PBA Weekly Blog
GEICO Classic, Long Island/65th Denny's US Open, N. Brunswick, N.J.
By Sean Rash

The final two weeks of the PBA season have come to a close. I have been on the road since February 12th and I've got to say, I am glad I get home for a few days before I head to Orlando this weekend for the Motel 6 Roll to Riches.

The PBA was in Long Island, N.Y., two weeks ago. We bowled on the Cheetah pattern and let me tell you, there was free hook to the right and scores seemed like they were going to be really high. I had a fairly good reaction all week in L.I. and thought I had a chance to make the show. This is one of my favorite patterns.

I was able to make the cut and this week we used the old round robin format. I was hoping it was single elimination match play but, oh well. The first round of match play, I went 8-1 and moved up the leader board a lot. I got to be seven pins out of the show at one point. Going into the night block, things looked good until a couple of bad breaks and one bad pair and I went from close to nowhere close to making the show. The differences between the rounds were what my opponents averaged against me.

Pete Weber, Tommy Delutz Jr., Tommy Jones, Walter Ray Williams Jr., and Wes Malott all made the show. If you watched the show, you saw guys get to the pocket but the difference was Tommy Jones has higher ball speed and revolutions which created better carry than everyone else. He made the lane look pretty easy. He was able to create hold and hook where the others guy couldn't. Congrats to him for winning his second title of the season and 12th overall.

We then traveled about two hours south to North Brunswick, New Jersey for the 65th Denny's U.S. Open. This is the event the guys all look forward to every year. This is the toughest event out of all of the events we play every year. The conditions are hard, there are lots of people bowling, a big house and three different squads of just qualifying.

I have had some good success the past couple years, finishing 12th and 13th, so I was excited about coming back. I had another good look in practice and it didn't hurt that I was bowling well.

This is a long week of tough lane conditions, different times to bowl and just waiting to see how your score does against the rest of the field. After three days of qualifying I was in good position to make match play again and try to make the show, finally. The cashers round was a different story for me this year. We bowled nine games to cut to the top 24. I started in 19th and finished the day in 28th. I was never able to get into a rhythm during the block like I had the previous day. The hardest part about this week was not trying to strike and just making your spares and move on. But when you split, it's easy to press a little and try to shoot 200.

Since I missed the cut, I was done bowling Friday and done for the year. I had to stick around a few days for a Brunswick coaching clinic we were doing Sunday morning. Friday night I just hung out and watched college basketball and relaxed. Even though I didn't make the cut, I was still pretty tired mentally and physically.

Saturday was a day of catching up. I wasn't able to do many emails during the week. I also needed to book some car rentals and hotels for future trips I am going on. That afternoon, Brunswick had a lunch where the entire staff got together. After the get together, I went up to watch the final round of match play. Mika Koivuniemi, Chris Loschetter, Norm Duke and Doug Kent all made the TV show.

After the final four were determined, I stuck around to bowl some action. For those who don't know what that means, it's basically bowling pot games. I bowled a young man named Matt O'Grady. He is a local from around that area. We started around 10:30 p.m. and bowled nine games. I ended up winning $500. It was a good time with a lot of guys hanging out for the last night of the year.

Sunday was a very early morning. I had to get up and pack and get to the bowl so I could help with our coaching clinic. This was from 9 to 11 a.m. After this was completed, I went out to pack the car only to find out that I had a flat tire. What a good surprise. So, with the help of a few guys – Nathan Bohr, Parker Bohn III, Johnny Petraglia Jr. and a couple others – I was able to get the spare on and get on the road.

I got to the airport and relaxed for a little bit watching some more college basketball. I upgraded my flights home since it was the last event of the year. What's an extra $100 when we make so much right? Haha.

So, with the season to an end, I would have to say it was a pretty good year. I am disappointed to not make any other shows besides the first event of the year, but these guys are good. I am pretty happy overall with how I did though. I still need to learn a few more things but thank goodness I am young and have a long career ahead of me.

For all of you that read the Rants, I hope you enjoyed how life was on Tour with Sean Rash. I wish everyone the best of luck and have a great summer break. For me, it's time for some golf and relaxation at home.

PBA Weekly Blog
By Sean Rash
Paris, France

Monday March 10

I was supposed to land in Paris around 10:30 a.m. and head to the hotel, shower and get ready for a seminar for Brunswick we were doing for a few days. Instead, I had to fly through London then to Paris, and I got in around 2 p.m. and got to the hotel around 3. By the time I got there, my girlfriend, Sara, was already there sleeping. I took a quick shower and headed to the bowl. The seminar was running smoothly with Rick Benoit and Mika Koivuniemi already there taking care of everything. Today's seminar was with a translator and it seemed as though everything was great with the communication. Around 6:30 p.m., Mika and I got our bowling balls and decided to bowl for a little bit to try and get used to the center. We were at a place called Plaza Bowling Center. It is owned and run by one of Brunswick's biggest distributors in Europe, The Valcke Family. This family took really good care of everyone who was involved in the Brunswick Euro Challenge tournament, including myself.

After some practice, it was time for some food and then I went back to the room to try and go to bed and get accustomed to the time zone change. It was a five-hour difference from the East Coast.

Tuesday March 11

Brunswick was having another seminar all day but this time in English. Mika and I got to the seminar at around Noon. We didn't have to be there at the crack of dawn for the beginning which was nice. We ate lunch and ended the seminar around 6 p.m. that night.

After the seminar, Rick laid out a few bowling balls for me and Mika to drill for this week's event. We were promoting a new ball called the Etoile. It is an international ball and was specially-made for the event. Another great meal at the restaurant at the bowl and Mika and I decided to bowl the 8:30 p.m. qualifying squad. We figured since we were there, we might as well bowl. I bowled +60 for six games which was pretty good, I thought. The scores were not going to be very high this week due to the oil pattern and the players not transitioning the lanes like the pros do on Tour.

After we got done bowling, the bowling center closed down and about 10 of us stuck around after hours. Rick, Sara and I joined some of the staff running the event in some fun on the lanes and laughter for hours. We had a blast.

Wednesday March 12

After being out late, Mika and I had to be at the bowl at 1 p.m. for a Pro-Am sort of event that was set up by the tournament coordinator, Martina. Youth players came from all over Europe, but many were from France or Belgium. We coached for about an hour and then we went on to do an hour of trick shots. The fans loved this. We had a great time doing things we love to do.

I had a quick bite to eat after we signed autographs for about an hour and decided to bowl again that night. This event allows entries and re-entries so you can bowl as many times as you want to try and qualify. I bowled -3 this time with one bad game that cost me to have a bigger score, but I knew my +60 from the previous day was probably still okay. I had two more squads to bowl if I wanted to on Friday and Saturday. I will give you a quick run down of how the format works.

Every player bowls six games of qualifying. The top 52 after all the squads make the finals. The top six players from the first weekend's squads automatically make the finals plus six players from a Desperado Squad make it, which happens on Saturday night at Midnight. So, a total of 64 players make it to the finals on Sunday.

After bowling, it was time for bed. Four hours of sleep and not adjusted to the time yet.

Thursday March 13

This day was set for sightseeing. Tim and Brenda Mack joined Sara and I for a day of fun sightseeing. I could go on for hours about what happened today. I will try not to bore you. Earlier in the week, I had asked Henri Valcke to call the restaurant at the Eiffel Tower to see if we could get a reservation. Well, dinner was out of the question as they were already booked for months, but he was able to get us lunch reservations at 12:30 p.m.

We got up around six a.m. and headed to the train station at 8:30. We took the 9:27 train into Paris. The four of us bought bus tour tickets to ride around the city. We rode the bus for about an hour until we notice we might not make it to the tower in time for lunch. So we hopped off the bus to take the metro straight to the Eiffel Tower. What a sight when we finally walked around a building to see it.

We spent four hours at the tower. Our meal cost almost 400 Euro which is around 600 U.S. Dollars but it was well worth it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we took full advantage.

After lunch we decided to head to the Museum De Louvre. Once we got there, it was closed. This is where the famous painting of The Mona Lisa is. We were all bummed but we decided to go find a place for dinner and call it a night. Tim called one of his friends he met years ago who now lives in the city to take us somewhere nice for dinner. She met up with us and took us around the city for awhile until we went and ate at a wonderful Italian place. She walked us to the overpass of the tunnel where Princess Diana's fateful crash was years ago. It was an unbelievable site, with writing all over the wall in remembrance of her.

After dinner, it was night time, of course, and the Eiffel Tower was lit up with flashing lights. What a magnificent site. We finally headed back to the train station around 9 p.m. that night. We got back to our hotel around 11 and it was for sure time for bed.

Friday March 14

My first day to finally sleep in and rest. Sara and I slept until 1 p.m. We were wiped out from walking around all day and doing things and we didn't even get to see the Museum, Notre Dame, or The Arc de Triomphe (which is where the cars drive in a huge circle around the Arc).

I chose to bowl in the 4 p.m. squad because I figured I should try to make the top 16 in qualifying because if you qualify in the top 16 you get a first round bye and head straight into match play. I drilled up another Etoile ball since the first one rolled so well. I went on to bowl 1,383 which is +183 and moved me into fourth place. I had a solid set and bowled pretty well.

After we finished bowling, we grabbed another meal at the bowl and hung out with the all the players from other countries who had arrived on Thursday. I have been over to Europe around 15 times now and have created a lot of friendships and fans over here. I always enjoy coming to Europe because our sport is treated the right way: we get the respect of being athletes and it is awesome to be able to see parts of the world you dream of as kids - or even as adults.

Sara and I had a great time with my friends and reminisced about past trips here. There was lots of talk about future events coming up and when I am coming back over here. I will probably see my friends again in Turkey in September if I go or at the Men's World Championships in Thailand if I am selected to represent my country in August.

Saturday March 15

After bowling well Friday afternoon, Sara, Tim, Brenda and I decided to head back to the city and see all the sites we missed on Thursday. Like I said before, I could go on forever about this place. You could literally be in Paris for a week and not see all the wonderful things they have to see. It is like going around Washington, D.C.

We were joined today though by Mike Fagan, Chris Loschetter, Ronnie Russell and Alex Cavagnaro. These guys also came over on Wednesday to bowl and hang out.

We first went to the Museum to see The Mona Lisa. Once we finally got there, the painting was on a wall by itself behind glass with a couple of security guards close by. We were able to take pictures and get to about 10 feet from it since it was roped off and a bunch of people were all over to see it. I had imagined it all differently; I guess I expected it to be bigger than it actually was, but that was probably because of the massive size of the museum and other paintings in that same room. The painting across the room from it was the size of the outside wall of my house. We then went to see the Crowne Jewels. Wow, can you say money and power if you were part of those families.

We then headed to see Notre Dame. The buildings here are so old; it makes you wonder why they built them and how long it took to build them. The architecture is absolutely beautiful.

The Arc de Triomphe was the last thing on the list to see for the day. It just seemed like this building was built in the middle of nowhere for some reason back in the day. The circle around it is the biggest roundabout in the world and it can take hours to get through this intersection. The group decided to pay to walk up to the top of it. It was 284 steps straight up in a circle stair case. Wow, this took a long time. Haha. The top of the Arc had an awesome view of the whole city.

After we walked all the way back down, the group had other things they wanted to do. Tim and his wife went bicycling around the city with Andrew Frawley and Jason Belmonte from Australia. The group of four guys went to the Eiffel Tower since they were not with us Thursday. Sara and I headed to the Hard Rock Café. I have been to 15 different countries now and I collect things and so does my mother. After a few hundred dollars purchase it was time to find our way around with the train system and head back to the city where we stayed for the week which was about 50 km away from Paris.

We got to the bowl to see how scores were and talked to some of the people there. I had to find out what time I had to bowl in the finals as well. It was time for dinner and bed since I normally bowl better for any finals when I'm well rested.

Sunday March 16

The finals of the event started at 9 a.m. and I didn't have to bowl until 1 p.m. Sara and I got ready and headed to the bowl to watch the end of the semis and grab a bite to eat. The food in the restaurant was awesome all week. Not very often do you get good meals at a bowling center.

Anyway, I was matched up against a guy from England; I actually bowled with him a few games on Wednesday. His name is Adam Scott. The format of the finals was best two-out-of-three and the winner moves on to the top four. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to beat Adam. He had a great ball reaction and I missed a spare in both games to give him the lead and he never faltered. Too bad it wasn't best-of-seven games because I am pretty sure I would have won. But, my hat's off to the mate for having a great week. He went onto the top eight and lost to American Ronnie Russell. I was later told by players from England that he has just started bowling competitively and this was his best finish ever. Good for him. Having confidence is one of the biggest reasons for success, in my opinion, in any sport.

The rest of the day I dwelled on the fact I had a good ball reaction, but I know it will only make me a better player in the future. The finals in the top four were #4 Osku Palermaa from Finland, #3 Peter Ljung from Sweden, #2 Ronnie Russell and the #1 ranked player Mike Fagan. They went on to a stepladder format. Peter Ljung climbed the ladder to win the 16,000 Euro top prize which is around $25,000 U.S. He is also left-handed, by the way. For some reason the left's look wasn't good all week but on Sunday it was awesome. Almost felt like we were on Tour again. Haha.

After bowling was over, The Valcke family rented out the restaurant next to the bowl and had a celebration party for everyone. This went on for hours, I'm sure. We were only there for about three hours since Sara and I needed to pack and get ready to fly home on Monday.

With the week over, I had a great time and can't wait to go back to see some things I didn't get to see. I need to say thanks to a lot of people. I'm sure I'll forget a few but here we go.

Thanks to my girlfriend for taking a week off during her spring break to travel with me to Paris and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime memory. I can't wait to do more of this with you, babe.

Thanks to Tim and Brenda Mack for sightseeing with Sara and I and helping me spend all my money. Haha.

Thanks to Brunswick for having me in Europe and helping attend some seminars. Without Brunswick I wouldn't be where I am today.

Thanks to Martina who was the tournament director of the event and also works for Brunswick for getting everything arranged and having so many great volunteers and help throughout the week.

Last but not least a huge thanks to the entire Valcke Family: Luc, his wife Ann, and their two sons, Laurent and Henri. They truly treated me and all the players with great respect. Those two guys really took care of me and truly know how to have a good time. Thanks for everything you do for the sport of Bowling and Brunswick, not just in Europe but worldwide.

Tomorrow is travel day and back to life on the road on the Denny's PBA Tour. Until then, see you in a week.

Sean and his girlfriend, Sara, at the Museum de Louvre

Sean and Sara stand in front of the Mona Lisa

The Eiffel Tower

Rash (far right) with fellow Denny's PBA Tour stars (from left) Mike Fagan, Ronnie Russell and Chris Loschetter.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Sean and Sara at the Eiffel Tower

Sean and Sara at the Louvre

The Eiffel Tower at night

Sean and the crew enjoy a day at the Louvre

2008 Go RVing Classic, Norwich, CT
PBA Weekly Blog
By Sean Rash

There's nothing like relaxing for a few days before an event for us out here on Tour. When you are on the road for six weeks, a few days off is always nice. This is exactly what I did the first couple days of this week. I'm still in Dekalb with my girlfriend and I didn't do much besides laundry, emails, sleep, relax and just hang out with Sara. A couple more weeks on the road and I get to go home. Hopefully I can pull off at least one show, if not two.

Wednesday was travel day this week and what a day it was. I was flying to JFK in New York for the first time ever. What a busy freaking airport. It took me 45 minutes just to get to the car rental place. Finally after I got my piece of crap car, I had 120 miles to drive to Norwich, CT. I could have flown into Bradley but I am planning on flying out of JFK later in the week to Paris. So, here I am driving two hours in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully, Mike Fagan lives in N.Y. and he gave me some good directions to get out of NY into CT.

I got to my hotel and changed and went straight to the bowl for practice. We were bowling on a lane surface that isn't used much around the USA, but it definitely looked as if scores would be low this week. I had a pretty good look early and late in practice so I felt good about my ball reaction. I went back to the room to relax for a few minutes until I went to dinner with Mike Wolfe, Dino Castillo and Nathan Bohr at Outback Steakhouse, which was right next to our hotel. After dinner, it was time for bed. After a two-hour flight and two hours of driving, I was tired.

Thursday was another one of those days for me. I have had this happen probably five or six times I feel this year. I bowled pretty solid the first block at +161 with two bad games which was more about just bad scores than bowling. I was in 22nd and felt good about making match play. I used a Rampage, a Vapor Zone and a Pearl Avalanche in the first block.

The second block was so frustrating, like other times this year, I wanted to scream. I started out well with two good games and felt like it was going to be like the first block. Then my carry went to crap and I was shooting 190 games and started sliding down the pole. Once I lost my carry, I tried to make it strike and then I missed a few spares and it just went sour. I bowled a good seventh game, but it was too late to make the cut and I missed by 50 pins.

I think this week's straight players were better, besides Brian Kretzer doing his slow roll and curving the lane. The light hit was awesome this week. The left was pretty easy too, if you had the right angles. If it would have been a round robin, three would've made the show for sure.

Well, another week and I wasn't bowling Friday. Not bad though since I haven't missed a cut since the doubles event. I went to dinner at Chili's and then decided to go to the Mohegan Sun for a few hours of entertainment. Believe it or not, I walked out of there even for the night.

Friday was all about sleeping in. I was not happy that I didn't make this cut since the scores were pretty low to make match play but once match play happened, it looked as if some pairs were really high scoring and others were low. As the day went on I was trying to find things to do. I was trying to get tickets to the Bon Jovi concert or drive to Boston and watch the Bulls vs. Celtics game. Well, after making a few phone calls I was able to get tickets to the Celtics game. I invited my best friend Kevin to go with me. The game was at 8 p.m. Eastern and it was a two-hour drive there. The game was pretty good considering the Celtics are the best team in the NBA and they sure showed why. My father is a huge Celtics fan so it was fun to see a team I watched a lot as a kid.

I need to say thanks to Mitch Germann who used to work for the PBA but now works for the Sacramento Kings. He got me the tickets since he is friends with Kirk Hinrich who plays for the Bulls. So thanks buddy, I owe you one. I also need to say thanks to Kirk for getting us two tickets to a sold out game.

Kevin and I were going to hang out in downtown Boston but the weather was terrible when we got out of the game so we headed home and it was time to call it a night.

Saturday was Pro-Am day for me this week and I didn't have to bowl until 7 p.m. so you can imagine I slept in. I got some food and started looking for airline tickets for the Motel 6 Roll to Riches, Mike Fagan's wedding and a trip I am taking to Russia in May to work for Brunswick. After four hours of searching I only bought one ticket. I better get the others soon because prices are going higher by the day. I never thought it would be that hard to fly to Russia but damn, there are some long layovers in certain countries.

Pro-Am was fast and sweet this week. There were four-to-six players per pair and they were ready to bowl. They seemed like they all were happy to be there, but I think it was the squad of volunteers and family and friends.

After Pro-Am was over, I needed to grab bowling balls to take with me to Paris and put some stuff on the truck. I then decided to go to the Casino again to watch the UNC-Duke game and gamble some more, of course. With the clocks turning forward an hour, it turned into a long evening. I walked out a loser this time but not by too much. No wonder they make a lot of money at those places!

Sunday was filled with a long day of being on the phone. I had a USBC conference call that pretty much lasted most of the day. I also watched the show from my room before I needed to drive back to JFK to catch my flight which wasn't until 9:40 that night, which was a good thing.

The four players who made the show were Mike Scroggins, Rhino Page, Jack Jurek and Mike Edwards. Both semifinal matches were exciting with the game coming down to the end. Rhino and Jack bowled for the title and talk about a roller coaster for both, I'm sure. Rhino bowled great and snabbed his first title. This was Rhinos fifth show of the year. He is going to be around a while. Jack had a good week to get back into the top 40 in points to try and secure his exemption.

I know I haven't mentioned this before in past blogs. We, as a sport, need to find ways to make the left-right scoring issue come to rest. Last week in Columbus, the left had nothing. This week they had more than the right, but it wasn't as bad as Spartanburg earlier in the year. Hopefully in the off-season there will be some sort of solution.

My drive to JFK was filled with entertainment and stupid traffic in New York. I now know why I don't live there. I got to the airport to find out my flight was delayed eight hours and I wasn't leaving until 6 a.m. the next morning. Thankfully for me, I was able to catch a flight to London, where I am typing this now. I've got a four-hour layover and will be in Paris in a few hours.

I hope everyone has a great week off. See you in a few weeks in West Babylon, N.Y. Cheers, as they say here in the UK.

2008 Don Johnson Buckeye State Classic
PBA Weekly Blog
By Sean Rash

Having family at a Tour stop always makes you feel like you're going to have a good week. Being in Ohio, my mother Diana always comes to this part of the country so she can see her family since she grew up in Troy, Ohio, which is about an hour from Columbus. Monday was a day to relax for most of the day but Monday afternoon and that night was all about Juvenile Diabetes. Jimmy Johnson, son of the great PBA Hall of Famer Don Johnson whom the event is named after this year, was hosting a charity event Monday night at the bowl. I let him know I would help if he needed me to, so I went up to the bowl around 4 p.m. and didn't leave until around 11 p.m.

At 4, we helped kids bowl, signed autographs and just raised money for this great cause. Monday night consisted of a bowling match with two pros from each of the nine sponsoring companies. Parker Bohn III and I bowled together but missed the finals by five pins.

After everything was over, my mom and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings and got a quick bite to eat and then it was bed time for me.

Tuesday was a work day for me. Brunswick was doing a bowling camp in Cincinnati, Ohio, for seven hours. Brad Angelo, Parker Bohn III, Johnny Petraglia and I were there all day long at Crossgate Lanes helping out Dave's World of Bowling pro shop. We did 30-minute lessons for six hours and then did a trick shot exhibition after that for about an hour. This was about a 12-hour day after it was all said and done. I got home around 10 p.m. and crashed. It was a long day and I wanted to rest.

Wednesday was practice day and it was early. Practice was at 9 a.m. since the TQR was Tuesday this week and Pro-Ams were Tuesday and Wednesday as well. We were bowling at Sequoia ProBowl. This place still has wood lanes and guardian fronts. It's not very often you see this anymore. I was pretty happy with my look after practice because I knew I would be able to throw it hard or hook it a lot this week with all the friction because of the wood.

I went back to the room to catch up on emails from Monday night and Tuesday and relaxed for a bit. Then I went to dinner at Ruth's Chris for my best friend's birthday. I was let out of the Pro-Am this week but my Uncle Steve and some of my family's friends were bowling that night so I went up to the bowl and hung out for a little bit. I left somewhat early since we were starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday for qualifying.

Thursday was extremely long this week because we had five bowlers on a pair and were only using 26 lanes. This is because there is a pole that interferes on one pair and the end pairs were out of play as well. Well, things were about as good as they could get for me. I had a great ball reaction all day long and felt I had a chance to get to the show this week. After the first block I was in fourth and after the second block I was in second. Too bad this week wasn't the round robin format. I used a combination of balls from Ultra Zones, Vapor Zones, and a Radical Inferno to our new Pearl Avalanche. After we were done, I went to dinner because I wasn't bowling my match until 2 p.m. Friday against Ronnie Russell.

It is Friday and I am excited about bowling. I went to lunch with Mom and drove to the bowl to get ready for my match. When you get to the single elimination matches, you know anything can happen. It doesn't matter where you qualify or who you are bowling. I was second after qualifying but after my match, I looked like I qualified last. I bowled pretty well, I thought, besides the end of the games. I opened almost every ninth frame and Ronnie took full advantage. Ronnie swept me in my match, 4-0, and I was heading home and he was moving on to the Round of 16. It goes to show you, it doesn't matter how you start the game, it is all about how you finish the game. Ronnie did that every game and that is why he won the match.

After I got done, Mom and the family and friends went to the bar to eat lunch and relax. It turned out to be a great evening. I started selling 50/50 raffle tickets for the Juvenile Diabetes fund and raised more money for this charity. Then we went back to Buffalo Wild Wings s to hang out with my friend Kevin to really celebrate his birthday.

Saturday was time to pack and head to Chicago to spend a few days relaxing with my girlfriend, Sara. My mom, Uncle Steve and some friends went gambling. Once I got to Chicago, I went to my first ever lacrosse game. Sara's best friend is a dancer for the Chicago Shamrocks. This is definitely a different sport then I imagined. We headed back to DeKalb and grabbed some dinner. Then Sara and I went to a local bar to watch one of her favorite bands play, Mike and Joe.

Sunday was relaxation day. It is so nice to have a home cooked meal. Sara got up early and cooked breakfast. I love coming to DeKalb. We watched the show, and what a good show. Congrats to Chris Barnes on winning title No. 10. It just proves to everyone, what goes around comes around. Chris definitely didn't have the best ball reaction, but he was able to stick around to win. Chris has been on the other side plenty of times, having the best look but not winning.

Kenny Simard had a great show and all but secured himself a Tour exemption via points after his second-place finish. Kenny will have his chance again and will be on top sooner or later.

Well, time to relax some more. It's going to be nice to have a few days off before I fly out to Norwich, Connecticut.

See you next week!

Rash and fellow PBA bowler Tommy Delutz Jr. help raise money for juvenile diabetes.

Rash's mom, Diana, with Jimmy Johnson.

2008 Denny's World Championship
PBA Weekly Blog
By Sean Rash

It's Major time and it's going to be a long week. I am driving to Indy from Chicago Monday morning, hopefully in time for a photo shoot I am doing for the USBC for the "Clash of Champions" event that is being held in Kansas City in May.

I am only driving to Chicago because my girlfriend, Sara, has the week off from school because of the shooting at Northern Illinois University. I am so happy she is okay and can be with me this week but I want to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone at NIU that was affected by this tragedy.

Monday is practice day this week because of the week's format. Once I got to Indy, I checked into my hotel and headed to the bowl for the photo shoot. I ended up just bringing bowling balls into the building and coming back right before practice for the photo shoot. Practice was from 8 to 10 p.m. I had a really good look using Vapor Zones, Twisteds and Blast Zones on the fresh.

I was able to sleep in Tuesday because I was on B squad for the week. B squad is scheduled for 4:30 in the afternoon. I went up to the bowl to watch and little bit of A squad and saw how those guys were bowling, and then my girlfriend and I went to the mall to shop for a little bit. No surprise: I didn't find anything but she did. After a quick bite to eat, it was time to relax and get ready to bowl.

Bowling went pretty well for me in the first block. I was +250 and in third place overall after the first day. This is a good start because if you make the top eight you get two byes in match play and are automatically in the top 16.

Wednesday morning was a lot different for me bowling-wise. For some reason this year, my first blocks have been great and the second blocks have been good but my carry has stunk. I bowled 13 over for the block and got to +263 for the second round and was going to make the cut. The bad thing was that I was going to drop out of the top eight, but I'm not sure how far I would get behind going into the cashers round. I ended up 14th going into the cashers round. Wednesday night was time to relax and catch up with emails and just prepare for the rest of the week.

Thursday was a day of ups and downs for me, bowling-wise. I had a good cross, but every other pair was a challenge for me. With the top 57 bowling, you had to take advantage of good pairs and bad. I shot 290 my third game and moved into the top eight to get the byes, but we had six games to go. I struggled for the next few games and with one game to go, I knew I needed a big game to make the top eight. I shot 275 to get to +472. I could have fallen a few spots if other guys struck in the 10th but I was lucky that they didn't.

I didn't have to bowl that night in the Round of 32, so I went back and took a short nap. I was going back to the bowl though to watch my roommate, Ryan Abel, bowl. Ryan had to bowl Del Ballard Jr. and it was his first time making match play in a Tour event. Ryan wasn't fortunate to win his match. The scores were low, but it looked like he was struggling on one lane.

After they were done, we went and had some dinner and went to bed. I wanted to try and get some rest since Friday was going to be a long day.

My match Friday wasn't scheduled until 2 p.m. so we got up and had some brunch. I headed over to the bowl around 1 p.m. to get ready for my match. I was bowling Walter Ray Williams Jr. Anytime you are bowling one of the best in the game, you better be ready for anything. When we were warming up, I knew Walter was wanting to play right. I won the first game, but the lanes got a lot easier for him and harder for me to strike as the games went on. I had a chance in a few games but didn't throw it very well. Game five came down to the last couple of frames. I split in the ninth and that was all she wrote. So, for me, a very disappointing week losing in the Round of Super 16.

I have had a great season so far, but if you don't make TV, it doesn't make for an awesome year. Some guys have made five or six shows. I could have made that many shows too, but maybe these next couple weeks I can make a few more shows. Friday night consisted of eating dinner and watching the Round of 8 and who would make the show. After the rounds were over, a few of us decided to hit the streets of Indianapolis to celebrate Tom Daugherty's birthday. We ended up at a place called Landsharks which is a bar with music and places to just hang out. A great night and Happy Birthday Tommy.

Saturday was Pro-Am day and it was a long one. Everyone who cashed and was exempt had to bowl two Pro-Ams. Well, my Pro-Ams were from 12 to 6 that day. I was exhausted, of course, by the time the second one was over. Pro-Ams are what it's all about though. It's nice to see the kids and even parents smile and have a good time. Trust me; you can't spend time with your favorite athletes like this in any other sport.

Saturday night was a big dinner for all the guys on sponsor teams. What a good meal. I have to say a big thanks to the PBA for inviting us out.

After dinner was over, we went back to the room and just relaxed. It has been a long week and I needed to get some rest since next week is going to be longer.

Sunday was checkout day and time to move on to another city and hotel. Five weeks to go and I will be back at home.

Sara and I and her father went up to the bowl and watched the show. For a week of high scores, it was surprising to see all the low scores on the show. But when the lights come on and you are bowling for a Major, lots of money and other good things, sometimes shots are as good as they can be. I want to say, great week to my Aussie buddy, Andrew Frawley. He is from Australia and bowled as an amateur. There were all kinds of great players here this year since the PBA opened the field to amateurs. This was a smart move because more and more good players will come to this event. Congrats to Norm Duke for winning his third Major title and 27th title overall. He found a way to avoid trouble while on the show.

So, here is the best part of the week. If you don't know who "The Black Widow" is, she's Jeanette Lee. She is one of the greatest billiards players of all time. Well, Jeanette and I met at the Summer Series at Six Flags and decided that we would have a challenge match bowling and playing pool. Well, I won the bowling match on Friday just throwing a few shots but on Sunday we were going to shoot away. After the show, we went into the player's room where we had a few tables set up. I started practicing but it did no good, let me tell you. She came into the room with, of course, her own stick, but to our surprise, she brought her own set of pool balls. Of course they were rigged to not go in for me, but she did some things none of us have ever seen before. I have to say thanks to Jeanette for taking the time to stop in for our show and to kick my butt in pool. It was a real treat. I will practice up and maybe next year I can win one game, but that is just a dream for me.

My last thoughts are to say thanks to Ken Howard and his staff at Woodland Bowl for a wonderful job, like always. I will never forget Ken and everything he's done for me. I met Ken a few years back when bowling in college for Wichita State. My grandmother had passed away the week I was going to Indy and I was going to her funeral right after the event, so I had asked him for a bowling pin to put in my grandmother's grave. He looked at me weird, but did it in a heartbeat. Ken has been a true friend and he's a great person for our sport. Ken, I can't say thanks enough for all you do for me and everyone else living our dream.

See you all in Columbus!

Sean Rash with Jeanette Lee, the "Black Widow."

Sean, his girlfriend, Sara, and Jeanette Lee.

PBA Weekly Blog
By Sean Rash

Being at home and having nice weather is always a plus, especially in the beginning of February. I am home for a couple days, the last time I'm home until the first of April when the Tour season is complete.

Bowling league has been a lot of fun these past couple weeks. Monday night's scratch league is the best league in Wichita: four games of fun, a few cocktails and talking about how Tour has been and it's time to start packing for the next two months.

Before league, I went to a different bowling center and had Jim Tomek Jr. and Danny Wiseman also stop by to talk to two high schools while they were practicing. Thank you, Danny and Jim, for coming by and talking to the high school kids and hanging out Monday at league. The local bowlers appreciated it.

Tuesday is travel day this week. My roommate, Ryan Abel, is getting his PBA card and needs to be there to sign up and be ready for the TQR on Wednesday. On our way up, I stopped in Topeka, Kan., to a high school meet and threw out the first ball. This was pretty special to be asked to do this. I also stopped by another high school meet where my ball rep, Rick Benoit's, sons were bowling. I heard their school is the best in Topeka where all five kids are averaging 200. It was great seeing how many kids are involved in high school bowling. I never got the opportunity in Alaska to bowl for my school. They started high school bowling the year I left for college.

Wednesday this week was going to be long for me. I stopped by and watched Ryan bowl and checked out how nice the bowling center was. It was a brand new center and it was pretty amazing.

Ryan finished 21st and got a check so not a bad start for him. Practice was interesting after seeing how high the scores were in the TQR. I knew I would need to strike a lot this week to have a chance. After practice, I had to bowl in a Pro-Am which was full of more high school kids and it was 10 games of baker. The kids all had a blast.

Happy Valentine's Day! The morning was awesome. I bowled really well and shot 300 in game seven to get to plus-263. I used balls in the Brunswick line from Total Inferno and Vapor Zone to Twisted. I had some lunch during the break and needed to rest for a little bit. I was doing an interview with a local radio station in Las Vegas around 3:45 in the afternoon.

Well, here is the bad news for the week. My girlfriend, Sara, goes to school at Northern Illinois University. For all of you that don't know, there was a school shooting, killing five, plus the gunman took his own life. I was a nervous wreck. All I got was a text message and didn't know she was okay until right before we started our second squad. I can tell you that nothing mattered to me besides her and her safety and all of the people at NIU.

I am happy to say she is okay and her best friend as well but my heart goes out to everyone at the school. I have encountered these types of situations since I lived in Alaska. I lost my best friend in junior high due to a high school shooting years ago, I have met someone that went to Columbine High School, and I am friends with someone who went to Virginia Tech and now this. Like I said, bowling didn't matter and my scores showed it. I was plus a few and made the cut. I went and had some dinner and went to bed. Friday was going to be a long day if I was going to make the show.

It's Friday and I am normally excited to bowl but so far this season I haven't bowled great in this round robin format, but I had a different mindset and was ready to go. I bowled 269-225 the first two games and moved up in the standings and was excited but after game two, it went downhill and in a hurry. I started getting 9 pins a lot then tried harder to strike since the scoring pace was so high and I started to leave splits. This, of course, hurt my scores and I started doing the free fall in the standings. I ended up finishing 31st and the day was over.

I will let you know that this season the scoring pace has been really high which you all can figure out. Plus the left-to-right issue hasn't been fixed besides a few events. In my opinion, we can't beat the left in the round robin format. Over the last two years, the left has run over the right. Three lefties made the top 32 this week and all three made the show. Don't get me wrong, they are good bowlers. But, we can't keep up. The scores prove it. That is all I will say for now. Congrats to the five who made the show. The position round was dramatic again.

The rest of the day was spent trying to catch up with e-mails and making sure Sara was doing okay. I know that she will be hurting as well as the others from NIU for a few days, if not weeks. I went back up to the bowl to hang out with my buddy, Tony Manna Jr. Tony and I bowled together on Team USA few years and he lives in Omaha. We watched the last few games and had a few drinks and ate dinner, and called it a night.

Saturday was a day to sleep in. Since Ryan didn't make the cut, he had decided to hang around and practice and just watch. He also had his girlfriend, Jessica, up for the week to watch and take a small vacation. We didn't do a lot until I had to bowl Pro-Am at 7 p.m. that night. Omaha is a huge bowling city and there were lots of Pro-Ams and fans all week long.

After the Pro-Am, a few of the guys who were still around and I went to the Go-Kart track and rode the carts for a few minutes. This was a blast since they turned up the speed on the carts for us. Sorry for running over your phone, Tony. I went back to the room and packed since I was leaving Sunday for Indianapolis.

Sunday was full of excitement. The show was pretty good with three lefties again and two righties – Pete Weber and Walter Ray Williams Jr. Those two aren't too bad. If you watched the show, you saw some great athletes battling it out. Pete needed to fill 20 to beat Rhino. Well, he split and needed to make it and strike to win. If you want to know why he tried to make it instead of getting count to force Rhino to show up, we are here to win. That is all you can say. If you can win, you are going for it. Never hold anything back, plus it's a spilt decision. If it was the U.S. Open, the story might be different.
Walter ended up bowling for the title against Mike Scroggins. Have you ever seen Walter miss a 10-pin? It doesn't happen very often, if at all. Well, he missed it in the first frame but the game still came down to the 10th frame. Mike Scroggins needed a mark to win and he came up big with a strike and his fifth title. Congrats to Mike for his second title of the year.

After the show, I was involved in the PBA Skills Challenge. This year is definitely different where there are only eight of us and it was shooting spares instead of special trick shots. I am going to say, you've got to watch the show because there is a lot of great shots made, lots of laughter and entertainment.

Sunday night I flew to Chicago and stayed the night with my sweetheart since my flight was late and I couldn't make it to Indy. The weather has been real cold all week in Omaha and it won't be getting much better in Indy. Until then, see you in Indy…

2008 Bayer Classic, El Paso, TX
Weekly Blog
By: Sean Rash

Anytime I get to be at home, I feel grateful. I'm only home for two days, but I still get to sleep in my own bed for two nights. I bowled league on Monday night and had a blast showing off pictures from the Super Bowl and the concerts I got to go to. Not a bad night at league but we got smoked.

Tuesday was packing day and trying to get ready for El Paso. While I was at the Super Bowl, I had met some guys who work for Fox and Hound Restaurant, so I had set up a Pro-Am type deal at The Alley that night with them and seven of my friends. I didn't even know Fox and Hound's headquarters were in Wichita. We started at 7 p.m. that night and went until 10 p.m. We would have gone out, but we got a nice little weather storm that night. It was so bad I didn't think I was going to fly out for El Paso in the morning.

I want to say thanks to Jim and Steve at Fox and Hound for a great time.

Wednesday was travel day this week and a after a couple of quick flights I was in El Paso. Now, this place is literally in Mexico and as far away as you can be. If you don't speak Spanish, you don't get around much, they say. I checked in at the hotel and relaxed before I headed to practice. Practice session was pretty good overall. I was able to use anywhere from Ultra Zones to Vapor Zones to our new ball, the Avalanche. I then had dinner with Tom Baker and Rick Benoit and it was time to call it a night.

Thursday I saw some good things for me on the lanes. The first round I used an Ultra Zone that I drilled up the night before and found myself leading after seven games. For those who know me, I normally don't have a lot of success on the Shark pattern but for some reason, everything was clicking. Going into the second block, I knew I would be able to experiment and get ready for match play. After the second block, I was in fifth place and was able to try a lot of knew things. I went to dinner with "The Bakes" after we knew we both made it and it was time for sleep. Bowling 14 games really take a toll on the body. I needed to get back to the room and stretch and work out and ice the knee.

Friday morning I felt like I never got any sleep. I had to bowl Mitch Beasley in the Round of 32. I ended up winning the match, 4-1, and was heading back to the room to rest. I also had a lot of emails to catch up on. You can really get bogged down, too, if you have to stay in the bowl all day.

I didn't know who I was going to bowl until I got back either. I ended up having to bowl Riga Kalfas in the Round of 16. Riga beat Mike Fagan in a pretty good match, I heard.

What a match. If you would've watched in person, you would have said I didn't deserve a PBA card. I shot 150, 150, 160 my first three games and looked as if I was going home. The good thing about our format is that you have to lose four games. I came back and won the next four games to win the match, 4-3.

The next match was one everyone wanted to see. I was getting to bowl my mentor, Chris Barnes, the hottest player on Tour. Chris had made seven shows coming into the week and was throwing it pretty good. As you read in my blog last week, he puts himself in the situation to win more then anyone else. He is bound to win a lot. Well, the match didn't go my way. I lost 4-1. I can say this: I had my chances and didn't throw the shots when I needed to. Against some guys on Tour, you can get away with mistakes, but not against the best, like Chris, Walter Ray, Pete, Tommy and a few others. If you slip, they are going to jump all over you and take full advantage of it. So, for me, in game one and game five I threw two bad shots and didn't get it done.

Chris goes on to make his eighth show of the season. What a show it will be: Tommy Jones, Mike Devaney and Chris's roommate, Mika Koivuniemi. After I lost my match, I put my stuff away on the truck. I got a bite to eat and hung with my best friend Kevin for a while.

I was suppose to fly home Sunday, but I changed my flight and was able to get home Saturday. It was nice because I was going to be home three days before the event in Omaha. This is the longest I have been home since December and is the longest I'll be home until April 1st.

Once I got home, I was able to unpack and relax at home before I went to a Wichita Thunder hockey game with some friends. What a game, I guess. They finally won; they had lost the previous seven games. We then went out for a few hours like the good old days in college.

Sunday was show day and it was a good one. If you missed it, Chris broke through, as they say. But it was only a matter of time until he would win this year. Chris beat Tommy by playing a part of the lane that wasn't easy to play on the Shark pattern, but he took a risk and it paid off. This was his ninth career title, and like Randy Pedersen and I and many others said, he will go on a winning streak and will win more then he loses for sure.

So for me, I had a great week on my hardest pattern, but I wasn't too happy because I have made four Round of 8s this year and I have been knocking on the door for another TV show. I can feel something good is about to happen. I hope everyone has a good week

Happy Valentine's Day to my sweetheart, Sara, and my awesome Mom.

See you in Freezing Omaha…

By Sean Rash

With a week off, there was plenty of excitement for me. I knew I was going to Phoenix for the Super Bowl so I figured I would give you a wrap up from the busy week in Las Vegas and the Super Bowl in Phoenix.

Let me start by saying that I love Las Vegas and being there for a week and bowling in two events, it doesn't get much better. It was going to be very busy though. It's been a while since the PBA ran a doubles event. Then right afterwards we had our second Major of the year, the Tournament of Champions.

The doubles event started off really good for me. I was in the top 10 after the first block of qualifying and everything looked good and I couldn't wait to bowl with someone since I have had a lot of success in doubles events. After some lunch and a quick nap, things went down hill for me in the second block. I thought I bowled pretty well but my carry percentage was about 30 percent and then I started doing everything I could and I ended up missing the cut by less then 30 pins. So, as you know, I was pretty mad I didn't get to bowl with someone.

I was lucky enough to be able to do the color commentary on the PBA's Xtra Frame broadcast for the doubles event that Tuesday night. It was a blast working with Jeff Mark, who does the play-by-play, and being able to talk about the match ups. When it came down to it, the position round was very exciting in determining who made the show, as well as what happened on the show last week. Wow. Talk about entertainment and nail-biting finishes. Congrats to Mike Fagan on winning his first title and Danny Wiseman on adding another to his impressive resume. My heart goes out to Ronnie Russell and Joe Ciccone. Joe has been in a position to win a few titles now and hasn't been able to close the deal. He bowled the best on the show for sure out of all the eight guys. I can only say this: his time is coming, and he is way too good to not win.

The week only got better because then it was time for the second Major of the year. These are the events everyone works toward and wants to win more then anything. It's like any sport. Majors are what matters the most. After practice session, I was really excited again. I had a good look and felt good about my chances to strike a bunch. Wednesday was practice day this week, and on Wednesday night we had our Tournament of Champions party. It used to be a draw party where you picked who you were going to bowl. This year is different as we changed to a round robin format and added some PBA Hall of Famers and past champions to the field. We were all given a nice framed poster of all 54 competitors. I am a big collector of bowling memorabilia, so I started having everyone sign it. I was surprised about how many others did the same after I started this.

I made the first cut and stayed near the top five the entire time. How well you score in match play and winning matches is everything. I started the first round off with a 5-3 record, but game eight changed a lot of things for me. I left a ringing 10-pin against Randy Pedersen. Yeah, he even got to bowl and still knows how to strike. The 10-pin cost me moving up to second and it hurt because I bowled Ryan Shafer in the next match on one of the worst pairs in the bowling center. I lost to Ryan and drop to sixth. So instead of bowling for first going into the final nine games, I was sixth and 50 off the show.

The second block that night was good to start, but then I had another shot that was make-or-break. I left a 4-9 split to lose by three pins and it hurt pretty bad. I shot 202 and the scoring pace was 230. The next couple games I got punished by my opponents and I didn't shoot over 200. So with three games to go, I was 250 pins from the show. Like I said, winning matches is everything out here on Tour. Plus, you can't let these guys run away, because they are good at doing it.

I felt good after the night was over because the third-to-last game I struck out to beat PBA Hall of Famer, Pete Weber, by one pin. Then I doubled to beat Wes Malott by three pins and I tied Randy again, 257-257. I finished in 11th place and missed the show by 120 pins. The guys that made the show – Pete Weber, Ryan Shafer, Chris Barnes and Michael Haugen Jr. – struck a ton and won matches. The position round game was pretty darn exciting yet again. Pete Weber, Michael Machuga and Parker Bohn III all started with the front six and all were trying to get to the top four to make the show. Randy and I couldn't strike fast enough to watch the final four frames. When it was all said and done, Parker needed a double and left a blower 10-pin on his second ball in the 10th to miss the show by one pin.

The show was just awesome. The first match with Pete Weber and Ryan Shafer ended with Pete needing a double. He threw it great but it was a ringing-10. Then you see Chris Barnes come on and shoot 257 and looked confident, as always. Now it was the title match with Michael Haugen Jr. who had the best look the past couple days.

I am sure you all saw the show, and if you didn't, it was one of the best comebacks ever. It was a show that Chris and Michael will both never forget. The greatest thing that happened was that it proved nothing is over until it's over. For all of you Barnes Bashers, I've got some stuff you should know. Chris has put himself in the spot to win more than anyone on Tour the last few years (even more than the guy we call the greatest: Walter Ray Williams Jr.) and keeps doing it week in and week out. Look at WRW before he started winning a lot in the 90's. He has almost as many second-place finishes as he does wins. Earl Anthony is the same way: 43-42 wins and losses in title matches. Pete has made a number of shows and not won. It is a part of sports. Someone has to win, someone has to lose.

Chris will win more than his fair share and will surpass his second-place finishes. He has got a lot of years left on Tour unless he decides to retire, which a lot of us would hope he does. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would love to have that many chances to win than not.

So, for the week of bowling, we got to watch two amazing shows where matches came down to the 10th frame. There were some key misses and some great shots down the stretch from both the T of C show and the doubles show. It goes to show you how many great athletes we have on Tour.

The weekend was filled for me after bowling was over. I was able to go see my first actual show in Las Vegas. I think I have been there 35 times and finally got to go see a great show with my girlfriend, Sara, my best friend Kevin, his friend Kirsten, Mike Wolfe and his fiancé Abby. We watched the show called Mystere at Treasure Island. I recommend going to see it if you get the chance to.

So, a great week bowling, a lot of fun gambling and hanging out in the city of Las Vegas. The Sin City was good to me. I've got to say one thing, I never thought in all my times in Las Vegas I would see the Monte Carlo up in flames. It burned for about 35 minutes and it got everyone's attention. I hope everyone that was in the hotel is safe and the hotel gets up and running soon.

With the week over, I was able to go home for a few days. I hadn't been home in 40 days and was it great to sleep in my own bed. I bowled league Monday night and was able to spend time with some great friends. I slept in all day Tuesday and then it was time to work around the house. \ I never thought I had so much mail, but everyone likes to try and get you to get a credit card. Haha. After going through my mail and paying bills, it was time to pack again for Phoenix, Ariz. I was off to the Super Bowl. I left Wednesday and had a charity bowling event that day. It was called the NFL Retired Special Olympics event. There were lots of hall of famers from every sport, and a lot of Special Olympic athletes. This was awesome walking down and getting their autographs, throwing a few balls and just being there. I have to say thanks to Brunswick for letting me be a part of this great event. Let me tell you, it only gets better.

On Thursday night I had committed to another Super Bowl bowling event with Strike Ten entertainment. I was there with Team USA member Shannon O'Keefe. Chris Barnes was supposed to come but wasn't able to make it because of a sick family member. What a day it was. I went golfing in the morning since the bowling function didn't start until 7 p.m. After hitting the white ball everywhere, I headed to the bowl.

To my surprise, there were legends everywhere. Lynn Swan was the biggest name unless you think Michael Irvin is bigger or Tony Dorsett. That is just a few to name. Shannon and I were there to give bowling tips and throw a few shots. We also had Michael Haugen Jr. show up since he lives close by.

The bowlers there were a blast. They knew who we were and when they asked for our autographs, it made the football players realize we were also professional athletes. It was a great feeling.

We did some interviews, helped some people with their game and had a blast. I want to say thank you to Frank DeSocio and Strike 10, AMF, USBC, PBA, Brunswick and all the other sponsors for letting us come to this event.

It was a long night so I headed home to get some sleep because I was invited to golf Friday morning with Anheuser Busch. Friday morning came early and we had a frost delay so we teed off late but the weather couldn't have gotten any better. I shot 78 and, yes, I have witnesses. This is one of my best rounds ever. I am normally a 12 to 14 handicap meaning I would shoot 85 or so.

Once we were done with golf, we headed to the hotel where the Anheuser Busch people were staying for the Super Bowl. To my surprise, Fox Sports was also there. I saw stars like Jimmy Johnson, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and many others. A guy who I consider a friend now, works for Anheuser and he asked me if I wanted to go to the Snoop Dogg concert that night and to the Kid Rock concert on Saturday. I said, "of course." He was able to get me VIP passes to where Anheuser Busch had a building to themselves.

The Snopp Dogg and Kid Rock concerts were awesome. There had to be around 5,000 people at both events, if not more. Anheuser had people all over. I can't say thanks enough to Bob, Toad and Rich for all they did for me while I was in Phoenix.

Saturday was a rest day for me during the day until I went to the Kid Rock concert. I stayed out for a bit but knew I needed some sleep for Super Bowl Sunday. I found out Thursday evening I was going to the game. My boss was leaving town and got a ticket from Busch so I got his ticket. I have to say thanks to my boss, Warren Hardie. What a lucky break I got.

Super Bowl Sunday: I can't explain what it's like to be at an event like this. Being a big sports fan, I really want to go to one of each great major sporting event, like the Super Bowl, World Series, etc. Well, check one off the list.

The bus to the game was leaving at 11:30 a.m. which was four hours before the game started. We pre-gamed for 3 ½ hours by the time we got there. Anheuser had a pre-game party set up just for us. When we left the hotel, we had police escorts, which was pretty cool. In the pre-game, there was food and of course the best beer in the business – Budweiser Products – as well as interviews from past players like Jim Brown, Tim Brown, Warren Moon, and many others…

I finally walked over to the game about an hour early. What a stadium. This field actually slides back and forth. It was pretty remarkable. It also has a retractable roof, but the roof was closed because of rain in the morning.

If you missed the game, you missed one of the best Super Bowl games ever. It all came down to the 4th quarter; just what you want in a game of this magnitude. Eli Manning threw a touchdown pass with 35 seconds left to win the Super Bowl for the New York Giants and end a season that is considered one of the greatest ever for the New England Patriots.

After the game, we went back to the hotel where the party was on for Fox and Anheuser. I had to leave early because I needed to catch a flight back to Wichita.

I leave with thanks to everyone involved during last week. I know I will miss some names but here I will try.

Thank you to Don Jones and Warren Hardie from Brunswick for letting me part of the events, Frank DeSocio for Thursday night, Strike 10, Pepsi, AMF and all the people from Anheuser, and my new friends from Fox and Hound as well.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Rash and Michael Irvin

Rash and James Lofton

Rash and Lynn Swann

Rash's Super Bowl Ticket

The view from Rash's Super Bowl seats

PBA Motel 6 Dick Weber Open
By: Sean Rash

What a week in Fountain Valley, California. For everyone who works 9-to-5 and lives in the cold during the winter, I recommend a nice vacation to sunny Southern California. After a long week in Oregon, where it wasn't very warm, it was nice to travel to California on Monday. I got off the plane and had to get rid of the winter coat and find my shorts and sunglasses.

Monday was travel day this week and what a hectic day. I went to get my rental car and when I got to the hotel and the oil was leaking. So, I figure, no big deal. Well, I go to the bowl to unload bowling balls and when I get there, my oil light and engine light are on and smoke is coming from the engine. Time to get some oil and head back to get another rental car. Off to a bad start to the week but it got better. I'm staying at a local hotel for the night before a group of us get to check in to a beach house down in Huntington Beach.

Tuesday is practice day this week because the format is the old retro style format, in honor of Dick Weber, who the tournament is named after. We bowl 15 games of qualifying and then cut to the top 24 for round robin match play. I felt pretty darn good with my look on the lanes. The scoring pace was going to be low and I feel I am a good spare shooter. After practice we went down to check in to our beach house. Like I said, vacations are meant for everyone once in awhile. Time to head to the store and buy food for the week. We get to have some home cooking from the guys staying at the house.

Six guys are staying at the beach house compared to 14 last year: Brian Kretzer, Brian Himmler, Dennis Horan Jr., Eddie Graham, Steve Harman and me. Tonight was an early night since I have A Squad this week and we have to bowl at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Wednesday was a very early morning. I got some breakfast and headed off to the bowl. With the look I had in practice, I wouldn't have thought it would be so bad. I bowled 130-under for five games. This was caused by split after split. When you get lost out here and try to make it work on a hard pattern, your score is going to be affected by it. Let me tell you, mine took it bad.

Going into the night block, I was going to need to bowl a lot over and try and get a check. My second block was at 7 p.m. and I was excited to bowl because it was on the break down from bowling after B squad, which bowled on fresh oil. I bowled pretty darn well but it wasn't enough for me to get me anywhere. I used a combination of balls: anywhere from a Brunswick Blast Zone to Brunswick Twisteds, to Furys and Vapor Zones. This was just not a good day in an event where you want to make the show because of who it's named after: the great Dick Weber. Since we had a huge break between squads, I went back to the beach house and walked around, took some pictures and enjoyed the sun. I took a small nap as well and I called it a day after my second block.

Thursday is another day of being on the fresh oil and with the bad day I had Wednesday, I was not excited to bowl on the fresh again. But I was determined to bowl well, make good decisions and get to even or to a cash spot. I bowled well enough to get to even and had a great time but no match play this week for me. Since I was done for the week, it was time to enjoy the sun and the nice weather for the rest of the week. We had a great dinner Thursday night. Some of the guys and I headed to the pier for some night life.

Friday was a day of resting and booking airline tickets for the rest of the season. Since I didn't make the cut, I had a lot of time to do whatever I wanted. After all of us at the house got ready, we decided to relax, enjoy the sun some more and watch TV. It was very slow day today. I wish I could live here every day and not do anything. I did take a walk around today because the other night we were told Dennis Rodman had a home nearby. It was painted pink, too.

Saturday was Pro-Am day this week, too, but since I didn't cash, I didn't have any Pro-Ams this week. Once the guys in our house who cashed came home from their Pro-Am, we went to the pier and had some lunch. It was 65 degrees, the sun was shining. What else can you ask for? I can say that I have never seen so many people walk around in my life. People walking two or three miles to go eat or just relax and enjoy the beautiful weather. Can you tell yet that I enjoyed Southern California? I didn't do much tonight because I had a flight somewhat early to Viva Las Vegas.

Travel again. Sundays are for bowling, but today, since I'm not on the show, I am off to Las Vegas. We got to the airport early enough to watch the first couple matches on TV. Congrats to Mike Scroggins for running the ladder to win his fourth Denny's PBA Tour title, and to the other guys on the show - Chris Barnes, Jack Jurek, Tommy Delutz Jr, and Pete Weber. I don't have a lot to say about the show or how they got there besides bowling extremely well. This week was about patience, not trying to throw a six-bagger every game and getting every single pin possible.

The hardest part, of course, on any show is winning matches but I've got to say, Pete might have been under more pressure or been more nervous then he had been in his Hall of Fame career since he was trying to win the event named after his father. Some say Pete's career has been overshadowed by his legendary father but he has plenty to be proud of with his career. We have all had our ups and downs but he, for sure, has had more ups than downs. His biggest up, in my opinion, is being a great person, one of the greatest athletes our sport has ever seen, and of course being part of a great family. I leave you with this: thank you Dick Weber and the entire Weber family for everything you have done for the sport of bowling. You truly inspire young kids like me to live our dreams and achieve things most people only dream of.

See you in Vegas!

PBA Earl Anthony Medford Classic
Weekly Blog
By: Sean Rash

What a week in Medford, Ore. This is by far the favorite stop for the players on Tour. We truly feel like athletes in Medford. Ric Donnelly and his staff do everything and more when we are in town. We have news coverage every day whether it's TV, radio or the newspaper.

The beginning of the week dealt with traveling which is always fun. I left Reno on Monday and had a small delay waiting on my plane. My girlfriend had a three-hour delay flying to Chicago because of the weather. They ended up having rain and tornadoes and it was 65 in Chicago. 65 in January! Well, thank goodness we made our connection. A couple of short flights and we are here.

On Tuesday evening, Parker Bohn III, P.J. Haggerty and Ric Hamlin from Brunswick and I went over to Roxy Anne Lanes and did a small coaching clinic and trick shot exhibition with some of the high schools bowlers in town. After three hours of fun and laughs, it was time for a good dinner.

Wednesday was very long for me. I had told a few friends I would come up and watch them bowl in the Tour Qualifying Round. I got up and ate breakfast and headed to the bowl. When I got there, I spoke to my ball rep Rick Benoit and we decided to drill a few Brunswick Twisted Furys. I watched some of the TQR and decided to head back and rest for awhile. I was not feeling good. I thought I had gotten over my cold/flu in Reno but it turned out I was wrong. I practiced for awhile and went back to sleep.

We were bowling on Cheetah, which is one of my favorite patterns and I knew I was going to bowl well. Thursday was really long though. I didn't have a lot of energy because my body felt so weak. I've never had so much medicine in me in my life. After the two rounds I was ninth overall and my first match would be against Michael Haugen Jr. During qualifying, I used Twisted Furys and Pearl Furys and experimented with a few other balls.

Single elimination match play is, in my mind, awesome. There's drama and intensity, and shot-making in each game is so crucial. My match against Michael was just this. Both of us had a good game plan and new what the other guy was going to do as well.
After four games I was down three-games-to-one and looked to be going home. In game five, I was searching, but because of the other matches around me I was able to learn a few things. I moved right and threw the last seven strikes to force a game six. I was lucky, as well, because Michael left a 2-4-10 split to give me an opportunity. Well, the match turned and I ended up winning in seven games. Mike bowled great. It comes down to getting a few breaks here and there.

My next match was against Mika Koivuniemi. This was like déjà vu. I bowled Mika in Merrillville in the Round of 16 and Haugen in the Round of 8. Well, the match against Mika was very interesting. I knew I would have to beat him at his game on one of his best patterns. Mika is known for being able to play up the lane better then most, an area I keep working on every week. I ended up winning the match in six games. I felt this was one of the best matches I had ever bowled. I knew my moves, the ball changes to go to and the way we would both break the lanes down.

The Round of 8 match… well, I can say I wish it would have been Saturday. What a mess I was. I never could get anything going. It might have been the worst match I ever bowled in my life. So in a period of eight hours, I bowled the best and worst I've felt, ever. I bowled Wes Malott, the eventual champion. Wes and I were one of the featured matches for the PBA's Xtra Frame video service. It didn't turn to be a great match as Wes swept me.

Going into the match I felt I had a good chance to win, but I was wrong. I had bad ball reaction, I was still feeling sick and nothing went right. I won't go into it much, but the lanes played differently in the Round of 8 more then I had ever imagined. I will leave it at that. I am sure there are reasons for it but that isn't for me to discuss on here.

After a long hard day, I went into the restaurant and got some dinner, played pool for a couple hours and went to bed. It's a little depressing not making a show. I know if I keep knocking on the door, it will open and I will make another show soon. I've made three Round of 8s and made no shows out of those three opportunities. It can only get better.

Saturday was Pro-Am day. My Pro-Am wasn't until 3 p.m., which was a great time since I was feeling the way I was. I apologize to my fans that I wasn't more talkative but it was probably best for them. I hope I didn't get anyone sick. I was supposed to bowl the 6 p.m. Calcutta Pro-Am as well but with how I was feeling, I went to bed. I knew my body needed some rest. All week, I was in bed at 10 p.m. and up at 7 a.m. I slept a lot which was good for my body.

Sunday was show day. It was Wes and three lefties. I haven't talked much about the other tournaments, but I will say this. If this week would have been a round robin. We would have had an all lefty affair again. The PBA is trying to lower the scoring pace and it has worked in qualifying, but on the shorter patterns where there is lower volume of oil, the left side is walking all over us.

I won't go into much more than that but it is hard to compare the right to the left because of the transition, the amount of play, rev rates, etc…It will be a continuing battling that no one will ever win.

Congrats to Wes on a great week. I truly felt if I would have beaten him, I would have been able to do the same thing on the show that he did and win as well. Time will tell when I get to TV again.

Well, thanks for everything again to Ric and his staff at Lava Lanes. You truly do it right and I can say on behalf of the players, THANKS…Off to Fountain Valley, California and the good old Beach house this week. =)