Catch 22

After landing in San Fransico, I was eager to take all my bags off the carousel and start my week in Dublin. However, things did not go as smoothly as I had intended. After getting a cart to put all five of my bags, yes five bags and one little me, I started the trek to the rental car center, It was two floors up and seven stops on the tram. After arriving at the rental car center, I had to go outside to the curb to take a shuttle to actually arrive at MY rental car place. (I had rented from the one place that was not directly located in the airport) Well turns out they cancelled my rental car reservation and would not rebooked it for me. Needless to say, I was a little upset that I had dragged five bags down stairs and outside, but I was not too worried, there were plenty of rental cars. After paying double what I had wanted to pay, I was on my way to Dublin in my awesome mini van! (It was the only cars they had available) I arrived at hotel at midnight and tucked myself in.

The following day I arrived at the bowl to put all my balls in the paddock and practice. It was nice to be able to see all the girls and catch up. In practice session I found that I had the best look with my Total Bedlam, Reign, and Mutant Cell to start. Towards the end of practice session I found that my freeze looked best. I left practice feeling confident that I would have a good look to start the first day of qualifying.

My first block did not go as well as I would have liked, but I looked forward to the next day. I made some ball surface changes and discussed a plan of action with some of the male players on tour. I thought that if I moved everything left, I would be able to have more hold then I did in my first block. After a long day of bowling, I decided it was best to go back to the room and relax, because the women had the morning block.

My second block of qualifying went well, I wished for a few pins more (I missed the top eight by 3 pins) but I was happy with my overall performance. My last game I was in a catch 22 situation, I was in the cut and knew I need to have a clean game to make the top 8. The lanes were tough and I did not want to risk making a mistake and split. However, as I watched Kelly throw strike after strike I knew I was in trouble. I made a slight change and struck in the ninth frame. I was not sure what the cut was going to be, but I knew I probably needed a double to go plus to stay in. As I let the ball go in the tenth frame, I knew I threw it the best I could. Unfortunately, I left a ten pin and missed the cut. Sometimes, even when you feel that you have performed at your best, you need to go back and reevaluate what you could have done better. While I only missed one spare, I did miss some key moves and ball changes that could have changed my outcome. However, now I have learned this and will not make the same mistakes next time.