Bowlers Journal International - March 2008 - (Page 41)

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS He was the 1997 West Region Player of the Year, in fact. But Regional earnings don’t provide much of a living, and if you back travel expenses out of his $497,000 in career earnings entering the 2007-08 season, there’s not much left over. Haugen’s career peaked during the 2002-03 season when he earned $64,400. After that, he would earn progressively less money each of the next three seasons. He found himself at a crossroads after the 2005-06 campaign, when he failed to crack the top 40 on the Tour points list and lost his exemption. “The last stop was in Grand Rapids,” he recalls. “I got to match play, but when Patrick Allen beat me in the seventh game of our match, my season was over and my exemption was gone.” He was a few months shy of his 40th birthday, and nobody would have blamed him if he’d called it a career right then and there. “I went out that Friday night — I didn’t leave town because we still had to bowl the Pro-Am on Saturday — and I ran into Mike Machuga and Norm Duke,” Haugen says. “Norm asked me what I planned to do. I told him I was going to go home and bowl every Regional tournament that I could to keep in shape for the Tour Trials. I could let what happened get me down, or I could focus all of my energy into getting my spot back at the Trials. I love bowling, so it was an easy choice to make.” At the Trials that summer, Haugen finished second and regained his exemption. “Whenever something bad happens, I try to funnel all of that negative energy into my bowling, to make me a better bowler,” he says. He did it when he regained his exemption. He did it when he made an ESPN telecast so his dying grandmother could see him bowl one more time. He did it during his twenties when his wife — like many wives of pro bowlers past — grew understandably tired of waiting for his bowling HERO NODA dream to pay off. And he even did it in Las Vegas when he fell ill just before the Tournament of Champions. “I missed the cut in the Exempt Doubles (which preceded the Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes), so I had a couple of free days,” he says. “On that Monday night, a friend of mine and I went out to dinner, and then we went over to the Red Rock poker room — and we played all night.” Haugen finally called it a night — make that a morning — around 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday. The 10-hour marathon had netted him about $200. Fifteen minutes later, he was in bed and asleep. He woke up 17 hours later, around 11 p.m., to use the restroom. But instead of feeling rested, he felt like a cold might be coming on. So he got a drink of water and went back to bed. Not quite 12 hours later, on Wednesday morning around 10:30, he woke up again — with a badly swollen throat. After informing PBA officials that he’d be unable to attend the Tournament of Champions dinner that night, Haugen drove to a nearby Urgent Care facility, where a doctor prescribed some “heavy-duty meds” to knock out the infection, and plenty of rest. Haugen explained that he was a professional bowler and he was in town for the Tournament of Champions; rest wasn’t an option. “The doctor just shook his head and said, ‘These meds are going to kick your butt a little bit — so good luck.’” Haugen says he believes his condition, and his inability to talk, may have helped him stay focused on the lanes. He qualified eighth with a 229 average, and went 15-3 in match play to become the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals. And then after Ryan Shafer had eliminated Pete Weber, 215-213, and Barnes had knocked out Shafer, 257-205, Haugen notched his amazing victory over Barnes to claim the title. For Barnes, it was yet another Avis finish. For Haugen, it was the most improbable comeback in a lifetime of comebacks. It was an unbelievable ending to an amazing match when Chris Barnes (foreground) failed to fill 20 in the 10th frame, handing Michael Haugen Jr. a one-pin win at Red Rock Lanes. MARCH 2008 bowlers journal international 41

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Bowlers Journal International - March 2008

Bowlers Journal International - March 2008 Contents Leading Off Letters Bowlitically Incorrect Par Bowling The Coach Calendar Inside Line Tournaments The Truth Be Bowled Pro Bowling Back On Track Weber Tales Spares Do Matter Cover Story Up Close USBC Women's Time Capsule Flashback Strategy Session Guest Column Regional Roundup Team USA Trials Military Salute Global Guide No Holes Barred Marketplace Bowling Summit Museum Update Hall Marks Advertisers' Index Rememberance Classified Advertising Intelligencer Business Calendar Business People Strikes Me

Bowlers Journal International - March 2008

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