The Preparation & Week 1 @ The World Series of Bowling

The PBA Tour has begun for the 2009-10 season. Yes, already! The only type of summer bowling I am used to lately happens in Europe or theme parks. The break this year seems extra short. I have been trying to balance a very packed summer schedule of my first FaganBowling clinic & a 2-week trip to Europe along with my normal preparation for the PBA Tour. To add on another twist, I also have to throw all new equipment that I haven't throw before. Needless to say, this transition from offseason to "on" season may not be as smooth as years past.

The story begins as I'm driving home from Newark airport where I just got back from the EBT (European Bowling Tour) in Barcelona. I received a call from Chad Murphy at Columbia 300 telling me about a new "4-Brand" staff he is putting together. This peaked my interest because it allows me some leeway to throw every brand that Ebonite International produces. I called Chad back the following day and said I would do it. I then headed to a local distributor and went shopping for new balls. I picked out 8 to get me started. Ebonite has dedicated itself to the players for the new season and I believe it is going to be the best way to help their company.

So my next responsibility was to finalize plans for my first FaganBowling Clinic. I was very lucky to have Jason Belmonte & Diandra Asbaty fly in to help me with the clinic. My good friends Steve Evans & Norm Ginsberg also took a lot of weight off my shoulders by lending a hand. The day went really well and we had a great time running it.

So now that Belmo was in town I had somebody to practice with for the week. We drilled a few balls, played golf, tennis, ping pong, pool, and practiced a bunch to pass the week. We also went out for Belmo's B-day. Belmo refrains from alcohol about 99% of the time, but I was witness to the other 1%. It didn't take him many to get drunk but Belmo was quite entertaining as he made friends with every single person (employee & client) in the bar. He remembered the next morning why he doesn't drink.

Before we knew it we were off to Detroit. The drive took us all day Saturday and the Prius was riding low with all of our luggage and bowling balls. We made it in one piece to Canton, MI, where we will call home for the next 5 weeks. Our third roomie Bill O'Neill had already checked in the apartment so we were all set when we got there. Michigan must have a different definition of luxury than we do in NY, but this "luxury" apartment looks pretty plain to me. We will make it work we have cable & internet to keep us entertained. The one thing I will miss about home is the BBQ, it's always nice to have a summer cookout.

Did I mention we were here for a few bowling tournaments? Oh yeah so Taylor Lanes, which I really am not a big fan of, is holding the first event. I have never really had much luck at Taylor and this week was no exception! I started slow tuesday morning, I really had a few chances to post some good games but never took advantage. Tuesday night was a total debacle. The air conditioning was not working too well, 78F to be exact was the temperature in the bowling center. This had quite an effect on the lanes, they got extremely dry. I bowled fairly well on not so good conditions and found myself in 67th place at the end of the day.

Wednesday was a new day and I was determined to turn things around. I tried a bunch of different things in practice but I wasn't too thrilled about anything I had. So after 15 minutes of practice I decided to throw the Ebonite Magic Touch from the night before that I threw a total of zero times in practice. I made a nice guess and started with the front 8. I ended with 262 and I was on my way. My ball reaction was pretty solid the entire block, I was able to get a good run going the last 2 games. I shot 503 the final two games and missed the finals by 4 pins, finishing in 26th place. Most people go back to the last frame (which I left a 10-pin) to place the blame. I made so many mistakes over the past 15 games that I cant blame it on a pretty good shot in the final frame. It was disappointing, but I can't be too upset, we have 6 more tournaments and I certainly ended this one on an up note (I was 4th high for the final 5 games).