Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are a few photos and a video of how I celebrated the holidays.

I of course went to Disneyland as soon as I got home from my Washington D.C. trip. This is my favorite time of year at the park because everything is all decked out with Christmas decorations, lots and lots of Christmas lights and a big huge Christmas tree. It even snows inside the park at the end of the holiday firework show. (OK so it's actually bubbles, but it sure looks like snow.)

I also went to the Balboa Island Boat Parade, which was celebrating it's 100th anniversary of festive boats lining the waterways with Christmas lights and decor. Some of the boats even played music and called out to the crowd watching along the shore.

Enjoy the photos!

Missy in Washington D.C.!!!

After the final stop of 2008 - the Lumber Liquidators Shark Championship held in Baltimore, I spent a few days in nearby Washington D.C. before heading back home.

I had never been to the Capital before and I absolutely loved it! Although I only spent three days roaming around the city, I did manage to see A LOT!

The first day, my friend Drew and I had to walk about 8 miles with everything we did and saw. We visited the Museum of American History and saw the original Star Spangled Banner along with the Gettysburg Address.

From there we ventured to the National Archives, in which the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are kept, along with the Magna Carta and other famous historical documents.

After that, we went quickly through the Museum of Natural History and then on to the Washington Monument. I actually didn't know you could go up in the monument and we managed to snag tickets for the same day (which apparently is hard to do) and got to see the gorgeous views from the top right at sunset. From 500 feet up, you could see great views of all of the monuments, the museums, the Capital Building, the White House and even the Pentagon.

Then it was off to the World War II Memorial, which was by far my favorite. This breathtaking memorial is one of the newest in Washington D.C. and serves as a great reminder for all of the soldiers lost in that horrific war. )See picture above taken from the top of the Washington Monument. )

From there, we walked along the reflection pool to the Lincoln Monument. You never really understand just how big this monument is until you're standing right in front of it!

As dusk was setting in, we walked to the Vietnam Memorial and then off to the White House to see the big Christmas tree that sits in front of the first family's home. The tree had to be at least 20 feet tall and was covered with lots of white lights and ornaments. Surrounding the main tree were 50 little trees representing all of the states.

Now, that was all Day 1!

Day 2 found more sightseeing but a lot less walking. We visited the Air and Space museum, which I thoroughly enjoyed! There you could see the original Wright Brothers plane along with original capsules, space suits and other gear from the first trips in Space.

Afterwards, we went to the Capital Building, which unfortunately was closed for renovation due to the upcoming inauguration.

From there we took the underground Metro (which reminded me a lot of my days studying in Barcelona, Spain) and went to Arlington Cemetery. Seeing all of the graves definitely gives you a better appreciation for what our troops have done for our Country over the years.

That summed up Day 2.

Day 3 saw lots of rain, so we scurried to and from our destinations via our rental car, instead of walking by foot. We went to the Iwo Jima Memorial, which is also another memorial that catches you off guard due to it's height. I had no idea it was as tall as it is! (See photo above.)

Then we went to the Roosevelt Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. From there we went to the Smithsonian Castle. Of course I had to go there just because it's a castle! (If you weren't aware, I'm infatuated with castles.)

Then we went to my favorite museum - the National Art Gallery. This probably wouldn't be many people's favorite museum, but I was in shear amazement at the immense talent encompassed into one museum. I saw paintings from Picasso, Van Gough, Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, Seurat, Degas, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Matisse, and Miro to name a few. (Please tell me you know who painted the picture above.)

What really amazed me most about this trip was that all of the museums, monuments and memorials are free. There is no admission cost, so for once, being a tourist didn't cost a pretty penny.

Enjoy the photos!

Missy's 27th Birthday!

Hello!

While in Baltimore I celebrated my 27th birthday. My birthday was on Tuesday, Dec. 9th and it ended up being the perfect day for celebration puposes, as most people were already in town for the PBA Tour stop and the actual tournament hadn't started.

However, I did threaten a few of my friends with their life if they didn't arrive in Baltimore in time for my birthday party. (One of those people being Mr. Andrew Cain, who I'd like to thank for flooding my inbox with bday wishes curtosy of his weekly blog on pba.com - Andrew's Angle.)

Even though I wasn't at home to celebrate with my family, I still had an awesome birthday!

I went to a dinner celebration with quite a few friends at Red Brick Station Brewery. The food was great but the company was better!

Enjoy the pics! =)

Cheetah Championship in Buffalo, N.Y.

This past week the PBA Tour ventured to Buffalo, N.Y. for the Cheetah Championship. Prior to the start of the tournament, my roomie Shalin, Joe Ciccone and I went to the Saber's ice hockey game. Although they lost, we still had fun.

However after the game we had a big surprise. We came out to blizzard-like weather. It was so windy that the snow was blowing sideways and was getting in our face. So the drive home was a little adventurous, but less so because Joe (a Buffalo resident) was driving.

The week overall was o.k. I lead the first block of qualifying and then had a little trouble in block two, but made the top 10 cut with no problems. In the round robin match play finals, I struggled a little bit with execution and managed to come in 7th overall.

The big surprise came when we all went to leave the bowling center that night. A snow storm had blown in and left 6 inches of snow on the ground and on our cars. Needless to say, this week marked the first time I used a snow scrapper and brush. It was great seeing our boots disappear as we walked to the car.

My roomie and I also went to Niagara Falls. I have been there many times in the past, but never seem the falls all covered with snow. It was gorgeous! And although Shalin and I nearly froze to death, we got a lot of great pictures in the meantime.

This week we are in Baltimore, MD and I am spending a few extra days in the Washington D.C. area since I have never been here before.

Watch the scores from the Lumber Liquidators Shark Championship on pba.com.

CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship

Well if you tuned in to the show last Sunday, then you know things didn't go according to plan. For those of you that didn't check out my blog on pba.com, here's a few excerpts giving inside information on what it's like to make the TV show.

Although the entire week went really well, the TV show was another story.

Bowling on TV is the most unique experience and it is truly a privilege, something you dream about since you were a kid.

It is by far the quickest game you will ever bowl and everything seems like it’s on fast-forward.

We only get four practice shots before our match. We have four shots to figure out how the lanes have changed from practicing on the pair before the show, to an hour later after three matches have been bowled. So making decisions becomes a very educated guessing game.

The TV lights make the lanes dry up pretty fast and trust me, they make you feel like you’re in Las Vegas in the middle of July! I don’t usually get hot while I bowl and am generally always freezing (being from Southern California and used to warm weather). However, after practicing on the TV pair before the show had started, I got a bag of ice to hold while I was waiting for my match to start because my hand had puffed up so much from the heat (mind you it was snowing outside the building).

However, the lights on the TV show are also one of my favorite elements. I remember bowling on my first TV show and seeing my ball go down the lane for the first time with the effects of the ultra bright lights. It’s crazy because the ball looks like it is actually glowing. The colors are completely different and the rotation even looks magnified, almost like it sparkling down the lane.

Back to the TV show. Yes, I shot 147 on TV and yes, I am disappointed. However as much as that really stinks, life goes on. There will be more TV shows and more opportunities (such as the Women’s Series Showdown presented by USBC that I have now qualified for).

Everyone has bad games on TV and makes mistakes, whether that be missing a spare or making a bad decision (or both in my case); it’s all part of the learning curve that you go through throughout your entire bowling career. We’ve all been there.

There are bad days and there are good days. The bad days remind us to learn from our mistakes and make us stronger as individuals and competitors. Then the good days remind us why we love bowling and the competition.

So no matter what point you are in with your personal bowling career, remember that everyone has ups and downs and getting upset about it won’t solve anything. Think about what you can do to turn it around and stay positive. Those are my words of wisdom for the week.

Missy on ESPN this Sunday, Nov. 30th at 1 pm EST

Missy qualified for the LIVE ESPN finals of the CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship to air this Sunday, Nov. 30th at 1 p.m. EST (10 am westcoast time)!

Missy qualified 2nd after a grind out match play finals going 3-6 in Friday's round robin match play. Missy shot a stellar 221 in the position round game to remain ahead of Carolyn Dorin-Ballard and Liz Johnson, clinching the final TV spot.

Be sure to tune in to ESPN Sunday, Nov. 30th at 1pm EST for the LIVE championship match in which Missy will face Michelle Feldman for the title!

For the full story on pba.com, click here.

Missy Leads Qualifying at PBA CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship Women's Series

Missy Bellinder led qualifying at the PBA CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship Women's Series in Vernon Hills, Ill. on Thanksgiving Day. Missy shot +552, averaging 239.43 for the 14-games of qualifying.

Be sure to watch LIVE scoring on www.pba.com as the round robin match play finals start tonight at 6pm CT. The top two bowlers advance to Sunday's ESPN TV telecast.

For the full story on pba.com, click here.

Week Break at Home!

Hello!

This past week was the first time I've been home since the PBA Tour started in mid October. So needless to say it was nice to be back home in the sunny Southern California weather.

In the short amount of time that I was home, I was actually pretty busy (but in a good way).

I was able to meet up with my good friends from England - Zara Glover, Barbara and Toby, all of whom happened to be flying through the L.A. area while on the way back home from the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup. We went to Surf City USA - Huntington Beach and had lunch on the pier. We saw dolphins, which is a pretty common sight from the HB pier.

I managed to visit my other favorite place - Disneyland! It was awesome because Disneyland already had all of the Christmas lights up and that is my favorite time of year at the park. Check out the pictures!

My family and friends also came over to my house for an early Thanksgiving dinner complete with all of the trimmings and my personal favorite - pumpkin pie! We celebrated the holiday early since I will be in Vernon Hills, Ill. for the CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship during the week of Thanksgiving. There were 16 people in all at the dinner and it was great to be able to see all of family and friends.

While I was home I also managed to drag my best friend Scott Norton down to SoCal from the Bay area to bowl in the WWPB mixed doubles tournament at Mission Hills Bowl with me. Scott bowled phenomenal! In the 9 game qualifying block, he shot 300, 246, 300 and 300 in games 4-7 and averaged 250.8 for all nine games. It was a real treat to watch! Needless to say we were leading after qualifying at +579 (thanks to my partner).

Then in the 12 game round robin match play finals, we started off really slow having every team shoot their best game at us, which hurt our bonus pin effort (10 pins for the individual win and 30 pins for the team game for a total of 50 pins per match). But after the first six games, Scott and I came back after the break on fire, winning every team game and nearly all of the bonus pins. We shot 567 in game nine (Scott shot 289 and I shot 278) to get back in the hunt for first place.

Then, in the position round game we were seated 1st and were 62 pins ahead of Wendy MacPherson and Dave Wodka. With both Wendy and Dave striking at will to start the match, it was looking to be a really close fight. Then Scott and I pulled it out stringing clutch strikes in the middle to end of the game ultimately shooting 528 (Scott shot 280 and I shot 248) to win the tournament! Our trophies were awesome! They were paintings. Check out the pictures! For complete results check out http://wwpb.com/

I wish everyone the best Thanksgiving holiday! Have a great week and try not to go too crazy over the holiday sales!

Life on the PBA Tour

Hello Everyone!

I'm really sorry that I have not been blogging on my website on a consistent basis, but I'm hoping that will change as of now. However, I hope all of you have been checking out Missy's Memo on pba.com! Check it out every Tuesday!

Just to recap how life on the tour has been going thus far, one word truly summarizes it - BUSY! With not only bowling in the women's series events, but also working for the PBA doing PR, I've had little time left to myself, to say the least. However, staying busy is not a new thing for me, so it's o.k.

Here are a few highlights from the PBA Tour thus far:

PBA World Championship - Wichita, Kan.

• Doing a million interviews on Xtra Frame is always fun! The event marked my first time interviewing the PBA players, and I'm not going to lie I was a little nervous, but I think they are getting better now. Check them out!


• Seeing Norm Duke make PBA History by becoming the first player to win three consecutive Majors on the PBA Tour was an awesome sight! Check out my exclusive interview with Norm!

Pepsi Viper Championship - Omaha, Neb.

• Halloween was really fun, even though I failed to make the cut to match play. After the night block was done bowling, a bunch of us went to Scary Acres - an outdoor haunted attraction that was seriously in the middle of no where (which made it even scarier). The outdoor scare fest was complete with a corn maze, haunted house, really scary maze outside in the woods with guys carrying chainsaws and a haunted castle.
  
• The welcome dinner charity event that Thunder Alley hosted was really fun and it was a great way for the players to mingle with the center staff and help raise money for the charity. (Pictured above with PBA exempt players Michael Haugen Jr. and Jason Sterner)


• The venue - Thunder Alley was absolutely gorgeous and was arguably one of the nicest bowling centers I've ever been in, complete with a food court, full sports bar/restaurant, huge game room similar to Dave & Busters, Lazer Tag and Go Karts.


• It didn't snow! However, I heard that Omaha got 36 inches of snow the week after we left. Yikes!

Lake County Indiana Golden Anniversary Championship - Hammond, Ind.

• Watching the Senior PBA players compete on TV again for the first time since 2001. It was great seeing the Senior bowlers compete alongside the PBA Tour.
  
• When I had to interview Hugh Miller after he lead qualifying in the senior event, he said "I haven't seen you since you beat me at that PBA regional you won in Pacifica!" My response - "Hi! Can I interview you please???" (A little awkward, lol!)


• My roommate Shalin Zukifli cooking shrimp curry and shrimp fried rice in our hotel room using a small cooker and still making a feast of food. It was really good! (Picture above)

Ultimate Scoring Championship and Chameleon Championship - Taylor, Mich

• Driving in the snow for 4 hours from Hammond, Ind. to Taylor, Mich. which was only the second time EVER that I had driven in the snow. But we made it there safe and sound. (Picture above)


• Seeing the large crowds at the bowling center during the entire week, which exemplified the big bowling area that Detroit has always been.

I promise to write a blog at least once a week with more in depth details of the week on tour. Be sure to stop by and check them out!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures!

Missy's Memo #3

Last week, the 50th Anniversary of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour kicked off in style. Many memorable events, a widely diverse field, new faces and an historic ending summed up the entire week. I was personally on-hand to witness Norm Duke in his historic quest to capture three consecutive Majors, becoming the only person in PBA history to accomplish this feat.

After interviewing him several times throughout the week, I got an inside perspective on the thinkings and mental game of one of the greatest players in our sport. You see, Duke never once was thinking about making history. He wasn’t thinking about defending his title. He was thinking about winning and winning on bowling’s biggest platform – a PBA Major.

“I’ve made history a few times as a by-product of not thinking about it (making history). When you get ahead of yourself, that’s when you lose your focus,” said Duke.

I was also intrigued to find out Duke’s culmination of what makes a great player.

“Great players don’t just win titles. I have the mindset that you define your career with Major titles,” Duke said. “Great players will go down in history as players who have the ability to win Majors.”

In talking to Duke, you find out that he is a very humble individual. We reminisced about his early career when he won a title at the young age of 18, beating the great Earl Anthony in his first match on TV, in route to the title.

“Everyone wanted to beat Earl (Anthony). He was just that good, that he became a target,” said Duke. “So I told my mom that I was going out on tour and that I was going to beat Earl. Then when I ended up beating Earl on TV, with my mom sitting in the front row, it’s a memory that I’ll never forget,” added Duke.

So I slyly asked Duke, “You do know that you are now that target? People now say I want to go out on tour and beat Norm Duke!”

“I don’t see myself that way. I don’t regard myself as being in the same category as Earl. I know that people get excited to see me and bowl with me, which happened just this week in the pro-am. But in reality I’m just a person who gets to do what I love for a living - bowl,” added Duke.

Last week’s accomplishment brings Duke’s total number of PBA titles to 30 with six Major wins, ranking him tied for fifth with bowling legend Don Carter on the all-time Majors list.

If you followed the results all week, you saw that Duke didn’t get off to a great start in qualifying. With a lower-scoring second block and just out of the projected cut to 53, Duke needed a big final set on the third day of qualifying to advance to the casher’s qualifying round (block four). From that point on, he got serious shooting +174 in block three, advancing to block four of qualifying in 23rd position.

“Yesterday I had a bad day (block two) and today I could have been eliminated. My game plan was to have a good enough round to not have to look at that cut number. My goal was to be proud of my play and that wasn’t the case the past two days (block one and block two). I’m still not up to my expectations. My sights are going to be on getting to the top eight, while keeping 40th (cut number to match play) in mind. I want to be here until the end.”

And that he did! Duke opened up with an 816 the first three games of block four, shooting +362 for the 9-game block, finishing 2nd going into match play. After receiving two byes in match play for finishing in the top eight after qualifying, Duke then went 8-1 in his matches, nearly shooting 300 in game three of the Super 16 Round. Then the very next game, he threw three clutch strikes in the 10th frame to sweep Mike Scroggins shooting 278-277.

You could see the determination in Duke’s eyes. At the verge of nearly being eliminated from the tournament, Duke then put things in high gear and never looked back. The TV show was a mere sample of Duke’s greatness. I was fortunate enough to witness and hear it first-hand.

Also, check out Missy on Xtra Frame throughout the PBA Tour season with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes action. http://www.pba.com/xtraframe/

Missy's Memo #2

Check out my blog this week about the Chris Paul Celebrity Invitational.

http://www.pba.com/news/feature.asp?ID=909

Be sure to check out the show when it airs on ESPN this Sunday, Oct. 19th at 1 PM EST!

Missy Sponsored by Verve Energy Drink

Verve Energy drink is now an official sponsor of Missy Bellinder. Verve - The Insanely Healthy Energy Drink, is the official energy drink of Missy Bellinder. This orange flavored beverage not only gives you a boost of energy but also contains 12 vitamins and 67 minerals, making it the healthiest energy drink on the market.

I personally love the flavor and have already shown benefits from using from the product. It's a great way to get you through a long day, without the nasty side effects of many of the other energy drinks. Usually with other energy drinks I would get stomach aches or have a real low after the initial boost of energy, but all of these symptoms went away when I began drinking Verve!

To find out more about Verve or to try the product visit http://www.bowlingenergy.com/

Missy's Memo

Every week I will be posting a blog to pba.com. Look for the blog every Tuesday. Check out the first entry -http://www.pba.com/news/feature.asp?ID=903

Last weekend at Home

This weekend, I decided not to bowl any tournaments and instead spend time with my family and friends before I head off to go bowl out on tour.

It started with going to Knott's Halloween Haunt with a few of my friends. The entire amusement park turns into a haunted attraction once the sun goes down. With fog engulfing the entire park and monsters lurking around every corner, the night was full of spooky fun. There are several mazes spread throughout the park along with a few haunted rides. Of course I got scared more than once throughout the night, but it was a lot of fun!

The next day I watched both of my nephews' soccer games and then went to Disneyland that night. We watched the firework show, had dinner and went on a few rides. The entire park is Halloween themed and the Haunted Mansion has been turned into "The Nightmare Before Christmas" theme.

On Sunday, all of my family came over and we had brunch and spent the day together. At night, I went to the Galaxy soccer game with my nephews and my sister. It was my first professional soccer game and I really enjoyed it! Although Beckham didn't play in the game, the L.A. Galaxy still beat the Colorado Rapids 3-2.

It was an awesome weekend! I'll definitely miss my family and friends, but I'm really looking forward to the start of the tour season.

PBA Las Vegas Regional

This weekend I went to Las Vegas for a PBA West Region event. Bowling went pretty well. I made matchplay, but then lost to Michael Haugen Jr. in a tight match all the way through.

I was also there with some friends, celebrating my friend Drew's birthday. We had a fun time in Vegas going around to a few clubs and watching the Angel games. I love to dance, so the clubs are my favorite! This trip I went to a new club I had never been to before - Pure on the Terrace. It was all outside with a gorgeous view of the entire strip.

We also had some amazing meals! We ate at Samba Brazilian BBQ inside the Mirage. It's all-you-can-eat and the waiters bring out various meats on big swords until you can't eat anymore. The turkey wrapped in bacon is the best!

We also ate at my new favorite restaurant - Sushi Roku inside Cesar's Palace. I'm not a big sushi person, but this meal was the best I'd had in a long time! The lobster tempura was to die for!

1st Post Season Angel Game

Hello!

Last week, I got to go to my first post season Angel game. I went to game 1 of the division series against the Red Socks. The crowd at Angel stadium was amazing and the entire atmophere was completely different than any regular season game.

We had fan niose makers, so it was pretty loud the entire time.

The opening of the game was something special. Each player was announced on both teams. A massive flag was pulled out onto the field, as a 12-year-old girl belted out the national anthem. It was awesome!

Even though the Angels lost to Boston and are now out of the play-offs, I still had a great time at the game.

Check out the pic and video

PBA West Region Pain Center Arizona Open

Last weekend I competed in the PBA Regional tournament held in Sun City, AZ. The event was awesome with several sponsors hosting booths at the center all weekend, like Verve energy drink http://www.bowlingenergy.com/ and the Pain Center of Arizona along with others. We also had a great fan base watching the tournament all weekend, which added to the atmophere of the event.

The tournament was low scoring. We bowled on the Scorpion pattern and -30 made the first cut. I finished -2 after qualifying, after a 145 first-game start. =(

Then in Sunday's semi-finals, I shot +44 for the 5 games, finishing in 12th place going into matchplay.

In the round of 16, I faced Ron Simonis from Mesa, AZ. In the best 3 out of 5 match, I defeated Simonis 3-0 in the first round.

In the round of 8, I then faced Jason Williams from Seattle, WA. He then proceeded to sweep me, beating me 2-0 in the best 2 out of 3 match.

So overall i finished 8th in the tournament.

Besides the bowling, it was great hanging out with my friends from Arizona all weekend long. The 5-hour drive home seemed to drag on forever, but other than that the weekend was a lot of fun!

Missy Featured in LA Daily News and la.com

On Saturday, September 13th Missy was featured in the L.A. Daily News and on the front cover of la.com newspaper.

Missy explained proper bowling technique, complete with pictures of Missy modeling tips for the recreational bowler. The article focused on hip bowling centers in the L.A. area but also gave readers the do's and dont's of bowling.

Check out the story:

http://www.la.com/recreation/Bowled_Over.html

PBA Don Johnson Memorial Classic Regional Event

Last weekend I competed in the PBA West/Northwest Regions Don Johnson Memorial Classic in Pacifica, CA. Situated very close to San Francisco, the weather was surprisingly perfect the entire weekend and almost fogless! LOL!

The host center - Sea Bowl is one of my favorite bowling centers because it is situated right across from the beach. You can actually see waves crashing along the rocks from inside the bar/restaurant area of the center. (The last picture above is the view from inside the bar of the bowling center. Not joking!)

Trying to defend my 2nd PBA Regional title, I bowled well in the tournament, but ended up just cashing, falling short of the cut to the top 16.

Besides the bowling, the weekend was filled with beach-going, sightseeing and hanging out with friends. Check out the pics!

End of Summer Fun and Gearing up for Tour

In preparation for the tour, I've been practicing hard everyday and put myself on a strict workout schedule. However these weeks leading up to the tour haven't been all work...there's been some play...Read what I've been up to in my spare time.

I've been trying to really enjoy my time at home and have as much fun as possible before the start of the season. I've been hanging out with my family and going to my favorite places - Disneyland and the beach!

I took my nephews to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, and we had an awesome time! We spent a good portion of the day in the touch pool area, where we were able to touch small sharks in shark lagoon, along with bat rays, star fish, sea anemones and other sea creatures. We also watched the seal and seal lion show, fed the lorikeet birds and watched an Imax movie.

This past weekend, I didn't have a tournament, so I went to Disneyland, which was awesome because no one was there (with all of the kids back in school). I also was able to watch my nephew's 1st soccer game (they creamed the other team), and we had a BBQ pool party with friends and relatives.

It's sad to think that summer is over, but at least it's still nice and sunny here in Cali! =)

Brunswick Training Camp

Sorry that I haven't updated my blog in FOREVER! It won't happen again! =)

Well...right after the Women's U.S. Open I traveled to Topeka, Kansas for a Brunswick Training camp. Renowned Brunswick ball rep Rick Benoit hosted the camp on behalf of Brunswick, to get all of the pro staffers ready for the upcoming tour season. It was a great week full of lots of fun!

Not only did we learn a lot, but we were also able to get to know each other better and learn from each other's experiences.

Besides all of the knowledge we learned throughout the week, we also reached out to the community of Topeka and participated in several events. We had a separate junior, senior and adult pro-am. We also bowled team matches against Topeka's best scratch bowlers.

However, one of the best events was the invitational bowling golf tournament. This event helped explain to the public what bowling is really about by using visible and invisible obstacles on each lane. I competed with the sports writers from the Topeka Capital-Journal and a local TV news crew. We had a blast! Check out the photos!

Missy on ABC and Fox Chicago Morning Shows

During the Women's U.S. Open, I had the opportunity to promote the tournament by appearing on the ABC 7 Chicago morning show. Diandra Asbaty and I went to the station's studio, which was situated in the middle of downtown Chicago.

The LIVE segment focused on the tournament and highlighted the sport of bowling. We gave station anchor Tracy a few bowling tips, which she then utilized on our carpet bowling lane.

Then the following morning, Fox news did several LIVE teasers and segments from the Brunswick XL bowling center that hosted the Women's U.S. Open. I gave bowling tips to the news anchor, while he demonstrated (successfully) on the lanes.

Stay tuned for the video clips... =)

Listen to Missy's Interview on the "Let's Go Bowling Show"

Click on the following link to hear Missy's interview on the "Let's Go Bowling Show"

(On "Listen Page 5" - Scroll down and click on Missy Bellinder and the interview is 21 minutes into the segment.)

http://www.gobowlingshow.com/default2.asp?active_page_id=190

Enjoy! =)

Missy Makes the PBA Women's Series

This week I competed in the Women's U.S. Open at Brunswick XL bowling center in Romeoville, IL.

We competed on four different PBA patterns throughout the week: Viper, Scorpion, Shark and Chameleon. We bowled 8 games a day on each of the 4 patterns for a total of 32 games of qualifying. After 32 games, the top 16 women made the quarter finals television show.

Running simultaneously with the Women's U.S. Open competition was the qualifier for the PBA Women's Series. The top 12 women that entered the additional PBA Tour Trials would earn berths on this upcoming season's mini tour.

The last day of qualifying we competed on the Chameleon pattern. With one game to go, the race for the top 16 spots on the TV show and the top 12 women's series spots was nail bitingly close.

I ended up falling short for the top 16 TV show finals for the Women's U.S. Open.

However, I shot a big last game -245 and doubled in the 10th frame of that game to secure the final spot into the PBA Women's Series.

Therefore, I will be competing in seven PBA Women Series tournaments running alongside the PBA tour. The season starts in October.

One interesting fact about this week, is that throughout the 32 games of qualifying, I didn't miss one single-pin spare. See spares do matter!

Stay tuned for the PBA Women's Series starting with the first tournament in Omaha, NE October 29-November 2.