Get off your high horse..

Sorry Guys that I have been slacking on not getting another post up here, but I have been thinking of this one for a while and now I think it's time to let it all out...

It's amazing to me how many bowlers out there think they know everything about the game of bowling when really they know nothing at all or have a very small understanding and knowledge of the game. It's amazing how much they think they know when they really don't know anything at all... trust me, I have been in this category before and looking back I call myself a jackass for not taking in what people were trying to tell me.

Ever since I have changed my mind set, my knowledge has gone up dramatically and now I am a more competitive bowler. Don't get me wrong there are some things out there that you should throw by the way side or in the trash, but there are some bits and pieces you should listen too. I am going to name some people who know a lot about the game of bowling and whom you should probably take a listen too: Marshall Kent, Cameron Weier, Jim Kent, Bob Hanson, and Pat Johns. These are just a few that come to my mind. These guys are very successful and have an outstanding knowledge of the game of bowling. Obviously there are more people who are out there who also have a vast knowledge of the game then you do... probably more knowledge in their pinky finger then you ever thought about having. The reason why I say this is because they have been there before and have faced so many different types of patterns and situations where people have no effing clue what to do.

I have been on the side where I have had no look and Cammy and Marshall are killing it. I always try to learn something every time I go out and bowl a tournament.  Usually it’s either  lane play or ball and surface prep.  There are so many different things that go into success and failure while bowling a tournament. Most of the time it’s just knowledge of the game and how much people know and don't know.  My goal every time I bowl is to expand on my knowledge and analyze what went wrong and what went right, and to make sure that it does or doesn't happen again. I am still learning the game of bowling and in no way shape or form am I saying that I know everything there is to know about bowling. I am a student of the game until I shoot 300 every game and don't miss at all; then I will consider myself a guy that knows everything about the game of bowling.

I want to learn and get better at bowling. That is why I am bowling college and bowling as many tournaments as possible. That is why I am talking to the greats of the game and picking their brains and knowledge so I can get better and be one of the better bowlers out there..

I know I rambled on and on, I hope it is readable and makes sense... I will think of it more and post a Part 2

Team Challenge

So, seeing as it has been about 5 hours on the road to Reno, I figured I might as well type out a blog post. What a great weekend to write about as well. As some of you may know, I was part of the winning team at Junior World Team Challenge this last weekend in Las Vegas. Even though entries were down, the talent level was still there and we faced all of them. I bowled with Tanner Spacey, Tyler Cruz from Washington and AJ Johnson and Mike Preston from Illinois. Everyone bowled fantastic, which was great because I felt I didn’t bowl very well.

                The tournament was over two days and consisted of a combination of regular team games and baker style games. After the 5 team games, the rest was all baker. Baker truly shows how to work and bowl as a team. Because each player only has two shots per game, there has to be communication amongst the group to be able to adjust. Thankfully my team communicated well as we almost didn’t make stepladder until we discussed a group move.

                What happened was that we started Sunday very sluggish barely shooting 300 for two. We looked around and saw some teams shooting better. A lot better. We then bowled Jazzy Ape, who were making their run at the top seed. Once again we struggled, so we stepped aside and watched Jazzy Ape to see where they were playing because they were striking. We decided to shift everything right and play a little firmer and less angle. It seemed to work as we got back on track and were able to jump into 2^nd place for the stepladder.

                The final matches were on the leftover from the morning bowling. This meant dry. I had to get in front of the ball return, and so did Tanner. We cruised through our first match thanks to a 70 pin lead the first game. In the final match, Jazzy Ape put up the fight, in fact winning game 1 by about 10. In the second game, everything was tight up to about the 8^th frame. One of the bowlers for Jazzy Ape made a mistake, putting up a 5-1 for the frame. So I had a chance to lock up the title with a strike in the ninth. What do I do? I go Brooklyn for the win.

                This was the second JWTC victory of my bowling career. I look forward to this tournament every year and certainly can’t wait to bowl again next year. Next year being my last chance to bowl it, I plan on going out with a bang.

One of the things I noticed is that this tournament can give someone a taste of what a college tournament would be like. The intensity level is there as each person wants to win and of course the team aspect is there as well. It shows which teams can communicate and keep emotions in check which is very important on the college circuit.

I’ll leave it there for now. As always thanks for reading. Keep tuning in as exciting things are on the way.

Why is bowling dying today?

Why is bowling dying? Why isn't bowling getting the respect it got in the 70's and 80's? How can we fix it? Can we fix it? these all are questions I ask myself and the people I talk to on a regular basis. Recently I was talking to Justin Kostick on Facebook messenger and he informed me that at one point in time, Bowling had the highest rating on TV with a 9.1.. that really surprised me when he told me that because I didnt think bowling was getting that good of ratings.. but after talking to him more in depth about it, I can see why because bowling was on prime time tv on ABC and it was on more and people actually followed the PBA.

Which brings me to the next point, I encourage all of you and go and watch an older PBA telecast on Youtube and tell me what you notice about those shows compared to now? there was actually a crowd and not just two bleachers of people. its amazing how different the atmosphere was in the setting. 

Another thing I want everyone to notice as well when you are watching the old telecast, look how much they are making to win a tournament.. it was 40k to win each tournament and now its 15k to win.. seriously isnt that supposed to go up over time. instead of decrease? so really if we were bowling to a title and we used the 1980's money scale what is that to win? like $2,000?? I'm just throwing a random number out there.  

There was so much more sponsorship and backing in the PBA back then.. so where did it all go? now we don't even have a legit sponsor on the pba.. Lumber Liquidators... so impressive... Not!  The pba needs a legit sponsor to get money back into the prize fund and make it worth bowling the tour. but We ain't ever going to get that if we don't get back on ABC or prime time TV.  

I was at a college bowling banquet and the PBA Commissioner Tom Clark was the keynote speaker.. he was all about the social media and thats how the tour is going to survive... seriously dude?  there is no money.... therefore no interest in bowling.. sorry dude social media may be the thing to get a trend starting but its not going to help this cause... I can see it if you were trying to promote a tv show or an event but everything is pre recorded now. and who wants to watch some people bowl for your most prized tournament of like 60k when I can go watch Golf and watch their US Open where the winner gets 1.44 million dollars.. what would you rather watch if you were just a random person flipping through the channels. 

Which brings me to my next point, well one that Justin suggested and I think its brilliant and could work. The USBC should put an extra 2 dollars or whatever on to the membership fee and put that towards the PBA prize fund.. then you just created 2 million dollars on prize fund money then be able to go to the big time sponsors and ask if they want in on the action.. and hopefully keep the sport we all love alive..obviously the catch of this is to draw more people to bowling, adding more league bowlers and getting bowling back on the map. 

I'm always down to talk about bowling and everything to do with it. if you would like to chat about it. you know where to find me..

PC4

Anger Management

Hello readers! Before i start, want to advetise that the Torched Lane has an official twitter. Follow @torchedlane for tweets every now and then. We dont know what about, but hey, its twitter!

In this post I'd like to tackle a reader suggested topic. Ive decided on Kelsey Abrahamsen's question which is as follows:
"Tips on how to stay positive even when you're bowling bad, so hopefully you can pull your self out of the deep hole? That way you don't keep bowling bad? Just a thought :) I know I've had plenty of times where I throw a couple of bad shots, and the rest of my game, or even my day is blown."
Thanks for the suggestion. I feel like after this past weekend i can certainly say that controlling emotions can go a long way.

1. First and foremost, the game and certainly the tournament, is not over after a few bad shots or a bad game. I see people give up all the time because they threw a bad game or two. Theres no excuse for that. If you are still bowling, you are still in it.

2. Get EVERY SINGLE PIN THAT YOU CAN! If you are having a rough time, its ok to get a little frustrated. But you cant let that frustration take away from your bowling. Ive missed cuts a lot by under ten pins. Missed spare, missed split counts, fill balls, they all contribute.

3. Take it one shot at a time. Each ball you throw is seperate from the last. Focus on that one shot at that one moment. Threw a bad shot? Oh well, focus on the spare, then think about what happened after. This also means that you cant change what happened in the past. You cant change the score, so stop thinking about it.

4, Finally, never give up. Always finish. Leave on a good note, If you are 80 pins off the cut with one game left, then go out there and make 12 great shots. Or if you are completely lost, then make moves and try and figure it out. I missed cut at the Invitational by 9 pins, but i rallied from -73 to -30 when i felt completely lost. Now i know i can do it, but need to work on doing it sooner.

I hope that helps. To say it more bluntly, you just got to force yourself to stay positive. One of the things i do is i tend to "bowl mad." Like, if im bowling bad, i look at the lane as my enemy and i want to kick its ass. So once i line up, i put all my energy towards striking. Not exactly positive, but not negative either.

As always, thanks for reading. Feel free to ask questions about this or any of our posts. We will happily answer the best that we can.

@torchedlane
-Cameron