Scorpion Championship

Well, we did have a bit of a break prior to starting the Scorpion Championship. Some bowlers (that had the convenience of being close enough to home) decided to take a mini break and have a few home cooked meals and sleep in their own bed for a few nights. My roomie and I are a bit too far away for that convenience.

So instead, we hung out with a lot of the other girlies out on tour. There were numerous trips to the Fairlane Towne Center mall, along with chick flick movie nights. Yes, we saw "The Ugly Truth," (which I might add I think guys would also get a kick out of) and we saw the "Time Traveler's Wife."

Beyond that, we also had makeovers at the Mac store and then went out for a really entertaining karaoke night, with many of us singing the night away. Yes, we do have a Whitney Houston amongst our 20+ group that ventured out, and even the lead singer for Bare Naked Ladies.

So on with the tournament...for those of you that watched Xtra Frame or watched the scores online, you could tell that the lanes were pretty difficult and low scoring. Minor mistakes were magnified and missing the pocket often resulted in a split or difficult spare conversion.

I definitely had the roller coaster of scores going on - a few decent games, then 150, another good game, then 160. (All of which was very easy to do depending on what pair you happen to be on.)

With my leg feeling better, I was in contention for making the cut pretty much the entire time. Towards the end, there were about 7 of us that were vying for that final 8th spot into match play. I had dropped down a bit, due to a bad 5th game, but was rallying to make it.

Our pair was one of the last to get done. I could strike out for 267, putting me at -5. I didn't think anyone else had gotten to that number. (The cut was in the -30s going into that game.) I was bowling with Adrienne Miller (also in contention) and she struck out to put herself at -16. I knew I needed to double in the 10th to beat her. For those of you who watched Xtra Frame, you know what happened next. I threw the ball perfect off of my hand (you know, one of those shots you just know that you pured) and the stubborn 10 pin decided to stand.

Yes, I was upset, but all you can do is put the ball there and hope the bowling gods cooperate. I guess my leg needed more time to heal.

Our next event starts on Thursday with practice and qualifying on Friday. Be sure to check it out.

Chameleon Championship

The Chameleon Championship started on Tuesday, August 18th with the practice session and qualifying on Wednesday, the 19th. I chose not to bowl in the practice session, but instead watch, in order to give my leg a little more healing time.

First I must tell you a little bit about the center we are bowling in. All of the women's series events are being conducted in the arena bay section of Thunderbowl Lanes. The arena bay is basically a 20 lane separate bowling center that has tiered seating and a vaulted ceiling (with normal scoreboards), which acts almost like a mini National Bowling Stadium with decor from the 70's. Complete with plush sparkly gold and pink vinyl couches in the settee area and leopard print stools at the top deck viewing areas, it is definitely a venue unlike any other.

Participating in the arena has it's advantages and disadvantages. It's nice to bowl in a setting where we are only crossing with the women (which is unlike every other year of the women's series, where we were inter-mixed with the men during qualifying). The lanes tend to break down better because we don't have all of the traffic of the men's high rev rates pushing all of the oil all over the place.

However, in this setting it feels as though we are put in a corner all by our selves (like we're on time out) and no one really knows that we're competing in there. The men bowl at the exact same time and in a completely different bay of the bowling center (lanes 41-90), which leaves spectators the choice of watching the men or the women bowl, not the convenience of watching both at the same time. Not to mention that in order to find where we are bowling it is much like an obstacle course or Where's Waldo book.

Other differences this year on tour, include our own paddock, located just behind the arena (which is normally used as a comedy club). It's nice not having to battle for tools when working out equipment or waiting so long to use the spinner, but it also has it's disadvantages too. With separate competition and paddock areas, the men and women really never get to see each other much. It's almost like "Over there is their area and this is our area." So it's a really weird vibe this year out on tour.

Another added bonus is that we are bowling on a REALLY old surface in the arena. For those of you that have watched Xtra Frame, you can see that we are not lacking in friction. This week we had 20% more volume and by the end of the 7-game block Tammy was in front of the ball return and pretty much everyone was inside of 4th arrow. (Yes the pattern is 39 feet, but there are only 20 of us and we're only bowling 7 games, NOT 14 games without re-oiling.)

So, knowing that I can't throw the ball hard because of my injury, I decided to have my dad ship me my old Columbia Trooper urethane ball from way back in the day. It came in handy, as I used it the first 4-5 games of both blocks (however not soon enough the first block) and then switched to a Storm Second Dimension when the lanes opened up a bit and I could use enough head-angle to get the ball down the lane.

Well the good news about the Chameleon Championship is that I did finish all 14 games and I didn't hurt too bad afterwards. I think my leg is getting better and I'm definitely ready to give it my all in the Scorpion Championship which starts Sunday with the practice session. Till then...

Viper Championship

This week I found myself in unfamiliar territory. I had to withdraw from the tournament after only bowling two games of qualifying. I have NEVER withdrawn from a tournament before, so it was an upsetting experience but it was for the better.

As previously mentioned, I had a pulled groin muscle from the U.S. Women's Open. I thought it had enough time to rest, choosing not to bowl from Sunday (after the TV show was taped) until our Friday practice session.

I had stopped limping two days before heading out to Detroit. My leg was feeling a lot better, so I practiced on Friday and everything seemed to be OK. However, that night my leg started hurting pretty bad. So I tried bowling qualifying on Saturday but wasn't able to finish the games.

In normal circumstances I would have loved the condition we bowled on. The lanes were hooking a lot due to the surface we were bowling on and throwing the ball hard seemed to be the advantage. Normally that is right in my wheelhouse, but I wasn't able to really use my legs or stay down at all. So I decided to withdraw instead of risking hurting myself more.

The good news is that I don't bowl again until Wednesday, which is qualifying for the Chameleon Championship. I'm most likely going to skip the practice session on Tuesday and just watch the other girls bowl to see how the lanes are.

The extra days off should help my leg to heal a bit. Til then...

Getting Ready for the World Series of Bowling

Happy summer to everyone,

Just to recap...The U.S. Women's Open will begin airing on Sunday, September 13th and will continue to air every Sunday for five consecutive weeks. My show isn't until October 4th and the finals show will air October 11th. (I know so far away! Not fair!!!) I'll be posting reminders once it gets closer to the air date.

So...as I last posted I pulled my groin muscle during the U.S. Women's Open. Luckily icy hot, wraps and epson salt baths have been doing the trick and today I am finally not limping! YAY! So hopefully my leg will continue to heal as I leave tomorrow for Detroit, Mich. for the World Series of Bowling.

The PBA Women's Series will conduct 5 out of the 7 Women's Series events during the World Series of Bowling, with the remaining two events taking place during the second half of the season.

Our first event starts this Friday, August 14th with the practice session for the PBA Women's Series Viper Championship. Saturday, August 15th begins two 7-game blocks of qualifying.

Keep an eye out for more blogs and watch the action live using live scoring and live videos on pba.com and Xtra Frame.

Missy Makes the TV Show at the U.S. Women's Open!!!

Hello everyone!

This week I competed in the U.S. Women's Open at Strike Zone Lanes inside Sunset Station Casino in Henderson, Nev. The grueling format called for 8 games a day for the first three days, as we bowled on the Shark, Chameleon and Cheetah patterns. After two days I was leading the tournament at +398 and then after day 3, I was in 2nd at +521.

However the last game of Day 3, I pulled a muscle in the middle of my approach. I was able to finish the game, but the next day was a big test for me! Day 4, we bowled 16 games. We first bowled 8 games on the Scorpion pattern and then bowled 8 more games on the Viper pattern. With icy hot galore and a big leg wrap, I finished all 16 games amongst being in A LOT of pain.

The good news is that I ended up in 9th place, making the TV show and I get a day to rest. We tape the show on Sunday and it will air at a later date in September.

I bowl Liz Johnson the first match and the winner bowls tournament leader Shannon O'Keefe.

Check out the full story.

Also, check out this video from the U.S. Women's Open. Go to Tournaments - 2009 and then click on 2009 US Women's Open. Then click on US WO Missy Bellinder Video.

Women's U.S. Open Starting this Week!!!

The Women's U.S. Open starts tomorrow at Strike Zone inside Sunset Station in Henderson, Nev. Practice session is tomorrow, Monday, August 3rd, followed by three days of 8-game blocks on Shark, Chameleon and Cheetah. (I am on B squad.)

After the 24 games of qualifying, the field is then cut to the top 25%. On Friday, the top quarter of the field then bowls 8 games on Scorpion in the morning and then 8more games on Viper. After the total 40 games of qualifying, the field is then cut to the top 12 for the TV finals.

Be sure to follow the action on www.bowl.com