(Just in case you were wondering, BUSWO is our 'code' name for Bowling's US Women's Open)

Hi all! I had a chance to meet and chat a bit with Ashly Galante, a Motiv staffer, here during the late practice session for the Women's US Open yesterday. What a classy gal, and very impressive kegler, to boot.

She had the 2Cruel in her hand most of the time when the pattern was fresh, and man does that ball look impressive!

I had another forum member PM me and ask about what was working for the girls during the practice session last night, so I answered him with this:
During the practice session, most had a pretty good look anywhere from 3 to 10 at the arrows, playing to around 7 or 8 at the rangefinder at 45'.

Most of the middle to strong balls worked well on the fresh. The two practice sessions were only 60 minutes long, so there wasn't a bunch of break-down.

I watched Lynda Barnes, Virginia Norton, Ashly Galante, Diandra Asbaty an Tenille Milligan the most last night. Ashly has a wickedly good look with the new 2Cruel, and will most likely get to use the SigT and possibly the Ascents as the pattern burns (and depending which part of the stadium she's on); the Storm/Roto Grip staffers had a huge good look with a couple of different pieces: Shooting Star, Victory Road solid, Nano pearl, Fire Road (looked pretty strong for later in the block), Rising Star.

The pattern looked very playable, and allowed the girls to work within their own game to get a look.

I'll report back after today (3pm and 8pm squads, so it'll be late, as we're in Pacific time zone).

I'll post updates as time allows. There are not many "M" balls out here, but it's clear that the ones I do see are in the hands of gals that know how to bowl.

Here's to seeing an "M" on TV-- taping is Wednesday, with broadcast coming up on ESPN2 in early July. I'll get back to you with the exact date and time scheduled for broadcast.

Mick aka Plamormick

Great report Mick!

Well, I didn't get a day one report in; it was a long day.
The scoring system at the stadium had a fit, and so, we had to collect scores by hand for A squad (this was on Friday). That put B squad a bit behind, and because of the computer issue on A squad, we had the girls wait 90 seconds between games on B squad, too, in order to accomodate bowlers to 'make the turn' -- move from one end to the other, plus in terms of equity for both squads, as squad A was forced to wait each game so that the computers could be reset after each game.

Thankfully, day 2 went off without a hitch.

First off, let me say what an incredibly talented field of women bowlers this is. Where I'm from (Iowa), there isn't a lot of scratch bowling, and scratch bowling for women is non-existant. That isn't to say there aren't great players, just not many in my neck of the woods.

What an incredible pleasure (and privilege) it has been for me to witness these gals play. I also witnessed the first and only 300 of the tournament last night right in front of me on 61/62 by Jessica Baker. That pair had been beating most of the girls up all day; the headpin on the left lane was being set off-spot all day, every rack. Jessica's ball reaction was better than everyone else's on that pair, and when she let go of ball 12, there was no doubt it was going to strike. She was a machine!

In case you want to check out standings, go to:
http://bowlingsuswomensopen.com
On the main page are PDF files with standings by squad.

Ashly Galante (MOTIV staffer) had another great day. She bowled on the 'burn' on Friday and had an awesome 1386 for 6 (+1186); I didn't get to see every game, but I know she did throw her 2Cruel a lot.
On day two, her squad bowled on the fresh, and she crossed in front of me. She had a tough game in the 50-60s area, but rebounded for a block total of 1328 (+128) for a 2714 12 game total (+314); currently, that score has her in 13th place.

Everyone bowls another 6 game block today, with both squads bowling on a fresh condition. The field will be cut to the top 25%, which I believe will be the top 50 for Monday's 6 game block at 3pm Reno time, then cut to the top 16 for 8 games of match play starting at 8pm. The top 5 will make it to the TV show, set to be taped on Wednesday, on an outdoor set of lanes, under the Reno arch on Virginia Street. The show will air July 3rd at 8pm Eastern time on ESPN2.

Keep up the faith! Ashly has a real shot to get the M on TV!
Tune in to BowlTV on YouTube for live streaming; 3pm Pacific and 8pm Pacific on Sunday, June 24.

That's all for now!