Bowlers Journal International - April 2008 - (Page 48)

UPCLOSE ing that you are their best chance to win. Being a rookie may put a target on my back because they don’t want to lose to a new guy. Maybe that's it. On the other hand, the more often you bowl as well as you have, you might be putting the fear back in their game. Who knows? I do know that even though I’m a rookie, you don’t hear a lot of people call me 'Rook' or anything like that. I guess that’s uncommon. Well, that's what I have to call you because it looks like you are going to Even though you have to go through the TQRs to get into the tourament, you're doing great in points. In a strange sort of way, could bowling the TQRs be an advantage for you? It makes the road tougher. There’ve been a hundred guys competing for eight spots in some of those TQRs, and there are a lot of good bowlers among those hundred. Again, it’s a motivator. Considering that, is it going to be easier or tougher if you don't have to go through the TQRs next season? I’m not going to say easier or tougher, just nicer. It’s going to be nice to not have to bowl the extra seven games each week and go through that misery. PBA LLC / MUSITELLI been there. They’ve given me a different mindset, one that’s helped me quite a bit. Making a couple of shows has really helped my conﬁdence, and gotten me more comfortable on that stage. Whether or not I looked like it, I was shaking in my drawers the ﬁrst time I made TV. My heart never raced so hard. It didn’t look like it. It was really hard to slow down, and it went so fast, and it was over quickly. I’m glad I could fool you. Didn’t these guys realize they were throwing red meat to a starving dog? They woke you up, and, boom, you came back to bite them. It’s one of those friendship things. P.A. and Doug have actually been very good friends to me since the beginning, and I think they did it… well, I don’t know why they did it. Maybe it’s one of those pay-it-forward things. When I’m a veteran, there’s going to be a young guy who’s going to be in the same boat, and maybe I’ll be able to help. Maybe they just recognized you as somebody who could potentially be good for the game. Maybe; I don’t know, especially because it’s my ﬁrst year. But I really hope I can be good for the game because we need every bit of help we can get. When we named you Amateur of the Year, you already had turned pro. It looks like that may happen more often in the future. And by the way, a belated congratulations on that honor. Thanks. That did mean a lot to me. I still have that magazine sitting at my house. I’ll tell you, there are a lot of great amateur bowlers our there right now. Was there one thing that helped you get to the point where you knew bowling was going to be your game for life? I don’t know if it’s been part of me since I was born or what, but I just knew this is what I wanted to do. I had some success as a baseball pitcher through my junior year of high school, but the Has the Tour been a learning process? The biggest thing I’ve learned is that right when you think you have the pattern ﬁgured out, it’s going to bite you in the butt. Maybe they should all be called the Shark pattern. True. You just need to stay on your toes, know that every squad is going to be a bit different, and just be ready for it. Don’t get too comfortable, especially on TV. Gosh, that’s a whole learning experience in and of itself. You gotta look at it differently in the sense that if you make any adjustments, they better be quick One of Page's two runner-up finishes came in the PBA and you better be right. Lumber Liquidators Earl Anthony Medford (Ore.) Classic. Your guesses have to be really educated, not 'I hope this works.' win Rookie of the Year. Nobody is even The game you bowl on TV is the fastest on the same planet as you are. of your life, and if you aren’t prepared for it, you've already lost the game. It’s been an amazing year and that would be a great award to receive. It’s Some guys get into that situation for not a goal you make, but the fact that the ﬁrst time and panic. But not you I’m that close says a lot about how the I’m just lucky to have a had a lot of season has been for me. Earlier in the good advice. Whether it has been from year, I was trying not to get caught up Patrick Allen or Chris Schlemer with in all the drama and just enjoy it. The Storm — he helped me a ton at Sparaward would certainly be one of the tanburg — Doug Kent’s talked to me things I'd enjoy, but I won’t get too caught up in it all. a lot, as well as other guys who have 48 bowlers journal international APRIL 2008

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

Bowlers Journal International - April 2008 Contents Leading Off Letters Bowlitically Incorrect Calendar Par Bowling The Coach Frame of Mind Inside Line The Truth Be Bowled Tournaments Pro Bowling PBA Bayer Classic PBA Pepsi Championship PBA Don Johnson Classic Regional Roundup Cover Story Up Close Senior Tour The USBC Move USBC Convention Pattern Play Anniversary Flashback Time Capsule Media Beat No Holes Barred Shop Talk Spotlight Marketplace Hall Marks Profit Prophet Advertisers' Index Classified Advertising Intelligencer Business Calendar Business People Strikes Me

Bowlers Journal International - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.