Went out to Mesa Az on 2/28 to visit our daughter and son-in -law for a few days before flying to Reno for the USBC. We had a great time with the kids and the 'Grand-dogs' enjoying the sunshine and NO HUMIDITY of the east valley of the Phoenix area.

Flew up to Reno for the USBC,,,,,,,Reno being one of my favorite places in the bowling world (as I have previously written).We had a great time there including winning a decent size jackpot on a penny machine in Harrah's. Notice,I have not mentioned the tournament......all I will say is that I was 50%......15 splits in 30 frames of the team event,12 in the doubles,9 in the singles. In spite of all that, I felt that I bowled much better than my results. Back to Mesa for a few more days of 80+ degrees weather......flew back to NY wednesday......drove up to Elmira, NY on Thursday,preceding a snow storm for a senior regional tourney.

Bowled fairly well........missing a super-senior check by 32 pins.......still leaving too many splits. My favorite equipment was stuck in transit by UPS......(thankyou USBC Bowling Ball Express). Another shipping fiasco involving Reno and me!

Will continue to work on the positive......my game is definitely coming around.......I am back, although not completely.

Welcome to the tundra......better known as Long Island New York. It has been very cold here after a mild January (which,as you know,I was enjoying in the warmth of Florida thanks to the GBT). Very difficult to get the bowling balls out of the van amid the ice and snow of the past few days. I do not know how far northerners and Midwesterners can deal with the constant winter that we do not experience, save for the few weeks that we have snow and ice!

I am definitely making great strides in my pursuit of excellence..........my game gets physically stronger and my mind is now filled with positives rather than the expletives that have clouded my judgment and destroyed all that I once had in our wonderful sport. My mental game is not cluttered with all of the outcomes, outcomes that I cannot control. The process of getting to that special place of self-actualization, is the "method to my madness"! And if you are reading this, Dr. K,........THANK YOU for helping to make me aware of what had gotten in the way!

I am looking forward to my Reno trip in the beginning of March. It will be great to go out west with my wife.......first time away together since we got married!I still get tears in my eyes as I join hundreds of my fellow bowlers in a  parade down the center aisle at the Bowling Stadium. It is something that every somewhat serious bowler should experience. Its GRRRRRRREAT! I expect to continue my upward spiral of improvement at the ABC/now USBC Championship. This is my 2nd of 3 trips to Reno since July......its probably one of my favorite places to visit.......good food, pleasant hotels, bowling stadium and..............CASINOS! Love them penny slots!

Enough reporting for now.........will update when I return from Reno.

Stay healthy and Warm.........and Good Bowling to all!

Gary

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack.

It was an enlightening 3 weeks, lots of downs, some ups and one VERY Large Positive! I enjoyed practicing, hanging out with senior bowling's best, being an integral part of a new tour that treats the senior professional as a PROFESSIONAL, and seeing friends that I would eotherwise not see for 9-10 months from the last time I saw them. Oh yeah, I did bowl 36 games in competition.....the last week being more frustrating than the other 2.....until the 9th frame of game 11. After 3 1/2 years, my knee bend miraculously returned.......at that moment,I pured the shot,along with the next 6 shots. What a great feeling.

I met with a mental advisor after completing the last block on Sunday. We spoke freely about my practice prowess and tournament disappointments.To make a long story short, positive replaced negative.......going to take continued effort.......3 steps forward, 1 step back etc. But.........finally I feel the hope that all of my physical work has the mental support necessary to NOT be short the few feet necessary for ".....60 feet to success"!

The few of you still following my blog will be noticing a major change in tone from negative ,"woe is me"to positive return to excellence.

Good bowling to all........I'm baaaaaaaaaack!

To quote one Dave Ryan with an addition by yours truly...".........60 feet to success........a few feet short this week"

I had my usual super practice session on Friday, having a great look across the house using every ball in my arsenal. I admittedly lined up off of Sal Bongiorno, who had a great look playing the 42 ft. pattern deeper than most others.I hopped in......and had quite a few people watching me throw strike after strike after strike.......causing Don Breihan to comment......what....are you getting bored?,,,,,,when I finally left a 10 pin.

I have to admit that it felt great to have the kind of success I experienced in the session along with the crowd's interest at this non hall of famer looking so good out there.

Didn't sleep a whole lot Friday night......didn't want to miss 8:30 AM roll call, so,even with a wake upcall and an alarm clock,I slept a total of 3 1/2 hours. Got to Stuart Bowl at 8 AM, had some breakfast........started practice at 8:45........shot was almost identical to the practice session....just a bit tighter. Yes, TIGHTER.....which is exactly what happened to my swing in game 1,2 and half way through game 3. Starting with 2 160 games in a strikefest is pretty much the end of any chance of making the finals, where it took a 12 game 233 average to make the cut in my division. Got my head out of my butt and shot +19 for the last 3........giving me -80 for the first block......a 100 pin improvement from last week on the fresh shot. Totally frustrated and disappointed in my start,but optimistic with my finish.

Slept well........got to the bowl at noon,with a 12:45 start. Lanes were hooking quite a bit more than they did yesterday for B squad. Started playing deep.....4th arrow to 12 board at 40'......217 with a "5 pin pba washout " in the 10th frame. Followed with a 176.....no carry, 2 splits, including a pocket 7-10 in the 10th frame,followed by 188. Yes,I was throwing the ball well, but not well enough.......started game 4 on the hookingest lanes I had seen so far.....took me 5 frames to finally get deep enough.....finished with the last 5 for 193. Moved down to the end pair.......started with a triple, 4 10 pins and struck out for 238......finally got back to + 14 for the block,going into the last game. I'd like to say that I was perfect in the last game.......but somehow, the reaction was gone......roll out , light splits (2-8-10, 4-5-7, 2-4-8-10,.......FOR A ROUSING 152       -32 for the block        -112 for the tournament.

In 12 games, I missed 1 1pin spare (7 pin)........left and converted 25 10 pins in the tournament, threw a lot more strikes than the previous tournament........but,alas, no success.

I still feel that I am the next level below the Hall of Fame bowlers on the GBT and PBA.......yet my performance is so much lower than my skill level.

The things I worked on definitely showed a vast improvement. Most of the regulars on tour have commented about the improvements.......Hiday,Eagle, Roth, Ozio and others have made sure to tell me how much better I look on the lanes. Its hard work; something I am not afraid of.......I know that sometime soon, the checks will start coming again, along with the titles.

Off to Orlando in the morning to check into my next residence for the week. Going to visit a friend down in Boca for some r and r and golf.......and yes,practice on the lanes. It is why I am in Florida in the first place.

A brief note on equipment........without a contract from AMF300 at this time, I have used different equipment,along with AMF Nighthawk and RadarLock..........I am finding that Storm products and Hammer (BlackWidow) work well for me on the GBT lane patterns while Brunswick products seem to give me the best look on PBA conditions.

Will Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando be the tournament where I finally turn it around?.......I sure hope so!

Off to the LAND OF DISNEY, UNIVERSAL AND SEAWORLD.

Gary

PS.......Happy 7month anniversary to my lover and best friend, Mrs. Friedman. I have to admit I'm a bit homesick, although its 35 degrees at home and 80+ here........it would be so much better with Marti here with me.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

It was the good, it was the ugly.

It was frustration, it was redemption.

Practice session was interesting to say the least......approximately 90 bowlers (96 in the field) rolling on 12 lanes......I only practiced for about an hour on the GBT 40' pattern.......a pattern that I have now grown to enjoy.......inside 10,beauty.....outside 10 , attractive........swinging 10, DISASTER! As usual, I led the practice squad in strike percentage.......there are few better than me (the day before the tournament).

The new Kegel Training Center, in Lake Wales,Florida, is a state of the art facility, the world's flattest lanes that can be adjusted to .03 tolerance (usbc regulations allow up to .40 tolerance).Each lane is equipped with C.A.T.S. making the tournament even more unique by providing printouts of every shot thrown in the tournament. Believe me, it was more than enlightening reading through the charts today. Brent Sims, Del Warren,Randy Staunton are just a few of the highly qualified people in the training center. They were always available to us, totally personable and as expected, totally knowledgable.Seeing videos of Del approximately 20years ago,along with video of our Tournament Director, Frank Ellenburg, was also a lot of fun. John Davis, the guru of Kegel, was present for much of the festivities, sharing stories, and driving his historic Saab.  The man is a genius! As far as I was concerned, the only missing people were Lou and Richard.....then the picture would be complete! (Although they both have gone on to greener pastures in their chosen life)!

Block 1- Sunday 3 PM(actually 4:30).

Welcome to the world of double dribble. I proceeded to play basketball rather than bowl for the first 2 games of the block. I also discovered that one cannot perform with the hangar remaining in the shirt while you are wearing it. That is how tight I was........ouch! Equipment has no effect on the game......especially when there IS no game being played. To make a long story short.....a pair of 150's, 2 191s, a 140 something and a 170 something......UGLY ! - 187. Lake Wales is one of many lakes in the central region of Florida.....I thought of driving my van into one of them,but the way I bowled, I would have missed! I missed everything else.

After a night and day beating myself up, I got to Kegel about 90 minutes before our starting time on Monday night. We began the final qualifying squad at 7:45,also about an hour late. Prcticed with a Nighthawk  which gave me decent look.......but a drill that would cause the ball to burn up a bit too early. Used it for first frame........came up high.....4 pin...../ frame one. Switched to a Special Agent, 5X3, pin above bridge.......XXXXXXXX   yes .....me 8 in a row......weak 10 pin....covered.....268 ! Followed with 201, 188 (3 splits),208, and then the roof caved in........152.....2 chops, 1 split, and a flag of a 10 pin. Final game 176.....not as bad as it sounded....just didn't match up to the now FLYING track area........went to a very shiny Widow.....couldn't get it vertically as far as I needed to keep it tame.  -4 for block 2.......right in the middle of the classic division for the 2nd block. Not really much to shout about......however, I am able to know what caused the weak moments in the 2nd block....That can only happen when there is some semblence of a game!

Arrived in Stuart Florida this afternoon. Dinner, laundry, American Idol. Golf drving range tomorrow, Stuart Lanes for some practice, Jai Alai in Fort Pierce tomorrow night. Gee....what I tough life I lead....lol

But with every positive, there has to ,unfortunately, be a big negative. I really miss the Missus. She is my rock........Love makes everything have real meaning. I am so lucky to have Marti in my life!

Speak to y'all after this week in Stuart.

Have fun.....and good bowling to all!

GarY

PS  Congrads to Mike Henry defeating David Ozio 248-219 winning the GBT Kegel Open .A well deserved victory for a great guy!