Just wanted to give you a update as painful as it is. Just returned from Vegas. We made a mistake of bowling forty frame game before we bowled usbc, i ended up sticking on the first frame and did something to my plant leg...I know....stupid......

anyway bowled a 459 team with a 9 clean in the second game, then leg fell apart for the third. we did pretty good for team just over 1600 (good for us) s and d was not so good, did not even break 400 in doubles and had a 493 singles. It was tough, there was a shot but if you missed mark, it was gone. leg is not in very good shape most likley pulled a thigh muscle, lots of pain but fought through it. It was fun as usual and Binions roulette was very good for me after team. we went to pick up brackets and won 1300 on the roulette table, so paid for the trip there.....anyway take a sanded and a polished ball, hit the 10 or 11 and you will do well. make sure you make your spares.

You didn't even break 500 and went to pick up bracket money!?

I shoot 654 two years ago (last time I was able to bowl), and win one bracket, no justice at all in this game, LOL. I'm glad you had fun I am heading out to watch my teammates bowl in May, I hope the tables are good to me, the airlines are taking enough money just to get there.

2 years ago in Reno, I shot junk for D/S. I put in $100 total for brackets and won $50. Teammate shot over 650 for both put in $800 total and won $250 back. Just so happened that the ex-pro bowler Mark Williams was on our squad and they went head to head in most of the brackets. Things like that happen.

http://www.bowl.com/articleView.aspx?i=15394&f=1

Joseph Burgio of Buffalo, NY didn't get a chance to tell his mother that his wife was expecting their first child before his trip to Vegas, so he jokingly told his teammates he would take the lead in the tournament and tell her in a bowl.com article. What happened? He shot a 788 to take the lead in Regular Singles yesterday.

I just got home from the USBC Open also. We bowled Monday and Tuesday 3/16 & 3/17. I did reasonably well in team. I had a problem keeping under the ball though. I wanted to help it. That was the wrong thing to do. Once I got myself back under control I did OK. After the team event I rented a locker and stored my equipment there overnight. We were staying about 8 miles from the Cashman Center on the west side of Vegas. Our S & D were scheduled for 9:20 on Tuesday morning. We left the condo at 7:45. We pulled into Cashman at 9:05. The traffic was horrendous. I don't think there is a street or interstate that is not under construction. Anyway, I hustled through the scale room and just got my shoes on when we went out to the lanes. The first ball in practice would not come off my thumb. I almost did the Machuga flop, but I was able to stop. I only had one piece of tape in each of my balls. I removed it but still couldn't get out of them. Obviously I kept pulling everything left.

Some advice if you are going to the Open. Test the fit of your grip before you go through the scale room. That way if changes are required, you can have any number of pro shops there make the adjustments. Once on the lanes it's too late.

Personally I had a hard time keeping hydrated. I expect this is the reason my thumb was swelled up. Hopefully the smell of me stinking up the place in singles and doubles is gone.

I guess drinking beer all day at the blackjack is not a good way to stay hydrated

How were the people around you shooting? I have heard that the ball to have out there this year is the Virtual Gravity. Last year it was the Cell. More and more reports I am getting are saying a VG with the pin up is the way to go for team and something with polish for D/S. What equipment did you use for Team, D/S?

I used my Cell for team and when I was staying behind the ball it worked great. I had to use my Ebonite Big One for S&D. It had a little bigger thumb hole. When I was able to get out of it, it was not strong enough to turn the corner. If I played down and in, I left a lot of garbage. Boy, I wish I would have thought to check my grip and had the Cell adjusted before I went through the scale room. This was the first year that my equipment actually matched up to the condition.

The team shot was about 17 to 10 with heavy forward roll. I never found a shot in S&D.

http://www.bowl.com/articleView.aspx?i=15400&f=1

Chris Jones of Columbus, IN had the 9th 300 of the tournament Sunday night in his second game of doubles.

Lots of Cell and VG's all around, i threw my twisted fury team and Storm s and d. If you hit your mark 10 or 11 it was good, half a board either way...watch out......

http://www.bowl.com/articleView.aspx?i=15433&f=1

A team out of Lexington, KY that was put together to honor the late USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Don Johnson took the Regular Team lead on Tuesday night. Don Johnson's son Jimmy is a member of the team.

http://www.bowl.com/articleView.aspx?i=15428&f=1

Above is one of the better human-interest stories of the tournament, that of Ken Davis of Hillsboro, OR, who took up bowling 3 months ago after losing almost all of his sight (field of vision) as a result of a traumatic head injury suffered while in military service in Iraq.