Well, we're back at it for 2008-2009.  What a long summer!  I haven't posted since before post-seaon play last year, so I have a little catching up to do. 

First off, the team made a great effort at the sectional qualifier, finishing 47 pins short of a spot at the national championships in Wichita.  It was a gutsy performance, as it always is with this team.  And, even with their backs against the wall, they came out at 260 pace in the 64th game.  My hat went, and still goes, off to them. 

Well, on to this season.  We have a BIG group of freshmen this year, as big as we've ever had.    With tryouts still going on, its hard to say how things will end up shaking out.  But, I can say that there will be freshmen making an impact on the teamm early this year.  More to come!

"Coach" Js 

Well, it wasn't the prettiest way to go about it, but the boys brought home the hardware last week, winning the Nebraska Collegiate Classic.  Its always your goal to go out and win the tournament, but it is even more of a task to win a tournament you play host to. 

After a sub-par (by my standards) performance during qualifying (despite tossing the highest team game of the tournament at 1135), the boys found themselves in 5th place and out of the cut after day 1.  Granted it was only one pin, but when our goal was to win qualifying it seemed like all was lost.

Day 2 brought 16 baker games and a chance to pick up ground...until the 659 set to start.  Ouch.  The one pin deficit ballooned to over 140 pins in just four baker games. 

But, these guys are not the type to give up.  After a statistically better 750+ for the next four games, narrowing the gap considerably, they reeled off a four game block of 913, also a tournament high.  This put us in the cut and out of any danger.  And, with a bit more luck in the position round, we may have moved to third, but as it was, we sat in 4th place, squared off against Newman University.

Newman is a great team.  They are poised, experienced, and can just flat out play.  Plus, it looks like the average age of a starter on their team is about 26 (based on looks alone), while my guys look like a crew right of high school.  So, when the Jets fired off a 247 to our 187 in game one of our best of 5, most of the fans probably thought that the kids would just fold up.  Not the case though.  My guys stormed back, catching a couple good breaks to win the next three games 211-180, 224-209, and 192-171.  Newman was eliminated tied for third, and we got hot and stayed that way.

In the finals we were matched up with our friends from North Dakota State, who had ousted our in-state rivals Nebraska-Lincoln 3-0 in their semifinal match.  We came out firing and posted scores of 223-205-194.  The Bison never found a groove, going 169-142-157.  Finally, for the first time in four years of hosting this tournament, we hoisted the trophy!

This was just the boost we were looking for down the stretch.  We foundered a bit in Vegas, and even on day 1 in Fremont.  But, when the heat was on, we did what we had to do.  The guys made great shots in the clutch, and it was a total team effort.

Then we headed out to Indianapolis on Feb. 16-17 to the Hoosier Classic.  The Hoosier is a huge event, drawing 80 teams (28 women 52 men), and the strongest field of the season.  It is contested on three different lane conditions, 41 feet gutter-to-gutter, 46 feet, and 36 feet, all in three game blocks. 

To our credit, we went to the Hoosier without one of our top players, Bryan Sindelar.  Bryan stayed home this week to recover from mouth surgery.  We could have really used him, but its best that he take his time and get better.  So, we headed out east with two players who are normally bench players working for starting spots.  This in itself isn't easy, but the Hoosier's lane conditions are so demanding that it is hard for anyone to have great success, let alone in their first starting roles. 

The guys battled the entire weekend.  Unfortunately, we gave away too many sticks with poor spare shooting in places (again, I can't say this enough though).  We ended up 20th of the 52-school field.  However, with a last-game push we managed to pass one of our rivals, Robert Morris College (IL).  It may not seem like much, but the extra power points received for that should help us make a small push in the rankings.

So, on the bright side, it looks as if we will preserve a top 16 ranking and will be a favorite to advance out of sectionals for the second time in school history. 

We've got a whole month to prepare for the post-season now.  Sectional Qualifiers are scheduled for March 15-16, and our pairings will be released later this week.  This is always a rough week of the year too, especially now, because it is so up in the air where we will go.  Geographically, we are closest to the Fairview Heights (St. Louis) qualifier, but due to the lack of top 16 teams in the west, we could be asked to to go the Las Vegas qualifier.  This would put some serious strain on our checkbook.  It is anybody's guess at this point.  We will just continue to hope for a good draw.

In other news, I participated in the Denny's PBA Tour Qualifying Round last Wednesday, my first event as a PBA Member.  I bowled well, but not well enough to advance to the round of 64.  But, with my 224 average, I got the last cash spot and got my money back.  Only 4 opens through 7 games, and three of those were splits (and a missed 3-6-10). 

Well, keep your fingers crossed for us!  It is going to be crunch time soon!

Until next time...

"Coach" Js