Jeff Lewis Subs For Us In States

Aloha: I had not seen Jeff Lewis for about two years, since the days he and I were being looked at to serve on the Board of Directors of our amateur tournament bowling club. I didn't know exactly what happened to him but I was asked to serve on the BOD and the next thing I knew, Jeff had gone into the hospital with a very serious disease. He had to have all his limbs amputated to save his life. I saw him several months ago when he briefly showed up at one of our tournaments and in talking with him, he said he was just about ready to make a comeback to bowling. I wished him luck and felt that with his positive attitude, he would be back sooner than any of us would believe.
Well, this past weekend, I bowled in the state tournament and through a snafu, one of our teammates wasn't going to be able to bowl. I immediately went to the front desk to ask them if there was anyone on the sub list and there was Jeff standing at the desk. I said Hi to Jeff and was talking to him when one of the tournament officials said, "well, here's Jeff who's been waiting for a chance to sub." I knew fate had something to do with it and did not hesitate to let him sub for us. To make a long story short, Jeff had an entering average of 100 and bowled way above his average - I believe his series was close to or over 400. Jeff is sure an inspiration. Please visit his website: http://www.dontworryaboutme.com to read his amazing story.

Buffalo (NY) Here She Comes?

Our champion bowler continues her march for titles. At the Pepsi Junior Bowler qualifying tournament, Mikela had games of 141 - 118 - 139 for a 399 series. With her average at 111, she had 240 handicap giving her a series of 638. The final results will not be known until later this week; but, she has a good chance to qualify for the Nationals that are to be held in Buffalo, NY in July. Notification letters are supposed to be sent to all qualifiers by Tuesday so we'll know by Thursday.

BTW, got myself a new ball from Visionary Bowling Products, a new company. My favorite ball driller, Sonny Eubanks at Glenfair Lanes, recommended it to me and I took his word for it. The ball is drilled to not hook as much as my Doom Hammer and it came in handy at Squaw Peak Lanes this past weekend in the 5-gamer. Because of Mikela's tournament, I did not plan to bowl until the last aquad so you can imagine that the lanes were pretty dry. I took the VBP "Ogre" and moved inside to the 17 board, tucked my hand under and had about a two or three o'clock hand position swinging about four boards. Shot a 1202 for the five games so I feel pretty good. Nowadays, I'm trying to adapt my game to being as flexible as possible meaning I will be using whatever ball, hand position, and inside- or outside line will work for that particular time.

Sunday, Julie and I traveled to Lake Havasu City to help with the one-day divisional tournament and as always, had an enjoyable time. The people in the "smaller" cities are so friendly and treat us special when we hold tournaments in their bowling centers. They certainly appreciate us going there to run tournaments for them.