Archive for October, 2009
I heart Team USA.
Oct 2nd
Welcome to diandra’s account of the PABCON tournament in Puerto Rico. This is my fourth PABCON tournament, formerly known as the American Zone Championships. I bowled my first in Argentina, second in Costa Rica, and third in Chile. This is the first time the men and women’s team had the opportunity to travel together since professional bowlers were allowed on national teams.
So who represented Team USA?
Men: David Haynes, Chris Barnes, Cassidy Schaub, Patrick Allen, Bill O Neill, and Tommy Jones
Women: Me! Lynda Barnes, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Kim Terrell, Shannon O’ Keefe, and Shannon Pluhowsky
We arrived into Puerto Rico on Saturday, September 19th. For the first time in my entire 11 years on Team USA, we all arrived separately. Normally we meet up at a location in the US and fly together to the destination. I arrived earlier than most of my teammates. I found the other Team USAers that got to Puerto Rico before me- Bill O’Neill, Patrick Allen, and Tommy Jones. They were, (and I swear I’m not making this up) playing Nintendo. Yeah, the first Nintendo. Although they only brought 2 games with them (baseball and football) they were unhappy with the way the Nintendo didn’t cooperate with the Plasma TVs causing everything to be delayed. It’s not until the next day, when they found a solution to the problem. They bought a LCD tv at Super Walmart when we stopped to make a snack run. True Story.
All the teams in the PABCON stayed at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This hotel is a resort hotel offering anything you’d want in a hotel: beach views, and an incredible pool.
Sunday, September 20 brought unofficial practice and a Super Walmart run. I could tell that it would be a great week of great fans by what happened when we just stepped foot into the Carolina Bowling Center. All the youth bowlers that were bowling all stopped, turned around and ran for autographs and photos. They mainly ran to Chris Barnes, but also asked us for ours– might as well, right? We were standing right there 
Unofficial practice went well. It was a bit short, but we got an idea of what the lanes would play like. It’s important to not put too much emphasis on practice days as the tournament days are always different. It’s just a good time to get used to the approaches and atmosphere.
I brought 8 balls with me, knowing I would have to narrow the ball selections down to 6 before the tournament started. I was able to practice with all the balls I brought and decide after practice which 2 were out. The balls I brought with me were: TZone, Avalance Slide, Python, C System, C System, Maxx Zone, Rattler, Siege
After the official practice session on Monday the 21st, I decided to leave out the Python and one of the C Systems. It was helpful that Carolyn Dorin Ballard also throws Brunswick. I was able to bounce ideas off of her the entire week regarding our equipment.
Before the practice started, our coach, Rod Ross, told us who would be paired up for doubles, and when we would be bowling. Carolyn and I were doubles partners as was Shannon and Shannon and Lynda and Kim. Carolyn and I would be bowling our singles squad at 9am the first day followed by our doubles squad on Wednesday at 6pm.
What I have found with South American countries is that there is a lot of hurry up and wait. It’s not good or bad. It just is. They have a different way of life in Central and South America. We are used to a very fast paced, go go go schedule. They are more relaxed and laid back.
Puerto Rico is a very pretty place. The people are nice and the weather (luckily because it was hurricane season) was great. We did have an interesting ride to the bowling center the first day we bowled.
Carolyn and I woke up on Tuesday at 6am so we would be ready in time to have breakfast (cereal in the room) and grab the bus to the bowling center at 7:15am. (yowza)
That morning, we didn’t get too far before we were blocked. This might be the craziest ride I have ever taken to the bowling center. We could not pull out of the hotel because the taxi’s were blocking the way of the bus. It was some sort of taxi strike. So, while I sat on the bus next to my Bahama friends, I figured it wouldn’t be too long until we were moving again. And then too long came around. and around. and around.
Before I knew it, the clock on the bus said 8am! We had been sitting on the bus for over a half hour, and the taxi’s were still in the same place. After realizing it would be a little while before were were going to get moving, I got out of the bus to see what was going on. By this time, the police were at the scene. In the US, if something like this happened, once the cops arrived, everything would be settled. Not here. The police didn’t seem to have any control over the situation as not one of the taxi’s moved to let us by.
After an hour of waiting, we were told to get out of the bus and get into the cabs as that was going to be the only solution that particular morning. The hotel paid for all the cab rides. We arrived at the bowling center at 9am. The time we were supposed to start the squad. I went from thinking that we were going to be there and hour and a half before we started and what would I do with all of that time, to arriving when we were supposed to start our 10 mins of practice. Interesting.
We were given about 45 mins to get ready and the Puerto Rican federation was nice enough to give everyone a free lunch that day. No one thought it was there fault, so they really didn’t need to do that. But, it was a nice gesture. Interesting start to the day!
Singles went well. I shot +156 which was second for the squad. I figured it wouldn’t hold up for a medal since two more squads had to bowl. Surprisingly, it did hold up. I got the Silver Medal in Singles. I’m proud to say that I didn’t have one open that squad except for the very last frame when I 4-9ed. That 4/9 ended up costing me the gold.
The men’s gold went to Bill O’Neill. Excited for his as this was his very first Team USA event. First event out, he wins the Gold. Nice! He ended up winning All Events, Team, and Trios.
USA did great at the PABCON event. Not only did we bring home a bunch of medals, but we had a really great time all week. Carolyn and I found time for the pool one morning, we all had a great time at the banquet celebrating a great week for Team USA. It was an honor to be a part of the team that broke the current team record. Congratulations to Kim Terrell-Kearney and Chris Barnes for winning the Masters Event.
Thanks goes out to the great Puerto Rican fans that came out to cheer us on. I honestly don’t think out of the 11 years I have been on this team that I have travelled to a place where there were more fans that came out all week. I have never signed more autographs, or taken more photos with fans. The Puerto Rican fans truly were great. It was something else when Chris and Kim were bowling for the Masters title, that the Puerto Rican fans cheering for them were chanting USA USA USA USA!! Crazy!
Also thanks to Lucas Wiseman and Jason Overstreet for broadcasting our event on bowl.com!
Great memories, fun times, and all the pride in the world.
Here are more photos from the event!
