KBA Tournament - Team Event - Brookmont Bowling Center, Kankakee, Illinois
Set 1
Game 1
X X X 9/ 9/ 9/ X 9- 71 X9/ - 193
This was a classic case of allowing new-ball infatuation to lead to poor decision making. I got my Mastermind Intellect drilled up yesterday, and I really, really wanted to use it; it's a very fun ball to throw! I knew that I was covering too many boards and seeing way too much down-lane motion, but I decided to stick with it. I struck on the first three shots before going 4-pin, 10-pin, 4-pin. I struck in the 7th before leaving a ringing 10-pin in the eighth, which I missed badly. A pulled shot in the 9th led to a 4-6-7 and another open. I threw decent shots on the first two balls in the tenth, but the second shot resulted in a 7-pin and the realization that I had to give up on the Intellect whether I wanted to or not. It's going to be an amazing ball, but it wasn't the right choice at that time, and I should've known better.
Game 2
81 X X X X X X X X XX7 - 276
I switched to the Mastermind Genius to start this game, but my first ball missed badly outside, causing the ball to come in behind the head pin and leave the 2-10. I took one, and then I got lined up, tightening up my angles and smashing the pocket on the next 10 shots before I got slow, leaving a 4-7-9 on the fill to finish at 276. The Mastermind Genius is truly a get-out-of-jail free card; If I'm not sure where to go or what to do, that's the ball that always seems to give me what I need!
Game 3
9/ X X 9/ 9/ X 9/ 9/ X X81 - 214
After the success of Game 2, I stuck with the Genius and stayed in the same spot to start Game 3. I rang a 10-pin in the first frame and then threw two very nice shots in the second and third. As the game continued, it became clear that the oil was pushing down, so I was left deciding between making another ball change or changing my angles yet again. I opted to change angles, but I just couldn't get it quite right. I went 4-pin, half 10-pin, strike, ring-10, swisher 7-pin. At that point, I decided to switch back to the Intellect, figuring that the extra motion down lane could get me through the pins better than what I was seeing. It was the right move, resulting in strikes in the 9th and 10th before I let the ball creep high in the 11th for a 6-10, which I managed to chop for 214 and 683.
Obviously, I left some pins out there, but I felt like I threw the ball pretty well with the exception of the poor ball choice in Game 1. Again, the Mastermind Intellect is going to be one heck of a fun ball to throw. Where my Mastermind rolls really early and strong and the Genius serves as benchmark, the Intellect is going to be that long and strong piece that really turns some heads when I find the right times to use it. Overall, this set wasn't my best work, but it certainly wasn't a poor effort either.
Set 2
After sitting around for a while to wait for the lanes to be re-oiled, we took to the lanes for Set 2. One bonus here was that we were the only team on our pair for this squad. As such, I knew that the lanes would transition more slowly and probably allow me to stick with one look a lot longer than I could during the opening set. In order to avoid the big time backend movement that tripped me up early in Set 1, I decided to stick with a rollier piece. As such, I decided to go with the DV8 Brutal Nightmare. It was a good choice!
Game 1
9/ 9/ X X 9/ X X 9/ X 9- - 205
I honestly could've easily started this game with the first 10 in a row; every ball was in the pocket with authority, but a couple of slightly missed releases resulted in swisher 7-pins, and a couple of ring 10s slowed me down as well. Still, the true disappointment here was the horrendous effort I made at the 10-pin in the 10th frame. I missed that one by feet, not inches, resulting in a very lackluster 205.
Game 2
X X X X 9/ X X X X 6/X - 255
Knowking that I had the look I wanted, I stuck with the Brutal Nightmare and stayed exactly where I was during Game 1. It was a good choice as I smashed the first four, came a touch high for a 4-pin in the fifth, and then threw four more nice strikes in a row to go into the 10th with a chance at 279. Sadly, I missed the 10th ball badly off my hand, resulting in the bucket. Thankfully, I covered it before flushing the fill ball for 255.
Game 3
X X X 9/ 9/ X X X 81 XX9 - 233
Seeing no reason to deviate (no pun intended) from what I was doing, I stuck with the Brutal Nightmare, stayed in the same place and went back to work. The first eight shots were all quite good, resulting in six strikes and a pair of odd 7-pins. I felt like I missed the ninth shot just a touch, and I paid the ultimate price, leaving a pocket 7-10, which took my potential score from 268 down to 234. I recovered and threw three good shots in the 10th, resulting in two strikes and a ring-10 to end the set. That gave me 233 for the game and 693 overall.
All in all, I finished the day at +176, which translated to a 229.33 average. I obviously left some pins out there with two flagged 10-pins and a few other missed opportunities. Still, I think that I made pretty good adjustments after Game 1 of the first set, which left me in and around the pocket and striking consistently while some of my fellow bowlers struggled to maintain consistency.
Yet again, I can't express enough how much I am loving these Brunswick and DV8 bowling balls! The Mastermind Intellect will be amazing on the right conditions, the Mastermind Genius seems to be good on just about every condition I encounter, and the Brutal Nightmare is a great choice when you want something smooth, strong, and rolly. It's not often I can bowl three games without moving a board! I know that every company out there makes good equipment these days, but I truly think that Brunswich/DV8/Radical has something special going right now, and the results are showing in the scores that I'm putting up. I'm already anxious to get back to the lanes for league tomorrow night! Thank you very much Ron Bragg, Brian Graham, and Brunswick, and thank you Tony Hubert for introducing me to these great people and the wonderful equipment they manufacture!
