run” right up the 12-13 board. Well, transition hit Venezuela the last game and they got trapped hitting the nose and then the ball wouldn’t hit when they tried to go away from the pocket and our part of the lane held up fortunately and we were able cruise to our first Gold Medal with a 457-347 victory. It was great to come away with one Gold medal for the event and it was especially gratifying being a Mixed Masters Gold Medal to be able to share with Brenda. We worked really well all day together and I had a great time.
I was a little tired only getting 2 ½ hours of sleep before having to get up to catch the airport shuttle, but I did sleep a little on the plane at least. It’s good to be home. Time to do laundry and get ready to bowl a big tournament in Orlando tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the blogs!
Day 4
Blogamala...Mixed Doubles, Metro Bowl, Guatemala
I will start this blog entry with dinner last night. Where else do you go for dinner in Guatemala City, Guatemala for amazing food? You are probably thinking somewhere with corn, chiles, beans, maybe even a tamale or two. But no, Team USA (namely JJ and Coach Stephen) had a hankering for sushi. Yes, sushi in Guatemala. I was a bit skeptical, as I always get a little nervous when raw fish is involved. But, a quick taxi ride later we arrived at Sushi Itto. Here in Guatemala the people eat dinner later than we do in the states. So, when we arrived at 5:40 PM, we were the third, fourth, and fifth people in the restaurant. The other two ladies sitting in the corner were enjoying some white wine. Upon listening, they were also obviously Americans as well. We all found it a bit amusing that all of the patrons spoke English and the waiters spoke only Spanish. Thank goodness JJ has a little Spanish vocabulary, as this place did not have an English menu, and our waiter certainly did not have any English vocabulary. Ever the sushi lover, JJ ordered a combination plate that had about a dozen different pieces of sushi that included just about anything you could imagine. Coach Stephen settled on a small salmon roll, and another larger roll that he saw the picture of on the menu and thought it looked delicious. I decided on teppanyaki, or hibachi (cooked) chicken with vegetables. All of the food was wonderful. I tried a couple of pieces off of Coach Stephen's plate, but couldn't get to the salmon roe on JJ's plate. The highlight of the meal though was easily dessert. I chose the fried plantains with chocolate sauce and ice cream. I thought that chocolate bread pudding in New Orleans was good; this was above and beyond that. I think we may go back to Sushi Itto just so I can have that dessert again.
We also visited Oakland Mall, which is a large shopping mall in Zona 10. We walked around looking for any deals we could find. The main differences in the mall here and malls in the states seems to be the size of the stores. All of the stores seem very small, and have very individualized merchandise. There was an Adidas store that had some very cool kicks, but alas, no one bought anything. I did find a red and white belt for 10 Quetzals, or roughly $1.20. I pushed the buy button on that one. The mall closed at 8, so we taxied back to the hotel, where the team watched the Yankee-Red Sox game . . . with Spanish commentary. We made up our own to go along with it, and although I am not a huge baseball fan I thoroughly enjoyed the last part of the game.
Before heading over to the bowl, we had breakfast downstairs. True to my word, I changed it up and had a ham and cheese panini instead of eggs this morning. Four cups of coffee (which is unbelievable!) in addition and I was ready to roll.
Today was the Mixed Doubles event, so JJ and I would be able to watch each other and communicate throughout the day for the first time. The lanes were set up differently today in that the left lane on each pair was dressed with the long pattern and the right lane had the short pattern. If you can get lined up and get into a roll, this type of set-up is great. If you are lost on one or both of the lanes, games can go by in a hurry, and before you know it, the competition seems to lap you. For Team USA, today was a blur. Yes, we struggled all day. For me, the first 3 games were fine. I had a good picture of what was going on, and although my approach to attacking the lanes was a bit unconventional. On the short pattern, I was playing up 5 with my Brunswick C-System 2.5 with the pin under the ring finger, without my Vise Grips wrist brace. On the long pattern, I was throwing a Wild Card with the pin under the ring finger, close to 15, WITH my Vise Grips wrist brace ON. For any of you bowlers out there who use a wrist brace regularly, you know how different it feels to bowl without it. I was switching back and forth, on then off for the first three games. It was working, as I shot 192, 189, 255 for the first three. I followed up game 4 with a 199.
We then made the move to the high end of the center, and my scores plummeted. At this point, I haven't quite processed it all. I thought I was making the right moves. JJ and Coach Stephen thought we were doing the right things. It seemed like every time I threw a shot that I KNEW was going to strike, it didn't. It would ring a ten pin, or slash a seven, or jump through the nose for a huge split. We took a look around and noticed that all of the girls that seemed to be scoring well were throwing it hard and spinning the ball more than I do. So, I put my hand on the side of the ball, and spun. Every game for the last 4 seemed to start well, but the last half of each of the games had holes. Very frustrating. Team USA finished 7th in the Mixed Doubles. Congratulations to Team Colombia for winning the Gold Medal on a challenging lane condition.
JJ and I did finish in bronze medal position for Team All-Events. We also both qualified on the PABCON Team that will represent PABCON for the Federation Team Cup in Barcelona, Spain in July. That is an honor and a thrill to have earned the right to compete against the Asian Zone and the European Zone in this tournament. It definitely gives me motivation to get to the lanes to practice hard, and to the gym to work out hard for the next couple of months. I definitely need to gain some more ball speed before that event, so I will be working on getting stronger.
Tomorrow is the Masters event, which is all match play. It is the best two of three games in each match. I will bowl Marie Ramirez from Costa Rica in the quarter-finals at 10 AM. I have a couple of things I want to try in practice that I haven't attempted yet, but I have been fairly strong on the fresh conditions. I will say a few prayers tonight, talk to my dad and ask him to be with me tomorrow, and we will see what happens. It is all one shot at a time . . . and I MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN. Roll call is at 10, and I plan on showing up strong.
John Janawicz
We were now to the Mixed Doubles event where we were bowling on both patterns on the same pair. The left lane was the long pattern and the right lane was the short pattern and we were to bowl eight games straight with total pins determining the medals. I felt pretty good coming in with a good game plan on what to do with ball surfaces based on the last two days and also a game plan for transition. I figured bowling with the women that transition would happen a little slower for us but would happen a little quicker for the women. I had good game plans, was looking forward to bowling with Brenda and also had a good breakfast of corn flakes and scrambled eggs mixed in with mushrooms, corn and cheese. The day was off to a great start . . . but it all went downhill from there.
We didn't get off to a real bad start with a 392 total. We were around the pocket just having trouble putting two strikes together between the two patterns. I shot 201 which was OK since I didn't throw a good shot on the left lane until the 9th frame for a three-bagger. My seventh frame on the left was a strike where I snowplowed the 6-9-10.
The next five games were some of the most frustrating games I've had in a long time and it was mostly on the left lane (long pattern). After the first three games the left lanes on the next three pairs were quite different where the 2nd pair hooked earlier and then the 3rd pair was about four boards tighter down the lane and then the 4th pair was closer to the 2nd pair. Obviously some of those people played those lanes in practice quite a bit different. In retrospect it was probably a sign I wasn't line up real well to begin with.
The hole on the long pattern seemed to blow open in the same spot but they seemed to be tighter down the lane compared to two days earlier and I just couldn't find a way to get around it. When I tried to get left of it I either hit the dry too strong and hit the nose or when I missed it I went ring/flat 10. When I tried to ball down and move right into it and soften the hand it was kind of the same reaction. I tried changing ball speeds, hand positions it didn't seem to matter. Also when I was trying to change these different skills I had a hard time repeating. I just wasn't sharp today. It was especially frustrating because I was hitting the right lane (short pattern) pretty well but couldn't make a good shot/adjustment on the left lane so I couldn't put strikes together.
I like the mixed patterns on a pair, but when you only get five frames on each lane and you're not lined up the game goes by twice as fast because you're trying to keep up with two transitions and then throw in a couple of bad shots/bad adjustments and you find yourself shooting between 180-210 a lot. Today was kind of like a mixed bag of everything, but the end result was still about the same.
2nd game: 208...clean game
3rd game: 189...with a four bagger in the middle of the game (nice work kid!)
4th game: 209...going for 243 and threw it bad and left a 6-10 and then chopped the spare. Sweet!
5th game: 170....no ball reaction...no doubles...no clue
6th game: 189...One double...one open...one brain frying to a crisp
In the mean time the two guys that were close to me in the All-Events (Manuel Otalora from Colombia and Frankie Colon from Puerto Rico) were pretty much leaving me in the dust. Manuel especially was bowling well shooting 953 the first 4 games. He was kind of doing about the same thing as a couple of days ago and I tried to get to where he was at but just couldn't duplicate that ball shape. Frankie had a bad second game but had almost 750 in games 1,3 and 4. It was one of those days. I managed to shoot a pair of 220s the last two games but still had two bad shots in each of those games on the left lane where I didn't have my angles open enough through the front. Fortunately I bowled well enough and had enough of a lead from the first two days to lock me into the Bronze Medal for All-Events and we also got a Bronze Medal for the Team All-Events
Other than making bad adjustments, not having good approach flow, not seeing the transition clearly and throwing it bad in about every tenth frame, it was a pretty good day :-)
Brenda struggled today as well. It overall was a pretty bad team effort . . . just one of those days. I think in retrospect I just needed to change ball rolls faster and spin it more. I think I also needed to try using resin sooner on the short pattern but at this point I think it's just one of those days to just put behind you and move on. I might brew on it later tonight. Congrats to Manuel Otalora for winning the Gold in All-events. He bowled great today . . . well deserved.
One bright spot was both Brenda and I were in the top for for All-Events so we both qualified to represent PABCON for the Federation Team Cup in Barcelona in July. I was fortunate to qualify for this tournament two years ago with Shannon O'Keefe where we won the Team Cup for the PABCON (American Zone)....looking forward to defending our title. This year's PABCON team will be myself, Brenda, Manuel, Frankie, Luis Olivo from Venezuela, Sofia Granda from Guatemala, Rocio Restrepo from Colombia and Patricia De Faria from Venezuela.
Tomorrow will be the Masters and Mixed Masters. It'll be a better day. Time for dinner.
DAY 3
Brenda Edwards
Blogamala...singles day 2, Metro Bowl
I learned a new word today. I've been seeing it everywhere, so I asked today what it meant. The word is disfrutas, and it means "enjoy" in English. Here are the happenings of Tuesday, May 18, 2010...disfrutas!
Bowlers are at times superstitious. I am no exception to the rule. My entire senior season at Nebraska, I wore the same socks during competition. And yes, I did wash them...they just had to be the same ones. Also, when I bowl, if I am bowling well, I will eat the same breakfast, listen to the same song, sit in the same spot, etc. So, it was no surprise that I chose to eat a different breakfast this morning. I had to change up the karma for today. Maybe I didn't go far enough with the menu, because although it went better on the lanes today, it still wasn't what I was expecting. I may completely forgo the eggs tomorrow morning in the hopes that the change will come full circle.
I had a good game plan for today. I definitely felt more comfortable with my equipment in all my practice (home and here) with the short pattern. I started with my Brunswick C-System 2.5 with the pin under my ring finger and extra hole. I knew the longer I could play as far right as possible, the better my reaction and scores would be. I shook the first frame monster, and started the block with a strike. Nice to know that demon has been exorcised. After that, it was back-to-back ring 10s, followed by a strike, a shaker 7, a strike, a stuff-4, strike, stone-8, strike, ring 10, for 199. I felt the resounding footsteps of yesterday on my tail, but shook it off and shot 242 the second game. I knew I had the pocket, and I knew that I was throwing it really well. It wasn't that I was even leaving the same pins when I was getting nine; it was a matter of just getting a little love from the pins. I got it game two.
Game three, and transition struck, and struck HARD. I doubled to start and then in the third frame got four. Four total pins for the frame. Four total pins WITHOUT throwing it in the moat monster. REALLY??? Any takers on how I managed to do that? I took four through the middle, and on the spare attempt, I somehow put it square back through the same spot. Lesson of the frame, when trying to shoot the 3-6-9-10 on a 34' pattern, one really should consider using plastic, as the ordinary move may make an unexpected move left. Although my first reaction to getting a total of four in one frame (or an average of two per ball) was sheer embarrassment, I had to laugh at myself and think that that will be the ONLY time in my life that I may do that. Plus, it made for an interesting topic for the blog. The rest of that game was not great. I left the big 4 and two pocket 7-10s. I ended up with a whopping 152 that game. Trying to stay positive, it was more than my low game yesterday.
After that debacle and the ridiculous amount of over-under I was experiencing in transition, I decided to take off my wrist brace. I knew that this would smooth out my reaction down lane, while getting the ball an extra 5-6 feet longer before making its move. That move worked well for the next part of the block, as I shot 200, 220, 277. I moved from 6th to 4th in those three games, and was really feeling good about myself. I had a great look, I felt good on the lanes, and I was confident with each frame that I knew what the ball was going to do on the lane. With two games to go I was about 120 pins out of 3rd and the medals. That is a considerable amount, but I thought that with the look I had, it was reachable. Moving down to the end pair for game seven, I once again found a lot of hook, even without the brace. I found myself in the 4-pin, 10 pin cycle. If I was high flush, I would leave a 4-pin. If I was in the center pocket it was a 10-pin. I caught a double, but still only managed to score in the 190's. The top three all shot 220ish that game, so game 8, I needed a bit of help.
To make this long story short . . . I didn't get it. I had mega early hook where I was playing, so I changed balls to my smoother C-System 2.5 with the pin above the fingers, and the MB in the track. The ball does not flare very much, so it is very smooth. The first shot with it hit the pocket, and left the 8-10. I heard both Coach Stephen and John Janawicz in the back say, 'good shot'. I threw it good; the ball was just DOA. I threw it again on the left lane and struck, but upon going back the the right lane, it was DOA again and left a very weak 10 (the 8 went out late). I gave it one more shot, and I didn't get it up to the pocket. I left the 2-5, and proceeded to chop it. I have chopped so many splits this week. I am deciding right here and now, I will not chop any more this tournament. Anyway, for the remainder of the game, I decided to go back to the stronger 2.5, but move in and weaken my hand a little. That seemed to work, and I was able to throw the last 5 for about 190.
So, I finished singles in 4th. I was plus today, which is a positive, and I am plus now for the tournament. I have a clear picture to work with for mixed doubles tomorrow. Tomorrow's format is a little different than most tournaments, in that one lane with be dressed with the 44' pattern, and the other with the 34' pattern. I have a huge advantage in having JJ as my mixed doubles partner. He knows my game well, as we have practiced together in the past, and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to lane play and ball choices. I can only believe that scores will go up for us tomorrow. I see gold in Team USA's future.
Also, a HUGE congratulations goes out to JJ as he brought home the first medal for the USA today. He earned the silver medal in the men's singles competition. Check out his blog on how he made that happen. I'm sure it will be a great read!
As for now, it is time to grab some dinner and hopefully experience some more of the wonderful Guatemalan hospitality!
John Janawicz
I started out day 3 pretty well. Since we were bowling on the short pattern, I felt pretty good knowing that I had the Stingray of Love in the bag. I hit the Stingray with a 500 Abralon since it felt like it needed a little surface and it had kind of a worn 1000 grit on it. I shot 279 right out of the box and made up some ground from the day before. I was trying to go about 7-8 to about 3-4 down the lane.
I hit the ball with 500 again after the first game (WTBA rules allow you to change surface after each game) because Alberto Liziano from Costa Rica was using plastic on that pair so I thought it could be a touch tighter. Also Brenda said that lane 20 was about 4 boards tighter so I thought it would be a safe move to refresh the surface. Well, it didn't work out so well even though I did shoot 211. The next two games I felt the pattern moving me left but I got into trouble in game three, shooting 170. On that pair the track was a little farther left and I tried to chase it left but it was a little too tight down the lane to get the ball up to strike when I got it in and if I tried to move a little right it would grab too early. I still got stuck in this on game four but managed to shoot 208.
I knew at this point I had to square up my angles so I took some hand out of the ball and moved closer to 5 and tried to throw it more up the lane. Lo and behold.....it worked! 269 with a stone-9 in the 10th. At least I was now back on track. The next game the dry was hooking more and I got in trouble early but I managed to punch out from the 6th to get 232 out of it. I just stayed in the same spot and threw it harder with the same ball. I learned from the earlier games that I wouldn't be able to get my angles too open with urethane.
I still shot 226 the 7th game but Frankie Colon from Puerto Rico shot 512 the last two so he was closing the gap really quickly. I was leading by about 21 going into the last game. I knew I needed to shoot a decent game but my reaction wasn't getting better. I was kind of fighting trying to get that right combination of ball speed and rev rate. I started out 4-pin, strike, ring-10 so I felt like I needed to bring the speed down a touch and move in a pinch. I did that and threw a three-bagger but Frankie was going at a 250-270 pace after 7 frames. I had a light 7-pin and then threw a strike so I had 159 with a strike working through 8 and could punch out for 249. I wasn't watching Frankie but I felt like I needed to punch out. I then threw a horrible shot in the 9th (got it to the dry quick) and the ball went 3-6-10. I then chopped the spare and pretty much figured that sealed my fate from winning the Gold medal. I was right. Frankie ended out shooting 258 the last game so I needed to strike in the 9th, 10th and a 9-spare for the Gold after figuring it out later. I shot 206 the last game which did get me the Silver losing the Gold by 33 pins. Manuel Otalora from Colombia got the Bronze as he struggled a little bit down the stretch.
I was upset for not throwing it well in the 9th, but at the same time I knew the real problem was misreading the transition in games three and four, shooting 378 for two. If I read transition correctly those games and moved right and took hand out of the ball, it wouldn't have mattered what I did in the 9th and 10th because I figured I had at least 430 for two if I did that. Even for those pins that I threw away, I still had a chance at Gold going into the 9th and 10th. At the same time credit needs to be given to Frankie. I mean he did shoot 770 the last three so he really deserved to win the Gold. He bowled better than I did. Props go out to Frankie.
It was kind of interesting because Frankie and Manuel and myself were all kind of going back and forth within the medal spots all day. We were all hitting transition at different times so it was kind of a bad game of leapfrog with 50-100-pin swings for each of us every couple of games. Tomorrow will be another day and look forward to bowling on the same pair with Brenda. Since we were bowling at the same time I really didn't get a chance to watch her a whole lot. Really looking forward to applying some of the knowledge gained from the last two days and hopefully we can get our first Gold for the tournament.
DAY 2
Brenda Edwards
As I start to write this, I must share with everyone . . . now playing on Guatemala City television channel 18, the local Fox Affiliate, is the movie Dodgeball, in Spanish of course. I must say, Vince Vaughn's voice seems a little higher than I remembered, and his lips don't quite match the words he is speaking. And, yesterday, I watched an episode of one of my son's favorite cartoons, Johnny Test, all in Spanish as well. I must say that cartoons make it a little easier to believe the characters are actually the ones delivering the lines. We have a couple of channels that are in English, CNN and a movie channel, but even the movie channel has subtitles in Spanish. I find myself reading them and trying to put the words in some sort of vocabulary bank for later use. After this event, I feel the need to purchase Rosetta Stone.
Day one of singles began well enough. Breakfast at the hotel consisted of fried plantains, watermelon, and a tomato and cheese omelet that tasted like it had been cooked on a grill with charcoal. I'm not saying it was terrible, but I couldn't get past the thought I should be chewing on a ribeye instead of eggs. The coffee here is phenomenal, and with 3 cups, I was absolutely ready to start the day.
I started game 1 with my Brunswick Wild Card (pin under the ring finger and a large hole under my axis point). In practice, I had a great look and was consistently hitting the pocket. Then, the lights came on, and I grabbed more than my share of the first shot . . . Greek Church. Ugh. I always seem to dig myself a hole to start a tournament. Where is Dr. Dean Hinitz when I need him? Five through the middle is not conducive to loosening up the arm swing, but the second frame was waiting on me. Second frame, of course, was 10 back. After all, it is the second frame, not first, and all the pressure of a great start is gone. I split two more times in that game, before getting Team USA's first spare in the 8th frame. I left the big 4 in the tenth, taking what I thought would be 220ish, back to 190ish. It wasn't a terrible start, and I thought I had the picture of what the lanes were asking of me.
Game two revealed a totally different picture. I was playing the lanes around second arrow, trying to 'jam' the pocket, as girls who seemed to have the best reaction were doing. The right lane was not cooperative with this angle, having a shim that the ball would just slide right through. I left two washouts, two splits, and chopped a spare that game for a whopping 145. I went back to my practice notes, and decided to take a giant step left.
This proved to be the right move, as it made my reaction more predictable. However, carry was not on my side. I could hit the pocket, and nine was guaranteed every time...it was getting 10 consistently that was in question. And of course it would seem that there was the inevitable split waiting for me each game. I did make the 6-7 for a round of applause, and my first two hundred game of the event. For the rest of the block, I continued to move left, making ball changes in game 3 and game 7. I threw another Brunswick Wild Card, this one with the pin in the ring finger, and then a Brunswick C-System 2.5 with the pin under my ring finger.
I felt like I threw the ball better than I have in a LOOOONG time. I was long and low at the line, extended through my target. It felt so good to be able to throw the ball with my autograph on it after being limited for the last three weeks or so with my piriformis injury. (Thanks Nick Bohanan for helping with the rehab on that to get it back into shape!) I am disappointed and frustrated with my score, but not with my effort. There are 8 more games of singles on the short pattern (Stockholm, 34') tomorrow. The game plan there will be to stay as far right on the lane as possible for as long as possible. I plan to take the positives of today and move forward for a huge block tomorrow. The race for singles isn't over yet.
Blogamala to be continued...
John Janawicz
There I was in a bush . . . Ebonite Missions all around me . . . I could see the anger in the enemies' eye after I threw a runaway Brooklyn in the seventh frame . . .
Sorry . . . that was my other blog . . .
Well, the tournament begins today. I got plenty of sleep (about 9 hours) so I was more than rested. I had the same breakfast as the day before consisting of scrambled eggs, corn flakes and orange juice. For me, it's all about routines.
Since I was on the left lane I would be moving left all day. We were only using three pairs. I guess since there were only 10 countries they brought in a couple of pacers so that way we had four on a pair. I got off to a good start today shooting 252 the first game. I was looking at 18-19 at the arrows trying to get it to 12-13 down the lane with slower speed with my Rapid Fire Pearl with 2000 grit Abralon on it. I had the front seven and threw a bad shot for a 2-8-10 and then left a 2-10 in the 11th.
I moved to the next pair (21-22) and I figured they'd be hooking a little more since a couple of the guys were starting at 20 right away. Moved one left and struck on the first ball and in the 2nd frame threw it kind of bad (didn't clear the thumb real well) but it still hooked a lot for a 3-6-7-10. I ended out shooting 170-something on that pair; it just hooked a couple more than the pair I just got off of. I was thinking the next couple of games I'd be able to move in and get around it but it only worked OK . . . shot 209.
Then the 4th game I was crossing with Manuel Otalora from Colombia and he shot 299 with a ringing ten on the fill. I was a little farther inside than he was. He was closer to 18-19 at the arrows whereas I was near 23-24 trying to get it a little farther right down the lane than he was. I should've known at that point that it was time to move right and use a little more speed and close down the angles, but nooooooooooo . . . I thought I'd get around it and use some touch to smooth out ball reaction. After having 82 in the 6th in game 5, I finally came to the conclusion that . . .
THIS ISN'T WORKING!
So I took my best guess and switched balls to the Blue Vibe, went back right and softened up the hand and threw a three bagger. I thought to myself. 'Great, finally back on track!' I got up in the tenth and moved one left since I was flush on the last time I was on that lane. The lanes were breaking down a lot more than I had thought they would, so I was constantly trying to stay ahead of transition. I threw the best shot of the day (at least I thought) to be greeted with the Big Four.
164 with a three-bagger in the middle of the game . . . nice work, kid! Way to overachieve!
Needless to say I was fuming at this point especially since a couple of the guys that were behind me now were shooting between 220-250. I took this strategy to the next pair and threw a 3-bagger late in the game and went up in the tenth trying to punch for 220 and promptly went 6-7-10 on the first ball in the tenth to plummet back down to 205 while my opposition was still on cruise control at a 230 clip.
At this point I told myself that I needed to do something different. It was time to go back to the Rapid Fire Pearl and use more speed and try to fade it in from 25. That strategy worked out well shooting 257 that game. I had to finish on 21-22 which I was averaging a composite 168 on for my two previous games. Though history hadn't been kind to me at this point I figured it's got to get better. At least I know I'm playing the lanes correctly now. At this point it was more wet-dry side-to-side than the last pair, but I managed to squeeze out 207 on that pair despite sliding by a 3-6-10 in the 6th frame.
It wasn't my best performance and I'm still mad at myself for not acting on what I needed to do soon enough in the middle of the block resulting in 164, but at least I'm only 34 pins out of 1st and I'm going to my best pattern, the short. At least I learned what I'll probably need to do the day after when we go to the Mixed event and have to bowl on long again. In the mean time, we're going to take a walk and get something to eat. Signing off for now....
DAY 1
Brenda Edwards
Greetings from Guatemala! This marks my first journey out of the United States, except for Canada and Tijuana, Mexico. This trip is exciting for me, as I get to represent my team and my country through a sport that I love and have dedicated much of my life to. It is such a sense of accomplishment and pride to wear USA on my back. It will never get old or ordinary.
Coach Stephen Padilla and I started our journey from DFW Airport Saturday, meeting John janawicz in Miami, before flying into Guatemala City. My first impression of Guatemala was that the airport was quite close to the high rise buildings in the city. Our plane came in pretty hot, and those tall buildings were moving by faster than I have ever observed from the window of an airplane. After going through customs, we found the shuttle to the hotel. When we arrived it was dark and drizzling, so there wasn’t so much to see on our five-minute trip.
We decided to eat dinner in the restaurant in the hotel. There was plenty of squid on the menu, crunchy and broiled, but I decided to stay with the garlic shrimp. JJ, the more adventurous of this duo, went for the broiled squid, and Coach Stephen had beef. The waitress was wonderful as she assisted with the correct pronunciation of the Spanish words on the menu. The flan for dessert was the best part of the meal. We walked across the street to the Burger King so I could take a Pepsi Light back to the room. They do not use the term ‘diet’ to label low-calorie drinks here. JJ explained that ‘diet’ refers to actual weight loss drinks, not low calorie sodas. Pepsi Light it will be for me!
This morning was the official ‘recognition’ of the lanes, or as we know it, practice session. To get over to the bowl, the delegations piled into a medium sized bus. The bowling balls were loaded into the bus through a side window and stacked on the last seat. Again, I found myself just watching what was going on amazed at the differences from the USA. The ride to the bowling center took us through a couple of neighborhoods and through an area of gorgeous sights. Guatemala City is much more mountainous than I expected. It is very beautiful. The bowling center looks to be in an area dedicated to sports. I noticed a building with the FIFA logo on the side, and saw soccer fields and a stadium, as well as basketball goals. My immediate thoughts were how cool it is that bowling is included with all of these other major sports in this area.
Practice session went very well for me. We bowled on lanes 11-25 of the center. Every other pair was conditioned with the same pattern, so 11-12 were the 44’ long pattern (London), and 13-14 were the 34’ short pattern (Stockholm). We were assigned to a pair based on country so that there were three bowlers per pair, and we received 10 minutes of practice on each pair before the whistle sounded and we had to move to the right. The women and the men were separated during practice, so I didn’t have a chance to see where JJ was playing the lanes, but Coach Stephen was moving between the two of us with ideas and helping with surface changes. The lanes were tighter for me than what I played on in the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas, but my ball reactios maintained the shape that I expected to see.
My best look on the short pattern seemed to be a Brunswick C-System 2.5, with the pin below the ring finger, and a large weight hole just under my axis. My Wild Card with the pin in the ring finger and no hole also looked good. Both of these played best from outside of 5. If I got too much farther in, the ball jumped off the end of the pattern and would go through the nose or Brooklyn. On the long pattern, I played with my Brunswick Wild Card that has the pin under the ring finger and large weight hole just under my axis. I was surprised to see the long pattern play better in the track area than inside 15. My best looks were all right of 13-14 at the arrows. For me, I felt the pattern almost played flat inside, as the ball would hook off the end of the pattern and lay off at the pocket. I just have to remember to keep my swing long and roll the ball off my hand on this pattern. The longer I can keep my flat spot the better.
I am certainly excited for this event, and believe in both JJ and myself. Here’s to mad carry and lots of strikes over the next few days! GO TEAM USA!!!
John Janawicz
Coming to Guatemala to me is almost like coming home since this is the 5th time I’ve actually flown here. I came here to oil lanes in ’04 for the American Zone Youth Championships as well as making a separate trip for the pre-inspection and also came later that year to install a lane machine. It was good to see some of the familiar faces like Miguel Aguilar in the pro shop and my friend Dave Young who always helps out with the tournaments here.
Practice session went pretty well. We’re bowling on short and long again with the short being the 34’ WTBA Stockholm and the long being the 44’ WTBA London. The house characteristics held pretty true from when I was here three years ago. I brought seven balls with me. I brought a Maxim, a urethane Columbia Stingray, a urethane Storm Natural as well as a Black Ice, Blue Vibe, Rapid Fire Pearl and a Virtual Gravity. I used urethane exclusively when I was here for the PABCON in ’07 and it still was the best option. The Black Ice was a little too long when I tried to go away from the pocket but it was a little too sharp from side to side when I tried to go too straight and bump up near the dry. I’m only allowed to check in six balls so the Black Ice was going to the showers. The urethane balls smoothed it out so much better. That was a pretty easy choice.
The long pattern was good, but ball reaction was not quite as good as the short. I had a good look with the Rapid Fire Pearl once I hit the surface with a fresh 2000 Abralon. The back part of the lane plays a little tight here, as it did in ’07. I had to go straighter in ’07 to find any reaction (which still wasn’t very good) but it was definitely better than trying to cross a lot of boards. Going like 18 to 13 was my best look. I took the Blue Vibe down to 2000 as well because that 4000 finish I had on it just wouldn’t slow the ball down enough in the pattern. That’ll be a good look once they start to bust down a little more.
After waiting for the coaches’ meeting to conclude we headed back to the hotel and then went to TGI Friday’s across the street to get some food. It’s time for me to hit the hotel gym and then probably get some more food later tonight before we pack it in for the night.
FINAL DAY
Brenda Edwards
Blogamala…Masters Events, Singles and Doubles, Thursday, May 19, 2010: Metrobowl, Guatemala City, Guatemala
As I write this, I am sitting in the Aurora Airport in Guatemala City, waiting for my 6:55 AM flight to depart. It is now 9:06 AM, and our flight is still not scheduled to depart for almost two hours. The agent downstairs (when we checked in at 4:15 AM) mentioned something about the plane being late last night and the crew having to log their eight hours of rest. I guess I’m good with the crew having the proper amount of rest before we go fly at 35,000 feet for a few hours. Coach Stephen and I said good-bye to JJ as his plane left about 7:20 and a happy satisfaction came over me as I began to reflect upon this event.
Yesterday was the Masters Events; that is the match play portion of the top eight individuals, and mixed doubles teams. It is set up bracket style for both events with the top seed bowling the eighth seed, the two seed bowling the seven seed, and so on. For singles, I was the four seed, and was matched against Marie Ramirez from Costa Rica. Marie is a good player; she throws it pretty hard and straight, and seemed to stay out of a lot of trouble during the tournament. The long story short (because I want to get to the good stuff), I lost to her in three games. She won the first game, I won the second, and she won the third. Once again, the long pattern was not my friend. It happens like that sometimes. Pins don’t fall your way and events don’t turn out like you pictured in your head. You learn from the mistakes you made and move on . . . so I did.
JJ was still in the men’s side of the bracket, so I went to watch him. He won his first match against Guatemala in two straight games. His second match came down to the tenth frame in both games, and JJ prevailed against the bowler from Ecuador. In the title match he was matched against Luis from Venezuela. JJ gave it a great effort, but couldn’t overcome Luis. He brought home a silver medal for the USA in Men’s Masters. I’m sure there will be more details about the matches in his blog.
With the Masters Event over for the singles portion, we moved on to the Mixed Doubles Masters. We had the three seed based on our Doubles All-Events score. Thus we were matched against the six seed, Costa Rica. All we had to do was win this one match and we would be playing in the medal round. I desperately wanted to bowl well in at least one event. I felt like I had been throwing the ball well all week, but missing the match up the lanes were giving. I always seemed to be off with my angles, or ball selection…something. JJ and I talked before the match, and he had a strategy for this match. We were getting 10 minutes of practice before we started, and he wanted to use his sanded urethane on the long pattern up about the 2nd arrow in order to burn up a spot for us to use. My look had been terrible on this pattern all week, and by doing this, it would allow both of us to stay further right and play to our strengths, rolling the ball to the spot. I chose to do the same thing, and sanded my Brunswick Wild Card with the pin down no less than four times during practice so as to help JJ with this mission. Let’s just say it worked well for us.
The short lane was playing much tighter than usual for the week, and I started the match kind of unsure of my reaction. As game one started, I was a bit lost until Coach Stephen, JJ and I talked and decided it would be best to use the same ball I was using on the long on the short as well. All I can say is, GREAT CALL. I ended up using my Brunswick Wild Card with the pin under the ring finger and large hole, surface at 1000 on both lanes. I was playing the long pattern pretty much right up 10-11, and the short pattern up about 4-5. I had to stay very aggressive on both lanes for this to work, but there was nothing to lose, no tomorrow to look forward to. Our mission was GOLD, and that would be all we would settle for.
Costa Rica won the first game. They had some good carry on their side, and even though our 410 score would have won every other match in the center, their 485 was beyond what we could get to that game. Game 2, on the other hand was a different story. My carry for what seemed like the first time all week was great. It felt amazing to be able to pull my weight, and know that when I stepped up on the lane I had a consistent reaction. That alone loosened up the arm swing, and allowed me to finally put a string of strikes together. JJ did as well, and we prevailed in game two, 477-393. Game three went much the same way, as JJ put up 244, and I added 236, for 480-374 victory.
That meant Team Mexico was next, and their female, Aseret Zetter was coming off winning Masters Gold for the women. I knew she had a good look on both patterns early all week. Their male bowler Isi Eskenazy is a talented left-hander that attends Wichita State. Again, I knew that we were going to have to be focused and hungry. Game 1, again on a fresh pair (with only three minutes of practice), was touchy for Team USA. Both JJ and I kind of struggled to get the exact look we needed. We lost the first game 419-473. But again, being patient was on our side. We knew from the last match that the lanes would open up and come our way in transition. So, we filled frames the first game, and watched ball reaction closely. Communication between JJ, myself and Coach Stephen was crucial. Making the right move on the lanes for me, and making the right ball choices for JJ was the key to our success. We were correct in knowing the lanes would come to us. Both JJ and I put up a pair of 240 games, for a 488-371 win. The match even, we went to a deciding game three. In game three, I experienced a bit of transition. It wasn’t to the point that I lost the pocket, but I couldn’t find the right combination of hand position and alignment for optimal carry. So, I spared them to death the third game. My 202, and JJ’s 245 were enough to post a 447-384 win. Can I just stress the importance of spares to all of the young bowlers out there? Spares are exactly what kept us in this match. Strikes will inevitably come to all bowlers. Many times the difference in winning and losing, comes down to mere pins. Making every one of your spares will keep you in almost any event.
That win put us in the GOLD medal match against a strong Venezuelan team. Patricia De Feria and Luis Olivo both had much success this week. They are both on the PABCON team representing our zone in the Federation Team Cup event in Barcelona in July. Luis had won the Gold medal in Men’s Masters, so we knew once again the foot had to be on the gas. Let me say that I don’t think I have ever been in a more crowded and hot settee area. There were no less than three cameras, two more still photographers, coaches for each team, and players. Many times I turned around to try to get back to where Coach Stephen was standing, and couldn’t get there because of all of the people. It is great to see bowling garner so much publicity from around the world.
Again, we had only three minutes of practice, so even though we couldn’t really burn in a spot, JJ did use his sanded urethane to attempt to try to get the spot started. It was enough for me. We finally managed to win a game one, 423-416. Luis left a big four in ninth frame that gave us a window to sneak out the win. The second game saw the advent of transition for both JJ and I, as well as a tremendous amount of bad carry for us. With Patricia throwing it great and being locked on the pocket we were in a bit of trouble. She shot 253, to propel Team Venezuela to the second game win, 465-425. The motto that game for us was ‘stay hot’.
So here we were…one game, 12 shots for each of us to achieve a goal: GOLD. Once again, I spared. A LOT. I hit the pocket A LOT, and made all my spares. JJ ran away with a 245, and the GOLD was ours. 457-347. I’m sorry I can’t recount more of the final game. I remember almost falling over the ball return on an adjacent pair running out a shot (which didn’t even strike), and yelling 'A LOT!' The rest of it went by so fast that it is hard to explain. Take all of your emotions, all of your love, passion, dedication, and pride for this sport, put USA on the back of your shirt and step onto the approach knowing that a Gold Medal is on the line. The pride of your teammates, coaches, family, friends, etc. All of that is a part of the match. It was an amazing experience, one that I learned so much from, and one that has inspired me to get back to work on my game and my fitness level. I cannot wait to set foot back on American soil and tell the stories to my friends and family. I also want to send heartfelt congratulations to all the competitors at the Championship of the Champions. Every participant, whether a medal winner or not, has much to be proud of in their performances and sportsmanship during this event.
All in all, although we didn’t achieve all of the goals we set for this event, I would still consider it a success. We heard the National Anthem played at the closing ceremonies for us. We made new friends and reconnected with ones we hadn’t seen in quite a while. I tasted new cuisine and learned new customs in greeting and congratulating people. I am mentally and physically exhausted at this point, and my body is screaming at me for some rest. But it is such a good tired. It is the feeling of satisfaction, mixed in with a hunger of challenges yet to come. Thanks to everyone who followed the blog this week, and for all of the good wishes sent to Guatemala.
Who do we play for…U S A!
John Janawicz
Well, it was Masters day, Individual Masters and then Mixed (Doubles) Masters. The format is the best two out of three and the lane conditions were the same as the day before (left lane long, right lane short). I got the Silver Medal for the Individual Masters but I felt kind of fortunate to get there. I bowled Andres Herrera from Guatemala and I was fortunate that he never really got lined up and I caught a couple of three-baggers in the right spots to beat him 2-0.
I then bowled Diogenes Saverio from Ecuador. Frankly, he should’ve beat me 2-0. He could’ve shut me out with a strike in the tenth on the long pattern lane and threw a great shot and left a pocket 8-10. I then needed to strike on the first ball for the win and got it. I knew I needed some count and since I was playing about 13-3 with the Rapid Fire Pearl I wasn’t going to chance one going in the moat considering I almost did so earlier in the game, so I chucked the spare ball down the middle and left the 2-4-5-7. I obviously didn’t do the math real well because I still needed two for the win . . . doh! I did make the spare for the 218-215 win though.
The next game I struck out from the ninth to shoot 217 to make him mark in the tenth. He was one the short-pattern lane for the tenth and he hadn’t missed that lane all game…until the tenth where he left the 4-6-7-10. I managed to escape another 2-0 victory even Diogenes actually out-bowled me for most of those games. Good thing I carried that Brooklyn in the 11th, huh?
I then bowled Luis Olivo for the Masters Gold and frankly it wasn’t really even close. He bowled two solid games of 223 and 235 and he only missed the pocket like twice. I put up an intimidating 187 and 166 for the cheese. I couldn’t hit the left lane to save my life. I was still playing the lanes inside of 18 and had early hook and then I went away it was either flat-10 or 2-pin. My ball did seem to have a radar-lock on the 4-6-7-10 which I think I left 3 times in the two games on the left lane. At least my spare game was good, otherwise the matches would’ve been over in the 6th frame. Congrats to Luis for winning the Gold. He deserved it.
We were now going into the Mixed Masters which was the same format, best two out of three total pins. I told Brenda and Coach Stephen that I needed to try something different especially since my reaction wasn’t real great on the long, especially today since I saw Luis basically never miss the pocket against me in the Men’s Masters Finals (Luis throws the ball pretty straight). I told them that I was going to play closer toward 10 on the long and use surface to get the ball to start up and if anything this strategy will allow the lane to develop better for us if the matches have to go three games. I mean I’ve got 170-ball reaction on the long, why not try something different? Being Mixed Masters we were both bowling full games so there would be more lineage and more transitions. We both had pretty good reaction on the short patterns so we weren’t going to change anything there.
The strategy worked out well and we bowled well….the only problem was our opponents managed to shoot at least one 465+ game at us for each of our three matches so every match went the full three games. I was really proud of Brenda. She didn’t have good ball-reaction all week but she really stepped up for the Mixed Masters and bowled great for all of the matches and averaged close to 220 for the day which really took a lot of pressure off of me.
The Gold Medal match against Venezuela was a great one. We escaped a narrow 423-416 victory in game one. Venezuela then promptly shot a 465 against our 425 to set up a game three. Venezuela was actually playing the long pattern deeper than us. Both Patricia and Luis were in around 20 and Brenda was close to 15-16 at the arrows with a slight swing while I was doing the “dump and run” right up the 12-13 board. Well, transition hit Venezuela the last game and they got trapped hitting the nose and then the ball wouldn’t hit when they tried to go away from the pocket and our part of the lane held up fortunately and we were able cruise to our first Gold Medal with a 457-347 victory. It was great to come away with one Gold medal for the event and it was especially gratifying being a Mixed Masters Gold Medal to be able to share with Brenda. We worked really well all day together and I had a great time.
I was a little tired only getting 2 ½ hours of sleep before having to get up to catch the airport shuttle, but I did sleep a little on the plane at least. It’s good to be home. Time to do laundry and get ready to bowl a big tournament in Orlando tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the blogs!
Day 4
Blogamala...Mixed Doubles, Metro Bowl, Guatemala
I will start this blog entry with dinner last night. Where else do you go for dinner in Guatemala City, Guatemala for amazing food? You are probably thinking somewhere with corn, chiles, beans, maybe even a tamale or two. But no, Team USA (namely JJ and Coach Stephen) had a hankering for sushi. Yes, sushi in Guatemala. I was a bit skeptical, as I always get a little nervous when raw fish is involved. But, a quick taxi ride later we arrived at Sushi Itto. Here in Guatemala the people eat dinner later than we do in the states. So, when we arrived at 5:40 PM, we were the third, fourth, and fifth people in the restaurant. The other two ladies sitting in the corner were enjoying some white wine. Upon listening, they were also obviously Americans as well. We all found it a bit amusing that all of the patrons spoke English and the waiters spoke only Spanish. Thank goodness JJ has a little Spanish vocabulary, as this place did not have an English menu, and our waiter certainly did not have any English vocabulary. Ever the sushi lover, JJ ordered a combination plate that had about a dozen different pieces of sushi that included just about anything you could imagine. Coach Stephen settled on a small salmon roll, and another larger roll that he saw the picture of on the menu and thought it looked delicious. I decided on teppanyaki, or hibachi (cooked) chicken with vegetables. All of the food was wonderful. I tried a couple of pieces off of Coach Stephen's plate, but couldn't get to the salmon roe on JJ's plate. The highlight of the meal though was easily dessert. I chose the fried plantains with chocolate sauce and ice cream. I thought that chocolate bread pudding in New Orleans was good; this was above and beyond that. I think we may go back to Sushi Itto just so I can have that dessert again.
We also visited Oakland Mall, which is a large shopping mall in Zona 10. We walked around looking for any deals we could find. The main differences in the mall here and malls in the states seems to be the size of the stores. All of the stores seem very small, and have very individualized merchandise. There was an Adidas store that had some very cool kicks, but alas, no one bought anything. I did find a red and white belt for 10 Quetzals, or roughly $1.20. I pushed the buy button on that one. The mall closed at 8, so we taxied back to the hotel, where the team watched the Yankee-Red Sox game . . . with Spanish commentary. We made up our own to go along with it, and although I am not a huge baseball fan I thoroughly enjoyed the last part of the game.
Before heading over to the bowl, we had breakfast downstairs. True to my word, I changed it up and had a ham and cheese panini instead of eggs this morning. Four cups of coffee (which is unbelievable!) in addition and I was ready to roll.
Today was the Mixed Doubles event, so JJ and I would be able to watch each other and communicate throughout the day for the first time. The lanes were set up differently today in that the left lane on each pair was dressed with the long pattern and the right lane had the short pattern. If you can get lined up and get into a roll, this type of set-up is great. If you are lost on one or both of the lanes, games can go by in a hurry, and before you know it, the competition seems to lap you. For Team USA, today was a blur. Yes, we struggled all day. For me, the first 3 games were fine. I had a good picture of what was going on, and although my approach to attacking the lanes was a bit unconventional. On the short pattern, I was playing up 5 with my Brunswick C-System 2.5 with the pin under the ring finger, without my Vise Grips wrist brace. On the long pattern, I was throwing a Wild Card with the pin under the ring finger, close to 15, WITH my Vise Grips wrist brace ON. For any of you bowlers out there who use a wrist brace regularly, you know how different it feels to bowl without it. I was switching back and forth, on then off for the first three games. It was working, as I shot 192, 189, 255 for the first three. I followed up game 4 with a 199.
We then made the move to the high end of the center, and my scores plummeted. At this point, I haven't quite processed it all. I thought I was making the right moves. JJ and Coach Stephen thought we were doing the right things. It seemed like every time I threw a shot that I KNEW was going to strike, it didn't. It would ring a ten pin, or slash a seven, or jump through the nose for a huge split. We took a look around and noticed that all of the girls that seemed to be scoring well were throwing it hard and spinning the ball more than I do. So, I put my hand on the side of the ball, and spun. Every game for the last 4 seemed to start well, but the last half of each of the games had holes. Very frustrating. Team USA finished 7th in the Mixed Doubles. Congratulations to Team Colombia for winning the Gold Medal on a challenging lane condition.
JJ and I did finish in bronze medal position for Team All-Events. We also both qualified on the PABCON Team that will represent PABCON for the Federation Team Cup in Barcelona, Spain in July. That is an honor and a thrill to have earned the right to compete against the Asian Zone and the European Zone in this tournament. It definitely gives me motivation to get to the lanes to practice hard, and to the gym to work out hard for the next couple of months. I definitely need to gain some more ball speed before that event, so I will be working on getting stronger.
Tomorrow is the Masters event, which is all match play. It is the best two of three games in each match. I will bowl Marie Ramirez from Costa Rica in the quarter-finals at 10 AM. I have a couple of things I want to try in practice that I haven't attempted yet, but I have been fairly strong on the fresh conditions. I will say a few prayers tonight, talk to my dad and ask him to be with me tomorrow, and we will see what happens. It is all one shot at a time . . . and I MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN. Roll call is at 10, and I plan on showing up strong.
John Janawicz
We were now to the Mixed Doubles event where we were bowling on both patterns on the same pair. The left lane was the long pattern and the right lane was the short pattern and we were to bowl eight games straight with total pins determining the medals. I felt pretty good coming in with a good game plan on what to do with ball surfaces based on the last two days and also a game plan for transition. I figured bowling with the women that transition would happen a little slower for us but would happen a little quicker for the women. I had good game plans, was looking forward to bowling with Brenda and also had a good breakfast of corn flakes and scrambled eggs mixed in with mushrooms, corn and cheese. The day was off to a great start . . . but it all went downhill from there.
We didn't get off to a real bad start with a 392 total. We were around the pocket just having trouble putting two strikes together between the two patterns. I shot 201 which was OK since I didn't throw a good shot on the left lane until the 9th frame for a three-bagger. My seventh frame on the left was a strike where I snowplowed the 6-9-10.
The next five games were some of the most frustrating games I've had in a long time and it was mostly on the left lane (long pattern). After the first three games the left lanes on the next three pairs were quite different where the 2nd pair hooked earlier and then the 3rd pair was about four boards tighter down the lane and then the 4th pair was closer to the 2nd pair. Obviously some of those people played those lanes in practice quite a bit different. In retrospect it was probably a sign I wasn't line up real well to begin with.
The hole on the long pattern seemed to blow open in the same spot but they seemed to be tighter down the lane compared to two days earlier and I just couldn't find a way to get around it. When I tried to get left of it I either hit the dry too strong and hit the nose or when I missed it I went ring/flat 10. When I tried to ball down and move right into it and soften the hand it was kind of the same reaction. I tried changing ball speeds, hand positions it didn't seem to matter. Also when I was trying to change these different skills I had a hard time repeating. I just wasn't sharp today. It was especially frustrating because I was hitting the right lane (short pattern) pretty well but couldn't make a good shot/adjustment on the left lane so I couldn't put strikes together.
I like the mixed patterns on a pair, but when you only get five frames on each lane and you're not lined up the game goes by twice as fast because you're trying to keep up with two transitions and then throw in a couple of bad shots/bad adjustments and you find yourself shooting between 180-210 a lot. Today was kind of like a mixed bag of everything, but the end result was still about the same.
2nd game: 208...clean game
3rd game: 189...with a four bagger in the middle of the game (nice work kid!)
4th game: 209...going for 243 and threw it bad and left a 6-10 and then chopped the spare. Sweet!
5th game: 170....no ball reaction...no doubles...no clue
6th game: 189...One double...one open...one brain frying to a crisp
In the mean time the two guys that were close to me in the All-Events (Manuel Otalora from Colombia and Frankie Colon from Puerto Rico) were pretty much leaving me in the dust. Manuel especially was bowling well shooting 953 the first 4 games. He was kind of doing about the same thing as a couple of days ago and I tried to get to where he was at but just couldn't duplicate that ball shape. Frankie had a bad second game but had almost 750 in games 1,3 and 4. It was one of those days. I managed to shoot a pair of 220s the last two games but still had two bad shots in each of those games on the left lane where I didn't have my angles open enough through the front. Fortunately I bowled well enough and had enough of a lead from the first two days to lock me into the Bronze Medal for All-Events and we also got a Bronze Medal for the Team All-Events
Other than making bad adjustments, not having good approach flow, not seeing the transition clearly and throwing it bad in about every tenth frame, it was a pretty good day :-)
Brenda struggled today as well. It overall was a pretty bad team effort . . . just one of those days. I think in retrospect I just needed to change ball rolls faster and spin it more. I think I also needed to try using resin sooner on the short pattern but at this point I think it's just one of those days to just put behind you and move on. I might brew on it later tonight. Congrats to Manuel Otalora for winning the Gold in All-events. He bowled great today . . . well deserved.
One bright spot was both Brenda and I were in the top for for All-Events so we both qualified to represent PABCON for the Federation Team Cup in Barcelona in July. I was fortunate to qualify for this tournament two years ago with Shannon O'Keefe where we won the Team Cup for the PABCON (American Zone)....looking forward to defending our title. This year's PABCON team will be myself, Brenda, Manuel, Frankie, Luis Olivo from Venezuela, Sofia Granda from Guatemala, Rocio Restrepo from Colombia and Patricia De Faria from Venezuela.
Tomorrow will be the Masters and Mixed Masters. It'll be a better day. Time for dinner.
DAY 3
Brenda Edwards
Blogamala...singles day 2, Metro Bowl
I learned a new word today. I've been seeing it everywhere, so I asked today what it meant. The word is disfrutas, and it means "enjoy" in English. Here are the happenings of Tuesday, May 18, 2010...disfrutas!
Bowlers are at times superstitious. I am no exception to the rule. My entire senior season at Nebraska, I wore the same socks during competition. And yes, I did wash them...they just had to be the same ones. Also, when I bowl, if I am bowling well, I will eat the same breakfast, listen to the same song, sit in the same spot, etc. So, it was no surprise that I chose to eat a different breakfast this morning. I had to change up the karma for today. Maybe I didn't go far enough with the menu, because although it went better on the lanes today, it still wasn't what I was expecting. I may completely forgo the eggs tomorrow morning in the hopes that the change will come full circle.
I had a good game plan for today. I definitely felt more comfortable with my equipment in all my practice (home and here) with the short pattern. I started with my Brunswick C-System 2.5 with the pin under my ring finger and extra hole. I knew the longer I could play as far right as possible, the better my reaction and scores would be. I shook the first frame monster, and started the block with a strike. Nice to know that demon has been exorcised. After that, it was back-to-back ring 10s, followed by a strike, a shaker 7, a strike, a stuff-4, strike, stone-8, strike, ring 10, for 199. I felt the resounding footsteps of yesterday on my tail, but shook it off and shot 242 the second game. I knew I had the pocket, and I knew that I was throwing it really well. It wasn't that I was even leaving the same pins when I was getting nine; it was a matter of just getting a little love from the pins. I got it game two.
Game three, and transition struck, and struck HARD. I doubled to start and then in the third frame got four. Four total pins for the frame. Four total pins WITHOUT throwing it in the moat monster. REALLY??? Any takers on how I managed to do that? I took four through the middle, and on the spare attempt, I somehow put it square back through the same spot. Lesson of the frame, when trying to shoot the 3-6-9-10 on a 34' pattern, one really should consider using plastic, as the ordinary move may make an unexpected move left. Although my first reaction to getting a total of four in one frame (or an average of two per ball) was sheer embarrassment, I had to laugh at myself and think that that will be the ONLY time in my life that I may do that. Plus, it made for an interesting topic for the blog. The rest of that game was not great. I left the big 4 and two pocket 7-10s. I ended up with a whopping 152 that game. Trying to stay positive, it was more than my low game yesterday.
After that debacle and the ridiculous amount of over-under I was experiencing in transition, I decided to take off my wrist brace. I knew that this would smooth out my reaction down lane, while getting the ball an extra 5-6 feet longer before making its move. That move worked well for the next part of the block, as I shot 200, 220, 277. I moved from 6th to 4th in those three games, and was really feeling good about myself. I had a great look, I felt good on the lanes, and I was confident with each frame that I knew what the ball was going to do on the lane. With two games to go I was about 120 pins out of 3rd and the medals. That is a considerable amount, but I thought that with the look I had, it was reachable. Moving down to the end pair for game seven, I once again found a lot of hook, even without the brace. I found myself in the 4-pin, 10 pin cycle. If I was high flush, I would leave a 4-pin. If I was in the center pocket it was a 10-pin. I caught a double, but still only managed to score in the 190's. The top three all shot 220ish that game, so game 8, I needed a bit of help.
To make this long story short . . . I didn't get it. I had mega early hook where I was playing, so I changed balls to my smoother C-System 2.5 with the pin above the fingers, and the MB in the track. The ball does not flare very much, so it is very smooth. The first shot with it hit the pocket, and left the 8-10. I heard both Coach Stephen and John Janawicz in the back say, 'good shot'. I threw it good; the ball was just DOA. I threw it again on the left lane and struck, but upon going back the the right lane, it was DOA again and left a very weak 10 (the 8 went out late). I gave it one more shot, and I didn't get it up to the pocket. I left the 2-5, and proceeded to chop it. I have chopped so many splits this week. I am deciding right here and now, I will not chop any more this tournament. Anyway, for the remainder of the game, I decided to go back to the stronger 2.5, but move in and weaken my hand a little. That seemed to work, and I was able to throw the last 5 for about 190.
So, I finished singles in 4th. I was plus today, which is a positive, and I am plus now for the tournament. I have a clear picture to work with for mixed doubles tomorrow. Tomorrow's format is a little different than most tournaments, in that one lane with be dressed with the 44' pattern, and the other with the 34' pattern. I have a huge advantage in having JJ as my mixed doubles partner. He knows my game well, as we have practiced together in the past, and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to lane play and ball choices. I can only believe that scores will go up for us tomorrow. I see gold in Team USA's future.
Also, a HUGE congratulations goes out to JJ as he brought home the first medal for the USA today. He earned the silver medal in the men's singles competition. Check out his blog on how he made that happen. I'm sure it will be a great read!
As for now, it is time to grab some dinner and hopefully experience some more of the wonderful Guatemalan hospitality!
John Janawicz
I started out day 3 pretty well. Since we were bowling on the short pattern, I felt pretty good knowing that I had the Stingray of Love in the bag. I hit the Stingray with a 500 Abralon since it felt like it needed a little surface and it had kind of a worn 1000 grit on it. I shot 279 right out of the box and made up some ground from the day before. I was trying to go about 7-8 to about 3-4 down the lane.
I hit the ball with 500 again after the first game (WTBA rules allow you to change surface after each game) because Alberto Liziano from Costa Rica was using plastic on that pair so I thought it could be a touch tighter. Also Brenda said that lane 20 was about 4 boards tighter so I thought it would be a safe move to refresh the surface. Well, it didn't work out so well even though I did shoot 211. The next two games I felt the pattern moving me left but I got into trouble in game three, shooting 170. On that pair the track was a little farther left and I tried to chase it left but it was a little too tight down the lane to get the ball up to strike when I got it in and if I tried to move a little right it would grab too early. I still got stuck in this on game four but managed to shoot 208.
I knew at this point I had to square up my angles so I took some hand out of the ball and moved closer to 5 and tried to throw it more up the lane. Lo and behold.....it worked! 269 with a stone-9 in the 10th. At least I was now back on track. The next game the dry was hooking more and I got in trouble early but I managed to punch out from the 6th to get 232 out of it. I just stayed in the same spot and threw it harder with the same ball. I learned from the earlier games that I wouldn't be able to get my angles too open with urethane.
I still shot 226 the 7th game but Frankie Colon from Puerto Rico shot 512 the last two so he was closing the gap really quickly. I was leading by about 21 going into the last game. I knew I needed to shoot a decent game but my reaction wasn't getting better. I was kind of fighting trying to get that right combination of ball speed and rev rate. I started out 4-pin, strike, ring-10 so I felt like I needed to bring the speed down a touch and move in a pinch. I did that and threw a three-bagger but Frankie was going at a 250-270 pace after 7 frames. I had a light 7-pin and then threw a strike so I had 159 with a strike working through 8 and could punch out for 249. I wasn't watching Frankie but I felt like I needed to punch out. I then threw a horrible shot in the 9th (got it to the dry quick) and the ball went 3-6-10. I then chopped the spare and pretty much figured that sealed my fate from winning the Gold medal. I was right. Frankie ended out shooting 258 the last game so I needed to strike in the 9th, 10th and a 9-spare for the Gold after figuring it out later. I shot 206 the last game which did get me the Silver losing the Gold by 33 pins. Manuel Otalora from Colombia got the Bronze as he struggled a little bit down the stretch.
I was upset for not throwing it well in the 9th, but at the same time I knew the real problem was misreading the transition in games three and four, shooting 378 for two. If I read transition correctly those games and moved right and took hand out of the ball, it wouldn't have mattered what I did in the 9th and 10th because I figured I had at least 430 for two if I did that. Even for those pins that I threw away, I still had a chance at Gold going into the 9th and 10th. At the same time credit needs to be given to Frankie. I mean he did shoot 770 the last three so he really deserved to win the Gold. He bowled better than I did. Props go out to Frankie.
It was kind of interesting because Frankie and Manuel and myself were all kind of going back and forth within the medal spots all day. We were all hitting transition at different times so it was kind of a bad game of leapfrog with 50-100-pin swings for each of us every couple of games. Tomorrow will be another day and look forward to bowling on the same pair with Brenda. Since we were bowling at the same time I really didn't get a chance to watch her a whole lot. Really looking forward to applying some of the knowledge gained from the last two days and hopefully we can get our first Gold for the tournament.
DAY 2
Brenda Edwards
As I start to write this, I must share with everyone . . . now playing on Guatemala City television channel 18, the local Fox Affiliate, is the movie Dodgeball, in Spanish of course. I must say, Vince Vaughn's voice seems a little higher than I remembered, and his lips don't quite match the words he is speaking. And, yesterday, I watched an episode of one of my son's favorite cartoons, Johnny Test, all in Spanish as well. I must say that cartoons make it a little easier to believe the characters are actually the ones delivering the lines. We have a couple of channels that are in English, CNN and a movie channel, but even the movie channel has subtitles in Spanish. I find myself reading them and trying to put the words in some sort of vocabulary bank for later use. After this event, I feel the need to purchase Rosetta Stone.
Day one of singles began well enough. Breakfast at the hotel consisted of fried plantains, watermelon, and a tomato and cheese omelet that tasted like it had been cooked on a grill with charcoal. I'm not saying it was terrible, but I couldn't get past the thought I should be chewing on a ribeye instead of eggs. The coffee here is phenomenal, and with 3 cups, I was absolutely ready to start the day.
I started game 1 with my Brunswick Wild Card (pin under the ring finger and a large hole under my axis point). In practice, I had a great look and was consistently hitting the pocket. Then, the lights came on, and I grabbed more than my share of the first shot . . . Greek Church. Ugh. I always seem to dig myself a hole to start a tournament. Where is Dr. Dean Hinitz when I need him? Five through the middle is not conducive to loosening up the arm swing, but the second frame was waiting on me. Second frame, of course, was 10 back. After all, it is the second frame, not first, and all the pressure of a great start is gone. I split two more times in that game, before getting Team USA's first spare in the 8th frame. I left the big 4 in the tenth, taking what I thought would be 220ish, back to 190ish. It wasn't a terrible start, and I thought I had the picture of what the lanes were asking of me.
Game two revealed a totally different picture. I was playing the lanes around second arrow, trying to 'jam' the pocket, as girls who seemed to have the best reaction were doing. The right lane was not cooperative with this angle, having a shim that the ball would just slide right through. I left two washouts, two splits, and chopped a spare that game for a whopping 145. I went back to my practice notes, and decided to take a giant step left.
This proved to be the right move, as it made my reaction more predictable. However, carry was not on my side. I could hit the pocket, and nine was guaranteed every time...it was getting 10 consistently that was in question. And of course it would seem that there was the inevitable split waiting for me each game. I did make the 6-7 for a round of applause, and my first two hundred game of the event. For the rest of the block, I continued to move left, making ball changes in game 3 and game 7. I threw another Brunswick Wild Card, this one with the pin in the ring finger, and then a Brunswick C-System 2.5 with the pin under my ring finger.
I felt like I threw the ball better than I have in a LOOOONG time. I was long and low at the line, extended through my target. It felt so good to be able to throw the ball with my autograph on it after being limited for the last three weeks or so with my piriformis injury. (Thanks Nick Bohanan for helping with the rehab on that to get it back into shape!) I am disappointed and frustrated with my score, but not with my effort. There are 8 more games of singles on the short pattern (Stockholm, 34') tomorrow. The game plan there will be to stay as far right on the lane as possible for as long as possible. I plan to take the positives of today and move forward for a huge block tomorrow. The race for singles isn't over yet.
Blogamala to be continued...
John Janawicz
There I was in a bush . . . Ebonite Missions all around me . . . I could see the anger in the enemies' eye after I threw a runaway Brooklyn in the seventh frame . . .
Sorry . . . that was my other blog . . .
Well, the tournament begins today. I got plenty of sleep (about 9 hours) so I was more than rested. I had the same breakfast as the day before consisting of scrambled eggs, corn flakes and orange juice. For me, it's all about routines.
Since I was on the left lane I would be moving left all day. We were only using three pairs. I guess since there were only 10 countries they brought in a couple of pacers so that way we had four on a pair. I got off to a good start today shooting 252 the first game. I was looking at 18-19 at the arrows trying to get it to 12-13 down the lane with slower speed with my Rapid Fire Pearl with 2000 grit Abralon on it. I had the front seven and threw a bad shot for a 2-8-10 and then left a 2-10 in the 11th.
I moved to the next pair (21-22) and I figured they'd be hooking a little more since a couple of the guys were starting at 20 right away. Moved one left and struck on the first ball and in the 2nd frame threw it kind of bad (didn't clear the thumb real well) but it still hooked a lot for a 3-6-7-10. I ended out shooting 170-something on that pair; it just hooked a couple more than the pair I just got off of. I was thinking the next couple of games I'd be able to move in and get around it but it only worked OK . . . shot 209.
Then the 4th game I was crossing with Manuel Otalora from Colombia and he shot 299 with a ringing ten on the fill. I was a little farther inside than he was. He was closer to 18-19 at the arrows whereas I was near 23-24 trying to get it a little farther right down the lane than he was. I should've known at that point that it was time to move right and use a little more speed and close down the angles, but nooooooooooo . . . I thought I'd get around it and use some touch to smooth out ball reaction. After having 82 in the 6th in game 5, I finally came to the conclusion that . . .
THIS ISN'T WORKING!
So I took my best guess and switched balls to the Blue Vibe, went back right and softened up the hand and threw a three bagger. I thought to myself. 'Great, finally back on track!' I got up in the tenth and moved one left since I was flush on the last time I was on that lane. The lanes were breaking down a lot more than I had thought they would, so I was constantly trying to stay ahead of transition. I threw the best shot of the day (at least I thought) to be greeted with the Big Four.
164 with a three-bagger in the middle of the game . . . nice work, kid! Way to overachieve!
Needless to say I was fuming at this point especially since a couple of the guys that were behind me now were shooting between 220-250. I took this strategy to the next pair and threw a 3-bagger late in the game and went up in the tenth trying to punch for 220 and promptly went 6-7-10 on the first ball in the tenth to plummet back down to 205 while my opposition was still on cruise control at a 230 clip.
At this point I told myself that I needed to do something different. It was time to go back to the Rapid Fire Pearl and use more speed and try to fade it in from 25. That strategy worked out well shooting 257 that game. I had to finish on 21-22 which I was averaging a composite 168 on for my two previous games. Though history hadn't been kind to me at this point I figured it's got to get better. At least I know I'm playing the lanes correctly now. At this point it was more wet-dry side-to-side than the last pair, but I managed to squeeze out 207 on that pair despite sliding by a 3-6-10 in the 6th frame.
It wasn't my best performance and I'm still mad at myself for not acting on what I needed to do soon enough in the middle of the block resulting in 164, but at least I'm only 34 pins out of 1st and I'm going to my best pattern, the short. At least I learned what I'll probably need to do the day after when we go to the Mixed event and have to bowl on long again. In the mean time, we're going to take a walk and get something to eat. Signing off for now....
DAY 1
Brenda Edwards
Greetings from Guatemala! This marks my first journey out of the United States, except for Canada and Tijuana, Mexico. This trip is exciting for me, as I get to represent my team and my country through a sport that I love and have dedicated much of my life to. It is such a sense of accomplishment and pride to wear USA on my back. It will never get old or ordinary.
Coach Stephen Padilla and I started our journey from DFW Airport Saturday, meeting John janawicz in Miami, before flying into Guatemala City. My first impression of Guatemala was that the airport was quite close to the high rise buildings in the city. Our plane came in pretty hot, and those tall buildings were moving by faster than I have ever observed from the window of an airplane. After going through customs, we found the shuttle to the hotel. When we arrived it was dark and drizzling, so there wasn’t so much to see on our five-minute trip.
We decided to eat dinner in the restaurant in the hotel. There was plenty of squid on the menu, crunchy and broiled, but I decided to stay with the garlic shrimp. JJ, the more adventurous of this duo, went for the broiled squid, and Coach Stephen had beef. The waitress was wonderful as she assisted with the correct pronunciation of the Spanish words on the menu. The flan for dessert was the best part of the meal. We walked across the street to the Burger King so I could take a Pepsi Light back to the room. They do not use the term ‘diet’ to label low-calorie drinks here. JJ explained that ‘diet’ refers to actual weight loss drinks, not low calorie sodas. Pepsi Light it will be for me!
This morning was the official ‘recognition’ of the lanes, or as we know it, practice session. To get over to the bowl, the delegations piled into a medium sized bus. The bowling balls were loaded into the bus through a side window and stacked on the last seat. Again, I found myself just watching what was going on amazed at the differences from the USA. The ride to the bowling center took us through a couple of neighborhoods and through an area of gorgeous sights. Guatemala City is much more mountainous than I expected. It is very beautiful. The bowling center looks to be in an area dedicated to sports. I noticed a building with the FIFA logo on the side, and saw soccer fields and a stadium, as well as basketball goals. My immediate thoughts were how cool it is that bowling is included with all of these other major sports in this area.
Practice session went very well for me. We bowled on lanes 11-25 of the center. Every other pair was conditioned with the same pattern, so 11-12 were the 44’ long pattern (London), and 13-14 were the 34’ short pattern (Stockholm). We were assigned to a pair based on country so that there were three bowlers per pair, and we received 10 minutes of practice on each pair before the whistle sounded and we had to move to the right. The women and the men were separated during practice, so I didn’t have a chance to see where JJ was playing the lanes, but Coach Stephen was moving between the two of us with ideas and helping with surface changes. The lanes were tighter for me than what I played on in the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas, but my ball reactios maintained the shape that I expected to see.
My best look on the short pattern seemed to be a Brunswick C-System 2.5, with the pin below the ring finger, and a large weight hole just under my axis. My Wild Card with the pin in the ring finger and no hole also looked good. Both of these played best from outside of 5. If I got too much farther in, the ball jumped off the end of the pattern and would go through the nose or Brooklyn. On the long pattern, I played with my Brunswick Wild Card that has the pin under the ring finger and large weight hole just under my axis. I was surprised to see the long pattern play better in the track area than inside 15. My best looks were all right of 13-14 at the arrows. For me, I felt the pattern almost played flat inside, as the ball would hook off the end of the pattern and lay off at the pocket. I just have to remember to keep my swing long and roll the ball off my hand on this pattern. The longer I can keep my flat spot the better.
I am certainly excited for this event, and believe in both JJ and myself. Here’s to mad carry and lots of strikes over the next few days! GO TEAM USA!!!
John Janawicz
Coming to Guatemala to me is almost like coming home since this is the 5th time I’ve actually flown here. I came here to oil lanes in ’04 for the American Zone Youth Championships as well as making a separate trip for the pre-inspection and also came later that year to install a lane machine. It was good to see some of the familiar faces like Miguel Aguilar in the pro shop and my friend Dave Young who always helps out with the tournaments here.
Practice session went pretty well. We’re bowling on short and long again with the short being the 34’ WTBA Stockholm and the long being the 44’ WTBA London. The house characteristics held pretty true from when I was here three years ago. I brought seven balls with me. I brought a Maxim, a urethane Columbia Stingray, a urethane Storm Natural as well as a Black Ice, Blue Vibe, Rapid Fire Pearl and a Virtual Gravity. I used urethane exclusively when I was here for the PABCON in ’07 and it still was the best option. The Black Ice was a little too long when I tried to go away from the pocket but it was a little too sharp from side to side when I tried to go too straight and bump up near the dry. I’m only allowed to check in six balls so the Black Ice was going to the showers. The urethane balls smoothed it out so much better. That was a pretty easy choice.
The long pattern was good, but ball reaction was not quite as good as the short. I had a good look with the Rapid Fire Pearl once I hit the surface with a fresh 2000 Abralon. The back part of the lane plays a little tight here, as it did in ’07. I had to go straighter in ’07 to find any reaction (which still wasn’t very good) but it was definitely better than trying to cross a lot of boards. Going like 18 to 13 was my best look. I took the Blue Vibe down to 2000 as well because that 4000 finish I had on it just wouldn’t slow the ball down enough in the pattern. That’ll be a good look once they start to bust down a little more.
After waiting for the coaches’ meeting to conclude we headed back to the hotel and then went to TGI Friday’s across the street to get some food. It’s time for me to hit the hotel gym and then probably get some more food later tonight before we pack it in for the night.