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Bowling News USA - April 9, 2009 The Schlemer Report (2009 Lumber Liquidators U.S Open)

 

Welcome to The Schlemer Report.

You know it’s hard to believe 20 weeks have already come and gone. What’s even more difficult to fathom is the fact that we won an unprecedented 14 of 20 PBA events and 1 Women’s Series event in that time frame. WOW who would have thunk it? I can honestly say I never saw a season like this coming. Oh and not to mention that Big Nasty Wes Malott brought home the Player of the Year honors on the Roto Grip side edging out Storm staffer Norm Duke by a narrow margin. I mean, WOW, I am still at a loss for words. Well as those of you who know me personally that is pretty hard to imagine but it I tell you it is so very true. I mean between both Storm and Roto we only missed one telecast the entire season and that was a few weeks back when they only took 2 players for the show. I worked on 19 of 20 Sundays. Trust me when I say I am far from complaining, it’s just hard to describe as I look back at last week and the season for that matter, Storm Products Incorporated dominated like no other has done before. Thank you is not enough to Hank and the people in the office that allowed us to dominate the way we did. Yes our staff players and free agents did throw the balls, but without the best damn balls on the planet our success on tour would not have been as dominating let me tell you. From the creation of the Hy-Road and Second Dimension to the Roto Grip Rogue Cell, we had more options than any other brand on the PBA tour and our record speaks for itself that’s for sure. For the 3rd consecutive season Storm was the #1 ball used on tour. Coincidence, I think not. Performance speaks for itself and well let’s just says the Storm and Roto balls did just that. I could ramble on and on but I don’t want you falling asleep so let’s move onto the final week of the season, the 66th U.S Open shall we?

If I have said it once I have said it 100 times, the U.S Open is the world’s largest pro-am. This year proved yet again why we need some sort of qualifying criteria. I mean yes it the U.S Open and yes the condition is tough, but people averaging 135 needs to stop. Last time I checked I cannot sign up to play the U.S Open of golf and hope to get paired with Tiger and Phil and then go out and shoot +65. I mean it baffles me the amount of money people spend in hopes of crossing with Pete Weber, Norm Duke or this year’s “Player of the Year” Wes Malott. It’s tough enough as it is, but mixing in people that throw the ball all over makes it that much tougher for the bowlers that actually have a clue. I could rant till I’m blue in the face but it won’t fix anything. So moving right along, last weeks U.S Open is best summed up as “it is what it is”. No other way to describe it. As you saw on the show the cream always rises to the top in the long format events. Last week was no different. Norm Duke who led nearly the entire tournament except for 1 round was the tournament leader. Mike Scroggins quietly climbed his way to the #2 spot while Chris Barnes fell as low as 8th and made his way all the way back to 3rd. And then you had the non-touring professionals in the likes of Rich Wolfe and PBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli who both put together phenomenal weeks to earn their chance to bowl for the 66th U.S Open green jacket. All 5 belonged on that show; each executed and kept their bad shots to a minimum. As you witnessed first hand, they were far from easy on either side of the lane. Especially the left side of the lane, Scroggs used 500 and 1000 abralon to play his comfort zone from out, while Wolfe used his rev rate and tilt to move in and curve the lane like the righties did most of the week. In fact, Rhino Page played the lanes very close to how Wolfe played em, difference is Rhino hasn’t played that deep on the left side the entire season due the conditions not requiring him to do so. But that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, the fact that not jut 1 but 2 lefties made the show and then Scroggs went onto win, honestly I would have never guessed it. I mean not that I doubt his ability, it’s just that on that condition the right side has been so good for so many years the left has really been a non factor in the final standings in a very long time.

Speaking of long time, last week’s victory by Scroggs gave Storm Products Incorporated 14 wins in 20 events. Storm has now won 3 consecutive U.S Open's in a row. Not to mention this was the 3rd Major of the season out of a possible 4. I mean I can give you stat after stat but I don’t have that much time to spare. But I do however have the time to discuss the variety of balls we used during the U.S Open.

Eventual winner Mike Scroggins used 2 different Virtual Gravity’s, 3 different Cell’s, 3 different Hy-Road’s, 2 different Second Dimension’s, 1 Rogue Cell, 1 T-Road Solid and of course the T-Road Pearl he used in the title match to complete his 53 games of bowling including the show. Yes you counted correctly, 15 different balls throughout his week. Now not every ball saw a complete game of use, some were only a few frames here and there. But the point I want to make is the fact that the tournament winner used that many balls not because he wanted to, but because that is what the condition forced him to do. Like I said the U.S Open is never a cake walk by any means. Then mix in the use of Absolute Control oil which breaks down fast in the front and carries down lane quickly with the pro-am bowlers and you got yourself quite the mix let me tell ya. Heck even Norm used a larger than normal collection of balls to get to where he got. He used 2 different Second Dimensions, 4 different Hy-Road’s, 1 Gravity Shift, 1 Shift, 1 T-Road Pearl, 1 Virtual Gravity, 1 Rapid Fire Pearl and then of course the Passion which never saw the lane the entire tournament until the title match. That is his security blanket, when he has nothing with any other ball he knows he can pull that ball out and at least hit the pocket. When it came time to bowl the title match, Norm could flat 10 with any ball in his bag. Yet he chose to go with ole faithful and try and make it work. Which looking back it wasn’t the answer but, Norm being Norm and relying on his ability, he felt he could make it work. Close but no cigar. His attempt at defending his U.S Open crown and once again being named the PBA Player of the Year disappeared in his 2 open frames. Again the words best to describe the situation, “it is what it is”. Like Norm said when it was all over, “you have to take the loss like a man, just like when you capture the win as a man”. I have to totally agree.

Ultimately Norm didn’t have much to work with by the time he got to the pair. Barnes and Amleto had done quite a number on the right side let me tell ya. Of course then again, Rich did a pretty good job beating up the left as well before Scroggs got on the pair as well. Like I said with the oil they used it broke down fast in front and splashed around down lane. But add the extra rev rates of Barnes and Amleto and it made for quite the Chinese road map on the right side. Now I’m not making excuses by any means, I helped Scroggs as well. He asked me to run to the locker room during the 4 minutes of practice before the title match to get the T-Road Pearl. Then I changed the cover accordingly after watching it go down the lane. Both guys didn’t have much going into the title match. It could have easily been 156 to 148, but their abilities cancelled out the condition and they both grinded out as much as they could for score.

Speaking of grinding out, Amleto did the same in his opening match. With both Duke and Barnes playing further right than they did all week, Amleto had no help developing the lane from in where he had played all week. In fact all 3, Duke, Barnes and Amleto all played deep inside pretty much the entire week even on the fresh. So getting Amleto to jump right with the others was a feat in itself. In fact, Rick Benoit finally got Amleto to move right enough; this was due to Amleto using Brunswick balls almost the entire time in qualifying and spot shots during match play. Once match play began Amleto used the same Hy-Road he used on the show probably 21 of the 24 games. Of course with Amleto getting no help from the others I had to add some surface to his Hy-Road, if not he would have had an even tougher time finding the head pin. I’m sure to you at home it looked like he needed a Seeing Eye dog to find the pocket, but that was not the case. Like I said he played 20 the entire week and then came show time and that was not the play. When all was said and done and he moved in on his fill ball and struck, he realized he completely missed the move and that was a direct result of no tournament play. I mean he made the cut at the T of C, but that was 2 months ago already and that condition was softer than most, not mentally taxing. Oh well, he quickly realized that he missed his chance to rewrite the history books but it was just not meant to be. No need to worry though, it’s not the last time we will see Amleto competing for another title. He will pop in again when we least expect it.

Well folks I think its time for me to mosey on yet again. Next up is the “King of Bowling” powered by AMP energy drink which will air on Wednesday nights over the next month. We are taping those shows at Kegel this week. Then next week we head to Japan for the Japan Cup for the first time in 2 years. Then the RPC and Tour Trials is the end of May and then before you know it the Tour starts again August 1st. No rest for the weary is my mantra. So with that my friends I want to thank you for your continued support of Storm Products Incorporated, from the big bosses down the ladder to our production floor as well as myself and the entire PBA staff, THANK YOU! The members of the Storm Nation and the Roto Grip Kingdom are the best supporters on the planet! Thank you and good night!

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April, 2009