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I was in Reno for the USBC Open Championships during Memorial Weekend for less than 24 hours. I landed 11:00 p.m. Saturday night and flew out 6:40 a.m. on Monday. It was actually worth the trip and I made some money.
I bowled S/D at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday. I secured a sub job through the sub board on bowl.com. I met up with the group coordinator that morning and thanked him for letting me sub. I met a very nice gentleman from Louisiana (gakker). We were starting doubles and my partner hadn't shown up yet. I was a little worried because we were the only ones on the pair. He showed up as I was throwing my first practice shot.
I started doubles very well: 244, 224. The last game I didn't carry very well and missed two 10 pins, along with a washout. My last game was a 158 for a 626 series. Not bad considering I was working on only a few hours of sleep and some jet lag. Thinking back on it, I chased the carry-down in instead of moving right.
We switched pairs for singles and I was throwing the ball very well. 200 - 218 - 197 - 615. Clean set!
After S/D, I met up with my sister and her boyfriend. Oh, I mean fiancé! They had gotten engaged the day before. Very exciting! I had brunch with my team, did a little gambling, and headed back to my room for some sleep before my 8:30 p.m. team squad.
Since I bowled on the fresh in the morning, I figured I would have a good look for team as well. I started the block off with a clean 214. The next game I started with the front 7! My name and score was highlighted in red and freaked me out. It was very exciting. I went spare, spare, strike out for a clean 266. Very nice! The last game I moved right this time to overcome the carry-down. I went strike, miss, double, miss, 5 in a row. I needed the second strike in the tenth for 700. I ended up 210 - 690. 1931 all-events. I brought three balls with me and only used two - my spare ball and my Storm Special Agent. This was my third year bowling and I have improved over 100 pins each year. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be making a tournament appearance until 2009 when it's in Vegas.
Well, overall my experience in Reno was very nice. It is definitely better than the women's national tournament.
*BEWARE: Stepping on my soapbox.
I've posted on bowl.com and asked, "Why doesn't USBC host both tournaments and the convention in the same city?" Wasn't the main reason for the merge to save money? I understand that some women don't want to bowl with the men, and vice versa. I would designate different squads for women, men, and mixed. Furthermore, I do agree that the women should have to choose to bowl either tournament, not both. However, this would mean that we don't pay another sanction fee at the beginning of the season if our state associations are not merged. One organization should mean one sanction fee, one tournament. The tournament should be based on average and not gender.
I totally agree with your soapbox comment about one tournament, however some kind of division setup would be a must. There are quite a few women bowlers who I know that have no problem competing, and being successful at it, with the men (like you). However, the vast majority will only compete in the women's tournament because they feel they have 'no chance' in the open. I think divisions might help this..but if you had all the participants from both tournaments bowling at one tournament you might find the number of venues that could effectively host it might be very limited..??
g-money10:49 AM CST