This season, Sean Rash is blogging his life on the Denny's PBA Tour for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer website in Seattle, Wash. Follow his blog all season long on either www.seattle-pi.com or PBA.com.2008 Denny’s World Championship
PBA Weekly Blog
By Sean RashIt’s Major time and it’s going to be a long week. I am driving to Indy from Chicago Monday morning, hopefully in time for a photo shoot I am doing for the USBC for the “Clash of Champions” event that is being held in Kansas City in May.
I am only driving to Chicago because my girlfriend, Sara, has the week off from school because of the shooting at Northern Illinois University. I am so happy she is okay and can be with me this week but I want to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone at NIU that was affected by this tragedy.
Monday is practice day this week because of the week’s format. Once I got to Indy, I checked into my hotel and headed to the bowl for the photo shoot. I ended up just bringing bowling balls into the building and coming back right before practice for the photo shoot. Practice was from 8 to 10 p.m. I had a really good look using Vapor Zones, Twisteds and Blast Zones on the fresh.
I was able to sleep in Tuesday because I was on B squad for the week. B squad is scheduled for 4:30 in the afternoon. I went up to the bowl to watch and little bit of A squad and saw how those guys were bowling, and then my girlfriend and I went to the mall to shop for a little bit. No surprise: I didn’t find anything but she did. After a quick bite to eat, it was time to relax and get ready to bowl.
Bowling went pretty well for me in the first block. I was +250 and in third place overall after the first day. This is a good start because if you make the top eight you get two byes in match play and are automatically in the top 16.
Wednesday morning was a lot different for me bowling-wise. For some reason this year, my first blocks have been great and the second blocks have been good but my carry has stunk. I bowled 13 over for the block and got to +263 for the second round and was going to make the cut. The bad thing was that I was going to drop out of the top eight, but I’m not sure how far I would get behind going into the cashers round. I ended up 14th going into the cashers round. Wednesday night was time to relax and catch up with emails and just prepare for the rest of the week.
Thursday was a day of ups and downs for me, bowling-wise. I had a good cross, but every other pair was a challenge for me. With the top 57 bowling, you had to take advantage of good pairs and bad. I shot 290 my third game and moved into the top eight to get the byes, but we had six games to go. I struggled for the next few games and with one game to go, I knew I needed a big game to make the top eight. I shot 275 to get to +472. I could have fallen a few spots if other guys struck in the 10th but I was lucky that they didn’t.
I didn’t have to bowl that night in the Round of 32, so I went back and took a short nap. I was going back to the bowl though to watch my roommate, Ryan Abel, bowl. Ryan had to bowl Del Ballard Jr. and it was his first time making match play in a Tour event. Ryan wasn’t fortunate to win his match. The scores were low, but it looked like he was struggling on one lane.
After they were done, we went and had some dinner and went to bed. I wanted to try and get some rest since Friday was going to be a long day.
My match Friday wasn’t scheduled until 2 p.m. so we got up and had some brunch. I headed over to the bowl around 1 p.m. to get ready for my match. I was bowling Walter Ray Williams Jr. Anytime you are bowling one of the best in the game, you better be ready for anything. When we were warming up, I knew Walter was wanting to play right. I won the first game, but the lanes got a lot easier for him and harder for me to strike as the games went on. I had a chance in a few games but didn’t throw it very well. Game five came down to the last couple of frames. I split in the ninth and that was all she wrote. So, for me, a very disappointing week losing in the Round of Super 16.
I have had a great season so far, but if you don’t make TV, it doesn’t make for an awesome year. Some guys have made five or six shows. I could have made that many shows too, but maybe these next couple weeks I can make a few more shows. Friday night consisted of eating dinner and watching the Round of 8 and who would make the show. After the rounds were over, a few of us decided to hit the streets of Indianapolis to celebrate Tom Daugherty’s birthday. We ended up at a place called Landsharks which is a bar with music and places to just hang out. A great night and Happy Birthday Tommy.
Saturday was Pro-Am day and it was a long one. Everyone who cashed and was exempt had to bowl two Pro-Ams. Well, my Pro-Ams were from 12 to 6 that day. I was exhausted, of course, by the time the second one was over. Pro-Ams are what it’s all about though. It’s nice to see the kids and even parents smile and have a good time. Trust me; you can’t spend time with your favorite athletes like this in any other sport.
Saturday night was a big dinner for all the guys on sponsor teams. What a good meal. I have to say a big thanks to the PBA for inviting us out.
After dinner was over, we went back to the room and just relaxed. It has been a long week and I needed to get some rest since next week is going to be longer.
Sunday was checkout day and time to move on to another city and hotel. Five weeks to go and I will be back at home.
Sara and I and her father went up to the bowl and watched the show. For a week of high scores, it was surprising to see all the low scores on the show. But when the lights come on and you are bowling for a Major, lots of money and other good things, sometimes shots are as good as they can be. I want to say, great week to my Aussie buddy, Andrew Frawley. He is from Australia and bowled as an amateur. There were all kinds of great players here this year since the PBA opened the field to amateurs. This was a smart move because more and more good players will come to this event. Congrats to Norm Duke for winning his third Major title and 27th title overall. He found a way to avoid trouble while on the show.
So, here is the best part of the week. If you don’t know who “The Black Widow” is, she’s Jeanette Lee. She is one of the greatest billiards players of all time. Well, Jeanette and I met at the Summer Series at Six Flags and decided that we would have a challenge match bowling and playing pool. Well, I won the bowling match on Friday just throwing a few shots but on Sunday we were going to shoot away. After the show, we went into the player’s room where we had a few tables set up. I started practicing but it did no good, let me tell you. She came into the room with, of course, her own stick, but to our surprise, she brought her own set of pool balls. Of course they were rigged to not go in for me, but she did some things none of us have ever seen before. I have to say thanks to Jeanette for taking the time to stop in for our show and to kick my butt in pool. It was a real treat. I will practice up and maybe next year I can win one game, but that is just a dream for me.
My last thoughts are to say thanks to Ken Howard and his staff at Woodland Bowl for a wonderful job, like always. I will never forget Ken and everything he’s done for me. I met Ken a few years back when bowling in college for Wichita State. My grandmother had passed away the week I was going to Indy and I was going to her funeral right after the event, so I had asked him for a bowling pin to put in my grandmother’s grave. He looked at me weird, but did it in a heartbeat. Ken has been a true friend and he’s a great person for our sport. Ken, I can’t say thanks enough for all you do for me and everyone else living our dream.
See you all in Columbus!
Jeanette Lee shows Sean Rash why she's one of the greatest billiards players of all time.Click on one of the links below to read more Rash's Rants:
Etonic ChampionshipLake County Indiana ClassicCLR Windy City ClassicGreat Lakes ClassicLumber Liquidators ChampionshipSpartanburg ClassicConstructionJobs.com ChampionshipLumber Liquidators Earl Anthony Medford ClassicMotel 6 Dick Weber OpenH&R Block Tournament of Champions/PBA Exempt Doubles ClassicBayer ClassicPepsi ChampionshipTo view this blog on the Seattle P-I's website,
click here