Now I just got done with my hike and I realized that I totally spaced on writings this week blog, that’s my bad peeps. This last weekend we were in Las Vegas, Nevada bowling at the beautiful South Point hotel and casino. Now I personally love this bowling alley. There is something about the double sided bowling centers that always amazes me. I decided to leave at 4 PM on Friday afternoon and let me tell you, that was the dumbest idea I have ever had. It took me around 2 hours just to get 30 miles. Now for those of you who really know me you know that I might not be the best traffic driver in the world. Well this case was no exception, I would love to tell you what was happening and what I was saying during that 2 hours but 95% of it would have to be censored…….. So I think you get the point :) Finally after 2 hours I was able to go a little faster than 3 miles an hour. Now I have made this drive literally a 100 times but this was the most intense one I have ever made. There was something that happened to me in Wickenburg that honestly completely changed my life. I am actually going to wait until the end of the blog to tell you about my experience. After 6 hours of driving (which is easily the longest it has taken me to get to Vegas UGH) I finally pulled into the Hoover dam. Now I have to be honest here but when that bridge is complete I don’t see myself ever crossing it. I still think I am going to go through the dam. I am not scared of heights or anything but I am scared of things that can fall and go boom. That bridge is quite the work of art and is nothing short of amazing (it better be seeing as they started building it in 1402)

     I finally pulled into Vegas around 11 and went straight to The Sloan’s house, that is where I usually stay at when I go to Vegas. After playing the PS3 for a good hour DJ and i decided to go o a little gambling because we are both 21 of course. Well let me tell you, that didn’t last long at all. We were maybe gone for a whole ten minutes. The machines just weren’t feeling us. We decided to head back to his house and get some sleep. Unfortunately I did not have any crazy dreams this time. After that much needed 5 hours of sleep I got up, got ready, and headed over to south point. It’s always nice when you get a free place to stay and they place happens to only be 5 minutes away from the bowling alley. Now I got to the bowling alley around 10:30 and was expecting to see cards ready to be typed in for brackets. Well there wasn’t, in fact me and Jeff seemed to be the only ones there. It really caught me by surprise because Vegas tends to always have a good turnout but this tournament was the complete opposite. I do know that some family’s are still struggling with the economy but it does seem to be turning around real fast so I hope to see more and more travelers at these next events.

     Now half way through the tournament I get a call from some buddies that were supposed to come to Vegas that weekend. Turns out they decided they wanted to go to phoenix instead. Now I was planning on coming to Vegas anyway but was really pumped when I got a call from them saying they would be in Vegas because I had not seen these girls since I graduated. And yes I did graduate jerks. Then I get a call just a few minutes after that from my dad reminding me I have a poker tournament Sunday which I had already paid for, so he was reminding me not to forget. Well guess what I had already done……… I FORGOT. So after I was done doing my part for the tournament I basically had to get in my truck and drive all the way back. Now don’t get me wrong, I love coming to the tournaments but I really did feel like a wasted of a drive. I was not even there for 24 hours. Luckily for me the machines loved me throughout the day and I was able to walk away with a good chunk of cash. I did not stay to see who won but Heffe text me as soon as the tournament was done and told me Zach Hattori and Trevor Roberts were able to walk away with the days victories. Now I am really happy for both of them. I have had the pleasure to work with Trevor a little bit on his game and I knew it would only be a matter of time before he was able to walk away with a win. I am also happy for Zach, as many of you know from previous blogs, I picked him to be the bowler who would have the best season in Mojave and he is doing a good job of proving me right.

     Now on my ride home I suddenly got this random urge to listen to Eminem. I did not have any of his cd’s so I made a quick pit stop at Hastings in Kingman to pick some up. They only had two of his old cd’s but luckily for me they were the two I really wanted to here. I get in the car and start jamming out to his music, singing as load as I possibly can. This actually helps keep me awake while driving so don’t judge me. After listening to the first cd I put in the second one and was really excited because it was the one that I really wanted to hear. I start playing it and from the first word I realized there was something wrong…….. I grabbed the dang edited version. Now for those of you who like Eminem you know you can’t listen to his music edited. That’s pretty much cutting out half the song. It’s like listening to Santana without his guitar, it just doesn’t make sense. That little thing pretty much ruined the rest of my trip so I just wanted to get home. I pulled into phoenix around 9 and headed to my apartment. I immediately got a call from my dad saying I needed to get a good night’s rest for my poker tournament, I said you got it dad. Now I was totally planning on doing what he said……………………………………………………………… that is until my friends from New Mexico called me and asked me to come out for a bit. I told myself that if I go out I am going to be home no later than midnight……….. WRONG WRONG WRONG. I look at my phone and realize it’s already 4 in the morning and decide that maybe it’s time to call it a night. I get home and instantly fall asleep, I honestly think it is the fastest I had ever fallen asleep actually. I get up, got showered and headed to the casino. I was actually in a lot better shape than I thought I was going to be in. I was completely rested and ready to take this thing down. Unfortunately I didn’t lol. I played really well though. There were 226 entries and I was able to take 42^nd but only the top 20 spots paid so I fell just short of the money. Oh well, there is always next time.

     Now later on in the evening Heffe text me and told me that Zach Hattori and Taylor King were able to capture the titles for that day’s events so good job guys. It really looks like my pick of Zach was dead on; let’s just see if he can ride that momentum. Now as I mentioned earlier in the blog something happened on the drive to Vegas that completely changed my life and I want to share this story with you guys. While driving through Wickenburg I noticed a man on the side of the road with his thumb sticking up. I pulled over and asked the man where he was going, he responded with Los Angeles. I told him I was going to Vegas but would be more than happy to drop him off in Kingman. He gladly accepted my offer. Now I am not saying you should pick up any hitchhikers nor do I think it’s even a good idea, but I have done this many time and have not had a bad experience yet. The truth is I used to walk everywhere and know what it’s like to not have any means of transportation so if I am ever driving to a tournament by myself and I see one who does not look to sketchy I gladly offer them a ride. It is a pure judgment call. Now back to the story. I started small talk with this gentleman because you guys know I love to talk. His name was Ray and he was from Rhode Island. Now being a poker player I am naturally able to read people and from the get go I realized that something just wasn’t right with this guy. I asked him if everything was ok because something seems to be bothering you and he instantly lost it. He broke out into tears and I told him if he wanted to talk about it to let me know. Nothing was said for about 5 minutes, than he reached into his bag and pulled out his wallet. He then proceeded to show me a picture of him, a lady and a young girl. I asked them if that was his wife and daughter and he said yes. I told him they are beautiful. He then told me that they were both killed in a car accident 2 months ago. My entire body went numb. I felt so bad for this guy. No one in life should ever have to go through that. He then told me old stories of them. Like what they used to do on family vacations and that his daughter was an amazing piano player and that they had just celebrated his birthday the night before it happened. I did not ask him how it happened because it seemed to still be a very sensitive subject. He just kept pouring out all these stories of how good their life used to be and how drastically it has changed. Now I am man enough to admit when I cry and this guy had me in tears for almost the entire drive. It just seemed to really hit home with me. We can all say that we have lost a loved one but lately I have seemed to lose a lot.. I eventually asked him why he was hitchhiking everywhere. He told me “because this is what we loved to do the most, just walk, doing this is helping me persevere through this tough time”. He told me that he sold almost everything he owned and just started walking one day, visiting all the places that he and his family had been to. Apparently they would travel all over the US and he wanted to revisit the places that they had already been. I asked him what he planned on doing after he visited the places he wanted to go. He simply replied with, I am just living one second at a time and I have no idea what I am going to do, but this is going to be my closure, I need to do this for them. Now I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was to say the things he did but he honestly seemed a little more relieved afterwards. We finally got to Kingman and I dropped him off at a gas station. I left him my number and told him if he ever made it back to Phoenix to give me a call. He gave me a hug, said thanks for listening, it feels like a huge boulder has been lifted off of my shoulder and went on his way. Now while driving from Kingman to the Hoover Dam I did not realize that this man pretty much put a time bomb in my head because all of a sudden I lost it. I could not believe that this man could even have the strength to get up every day. I can’t even begin to imagine what he is going through and hope to god I never find out. It made me start to realize how blessed I really am. I tend to take too much for granted. Thanks to Ray I now have a new outlook on life. We have to remember people that life is short. There is no telling when your time will be up. So I now ask you guys. When was the last time you told your mom you loved her. Or when was the last time you thanked your dad for everything he has done for you. If you can’t remember I would suggest getting on the phone immediately and doing so. Don’t wait till it’s too late. The one thing that got to me the most was when Ray looked at me and said “I didn’t even get to say I love you or goodbye”. I urge you to not let that happen. I want all you bowlers to know that I am so happy to have made great relationships with each and every one of you. I am sorry if I have ever done anything that has made you unhappy. This life is too short to not live it to the fullest. So you best believe that is exactly what I plan on doing. I want to also thank Ray, because even though he does not know it, he completely changed the way I look at things. Well that’s my story I wanted to share with you. I hope to see you all at Tucson this weekend.

    Man oh man am I sorry I have not gotten to this blog sooner. I have been so slammed lately with traveling to different states and golfing and hanging out with friends that I just couldn’t find the time to write one hehe :) Just kidding……… Well let’s see if I remember how to do this. Two weeks ago we were in San Diego, CA at Kearny Mesa bowl. This place actually has a close spot in my heart. This center was the first center I bowled in while deciding to really start traveling for JBT’S. I believe the tournament was held when Washington was still president so it has been awhile. Me, Matt Herbert, Tiffany Pluhowsky and Bethany Baker all crammed in my truck and headed out around 6 in the PM on Friday. I must say the drive for the most part was fairly easy. I do not like driving to San Diego because it, for me is just so flat and boring but having three other people in the car really does help make the time go by fast. The drive really started to get interesting when I would get a text message and check it, or if someone called me and I answered because let’s just say MR Herbert is a very terrified front seat driver. If I would make one little swerve he would say something like “ Jerod how is not being in the lanes treating you” or “ who needs to pay attention to the road” or even “lets pick a lane tiger”. It would get really bad when a driver would stay in the passing lane going 5 under (which I really think it should be perfectly legal to put them into the wall when they do that) and I would get a little close to them basically just saying get out of the way when all of a sudden Matt would pretty much curl up in a little ball.  I would ask him what he was doing and he would simply respond with “ I’m praying Jerod, I’m praying”. Now I must be honest here. I am actually a very good bad driver but seeing how he would act when I would not drive to his standards actually made me do all this stuff more. Matt if you read this I’m sorry but all of the bad driving was done on purpose just to entertain me and let me tell you, it really worked like a charm.

    Roughly around 10 PM we had to make my traditional stop outside of San Diego at the golden acorn casino. Now this place as well has a close place in my heart because it is the first casino I ever gambled at……………..Legally of course :) I have never had luck at this casino but I was able to walk in, put a ten dollar bill in a machine and cash out for $120. For once I actually did the smart thing and just cashed out the ticket and left. That’s two tanks of gas right there baby. After that quick stop we were finally able to get into San Diego around 11 or so. Now every hotel we looked at the day before was pretty expensive but after searching for hotels on JBT travel we were able to find a Marriott down the road for around $80 a night. Now I have stayed in some nice Marriott’s before but I have to stay this one topped them all. The rooms were nice. The pool was absolutely beautiful, and their workout room was really cool. The treadmills had 16 inch screens on them so you could watch TV. Now I think that is a little over the top but I have to say it was awesome.

     Now I have to say the craziest thing happened while on our way to our room. I was looking at all the Brochures for the random stuff there is to do in San Diego and while doing that I looked through the sea world one. I was flipping the pages and noticed that this girl that was on it looked really familiar. After having a really close observation I realized that it was none other than JBT veteran Kaitlin Mayall. Sorry to throw you under the bus Kaitlin but if you are ever in San Diego go grab a brochure for sea world and you will see what looks to be an 8 or 9 year old Kaitlin. Now after getting settled in to the hotel I decided to give my friend Melanie Griffith ( a JBT alum) a call because she had recently moved to San Diego. Lucky for me she was able to come hang out. Now I really do owe this girl a lot because even though she does not know it she kept me sane while at the World Series of poker in Vegas a few months ago. That’s where she is originally from and if I was ever in a not so good mood or just needed to get my mind off poker I knew she would be there for me so it was really good to be able to hang out with her. We decided to take a little walk to a grocery store so I could get a Gatorade but I did not realize that everything In San Diego closes at noon…….. Not really but it seemed like it. I guess I am so used to me and her walking around In Vegas where it seems like the only thing that ever closes there Is church. After hanging out for an hour or so I saw her off and headed to bed. It was already 1 or so in the morning and I did not get much sleep the night before so I decided I should try and get some sleep.

     Now for some reason I was up at around 8 AM and couldn’t go back to bed so I decided to go for a solid workout in the gym. Don’t you worry people, I made sure to cover around a mile radius to make sure john from Sam’s town was not there. After getting ready we headed on out to the bowling alley. When we arrived I was pretty shocked to see a pile of cards already waiting to be typed into brackets. I always show up a couple hours early to the tournaments and for the most part it’s just me and Jeff so it was a good sign to see around 30 cards already waiting there. The turnout on Sunday was pretty solid. Although it was not as big as last time we went there it was still a HUGE improvement from kyrene. Have to give big Congrats to James Hawkins and Tyler Boscarino for capturing the day’s titles. I remember the first time I ever witnessed James bowl and I thought it was the weirdest thing I had ever seen and I said to myself that will never work. Well what does he go and do that day; he shoots 810 of course, while I am about 100 down on the day. So needless to say I respect that kids game and think if he can just get it together a little more in match play he will be able to be a very dominate scratch bowler.

    After the five game qualifying was over I hoped in a vehicle with Matt Cormack and headed over to his hotel, only because there was a chipotle nearby it ;)  Now I must say, I am not the best driver in the world and I know some people who are even worse than me but I must say Matt is probably the worst one of them all. While driving with him I had to take a page out of Matt Herbert’s book and start praying for my safety. Cormack I love you but I really think a one legged flamingo named Selena could drive better then you. After grabbing chipotle we returned to the bowling alley only to find the people I came with did not make finals so we decided to go blow off a little steam by spending some money at the mall. My day was made the second we arrived. We walked in and the first store I laid my beautiful breathtaking eyes on was Anchor Blue. Now for those of you who know me you know that I have a shopping problem and that I really only shop at Anchor Blue. Well all the Anchor Blues that are anywhere close to my apartment has been shut down. So being able to shop here again was just a total relief. 125 Pairs of jeans, 130 pairs of shorts, 478 shirts, and $12,000 later I was finally able to leave a happy man. After walking around the mall for a bit I decided to go check out a sports store so I could buy me some new Broncos gear because they had a very big game coming up against the Dallas Cowgirls. Now I’m no Einstein but if you owned a business wouldn’t you want to hire people that were upbeat and had somewhat of a personality. I walked into this store and it was like talking to two gangster statues. All these guys did was stare at me and look at themselves in the mirror. Worst service I have had at any sports store. Now lucky for the owner of the store I am about as easy as it comes when it comes to shopping. I don’t even try on the clothes anymore,  I just get my size and give them money. 9 hours later I decided I was all done shopping and decided to head back to the hotel and meet up with MR Hemer in the lounge and help him with averages. And when I say help I obviously mean watch TV and eat calamari while he does all the work. After spending a good hour or so with him we decided to call it a night because as is tradition we have to get up at the crack of dawn for Sunday’s event.

     I do have to say I had the weirdest dream on Sunday. Now if anyone of you who reads this is one of those analyzers of dreams then please tell me what this means. I was playing a round of golf with Ozzy Osbourne and then after golf he and I met up with Tommy Jones and Barrack Obama to make ham and cheese Omelets. I hope that just means I was really hungry or something because that has to be about as random as they come. After waking up we all got ready and I got decked out in my broncos gear. The second we walked into the door I knew it was going to be a long day. The gentleman that was working the front desk had a big Dallas Cowgirls jersey on. There were a ton of words that I would have loved to call him but I had to remember that this was a junior tournament and that there were little kids around. After getting all the brackets turned in I realized Sunday’s tournament was able to grab a few more entries so that was nice. I had a real hard time concentrating on the tournament because of that air show that was going on. I am so envious of those guys. Don’t get me wrong, I could never ever do that. I scream when the plane starts to back up from the ramp. I am such a wimp when it comes to flying but it is really cool to see them do their acrobatic moves. After qualifying was over we decided to hit that road because no one that came with me made the cut. Have to throw a shout out to Travis Zehntner and Kennison Andrews for winning the day’s events. It was kind of funny because during qualifying I actually said to myself that I thought Travis was going to win. Man its tough knowing everything. I am also very happy for Kennison, those guys travel around a good chunk and it was nice to see one of those brothers get a win. Now if we can only get him away from being a San Diego chargers fan and get him to liking the Broncos we can make you complete. After leaving we made one last stop at Pei Wei to grab some food and we were off.

    I was really sad to leave because the So Cal conference is quickly becoming my favorite conference. Everyone in that conference is very down to earth and fun to talk to. Whether it is Heffley calling me a poker pro or to Myers saying I love you or Ursillo punching me in the arm when I was not expecting it. I am really starting to like all these guys a lot. Kraye, Hair, Cormack , Curtis, Heffley, Myers and Bidwell are all really funny guys. Then you have the very beautiful and funny girls like Mayall, Lycan, and Shepard. And that is not even mentioning how talented every single bowler I just named is. I don’t like to ever pick favorites but I have to say I love that conference more and more every time I go there. On the ride home of course we had to make one last final stop at Golden Acorn and let me tell you how rude it was. This place didn’t even get to know me or buy me a drink or nothing. It just strait took my money. It was pretty mean so we did not stay there long at all. The only good part of the casino was watching the Broncos tie up the game. I was able to find the game on the radio and was biting my nails the whole time it was on. Luckily for me the Broncos pulled it off. If anyone who reads this is a Cowboys fan then……….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I feel better now. Having the Broncos win made the trip I was going on to New Mexico so much sweeter because all of my family is Cowboys fan so it feels good to really rub it in.

    We were finally able to get back around 9 and after saying bye to Matt and Bethany I had to rush into my place and do 78 loads of laundry because I was going to be gone for the week. I went to bed and then woke up about 4 hours later to start a 7 hour drive. That was not the smartest thing I have ever done. The trip back home was absolutely amazing. Now I know I am living in Phoenix and that will be home from now on but you always have to remember where you came from. Bosque Farms, New Mexico is always going to be my real home. I fell out of touch with a lot of my friends from high school but I was able to see most of them when I went back. I was also able to see a lot of my family I had not seen in awhile. I miss those guys and really wish I would have ever lost touch with them. I also found out a few good friends of mine had passed away and I didn’t even know about it. That is what happens when we start to grow up. We start to lose connection with people that really meant a lot to you in life. I promise I am not going to let this happen anymore. Not with my friends from home or any of my bowling friends. You guys mean way too much to me for me to just forget.

      I am now back in Phoenix and I am just getting ready for the tournaments this weekend in Las Vegas. South Point is such a beautiful bowling center and I do hope to see a lot of you guys out there. If anyone from Phoenix is interested I do have 3 spots still available in my truck so try and come out. Well I better get me some sleep. It is 4 in the AM right now and I’m kinds tired. I promise I will not let this much time go in between blogs again. Until next time, you stay classy JBT.  Oh yeah, Broncos are 5-0

        So this was a very intense idea I had. I am currently writing this blog while getting a tattoo and all I can say is OUCH!!!!!! I really wish they weren’t so addicting because they hurt so much lol. Anyway, this last weekend we were at the lanes of Kyrene in Chandler, AZ. I always love this tournament. For one it is only a thirty-minute drive for me and that is about as short as they come. And for two there is always a ton of different bowlers from different conferences but that really changed this season. I honestly thought there was going to be at least 100 bowlers there both day and my jaw dropped when there were only 71 on Saturday and 84 on Sunday. I know that times are tough but it really has me wondering why don’t people car pool to these tournaments from out of state anymore. I don’t believe people truly realize how cheap it is to get from tournament to tournament with a car full of people. Now back in the 1700’s when I was still bowling I was never the best bowler but you would still find me at almost every tournament JBT had to offer because I would usually ride up with 3 or 4 different people. Those were some of the happiest days of my life because the trips were so much fun. I know some people don’t even like to drive but trust me, the trips go by so fast when there are other people in the car. This up coming weekend there are four people riding with me and for gas and a hotel it is only going to cost us $50 each to get to San Diego. Now you out of town bowlers can take about $20 off of that if you come to phoenix because I’m allowing anyone to stay at my place. So come on people, lets start traveling again.

            Now back to this weekends tournaments Saturday was a nice and smooth tournament and first off I have to say congrats to Labriel “ ICE MAN “ Leach for bowling the only 300 of the weekend (...until Kyle did...-Jeff). I watched most of his shots and they were all money so good job. Also Congrats to Cameron Smith and Derek Acuff for capturing the titles for that day’s tournament. They both looked very solid in the finals and they deserved to win. Now during the title match I stepped out for just a bit and when I walked back in the bowling alley I saw our New Mexico tournament director JD Nance with his girlfriend Nicole and it totally threw me for a loop. It’s always funny seeing someone in a different state just because you are not expecting it. That night me Jeff, JD, Nicole and other Jeff went to enjoy a delicious meal at Ruby Tuesday. It’s so hard for me going to a restaurant where I usually order a bunch of UN healthy stuff because I am also eating healthy right now. I did have some really good chicken though so I didn’t mind. I am also proud to say that 3 weeks into the diet I have lost 25 pounds so it looks like I only have another 15 to go before I can get back to my normal life.  After dinner I head over to fellow JBT bowler JD Sweets’ house for a BBQ he was having and hung out there for a bit. Now I was a little mad that I even went to Ruby Tuesdays because the ribs that his dad made were absolutely to die for and if you read this JD you best believe I will take some more of the ribs anytime you want to make them. After JD’S me and a few of the bowlers went to miss Rachael Carr’s house for a little bit of “ PING PONG”. I love that girl so it is always good to hang out at here place. I had to call it an early night because I had to be up pretty early for Sunday’s JBT. Now after tossing and turning all night I was finally able to fall asleep around 4 in the morning only to wake up 4 hours later, YUCK. Walking into the doors of the bowling alley Sunday I could already see a few new faces from the day before so that was nice but it was still not the turnout I thought we would get. Sunday’s tournament also ran pretty smoothly for the time I was there. As a lot of you know I ended up leaving the tournament around the third game. My dad had an extra ticket to the Cardinals-Colts game so I left early to head to that. Here are some pictures from that trip.

 

  

      

 

 

Now of course the cardinals lost but I didn’t really care because my Broncos won. That’s right baby, we are 3 and 0 and are about to be 4 and 0 after we beat the Cowgirls this up coming weekend. The game was a ton of fun and it was pretty fun to because I wore my Broncos jersey to the game even though they were not playing and I thought I was going to be the only one but there was actually about a 100 people with Broncos jerseys so GO BRONCOS. I am going to cut the blog a little short because I must admit this darn tattoo is hurting and its really hard to type and I don’t want to accidently write down what I really want to yell out right now. So I hope to see everyone in San Diego this weekend and if not there I hope to see some of the out of towners at a future phoenix Tournament. Peace ya’ll.

 

     What Jerod also wanted to say- besides a more adult form of 'ouch', was big congrats to Danny Varholdt and especially Cameron for winning on Sunday.  Danny beat big brother Chris to be the first one to break the Varholdt family jinx- way to go hoss.  Cameron just beasted all weekend long- dang that kid is impossible to beat right now when the shot is deep inside.  Against the level of talent that's out there right now, this is amazing, and is making my prediction look pretty danged good.  Jerod also wants to point out that Tampa Bay will likely get it together and roll off a winning streak, and that it's not how you look in September, it's how you look in January, so Denver better look.... ah, nevermind.  I can't even try to pull it off this year.  When does the draft start??!?       -Jeff

My life is officially ruined. Why oh why did I sign up for Facebook?????? That was just not a good idea on my part. I am totally hooked and have spent very little time away from the computer. I almost wasn’t going to even right this blog but I did promise one a week so I need to get on it. This last weekend we were in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada at Red Rock lanes. Now I must admit that I have been and stayed at the best casinos in Vegas and this place really does make the top of the list. Everything about this hotel is amazing. The restaurants, rooms, and even bathrooms are all beautiful. Now the first time I ever went to the bowling alley I just had to check out the VIP lanes that are set up at the end of the bowling alley and those things are absolutely ridiculous. Needless to say I am totally thinking about renting them out at the end of the season for a special party. Luckily for me I lose enough money at all the station casinos that I get a heck of a discount. Now unfortunately for me I did not stay at red rock. I ended up staying at Sams Town with my roommate Steven black, who was bowling the regional, and my buddy Charlie goulet who rode up with us. We got in roughly around 7 PM on Friday and just went to the hotel to hang out. I decided to do a little gambling. Which ended really quick LOL. Also, unfortunately for me I gave up drinking for two months so I can get back into shape and I must admit Vegas is a whole new atmosphere to me now. It’s amazing how different you look at things. I honestly didn’t even know what to do with myself. Instead of drinking I actually ran, which not many people believe but trust me, it happened. After getting back from my run it was time to get some sleep. Now for some dumb reason I set my alarm for 6 AM instead of 9 AM. Stupid me because I woke up to the first alarm and just couldn’t get back to sleep. After a power shower we headed to the bowling alley. The first thing we did when we got there was immediately go check out the VIP lanes J. I still get a smile day dreaming about renting them out soon. Now the tournament went well and I have to give HUUUUUUUUUGE congrats to Rebecca Roguery and Samantha Meyers for capturing the titles on Saturday. It’s rare that two girls win in the same weekend and they were able to pull it off. Now let me tell you, these titles are long over do for both of them and I am truly happy for both girls and I really hopes this helps build up their confidence. I must say that after the tournament wa s over there was a real heartfelt moment between Samantha and her dad talking about her win and they both had tears in their eyes. Now that was a picture perfect moment and actually made me get a tear or two. It’s those moments that truly drive me to keep running JBT’S. Now after the tournament MR Hemer and me went to enjoy a good dinner at Kona Grill. I was kind of worried I was not going to be able to find something I like because last time we went there I had a steak but i am not eating any red meat for two months. Well I ordered the Chili Glazed chicken; if you ever go to Kona Grill you have to make sure you order this. It was by far the best type of chicken I have ever had. The second you bit into it you wanted more and I cant wait to go back. Now after dinner I just headed back to the hotel and wandered for a bit. I couldn’t figure out what to do with myself so I decided lets go for a run. WARNING WARNING, PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS NEXT PART. Now if by some odd reason you are at Sam’s town and decided to go running at 10 p.m. and a guy by the name of JOHN approaches you and asks if you would like to go running with him……………………………..PASS.  Unfortunately for me I accepted, completely unaware that his run consisted of sprinting up the 5 story parking garage and then Sprinting down the stairs and then doing it all over. In between doing it twice he would take a 30 second break and then go at it again. I was only able to make it 3 rounds before taping out. I was pouring sweat and he was not even glistening. That was one of the most intense short runs I have ever been on. It really did a number on me. I went back to the room, showered and then got dressed and was still winded. I HATE YOU JOHN. Now Sunday morning we were up crazy early again and this time I could not get up so easily because my legs were on fire from the night before. After getting to the bowling alley I hobbled on in and did my duties for the day. It was a solid turnout and after walling the lanes up Saturday we decided to put out a tough shot on Sunday and boy did it look hard. I have to veer of subject really quick because I forgot to give a huge congrats to brad Hansen for shooting a 299 Saturday during game one and then following it up with a 300 in semi’s. That’s pretty hard to do so congrats buddy. Now Sunday afternoon believe it or not but I was a little burnt out of Vegas (probably because I didn’t win a dime) so we actually took off around 2 but I did here that Brandon Kraye and Ian Hanuscin were able to capture the titles so congrats boys. If Brandon can ride this momentum into the next few tournaments he bowls I think he will be able to win another two or three within the next few months. Now one thing that really irritates me while driving to or from Vegas is guessing which way to go. Its so hard to judge when you think traffic is going to be good or bad at the Hoover Dam. Take for instance Friday, we would have been getting through the Dam at around 5 PM which I thought would make it crazy busy so we went through Laughlin. Turns out there was no traffic at all. Now Sunday we were hitting the Dam at 2:15 PM and I thought that was a perfect time to get through there……… WRONG. We ended up spending at least an hour in traffic. I really can’t wait for them to finish the bridge. Although I am probably going to be terrified to go over it I think it will significantly cut off time with that drive. Well I am running out of things to talk about so I might as well put up my top 5 bowlers to watch out for this season in the Mojave conference.

 

5.  Rebecca Reguero – Rebecca is throwing the ball great right now and coming fresh off her first scratch title I believe it will give her the confidence to be able to make a few more deep runs in Mojave events this season.

 

4.  Allie Ijams – Although she might not of had the outcomes she was looking for this past weekend I feel after watching her bowl that this is the best she has ever thrown the=2 0ball and if she works on being able to choose the right ball for the lanes I think she will take down a few titles in this conference as well. The sky is the limit for her this season.

 

3. Kris George- Many people have asked me out of which JBT bowlers do I think have a shot at going pro and always at the top of my list is Kris. It is absolutely astonishing how much his game has changed over the years for the better. He also may not of had the weekend he was looking for but once he gets it going he is going to be unstoppable

 

2 Devin Bidwell- Now I don’t want to sound like a broken record here but I have to say this kid is amazing. He went second second this last weekend, which means in the last two weeks he has mad ever single title match. That is just crazy. Now if Mr Bidwell keeps his word and brings Devin to many more Mojave events I believe you will be seeing a lot more of him on camera.

1. Zach Hattori- Now The first time I ever saw this kid bowl I think he was 13 and when some told me his age I immediately wanted him tested for performance enhancing drugs. This kid was throwing the ball impeccably. I truly believe that if he gets a little momentum to ride during these tournaments that20he will be this season B.O.Y. for the Mojave conference.

 

Well there you have it folks. It is now time for my mid day workout so I am out of here. I hope to see you all this weekend at Kyrene lanes in Arizona. Until then may your cards be live and your pots be monstrous.

 

J FLO 

 

P.S. – if there are any out of town bowlers who would like to travel to an Arizona event and don’t want to have to worry about the price of a hotel please contact me at JFLO505@aol.com and you could stay at my place. I have room to fit 4 comfortably. IF you’re flying in I can even pick you up from the airport. It will be first come first serve so don’t wait to long to ask. Anyone is welcome to stay. Don’t be shy and get your butts out to Arizona.

Also if there is any bowler here in Arizona wanting to travel out of town but doesn’t have a means of transportation you can Also contact me at JFLO505@aol.com or give me a call at 480-522-5009. Anyone is welcome to ride with me

 

And if you have any questions or concerns about my blog please Email me as well 

    What is up my JBT peeps? I’m sitting in my apartment right now jamming out to some kings of Leon (because they so rock) and I decided that I should write my blog from this past weekend in San Bernardino, California. I really had nothing to do Friday so the boss and me took off from AZ around 1:30 in the afternoon and I have to say, it was probably the fastest drive I have ever been on. Now I’m really used to driving to the tournaments by myself so its always nice to ride up with someone and just chit chat for the drive because it really makes it go by fast. The drive up there was kind of a tease because we drove by one of my favorite casinos in the world Morongo, and I LOVE0ATO GAMBLE. I don’t want to say I have gambling problem or anything so lets just say I am compulsive about it ;) I really wanted to stop in but it just wouldn’t have been smart. Its ok because I believe we are going there in February so the casino better be prepared. We pulled into our hotel around 6:30 and got checked in. Me and Jeff ran to the room, threw our stuff in and got right back in the car. Why you ask?????? Well because we had to go eat OUTBACK of course. For the price that is by far my favorite steak house in the world. Anyone who knows us knows that We love our outback and our “flaming bananas” lol (please ask Jeff about that story, he will turn bright red) Sorry Hemer but I have to throw you under the bus on that one. I must admit it was one of the best outback experiences we have had. The food was cooked to perfection and the waiter was very down to earth. It’s amazing how different your meal can be just by the little things the waiter does. The little things like checking in to see how the meal is to bringing you a refill without even asking to even just standing there and cracking jokes with you. Our waiter sure did all those things so I must say he rocked. After the very filling meal we headed back to the hotel so we could crack down and do some averages and so what for the next days tournament. OK you caught me, I just laid in my bed and watched sports center while Jeff did all that work. Don0t judge me I was way tired :)

    Now it was really weird because I usually know when I am about to fall asleep but all of a sudden all I remember is waking up to a pillow hitting me in the face. I’m guessing that was my sign from Jeff to get up. After a quick shower we headed to the bowling alley to go set up for the tournament. While Jeff was setting everything up I went and got me some breakfast from the snack bar because I remember from being there last year that their breakfast is so bomb. Now again don’t judge me for not helping him set up because if there is one thing I know about Mr. hemer it’s that he gets into a certain zone when he is setting up so I just stay out of his way until it is time for brackets. The tournament went just as well as last week, which was very relieving because as many of you know we actually had 3 conferences going over the weekend but I am very pleased to say they all went great. Have to say Congrats to Mr. Devin Bidwell and Matthew miller for capturing the titles for Saturday’s tournament. During the finals I was a little nervous, not for the bowing but because I might have had a tiny little big wager on the Usc, Ohio state game and me and Mark Meyers were sweating the game all during finals because he is a huge Ohio State fan, and while I am not I did have them to win or not lose by more then 7. Ohio State did lose but they covered the spread so I won which made me a happ y camper.

    After the tournament was over on Saturday me and Jeff decided to spoil ourselves to a great meal at Claim Jumper. While ordering I honestly was torn between the Prime Rib and the Rib Eye so I actually left it up to my waiter to decided what I was going to get. If you are ever torn between two things do that because I must admit it was actually really fun not knowing what I was going to get. I actually felt like a tard because I was all giddy in anticipation to what the waiter had ordered me. Well he brought out the prime rib and I have to say it was absolutely fantastic. It was so a win win combination for me. We decided to call it an early night because we had to be up what I consider very early by my standards. Now I was just getting ready to fall asleep when I heard all these beeps coming from the TV. I thought maybe the TV was broken but it was actually the censoring to the outburst that Serena Williams was having to a line judge during her semi final match at the US open. If you have not seen it you have to YouTube it. I’m not going to lie but I actually thought it was funny, you got to see the real emotion that some of these players hold in all the time. Now that does not mean that you can go all Serena Williams on the foul line the next time you foul :) After getting a great sleep we got up at the crack of dawn and went right back at it. Now I knew my day was going to go great because the second I went ou tside from the bowling center I saw my boy Mr. Jeremy Glover and Matt Jones. Now I must admit I love these guys. There is never a moment when I am with or around them that I am not laughing or smiling. It was great to see you guys and cannot wait for you guys to come out to Arizona. 

    Sunday’s turnout actually had about 9 more entries then Saturday’s event, which is always a good sign for a tournament director. The bowlers were bowling on the earl Anthony pattern, a pattern that we have never used before and I must say I am glad I am running bowling tournaments and not bowling them anymore because that shot did not look like it was fun at all. Have to give Props to Devin Bidwell and John Wright for winning that day’s event (its all because you like the broncos John). Sunday’s event was also a woman series event, Lana Lycan walked away with the title, you go girl. Now we must not forget that Sunday was also the beginning of FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. Go broncos, COWBOYS SUCK. Now I did have one little oops during one of the bowlers powerbowl shots because the broncos scored the game winning run on a very lucky play and I mean VERY LUCKY, and I started to scream at the top of my lungs when he was about to score but that was also right when the bowler was going to throw his shot which I think might of thrown him off. So the next time you see me your raffle tickets are on me as my apology. Anyone who was watching the game can totally understand why I was going nuts lol. After the tournament was over we packed everything up, got us some BK lounge and headed back to good old phoenix. Just like the drive to Cali this one went by fast as well. Me and Jeff just jammed out to some cult and recapped the weekend. We got back to phoenix around 9 in the PM and just headed our separate ways to go get some sleep.  I have to thank Mr. Hemer to once again showing me a good weekend and running yet another superb Tournament. Now just like last week I kept an eye out on the scratch bowlers to see whom I think might have a great season and here they are.

 

5. Brittany “the silent assassin” Page- Now I deemed her the silent assassin because honestly you never see her coming. I think miss page is the most underrated female bowler in JBT. Brittany tends to fly under the radar during tournaments but always seems to be making cuts and finals when she shows up. She has such a good attitude towards which really helps her. She is very laid back on the lanes which I actually think gives her an edge while facing some of the quote un quote “serious” bowlers.

 

4. Patrick Smith- Now I have seen Patrick bowl in the past and there was man things I thought he could work on but that ’s exactly what he seemed to of done during the summer because it was like I was looking at a totally new bowler. In my opinion he was throwing the ball better then anyone this weekend. His release is so pure and so accurate that it’s going to be really tough to beat him. I do believe he is actually leaving for college but whatever Cali tournament he does show up at he is going to be a force to be reckoned with

 

3. Jimmy “poker pro” Hefley- Jimmy is one of if not thee best two-handed bowlers that we have on the JBT tour. He is the reigning California Invitational winner and is throwing the ball probably the best I have ever seen him throw it. It is pretty hard for a two handed bowler to transition to one hand for spares but Hefley can do it with his eyes closed. I talked with him over the weekend and he told me that he had pretty high expectations for the year and if he keeps throwing it like he has been he will be able to reach them in no time.

 

2. Bandon Kraye- I have always said that Brandon has one of the best swings on the west coast. His swing seems so effortless and he is so solid at the line during his release. He is what I like to call an intimidating bowler and he can always use that to his advantage. I have been waiting for a real break out season from him and I actually think this could be the one. The only criticism I would have towards him is that he does not seem that confident when he is bowling. Trust me man, if you can get that confidence in your game then the sky could be the limit for you this season because you are that good.

 

 1.  Devin Bidwell- NOW DO NOT THINK I AM JUMPING ON THE WAGON HERE. Before the season even started I had Devin picked as the bowler to truly watch out for because I was speaking with his father and he ensured me Devin would be at more tournaments. Devin in my opinion is easily top 5 best bowler to come out of JBT. His swing and release is actually to good lol. I wish I threw the ball even half as well as he did. Every time Devin walks through the door he is automatically someone you need to watch out for. If Devin is able to overcome all the demons he has from all the second place finishes he has he might win over half the tournaments he enters. Good luck man and I am looking forward to seeing you dominate this year.

 

There you have it, that’s flo’s picks for this year in the California conference. Well I must admit, it 3 in the morning and I am getting a little tired so i’m going to head off to bed. This weekend we are going to be=0 Ain what I consider the nicest bowling alley in Vegas, Red Rock. I’m hoping to see all you guys there and if you’re not able to make it keep an eye out on the web site for my new blog. Thug Life!!!!!

 

J FLO 

 

P.S. – if there are any out of town bowlers who would like to travel to an Arizona event and don’t want to have to worry about the price of a hotel please contact me at JFLO505@aol.com and you could stay at my place. I have room to fit 4 comfortably. IF you’re flying in I can even pick you up from the airport. It will be first come first serve so don’t wait to long to ask. Anyone is welcome to stay. Don’t be shy and get your butts out to Arizona.

Also if there is any bowler here in Arizona wanting to travel out of town but doesn’t have a means of transportation you can Also contact me at JFLO505@aol.com or give me a call at 480-522-5009. Anyone is welcome to ride with me

 

And if you have any questions or concerns about my blog please Email me as well