So, of course I got my arse handed to me over the weekend. Should it be any other way? My first Regional was the kind of beatdown given to those enlisting in the armed services (appropriate given that the tournament was held at Ft. Gordon army base in Augusta, GA). I saw the next level of the game, I learned was "pair courtesy" was all about, and I finished -260.

And I dug it.

I dug it because there was no B.S.-ing the bad shot - chunk one and you paid. For the first five games I paid handsomely, mostly because I was playing scared. Simply put, I put too much emphasis on the tightness of the shot. In my efforts to be "careful", my release weakened and I had little-to-no reaction. At the end of the fifth game, I let one rip and - surprise! - my reaction came back, along with my accuracy. It was like getting a "get out of jail free" card. Shot 237 the next game, and felt like I could look people in the eye again.

I totally dug the pair courtesy. There's a smoothness and a certainty to it. I think it actually calmed me down, most notably when waiting to make spares (which I did copious amounts of). Strange that it is not part of either PBA Experience league I belong to. Isn't that an essential part of the "experience"? Not to sound bitter, but if I can't drink beer while competing PBA-style, then I should get two lanes worth of clearance when I roll. Seems like a fair trade.

The "stars" of the show (R. Allen and T. Jones) were bowling on the later squad, but by the time I was finished bowling, I wanted a buffet-style lunch and a nap in that order. We got into Augusta at 1:15AM and had to make 7:30AM roll-call. Earl Anthony could have risen from the grave and rolled B squad and I wouldn't have cared. My playing partner BB summed it up best, "I was hoping one of us would make the cut just so I could go back to the hotel and sleep again."

I realized on the drive home that, between this tournament, the two PBA Experience leagues I'm on, and my lack of spare time for practice, I had bowled exactly two games on a house shot in the last month. And you know what? The game is more interesting as a result. I don't know which ball I'm going to use or where I'll stand or what I'll aim at. I do know that I'm going to learn something new, which, ugly as it may be, can never be called boring.

Songs/Movie Dialog Running Through My Head During Regional Competition:

"Take a Letter Maria" - R.B. Reaves

"Copacabana" - Barry Manilow

"Don't think you are, know you are." - Morpheus to Neo during the "fight training simulator" scene in The Matrix

"On My Way To The Cage" - Rollins Band

"September" - Earth, Wind & Fire

How's THAT for a mental game!