Missy Wins World Bowling Tour Finals

Missy Parkin won the World Bowling Tour Women's final from the top seed position to claim the title and remain ranked number 1 in the world for female bowlers.

Missy, who accumulated 369 points over the two-year point system in World Bowling Tour events, secured the top seed position over Kelly Kulick with 344 points and Liz Johnson with 295 points. The top three women in the points standings qualified for the World Bowling Tour televised finals which were conducted at a constructed 2-lane arena setting inside the Southpoint Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.

In the opening match, Kulick struck out in the 10th frame to shoot 260, forcing Johnson to double and get count to move on. Johnson did just that, throwing the first two strikes in the 10th frame and shooting 267 to Kulick's 260.

Johnson then went on to face, top seed Missy Parkin. Parkin stayed clean to start the match, as Johnson caught a couple of early splits. Then, in the middle of the match, Parkin starting stringing strikes and went on to claim the victory and $20,000 prize, shooting 238 to Johnson's 190.

On the men's side, it was Chris Barnes who climbed the ladder defeating Mike Fagan and Mika Koivuniemi to win the men's World Bowling Tour finals.

Watch Missy on ESPN Dec. 9th at 1pm EST!

Watch Missy Parkin compete in the World Bowling Tour finals on Sunday, December 9th at 1pm EST on ESPN!

Missy earned 369 points to claim the top seed in the World Bowling Tour TV finals, placing just ahead of Kelly Kulick with 344 points and Liz Johnson with 295 points. Missy will face the winner of Kulick and Johnson in the stepladder finals.

Points are earned by placement in World Bowling Tour events and are calculated based on the finishing position of each bowler compared to their gender. Each event awards points based on how a bowler places, where first place earns 50 points, second place earns 40 points etc., awarding points down to 50th place. The points earned at each event are then accumulated over a two-year period.

Missy had only 35 points in the first World Bowling Tour year, thus earning a majority of her points bowling in tournaments all over the world this past season. This year, she competed in Japan, France, Thailand, Austria and Australia as well as other national events throughout the United States.

Be sure to Tune In and watch Missy on ESPN!  :)

Missy Competing in World Series of Bowling

This week, I will be competing in the season opening PBA World Series of Bowling at the Southpoint Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The tournament officially starts tomorrow with the Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship. I am on B squad for the tournament.

To stay up-to-date with the scores, click here.

If you want extended, in depth coverage of the entire World Series of Bowling, Xtra Frame, the PBA's online live streaming video system is offering a variety of packages for purchase. There's a daily subscription for $3.99, a monthly subscription for $7.99 and a yearly subscription for $64.99

For more information on Xtra Frame, click here.

Also, the TV tapings for the PBA World Series of Bowling will begin on Saturday, November 10th. I am top seed for the World Bowling Tour finals TV show, which is the first TV taping of the PBA World Series of Bowling. If you'd like to come and watch the TV show LIVE, click here for ticket information.

Missy Maintains Top Seed in WBT Finals -Comes in 2nd Place in the Australian Masters

Last week, I competed in the Australian Adult Championships and the Australian Masters at AMF Rooty Hill bowling center, just outside of Sydney.

As mentioned previously, the Australian Adult Championships consisted of three games of team, doubles and singles and you could re-enter as many times as you'd like in the doubles and singles portions of the tournament. Also, an interesting twist, your top two doubles and or singles scores counted towards advancing to the Australian Masters.

I bowled well in my first set of singles, shooting 254, 214 and 212 for 681 using a Columbia 300 Omen. The next day I bowled team event with Kelly Kulick, Carol Gianotti, and Amanda and Kylie from Australia. We shot 2916 scratch for our 5-person team. I bowled games of 224, 213 and 245 for a 682 series using a Hammer jet Black Taboo.

Our team - Amanda, Carol, Kelly, Kylie and myself

Later that same day, I also bowled in a doubles squad with Carol Gianotti. She held me up, as we shot 1284. I shot 607.

The next day, I bowled with my roommate Kelly Kulick in doubles, as well as bowling in another singles squad. The singles squad didn't go all that well as I shot 623. However, the doubles squad we both bowled well shooting 1331 and winning first place in the doubles portion of the tournament. I shot games of 175, 232 and 245 for a 652 using my Ebonite Innovate.

Kelly and I having fun in Sydney

I bowled another singles squad the following day and had a great set. I used my Ebonite Innovate, playing pretty direct and shot games of 269, 248 and 208 for a clean set, shooting 725. This number combined with my previously bowled 681 score put me in 2nd place for the Australian Masters qualifying, which was enough to win 2 byes into the finals.

I didn't have to bowl the first day of the finals because I had received two byes from my qualifying scores. So I watched the finals a bit to get an idea for the next day and had an early night and headed to bed, as I woke up sick that morning.

Round 3 of the finals (which is where I was automatically seeded into) consisted of 6 games of qualifying and then the field of 16 bowlers were cut to the top 8 bowlers for head-to-head single elimination, best of 3 game matches.

In Round 3, I started out the gates very well using my Columbia 300 Omen, shooting games of 247, 233 and 247. Then I struggled a bit with the transition and shot 180, 201 and 189 for 1297, which was good enough for 3rd place. So I advanced to the top 8 finals.

In my first match, I faced Kristel Oh Shao Jing from Singapore. In the single elimination, best of 3 games format, I knew I needed to start out of the gates very well. I shot 255 the first game, defeating Kristel's 158. The second game, I again won shooting 220 to her 171.

In the next round, the top 4 players were left. I bowled Kate Pilkington from Australia. This match was much closer. However, I defeated Kate 222 to 185 in the first game and again defeated her 220 to 207 in the second game.

This put me in the championship match against Diandra Asbaty, who had just defeated Carol Gianotti in a very close match that went to 3 games. The final match was again best of 3 and it was live streamed, which was an added bonus for my family, friends and fans back home wanting to watch all of the action.

In the championship match, I didn't have as good of a look as I had all day and didn't carry too well, leaving a couple pocket 7-10s in the middle of both games. In the first game, I needed to strike the first ball in the 10th frame to win the game and I didn't throw it well, leaving a 2 pin. Then in the next game, Diandra starting striking a lot and I starting striking in the middle of the game, but was stopped by another 7-10 that ended my chances, thus coming in 2nd place.

Overall, I had an amazing week and met a lot of really nice people! I came in 2nd place in the Australian Masters, winning $7,500. I also won singles, all-events, doubles with Kelly Kulick and came in 3rd place with Carol Gianotti in doubles in the Australian Adult Championships. The 2nd place finish also earned me 40 points for the World Bowling Tour, which secured my top seed position for the World Bowling Tour TV show.

Congratulations to Diandra Asbaty and Jason Belmonte on their wins at the Australian Masters!

Kelly, Carol and I at the Awards dinner at the end of the tournament

Missy Having Fun in Australia!

Last week, I competed in the Australian Adult Championships and the Australian Masters at AMF Rooty Hill bowling center, just outside of Sydney.

Prior to competing in the tournament, I spent a couple of days sightseeing in Sydney. I stayed in Darling Harbour, which was very convenient as it's within walking distance of all of the major attractions. I first went to the Sydney Opera House and took a tour of the magnificent structure. I could seriously sit and look at it all day! I actually didn't know that the Opera House consists of 5 theaters total and two main theaters. I'd absolutely LOVE to see a symphony there one day!

After the opera house, I went to Taronga Zoo. It's situated across the harbor from the opera house, so I had to take a ferry to get there. On the ferry, I got the most amazing views of the entire Sydney skyline! The zoo was a lot of fun and I especially loved seeing the kangaroos and Koalas! 

                        

After the zoo, I was brave and took the public bus system, which is very nice but a little confusing to use. I went to Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is Australia's surf haven. The waves were pretty big and there were plenty of surfers and bodyboarders riding the waves. I also got an amazing gelato at Bondi Beach! It was the flavor of my FAVORITE candy bar in the entire world - Bounty! Super yummy! 

After the beach, I walked around Circular Quay and the harbor by the Opera House as the sun was setting. It was a really hot day and I did get a little sunburned, but I had an amazing time! 

The next day, I walked around Darling Harbour and went up the Sydney Tower, which offered amazing views of the entire city! I also visited the Chinese Friendship Garden and Queen Victoria Building, an old but gorgeous building offering high-end shopping. In the afternoon, I then headed to Rooty Hill for the tournament. 

View from the Sydney Tower

Chinese Friendship Garden

Missy Competing in the Australian Championships and Australian Masters

This week I am competing in the 51st Australian Championships and Australian Masters at Rooty Hill Bowling Center just outside Sydney, Australia.

The Australian Championships consist of Team, Doubles and Singles events with each event consisting of three games. You can re-enter as many doubles and singles squads as you'd like. However, the added catch is that your highest two blocks of singles and/or doubles count towards qualifying for the Australian Masters. The Australian Masters is the last stop of the World Bowling Tour.

This tournament is the final deciding factor in seeding for the Women's World Bowling Tour finals, which will be contested in Las Vegas during the World Series of Bowling next month. Currently, I am leading the Women's World Bowling Tour with 329 points, only 10 points ahead of Kelly Kulick at 319 points. Liz Johnson has locked up 3rd place for the TV show with 295 points.

The Australian Masters start on Friday, October 26th.

To check out tournament details and results during the week, click here.

Columbia 300 Vienna Open

In front of the Vienna Opera House

Recently, I competed in the Columbia 300 Vienna Open at Plus Bowling Center in Vienna, Austria. Coming straight from Thailand to bowl this event, I flew in on Tuesday, but choose not to bowl a squad until Wednesday.

The qualifying portion of the tournament consists of 6-game blocks. You can re-enter as many times as you’d like and the top 64 make the cut, including those making it through in the one-game desperado squad and squad leaders from the first two days of qualifying.

The other unique part about this tournament is that it is also a doubles event. So every squad you have a doubles partner that you are bowling with to try and cash for extra prizes, but your singles scores only count towards making the finals. You can bowl with as many people as you’d like and can cash multiple times in the doubles portion, but may only cash once with the same doubles partner. A little confusing…

My first squad, I bowled with Kelly Kulick. I did not bowl well that set, but did figure out a few things about the conditions and what balls to use, etc. Kelly bowled very well shooting +160, which would be high enough to make the cut.

I then bowled again that same day with Scott Norton. Although I figured out a few things, I was having trouble carrying and didn’t score as well as I felt I had bowled, shooting games of 236, 180, 201, 200, 194 and 194 for 1205 scratch (1253 with my 8 pins of handicap per game.) The bowling center has twister pins, making the carry very difficult at times. I left more 9 pins that week then I think I have left in almost a year (or at least it felt that way.) It was pretty ridiculous. Scott didn’t fair too well that squad either.

The next day, I again bowled two squads, so 12 games in all. The first squad I shot 204, 245, 186, 219, 203 and 204 for a total of 1309 with my handicap. I decided to bowl again as this total score was expected to be VERY close to the cut number. I again bowled with Scott in the doubles portion. This time I bowled really well using my Ebonite Game Breaker, Ebonite Innovate and Hammer blue cobalt Vibe. I shot games of 274, 221, 205, 224, 222 and then ended on a bad note shooting 168. However, I did have enough to make the finals, shooting 1362 with my handicap.

Scott and I decided to take the next day off from bowling and went sightseeing in Vienna. We had an original schnitzel which is breaded veal, pork or chicken and is super yummy! 

We saw quite a few sights that day including St. Peter’s church, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Hofbron Palace, Parliament, City Hall, Votive Church and ran into an outdoor small market. It was a lot of fun!

In front of the City Hall building in Vienna

On Saturday, we were again at the bowling center. I didn’t bowl again, as I already had enough to make the cut. However, I watched how the lanes were and cheered on Scott while he was bowling. The cut ended up being only 1309 (+109) with the lane conditions as tough as they were and with the twister pins not helping the situation. I will say, it was very easy to bowl a bad game by simply hitting a bad pair, opening and then not being able to carry.

The next day was the finals. Everyone making the cut, with the exception of the top 8 bowlers from qualifying, bowled 6 games and the field was then cut to the top 22 players. In the finals, I couldn’t get matched up quite right and struggled to carry. I shot 187, 222, 165, 179, 196 and 200 shooting 1197 with my handicap. The scores were pretty low across the board, with 1260 (+60) making the cut.

I didn’t advance and thus finished the tournament in 44th place for both men and women. Congratulations to Chris Barnes on an outstanding performance. He took home the title and received a PBA title for the win, as the tournament was part of the World Bowling Tour and thus now awards a PBA title.

After the tournament was over, the tournament hosted an after party commemorating the 10^th anniversary of the tournament’s existence. It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time.

The day after the tournament, Scott and I decided to stay an extra day to go sightseeing. So we again ventured into Vienna and saw many of its magnificent sites. We toured the Vienna Opera house, which was incredible and even had the chance to go backstage. We then took a tour of Schonbrunn Palace, which is very big and gorgeous. Afterwards, we visited one of Mozart’s apartments and finished the day in the center of the city buying souvenirs and window shopping.

Schonbrunn Palace

Although the bowling didn’t go as well as I had hoped, I did have a lot of fun visiting the incredible City of Vienna.

Missy Takes Over Lead in World Bowling Tour Rankings after Thailand

Last week, I competed in the World Bowling Tour Thailand Stop at Blu O Paragon in Bangkok, the 10th stop on the World Bowling Tour.

I had such a great time sightseeing, experiencing the culture, meeting new people and eating the yummy food. While in Thailand, I had the opportunity to visit Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand that is a city full of temples.

I visited two temples, was able to experience many of the rituals of the Buddhist religion, had the most amazing pad thai I've ever tasted, and got to feed and ride an elephant. It was an amazing week!

As far as the bowling goes...I qualified for the finals with my highest 9 games totaling +283. I did not receive any byes into the finals and therefore had to compete in the first round of the finals. I started out very strong, stringing the front 8 strikes the first game using my Columbia Wicked Encounter, shooting 266. I followed it up with a 236 and 237. Then hit a very tight pair and shot 177. I came back with a 218 and ended the block with a 183 for 1365 (with my 8 pin per game handicap.) I was leading that finals squad for most of the day, but ended up in 5th place and qualified for the next round, as the top 10 players advanced.

The next round of the finals, all pins were dropped and 26 bowlers competed for the top 12 spots to advance to the next round. The next finals round also consisted of 6 games. I struggled this round to find a consistent line and carry. I shot 203, 178, 183, 203, 201 and 214. I ended up missing the cut to the next round by only 48 pins. The scores were very low for this round. Although I was bummed that I hadn't qualified for the next round, I was happy with my first performance using Ebonite International products, finishing in 28th place (for both men and women.)

The major accomplishment for the week was gaining 35 points in the World Bowling Tour for competing in this event. Those points propelled me to take over the lead in the World Bowling Tour Rankings for 2012 with only two more stops remaining.

Check out the standings of the World Bowling Tour.

Missy in Thailand!

This week I am bowling the World Bowling Tour event in Bangkok, Thailand at Blu-O Paragon bowling center in the Siam Shopping center.

Qualifying consists of 3-game sets with a total of 9 games counting towards your qualifying score. You can re-enter as many times as you wish. After the final qualifying day (today), the field is then cut to the top 42 bowlers for the finals, which will be contested on Sunday and Monday. I am currently in 20th place.

To stay up-to-date with scores, the format or pictures from the tournament, click here.

Missy Parkin Signs Four Brand Contract with Ebonite International

Missy Parkin has officially joined the team of Ebonite International, as she signed a four brand contract with bowling's "powerhouse" company.

Click here for the full story.

Missy's Whirlwind Coaching Trip to Japan

Last week, I traveled to Japan for 900 Global’s Summer BowlJam. Each day, I traveled to a different city, giving lessons, providing one-on-one coaching, demonstrating the new bowling balls in the line and bowling in pro-am events at night. It was definitely a lot of work, but a very fun trip!

 Our fearless Team for Summer BowlJam: 

900 Global Saleman Matsu, myself and 900 Global Qubica/AMF Dqa translator, Sumie Tanaka

Day 1 of Summer BowlJam took us to the northern part of Japan.  We flew to Aomori and traveled to East Bowl where I gave a one-hour lecture and then provided one-on-one instruction. We later had a bowling ball demonstration, showing the fans and pro-am participants the new products. Luckily, every day the demonstrations went very well and the bowling balls looked great on the lanes!  J

Afterwards, we had a very successful and fun pro-am event. In Japan, pro-am events are a little different than in the States. In Japan, there will only be 1-3 pros bowling with over 50 pro-am participants. There isn’t one pro on each pair of lanes. Sometimes, people will pay more money to actually get the chance to bowl on the same pair as the pro. Pros bowl an entire game before moving pairs and everyone bowls regular games (not no-tap). This particular bowling center also charged people to watch the pro-am event. East Bowl also made a commercial for the BowlJam event that aired on local TV stations prior to the event. So we had a great turnout and the local news came out and covered the event. The last game of the tournament, I shot 278, with the front 7, using my purple/pink Jewel. Everyone was really excited!

At the conclusion of every pro-am event, I had an autograph session and then gave away the tournament prizes to the bowlers.

The next day, we took another flight back to Tokyo and then drove 2 hours to Daigaku Bowl in Ibaragi prefecture. (In Japan, the country is split up into prefectures, similar to our states in the U.S.) This day was a big event as the bowling center was using BowlJam to help celebrate their 30^th anniversary. I again had a lecture and then provided one-on-one coaching. We also had demo balls on hand for people to try.

The pro-am event that night was very big with 84 participants.  Due to the 30^th anniversary celebration, 900 Global had JPBA pro and P League Member Ayano and 2 other male JPBA pros were also on hand for the pro-am tournament. After the pro-am event, we had a special dinner party with all of the participants and gave away the prizes then.

Day 3 of Summer BowlJam took us to Atsugi Tsumada Bowl in Kanagawa prefecture. We left pretty early in the morning to drive to our destination and it was a good thing as there was a lot of traffic going through Tokyo. Come to find out, there was a parade going on in Tokyo for all of the Olympic athletes returning from the Olympic games.

For that day’s event, after the lecture and one-on-one coaching, I bowled 1 game with all of the people who attended the clinic. I shot 220 and the next highest person shot 190, so everyone was super excited.

Afterwards, I took a little break and played a Japanese video game, courtesy of the bowling center, which was very fun! It’s like “Rock Band” but with taiko drums.  Then later that night, I bowled in the 4-game pro-am event and gave away the prizes at the end of the night. 

Before each pro-am officially starts, the center will have me throw out the first ball. This particular night was very interesting...As I was walking up the approach and just after I threw the ball, there was a small earthquake. Everyone was laughing saying that I destroyed the pins so much so that I caused an earthquake. It was pretty funny timing. 

The next day, we stayed in Kanagawa prefecture and traveled to Sagamihara Parklanes. I had a lot of fun at this event! The itinerary for this day was a little different than normal. Instead of a lecture/clinic, I bowled two pro-ams events, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, with a ball demonstration in the middle. There were over 50 people for each event and everyone was really excited to meet me.  

During the first pro-am event, I shot 710 using the Freight Train. I also bowled with a few junior bowlers that threw the ball very well. One in particular caught my eye and that was 12 year old Kaya. She’s’ definitely going to be someone to watch out for! Her mother showed me a magazine article that she was featured in and Sumie translated it for me. In the article, she said that I was her role model and that she wants to be like me when she grows up because I travel all over the world and can beat the boys. LOL! That totally made my day! Check out the video of 12 year old Kaya!

During both pro-am events, I had a lot of fun with all of the bowlers. Everyone was very outgoing and talkative, which is always fun. I also had a few little fans that were 2 years old and 4 and 5 years old that were all eager to give me high-5s whenever I struck. I particularly had a great time with “Team Relax” in the evening pro-am.  I gave the guys some pointers as we were bowling and explained the importance of relaxing while you bowl. So after my tip, every time they struck, they said “Relax, Relax, Relax,” so it became the motto of the night. They named themselves “Team Relax.” 

"Team Relax"

The final day of Summer BowlJam, we again stayed in Kanagawa prefecture and traveled to Kanachu Hiratsuka Bowl. This day we also had two pro-am events with a ball demonstration in the middle.  In the first pro-am event, I shot 248, 259 and 251 for 758 series using the Freight Train.

Before the final pro-am event of the trip, we went out to dinner and had okonomiyaki. I had never tried it before and it’s really yummy! It’s a mixture of flour, uncooked egg and some other veggies and then whatever meat you want in it. I choose pork. So the waitress mixes it all up and cooks it right in front of you. In the end, it kind of looks like a pancake-shaped omelet. It was super yummy!

The bowling ball demonstration and pro-am later that night also went very well.

I don’t actually remember all of my scores from every pro-am event, but I bowled well in all of them, using either the 900 Global purple/pink Jewel or Freight Train.

Although it was a quick trip and a lot of work, I definitely had a lot of fun and hope to travel back to Japan again soon! J

Missy Wins WBA Queens Tournament

This past weekend I bowled in the Women’s Bowling Alliance Queens tournament in Henderson, NV at Sunset Station Lanes.  We bowled on the Kegel “Winding Road” lane pattern and it proved to be pretty difficult, as the condition put a premium on shot making and picking up spares was crucial.

We bowled two 5-game blocks of qualifying, taking an hour lunch break in between sets. I started out using my 900 Global Black Eagle, playing 13 with a little swing. As the oil pushed down the lane, I then straightened out my angles a bit and just kept moving left as the day went on. My strategy was to find a ball that would keep me out of trouble, another words, a ball that was controllable and that would allow me to leave makeable spares, and not splits, when I missed the pocket. I used the Black Eagle for the first two games, shooting 200 and 248 and then switched to my solid 900 Global The Nuts for the rest of the set shooting 193, 248 and 248 for +137 the first 5 games. 

We then took a break for lunch and I was leading after the first 5 game block. The lanes were not re-oiled for our next set. I continued to use my 900 Global The Nuts and then switched to my re-release new AMF Bullwhip during game 7 and started to open up my angles a bit more. I shot 245, 197, 214, 224 and 243 for +260 overall for the 10 games of qualifying.  I averaged 226 and was leading by 60 pins after qualifying. The field was then cut to the top 8 players.

On Sunday, we bowled 8 games of round robin matchplay with 30 bonus pins awarded to the winner of each match. I again used my 900 Global Black Eagle, The Nuts and AMF Bullwhip shooting scores of 254, 196, 226, 236, 202, 214, 224 and 208 to secure a 7-1 matchplay record and win the tournament by 149 pins over Hall of Famer Robin Romeo. I was very happy with my performance as the lanes were rather challenging, especially on Sunday when the heads broke down and the backends got pretty tight down lane.  My low game for the entire tournament was 193 and I didn’t miss ANY single pin spares as well as makeable spares for the entire tournament and I picked up quite a few big splits on Sunday. All in all it was a great weekend! Along with the prize money, I won a tiara, trophy, an entry into the 2013 USBC Queens tournament, a bottle of WBA wine and pretty flowers.

I’d like to thank Paula Vidad and the entire Women’s Bowing Alliance staff for all of their hard work in putting together these tournaments! I hope some of you tuned in the to LIVE streaming of the event.

For complete results and more information on this and other upcoming WBA tournaments, click here.

Missy Parkin, WBA Queens Champion with tournament director Paula Vidad and WBA Princess Champion Angela Morgan

Missy Comes in 2nd Place at the U.S. Women's Open

Part 2: TV show day - Tournament moves outdoors to Virginia Street under the Reno Arch

First and foremost, since the BPAA and tournament officials are getting ridiculed for this year's event, I'd like to remind everyone that without the generous support of the BPAA and other prominent sponsors, the U.S. Women's Open would not even happen. The BPAA decided to bring back the U.S. Women's Open for the 2011 tournament, which was a huge success and boasted a record breaking field for the number of participants. Bringing back the tournament again in 2012, the BPAA had another successful tournament. For all of the hard work, time and effort that BPAA and all of the sponsors give to this tournament, I first would like to say a HUGE Thank You for allowing us to have another major to compete in every year!  :) 

I'd like to give everyone an insider's perspective regarding the entire day of the TV show, starting with our schedule for that day.

Our Schedule at a glance:

8:30am:       Introduction at the Bowl Expo general session
10am:          Photo Shoot and on-camera interviews at the River walk
11am-1pm:  Practice session outside on the TV lanes
1pm:            Limo ride to Reno Sparks Convention Center - Eat lunch on the way
1:30pm:       Interviews at the BWAA booth at the Bowl Expo Tradeshow
2:30pm:       Head back to downtown Reno
4:45pm:       Roll call
5pm-6pm:    Practice on the TV pair
6:20pm:       Start Opening Ceremony then immediately start official practice session for TV show
7pm:            Start Taping TV show      

As you can see, we had a pretty tight schedule leading up to the taping of the TV show. Not being a morning person at all, I was really looking forward to sleeping in and relaxing a bit before the big night, as the TV show started at 7pm. Unfortunately that was not the case, but such comes with the territory of making TV.  

Now, as odd as this may sound, I have actually always wanted to bowl outside. Making the PBA Team Shootout the year after they stopped competing outdoors at Six Flags theme parks, I was really looking forward to my first outdoor bowling competition. The afternoon practice session went really well. The setting looked super cool! With sunglasses on and battling the heat, I was surprisingly impressed at how calm and relaxed I felt bowling outside during the practice session. The lane condition played different than what it had all week, but that was to be expected. I had a great look with the new 900 Global Sure Thing, The Look and the new purple and pink Jewel.

We had a quick breather after the practice session, since none of us practiced for all 2 hours in the hot sun. Then at 1pm we got into a very nice limo, where we ate lunch on our way to the Reno Sparks Convention Center to do interviews at the BWAA booth at the Bowl Expo tradeshow. After mingling for a bit, we headed back to downtown Reno and had 1 1/2 hours off before having to be on set for the TV show. I took the opportunity to take a small nap and then headed over.

We practiced from 5pm-6pm and by this time the wind was starting to pick up a little bit and it was still really hot outside. The lanes played completely different than they had during the afternoon practice session due to the outside elements, so my Jewel was looking better as the balls were starting to hook more.

Then, the fun began...We had a very special opening ceremonies, where we all were escorted out onto the lanes by military personnel as a salute to our heroes that serve our country. The national anthem was sang beautifully by an all male group, complete with fireworks and a special fly over kicking off the night.

The stage was set: bleachers packed, fans watching from the neighboring parking structure and hotel rooms and side streets were also filled with anxious fans and some curious non-bowlers as well.

As the TV show started with the sun starting to set, mother nature did not cooperate as the wind kicked up to 20-25mph. Wind blowing hair in our face was the least of our worries, we'd soon discover, as the wind was also blowing piles of dust and dirt out on to the lanes and approaches. This caused the lane conditions to go from good, bad, to worse in a hurry as bowling balls were covered with dirt every shot and the wind didn't ease up.

As I was watching the matches ahead of me unfold before my eyes, my game plan went from throwing my 900 Global Jewel, to a Pink and Black Hook to a Pink and Black plastic Bam by the time it was my turn to bowl on the TV show.

I'm not going to explain the TV show, shot for shot etc. because most of you watched it and if you haven't seen it, then I'm sure it's on YouTube, so check it out! So, I'd like to just recap my thoughts, explain a few things that went on, as well as clarify a few things that I've heard from friends and fans alike.

First off, I would like to say this loud and clear with no disrespect to anyone, but NO ONE has any clue what the 5 of us bowled on that night. We are all great spare shooters and great shot makers and some of the most accurate players in the sport today. With the elements at hand and the conditions that we were all faced with, there wasn't an easy spare to shoot at and it was more than just hitting a target and making a good shot. The scores were low, conditions were brutal, but we all managed to pull through it as best we could with class and determination and for that I am very proud of all of us!

So a few thoughts...I've bowled on VERY dry lane conditions before. I've practiced on Sundays at bowling centers that don't oil throughout the weekend and used my plastic ball to work on accuracy. When I first turned adult (way back when), there was a big money league I competed in that during one round, had a shot where the heads are only oiled like 15 feet or something crazy like that, so I used a urethane ball for strikes and an old manhattan rubber ball to shoot spares and yes even that rubber ball hooked at spares with my high ball speed. I'm explaining all of this because with keeping the above information in mind, I thought that I'd be fine on the TV show... I can throw it hard, I can hit a mark and I've been faced with similar conditions before. For those of you that were thinking the same thing when watching the TV show, that is absolutely not the case unless you've bowled outdoors in wind with sand, dirt and dust covering the lanes so bad that you can see the ball tracks. Forget drawing on the TV screen to show where we all were playing, it was drawn out clear as day by the dust.

So, once it got to the final match against my good friend Kelly Kulick, I changed my strategy and she also had the same thing in mind. We played as far left as we could get and let our plastic balls fade into the pocket, hoping to create enough carry to not leave some nasty pocket splits. I was throwing it with some good ball speed and taking my hand out of the ball to make it go straighter, and unfortunately I did leave a couple of back-to-back pocket 8-10s in the middle of the match. But that's bowling. All you can ever do is make good shots and hope the pins fall accordingly. 

A few clarifications...For those that noticed and or heard, while I was bowling on the TV show, I wore a white patch on my jersey that said "Bo" and had a cross on it. My husband and I's great friend and employee Bo Vrabel was in the hospital with health complications and passed away in the middle of the tournament. The last thing Bo said to me when I saw him at the hospital before leaving to Reno was "Bowl great at the U.S. Open! Win the whole thing!" So I was determined to do just that in memory of our great friend Bo!

Another clarification... for those that were able to watch the show live in person (this was cut out on TV), in the middle of our match, a fan up in the parking structure rudely yelled out in the middle of Kelly's approach. Luckily, she was able to stop and regroup and threw a strike, pointing up to that fan in return. Let me clarify that all she did was point up to that fan and nothing more. Shortly after that, we had a commercial break. At the commercial break, I jumped up and was very upset and talked to the tournament officials because we had a little monitor near the ball return that was supposed to be displaying the scores for us and it wasn't working the ENTIRE match. So I didn't even know what frame it was (hence I had to ask if it was even commercial break.)  I didn't know what the exact scores were because let me tell you, I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but my brain doesn't work really well when I'm on TV, in respect to keeping scores, adding, etc with everything else going on. I have to really sit there and stare at the scores a little bit to add right. So with no scores up, I definitely was not going to be able to remember exactly what we both had done every frame, other than how many opens we both had. So for those of you that saw that during the commercial break, that's what I was so upset about going into the last 5 frames. It had nothing to do with Kelly and/or the rude fan. Thankfully, the tournament officials quickly fixed the monitor and the scores were up by the time the commercial break ended and remained on for the rest of the match.

Another moment that I'd like to clarify... in the 10th frame, Kelly needed a mark to lock me out of winning the title. When she picked up her spare, she yelled and was very excited. Now, some people took this as being very rude or as directing the outburst at me. That was absolutely not the case! Let me explain...Kelly had lead this same tournament in 2011 by some 600 odd pins. The finals for the tournament were then moved to Cowboys Stadium in which she struggled on TV and lost in the finals. This year, Kelly lead by 300+ pins. Again, the finals were moved to a different venue, outside on Virginia Street. So, Kelly, saying so herself, had to deal with her own "inner demons" when dealing with this TV show. So her outburst at the end, when she claimed the title was merely a cry for joy that she had overcome the previous year's upset and had again won the U.S. Women's Open for a 3rd time. Kudos to Kelly and a big congratulations for winning the 2012 U.S. Women's Open!

So, I came in 2nd place overall in the tournament. Obviously not what I was hoping for, but still a great week. I can't wait to see what's in store for the 2013 U.S. Women's Open! Again, thank you to BPAA and all of the sponsors for making this tournament possible!  :)

Until next time...

Missy Qualifies for the U.S. Women's Open TV Show: Part I

Part 1: Qualifying and Matchplay at the National Bowling Stadium

Last week, I competed in the 2012 U.S. Women's Open at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada and qualified for the unforgettable night of women's bowling.

It all started with the qualifying portion of the tournament. We bowled 6 games a day for 3 straight days and then the field was cut to the top 25% of the 202 participating women bowlers. I must also add that I LOVED the time schedule for the tournament all week. The earliest we bowled was 3pm, so for those of you that know me and know I'm NOT a morning person, I loved getting to sleep in every day! In fact, when I saw the schedule for the tournament a few weeks ago, I joked to my mom that I was going to win this tournament simply because I didn't have to get up early.

Day 1, I started out a little slow but then finished hot with games of 211, 197, 268, 246, 248 and 249 for +219, using my new 900 Global Sure Thing and The Nuts solid, which put me in 8th place. 

The following day I bowled on the burn squad where the lanes were not re-oiled. I used my 900 Global Nuts and Black Mamba to shoot games of 243, 235, 223, 229, 228 and 180 for +138 for the day and +357 overall, which moved me into 6th place. The final day of qualifying, I used my Black Mamba to shoot games of 216, 204, 278, 213, 267 and 243 for +221 and +578 overall, moving me up into 3rd place overall.

The next day we bowled 6 more games of semifinals and then we cut to the top 16 players. During semis, I struggled a bit and shot games of 190, 196, 256, 224, 223 and 218 for +107 and +685 overall, remaining in 2nd place going into the 16 games of round robin matchplay. We bowled the first 8 games of matchplay that same night. With 30 bonus pins per game on the line, anything could happen, so I knew I needed to bowl really well and WIN matches! The fun part about that night was that Bowl Expo had the welcome reception downstairs at the National Bowling Stadium, so everyone naturally came upstairs to watch us bowl. The grand stands were packed almost completely full, people were cheering and the atmosphere was intense. That night, with games of 244, 203, 278, 259, 203, 202, 258 and 225, using my AMF Black Mamba and 900 Global Black Eagle, I won 6 out of 8 matches and was securely in 2nd place.

The next day, I knew I still had to bowl 8 great games to guarantee making the TV show and hopefully move up in positioning. Well, the day did NOT start out as I had hoped. I lost my first 4 matches and (being one that doesn't watch the scores) didn't know that at one point I had moved down to 4th place. I then shot a big 278 game and 234, winning both matches, but then shot a disappointing 7th game of  189 to drop to 3rd place.

The 8th and final position round game of the tournament was crucial! I was in 3rd place, only 33 pins ahead of Stefanie Nation in 4th place and was exactly 100 pins behind Shannon O'Keefe for 2nd place. (Kelly was uncatchable, leading the tournament by some 300 odd pins.) So I just told myself, you are not going to miss your mark this entire game and I did just that, stringing the first 5 strikes and then leaving a stubborn 10 pin to then string strikes again until the 10th frame. When I got up in the 10th frame, I had already won my match against Stefanie, but Shannon O'Keefe had already finished her match, shooting 204 and losing to Kelly. So I needed to go up and double in the 10th frame (and get count) to move from 3rd into 2nd position for the TV show. Again there were a lot of people watching, and the crowd was pumped. With lots of cheers and myself intensely focused, I struck out, shooting 279 to claim the number two seed for the TV show, a game which proved to be HUGE for what we all faced on the TV show the next night.

Stay Tuned for Part II...