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Monday, October 20, 2008
PBA Season PreviewI wanted to write about my experience bowling the Ventura County Masters tournament last weekend, but since
this week is the start of the PBA Tour season, I thought I should probably talk about that instead.
But for those
of you who like listening to my whiny rants about bowling (surprisingly, there are quite a few of you out there based on the
e-mails I receive), here's the shorthand version. I averaged 251 for the 5-game qualifying session which was good enough
for 8th(!) out of 45 entries(!!) and made it to the Sunday semifinals. I shot 300 in game 2 of qualifying with three Gwen
Stefani's in the tenth frame (there was No Doubt about any of the three hits) and won a whole $11 for the sidepot. On
Sunday I shot a very limp (but clean) 896 for 4 and missed the Round of 8 by 8 pins. I cashed for $100 (which, after food
and gas means I lost about $40). I did feel sorry for the pins, though. They must have felt like they were reliving the opening
scene of Saving Private Ryan.
At any rate, let's talk some PBA shall we?
I am quite excited about
the start of the new season, what with the long break and new formats and annual renewed hope that this year will be different
for bowlers and for bowling...gosh, us bowlers sure do have a lot in common with the old Brooklyn Dodgers fans of the 1940's
don't we?
I always hate trying to predict what's going to happen because none of us really knows, do we?
I find the so-called experts on NFL Prime Time or Baseball Tonight or Sportscenter on ESPN so amusing with their cocksure
certainty and "keys to the game" and bold predictions. In the end, none of them are guessing more than half the
games right (only the guys in Vegas are that good as the sheer excess of their gambling facilities will attest). The only
sure thing in sports these days is Tiger Woods making a dirtload of money and the Cubs not winning the World Series.
But now that I'm nearly halfway through this special season-opening PBA column and have barely even mentioned the PBA
maybe I should get started, eh? Well first off, I just want to say a big thumbs up to the folks at the PBA for the new formats.
In and of themselves, I believe they will have a minimal short term impact on TV ratings, but over time, I think they will
go a long way towards educating the fans who do watch on just how good the pros are. And I love the idea of kicking off the
year with the Chris Paul Charity event. That could have a great impact on ratings and should get the PBA off to a solid start
for the season.
As for competition, I said a couple columns back that I thought this year would be the start of
a huge 5-year run for Chris Barnes. I still believe that to be true. I'm thinking it could be as epic as WRW's run
from 1993-2000, Roth's from 77-79 and Earl's entire 14-year career. I would be surprised if he wins less than 20 titles
from now through the end of the 2013-2014 season, which would put him at 30 and possibly give him a chance of catching the
great Deadeye before he hangs them up. A lot of you out there probably think I'm crazy but I'm pretty sure Barnes
is the only guy who's already bowled the entire season in his head and knows exactly what moves he's going to make
and when. As PA said last year, "If CB could pry it off on Sunday, he'd win half the tournaments out here."
My other big prediction is for Robert Smith to finally have a monster year. I know he's my friend and all and
I may be a bit biased, but I had a phone conversation with him a few weeks ago and he told me he's made a radical change
to his spotting technique that has him very excited about his game. For those of you who don't know, Robert never used
to look at anything when he threw the ball. He bowled completely by feel which is pretty amazing considering he has 7 PBA
titles and has won on some of the most demanding conditions in the 2000 US Open and 1994 US Amateur. (Not to mention depressing
for me and all of those other hopeless saps that got their butts kicked by him over the years). I think Robert is one of the
few guys on Tour who can actually scare his fellow competitors when he's motivated and is clicking on all cylinders. If
that happens, look out.
I'm also looking forward to enjoying the effortless and seemingly ageless skill of
Walter Ray and Norm Duke. With every additional win Walter Ray is making history and history is always fun to watch. Plus
he was runner up for Player of the Year last year and had an awesome summer in the World Championships. He's definitely
showing no signs of slowing down. And as for Norm, I believe he's been the best bowler in the world for the past three
years or so at least. If I had to have one guy bowl a tournament for my life, it would still be Norm. And if you want to learn
the proper way of how to bowl a head-to-head match, just watch Norm Duke on TV and copy everything he does.
As
for the rest, I'm looking to see if Rhino Page can keep it going. I like his attitude and his aggressiveness...he's
a helluva lot of fun to watch. I'll always love PDW and he's my favorite any time he's on TV...plus he still has
to get that Player of the Year award that has somehow eluded him his entire career. I expect Wes Mallott and TJ to continue
to kick some butt and I'm eagerly anticipating the return of Jason Couch coming back from injury. Plus all of the other
guys. And gals! Remember, the Women's Series is back and even bigger than last year. You really have to admire those ladies
for their dedication to the sport when there's been almost nothing for them to bowl for in the last 5 years. They are
true athletes who pursue their sport out of love for the game and a desire to be the best at what they do...'cause they
sure as heck aren't in it for the money!
Now one thing I can do without this season is the Hambone (although
I don't think we'll be that lucky), and I hope for Rob Stone's sake that he either chooses to make a full commitment
to being either a complete jackass or a serious, knowledgeable play-by-play man. If he doesn't pick one side of the street
or the other, I'm afraid he may end up squashed like Mr. Miyagi's proverbial grape. Randy just needs to keep doing
what he's doing (he really is pretty darn good at what he does, regardless of who's in the booth with him), but I
would like to see him get into the players' heads a little more and reveal some of the complex strategy that goes on during
the matches...I'm sure the formats will help him with this immensely.
I hope you all enjoy the season as much
as I plan to and I look forward to giving you much more of my thoughts on the action as the season progresses.
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LIVIN' THE DREAM:
How
to get what you want, find true meaning and save the world by bowling!
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Q:
What is the book about?
A: The book is about how the valuable
lessons I learned through my lifelong involvement in bowling saved my life and transformed me from an unhappy cynic into a
blissfully happy optimist.
Q: What made you decide to write it?
A: I had been out of the bowling industry for about two years and I had hit a very low point in my attitude about
life. Through the help of a family member, I was able to rediscover the important lessons about success, spirituality and
connecting with others. I was so excited about this transformation that I decided to write a book that attempts to detail
the metamorphosis while outlining the important lessons I remembered.
Q: How is this
book different from other self-help books?
A: The book is different in a number
of ways. First, I am a very unlikely person to have written a self-help book. If you had known me before I'd written the book,
you'd know precisely what I mean. But that fact alone reveals how strongly I felt about writing it, because I knew that if
I could change for the better, then I felt anyone could do it and that there was a good chance that I could help a lot of
people by describing the process and arranging the pieces in a way that could be easily understood.
The
other key point of difference is the way the book is arranged. The story is structured into three parts, The Method, Some
Cool Tricks and For the Hard-Core Cynics, each of which contain the important lessons I wanted to share. Every chapter is
also broken up with a narrative of my personal story, told for the purpose of detailing my amazing attitude transformation.
It begins with the extremely low point when others felt the need to reach out to help me to remember the important things
in life and goes on to detail the many people that helped me to learn the most important life lessons, including: my childhood
friend Robert Smith, my father (a former President of Disneyland International), PBA Chairman Chris Peters and former PBA
CEO Steve Miller.
Q: Is the book as funny as your blogs?
A: Yes! But there is also a serious side too.
Q: How is your book different from
something like The Secret?
A: My book is similar to The Secret
in that it proposes a method for success, but it is different in a number of ways. First, it is a bit more practical when
it comes to outlining the method for achieving success. The Secret comes very close to describing a similar method
for success in its "Ask, Believe, Receive" mantra. In my book, the first two of these elements ("Ask"
and "Believe") are integral (although I call them "Dream" and "Self-Belief"), but I believe
there has to be some proactive work done to achieve the goal. I call it hard work (which turns a lot of people off, of course)
but to use the model of The Secret, you would simply replace the word "Receive" with "Retrieve."
The best part of all this (and the good news for the folks who don't want to have to work hard) is that once you decide on
what you want and then you begin to believe you can get it, the work is no longer hard, but becomes a fun activity that fills
your days with joy and purpose.
Second, my book spends a significant amount of time discussing
how to deal with your success once you've attained it (and that conducting yourself in this manner before
you reach your goals will actually help you get there even faster). Probably the best way to describe my
book is that it's a cross between The Secret and the late Randy Pausch's book, The Last Lecture.
But I also quote a number of more research-driven books like Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, Sam Harris' The
End of Faith and Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate to help me make my point.
Q: Do you have to be a bowler to like this book?
A: Absolutely
not! Bowling obviously plays a major role (although it really serves more as the setting rather than as the primary focal
point) because of my involvement with the sport my whole life. But the lessons bowling taught me are lessons I could have
learned if I had chosen to be a golfer or a doctor or a writer (oops, I guess that one's a bad example now). My hope is that
the book will find its way into the hands of people who don't bowl and that these people will come away with a new appreciation
for bowlers and the sport of bowling.
Q: What is your goal with the book?
A: That is a simple one. To help as many people as possible to experience the gift of embracing an optimistic way
of life and to help them reap its many rewards. 
