Saturday, 10:25 p.m.

Dear Diary ...

OK, so check this out.
 
We left the hotel at 8:15 this morning to go to the bowling center for the final day of action. It was a long one, considering the USBC was combining the singles and team championships into one day and this morning held the men's individual semifinals and finals with the team title contested, and then did the same for the women.
 
So it was going to be a long day.
 
And then, in the middle of the women's singles championship …
 
Something happened. Apparently it was a loss of power to the TV truck, or some generator blew. Either way, there was a delay. A long, long delay. So long that as I write this, it's 10:06 p.m. and I'm not sure people are back from the bowling center yet.
 
But we do have champions.
 
Wichita State's Geoffrey Young and Newman's Georgia Drewes won the singles titles.
 
Webber International – the team Pikeville beat in consecutive matches to claim the NAIA title on April Fool's Day – not only won the women's title but took the men's crown as well.
 
It wasn't a complete loss for the locals. Kim Yioulos won the sportsmanship award, which tells you about all you need to know about the character she has.
 
This morning I went in for to watch Lucas Hohnstein and sat with Kim's father. Talk about a good guy; I've gotten to know him pretty well the last several years and I enjoy talking with him. Plus he's a baseball guy.
 
When I turned to my right, I noticed my neighbor there was wearing a Boise State cap. Knowing Lucas is from Boise, I asked if he was with Lucas. “Yes I am,” he said. “He's my son.”
 
Talk about a good guy. He was a typical father – more nervous than Lucas. He seemed pretty calm, but I could tell by his reaction as his son delivered what would be his first strike of the game that he was as shaken as he'd said.
 
It was an honor to sit with him and watch his son. Lucas had a shot. He bowled well despite a shaky start and put pressure on Joe Steiner before the junior from Midland settled down just in time for the win.
 
These two, by the way, were very complimentary of each other. I've been doing this long enough to know the smell of, well, let's say dishonesty. They gained a lot of respect for each other as the season progressed and throughout the week.
 
Consider this – these guys bowled all day Tuesday to reach this point. They left the center knowing who they'd be facing.
 
And they've waited for three long days. To top things off, they'd eaten together, practiced together and hung out together.
 
It seems to have produced a nice friendship.
 
And so, it has ended. Tomorrow we will get up and head out at 6 local time for the drive home. We'll reach Pikeville sometime between 10 and midnight – I'm guessing closer to the latter – and another year of the ITCs will be behind us.
 
It's been a lot of fun. I've enjoyed my week with these ladies and getting to see some familiar faces I pretty well only see at this event each year.
 
And I've enjoyed this blog. It's been a while since we've done this, and I wasn't sure if the powers that be would appreciate it. But they seem to have accepted it and you seem to have enjoyed it. As usual, the ladies have, and for me, that's all that really matters.
 
It's a great time each year, and we're glad to have brought this back.
 
I want to thank all sorts of people, but I'll limit it to this – to Bruuuuuuuuuuce for the caricature, to Luuuuuuuuuc and Steph for covering the press conference for me on Thursday, to you, the readers, and to the folks that will be on that bus with me in the morning.
 
It has been, as always, my pleasure. It's a true labor of love. Nobody and I mean nobody loves our school as much as I do. It's been fun shining the spotlight on our ladies and Lucas for a week.
 
So until the next time, as they say in the lanes … Go UPIKE! Woooo!

---

Friday, April 20, 11:22 p.m.

Dear Diary …
 
OK, earlier today I promised you something to lighten the mood. To that end, I'd like you to meet one of our bowlers. Ladies and gentlemen, Brandy Hensley.
 
Brandy and I have been friends since we met at last year's national tournament. I can't say that for sure we met that week, but I do know that's when the friendship blossomed.
 
The best thing for me about being here is Ron often lets me be his “assistant coach,” which puts me in the pit with the team. As such, I get to know these young ladies pretty well. My goal being with them is to keep the mood loose. If I think the tension is getting too thick, I try to say something funny to make them smile.
 
And then there's Brandy.
 
Before I proceed, let me tell you a few things about Brandy. She is a junior from Corpus Christi, Texas. She was named First-Team All-American by the NAIA and Honorable Mention All-American by the coaches' association.
 
And she's an Academic All-American according to both the NAIA and the USBC. She's really smart, and on top of that, a very sweet young lady. She's the kind of girl you'd love for your daughter to be.
 
But, like me, she looks at the world a little differently. I've always said that as a columnist, you have to look at things differently. If not, every story from the Super Bowl would be the same. The goal is to find your own angle.
 
Brandy would be a great one.
 
I'm sharing these stories or one-liners about her so that you, too, can share her humor. When it began, I thought we'd have a little fun at her expense. But I quickly learned she's so sharp that she's in on the joke.
 
So here are a few things from her. All of these are true – I swear on my columnist card – and most have come about since we were together for the NAIA tournament, which ended April 1:
 

• Here's where it started. When I got to the NAIA banquet, the entire team waved me over to their table. As I sat down and dove headlong into a salad – let's just say it had been a while since I'd eaten, or that I really like really small salads – they began to tell me what had just happened. Brandy was completely focused on something on the table. For minutes she pondered. And then she asked, “Why is this ice cream on a piece of lettuce, and why isn't it melting?” The ice cream in question? Not ice cream at all. Butter.

• She then shared this beauty with me. On her way to the team's qualifying last fall, which happened at 6 a.m., she was riding to the bowling center with assistant coach Brittani Scruggs-Barber when she saw a sign. “Look, moose crossing,” she said. “Wait … what's the plural of moose? Is it mooses or meese?”

• One recent night Brandy and some of her teammates were enjoying ice cream (apparently, it was the real ice cream too). Out of nowhere, Brandy spoke up. “I like spoons.”

• One afternoon she walked out of the dorm. “Look, the sky – it's blue!”

 
The following have happened this week alone:
 

• “When I was a little girl I had Curly Temple hair.” (Was it curly like the childhood actress or none-existent like the former Harlem Globetrotter?)

• “It throws me off when people put 'K's' in the middle of a word.”

• “Can people with ADD drive a Ford Focus?”

• “That's hilarious. It's the opposite of low-larious.” (I must admit, I always think of Bill Watson on that last part)

• “I'm lumpy.”

 
My only hope here is that Brandy doesn't think I'm making sport of her. I'm definitely not. She truly makes me laugh. And friends, there aren't enough people laughing these days.
 

---

Friday, April 20, 2:50 p.m.

Dear Diary …
 
And so it has ended, this run of fantastic bowing by the UPIKE women. National finishes of seventh place are nothing to sneeze at, particularly when they include a national-championship run on your natural level. It's truly been another successful season for the women of Pikeville.
 
We will turn our attention now to Lucas Hohnstein, the freshman who has reached the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Singles Championship. He's trying to become the third Pikeville individual to win a national title and the second in bowling, following the title taken by Jennifer Wright a few years ago.
 
Here's a look at the breakdown for the Bears in the ITCs, which worked out pretty well for a breakdown. After bowling 24 Baker Games, the Bears bowled exactly 24 more in the tournament portion.
 
In 240 frames of qualification, the Bears had 102 strikes, which means they struck 42.5 percent of the time. However, they left 42 frames open, which is 17.5 percent. Most coaches want that to be in the 10 percent range, so the team had a few more than they hoped.
 
That's probably why Ron Damron and I concluded that even though the Bears were seeded third in the tournament they hadn't bowled up to the lofty expectations we had for them. We expected a few more filled frames.
 
Now, for the tournament.
 
In 240 frames there, the Bears were down to 95 strikes, or 39.6 percent. Still, not too terribly bad. But the open frames were up to 45, or 18.8 percent.
 
It's no surprise that All-American Kim Yioulos had 46 strikes in the tournament to lead the Bears. She left only nine frames open in her 96 tries.
 
Senior Natasha Martin followed with 39 strikes, all from her position as the leadoff bowler. Sophomore Christina Halen had 38, while junior Brandy Hensley had 30.
 
Senior Megan Kyle, who bowled the fewest frames of the starters on Thursday because of an injured back she's been nursing since before the NAIA tournament, still rolled 29 strikes. Off the bench freshman Brianna Larson had 10 strikes, sophomore Ashley Copley finished with four and senior Chelsea Gilliam added one.
 
From here, the team will head out Saturday morning in support of Hohnstein, the Boise product who has supported them all week as be resumes play at 9 a.m. local time. After Saturday afternoon's championships, the team and family members will hold their annual end-of-season dinner at a local eatery here before heading back home early Sunday morning.
 
Until then, continue to check back. We'll lighten the mood a little sometime later on and update you on how Hohnstein progresses in his quest for a title.
 
See you soon.
 


---

Thursday, April 19, 8:30 a.m.

Dear Diary …
 
Well, we've arrived. The Sun Valley Lanes is already packed and, at the time of my writing we're still an hour away from getting started.
 
Remember, there is a new format this season. I'm going to run through it for you, with all times Eastern (this is you, Pikeville):
 

• 9:45 a.m. – Qualifying Rounds begin. There will be six of them, four games each, and will wrap up at 3:45 p.m.

 

• 3:45 – Competition Break. This is loosely translated to re-oiling of the lanes, but most importantly, it's lunch for the competitors and the rest of us

 

• 5:45 – Round One of Match Play. This is the biggest change in the tournament this year. The qualifying is only 24 Baker games this year and the first two rounds will be held this evening.

 

• 7:30 – Round Two of Match Play. After this, four teams will be eliminated and four will be 2-0.

 
It'll be over after that for the night, with the third round resuming at 9:15 a.m. Friday.
 
So here's the thing about today. The important thing isn't how you do in qualifying. The important thing is being 2-0 when you leave tonight. Falling into the “contender's bracket,” as it's called, in the early rounds can be suicide in this tournament. Much like the Bears did in the NAIA last month, the key is to move on in the winner's bracket as long as possible.
 
In fact, in the two years the Bears have won this event, they haven't lost. They ran through their bracket unbeaten and then didn't lose in their best-of-three championship. The worst that has happened in either championship season was a tie in game two of the championship and beat Wichita 2.5 to 0.5.
 
It'll be a great day. Back there in Pikeville the Hillbillies have taken over, and our here bowling parents have overrun the bowling center. Announcements have been made all morning to squeeze in as tightly as possible in the seating area, and from the looks of the crowd it is indeed possible that, for at least the first time in my nine years here, the center may actually have to turn away fans from this event.
 
College bowling is a big event, and one of the most exciting things I attend all season. With Sun Valley Lanes being a smaller house, it's going to be a wild day.
 
We should have links to the live video feed and the scoring updates. Follow along, and we'll be back a little later.
 
The Bears have a legit shot at winning the tournament again this year. Let's sit back and relax and enjoy the ride.
 
And if someone can grab me a big fat polish sausage, I'd appreciate it.


---

Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 p.m.

Dear Diary …
 
Wednesday is a slow day here at the ol' Intercollegiate Team Championships. After two days of driving, the team had today to get their legs back under them and get ready for the Banquet of Champions before the action commences bright and early on Thursday.
 
Speaking of that, the ITCs has had a change of format this year. Instead of spending Thursday with 32 Baker games to seed the teams, the qualifying has been reduced to 24 games this year.
 
Then, after a break for lunch and the re-oiling of the lanes, the first two rounds of the tournament will be held before the evening ends. This means that four teams in both the women's and men's draw will be eliminated on Thursday.
 
Apparently all that will be left on Saturday will be the finals, which will be taped and shown next month on CBS Sports Network.
 
Now, for the purposes of those who are interested in all things eaten on our trips, lunch today was at Panera Bread, which is a couple of blocks down the street from our headquarters here at the Holiday Inn in downtown Lincoln. My steak & white cheddar Panini was good but nowhere near the potato soup.
 
Prior to that, we went by the bowling center where the ladies checked in their equipment for the week. It gave me the opportunity to get a feel for Sun Valley Lanes, which is the smallest center in which the nationals have been held since I started coming in 2004. It is a 32-lane house, and with 32 teams in the event, it'll be a full house all day Thursday.
 
It's also possible that the seating could be at capacity, and there was talk that it may be limited and people could be turned away. It will be interesting to see.
 
The best part of going to the tournament is the way Ron Damron is treated here. After the NAIA championships last month, I wrote in my newspaper column that coming to the tournament with Ron is like walking into the Grammy's with Mick Jagger. He's the rock star of this event.
 
Now, friends, let me share with you one of the dozens of reasons he's held in such regard.
 
At the NAIA tournament, the Bears had just reached the finals of the event by eliminating Ashford (Iowa), a second-year program that the Bears had beaten on Saturday to send it to the “contender's” bracket.
 
At the NAIA event, the bowling center didn't have Internet access, so I was doing one release a day, adding to it after each round. As I sat a couple of pairs down from where we were bowling, I was angled in the opposite direction as I wrote.
 
Reggie Overton, the director of athletics, had stopped by to speak, and said to me, “Look at this.” He pointed me in the direction of the Ashford team, five freshmen and a sophomore, and its coach.
 
And Ron Damron.
 
The Pikeville coach, who had just eliminated them, had stopped by where they sat. He was offering them encouragement, telling them to keep their chins up, giving them a pep talk as he would his very own team in such a situation.
 
The ladies on the team were thrilled. It was the equivalent of John Wooden or Bear Bryant talking to an opponent after their team had pulled out a last-second win which, by the way, was the case as Kim Yioulos won the fifth and deciding game by one pin with a strike on the fill ball.
 
And how do I know how it pleased them?
 
Fast forward to last week. I was out trying to get ready for this trip when I got an email from Ron. He was forwarding me a message from the father of one of the bowlers, who had written to thank him for his kind words to his daughter's team.
 
He talked glowingly of Ron, how the players were still talking about it and the kind things he said about them. He said he was sure this would still have an impact on them when practice starts next season.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, Ron Damron, Rock Star.
 
And now, we await the All-American teams to be announced at the banquet, and then for the first ball to be thrown in the tournament on Thursday morning. Some 16 men's and 16 women's teams will battle it out for three days until one of each is crowned champion of all for 2012.
 
Could that team be the Bears? We'll know in about 72 hours.

---

Wednesday, April 17, 2:30 p.m.

Dear Diary ...
 
So in the spring of 2003, Ron Damron returned from his third straight trip to the national bowling tournament with a proposal for me, his SID and assistant AD.
 
“You should really go to the nationals with us next year,” he said. “You'd really enjoy it.”
 
The prospects of an exciting bowling tournament, while foreign to me at the time, piqued my couriosity. “OK, then,” I said, remembering that he was also the boss. “Next year, I'm in.”
 
And so it is that I welcome you to my ninth straight trip to the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships. This time, we come to you from Lincoln, Neb., home of the event this spring.
 
In the interim, I've been around for three national titles and have learned one simple fact of life: Ron was right. I needed to come along for the nationals. And about one more thing.
 
This is one of the most exciting events I've ever seen.
 
Picture this: An 80-lane bowling center with 32 collegiate bowling teams from across the country. And their friends. And their parents.
 
Bleachers will line it from one end to another. And, for three days, they will be full of screaming, cheering fans.
 
I can tell you this with all honesty – I love this event. It's the highlight of my calendar each year. For a week I get to go along for the ride with Ron, someone I truly enjoy, and eight or so of our best and brightest students.
 
And, of course, his wife Shella, who happened to be my freshman English teacher at Millard High School and helped change the course of my life.
 
Which brings us to this section of our Website, and our trip. In 2001, the men's basketball team went to the national tournament for the first time since 1976. I convinced the powers that be to allow me to write a diary to help document the journey. As it turned out, it was quite a trip – we reached the semifinals of the tournament that year.
 
As it turned out, there was a greater market for this diary than even I anticipated. As it turned out, folks back home were interested in what we were doing, where we were eating, and the odd things we were experiencing.
 
So since then, I've been doing this when we get to national tournaments, or other events, such as a cruise we took a couple of years ago.
 
And so, today we will begin the journey. To this point, I can tell you a summary of what you missed: An amazing sendoff on campus that the ladies truly enjoyed. A stop in Louisville for dinner where we received another sendoff from two of the Bears' biggest fans, Hal and Karen Smith. A night in Fairview Heights, Ill. And, to this point, five movies and the showing of that 2004 national title.
 
Oh, yes, about those three words I dropped in that last sentence. “To this point.” I'm writing this on the bus. We just ate in some town in Missouri and, as I look up, are passing the exit for Missouri State College.
 
We're heading toward Kansas City, where we'll apparently head north and land in Lincoln sometime this evening. The bowling begins on Thursday.
 
Speaking of bowling, the senior Chelsea Gilliam got a little help from senior Kim Yioulos to develop a collection of terms that will help you as you follow our progress this week. Consider it your own personal dictionary of all things bowling.
 
Ready? Here we go:
 

• Strike. Knocking down all 10 pins with one roll of the ball. This, obviously, is the goal\
• Spare. Knocking down all 10 pins with two rolls of the ball. This is called “filling frames,” which is the key to winning the 2012 ITCs
• Open. Failing to either strike or spare in a frame. Open frames will send you home early in a collegiate bowling tournament
• Double. Two strikes in a row.
• Turkey. Three strikes in a row.
• Hambone. Four strikes in a row.
• Split. Two or more pins with space between them, such as the famous, and nearly impossible to pick up, 7-10 split, where the pins on either end of the back row are left standing
• Washout. A form of a split where you leave the 1-2-4-10 or the 1-3-6-7, depending upon which hand you throw with.
• Baker Games. Here's the key to what we're doing. Collegiate bowling will use the Baker format this week. It makes an individual sport such as bowling the ultimate team concept. Five bowlers are used in each game. One rolls frames 1 & 6, another 2 & 7, 3 & 8, 4 & 9 and 5 & 10.
• Leadoff. The bowler that rolls frames 1 & 6.
• Anchor. The bowler that rolls frames 5 & 10.
• Fill ball. After the anchor either rolls a strike or spare in the 10^th frame, he or she will throw one more ball to complete the game's scoring.
• Match. After the qualifying round, the teams will be seeded 1-16 where they will play a best-of-seven match to see who advances. It's a double-elimination tournament, which means when you lose two rounds, you're eliminated.

 
There are others, many others, but those will get you started. Please check back in with us as we compete. Look for that wonderful drawing of me – well, the amazing Bruce Parsons did the best he could with what he had to work with – and check in for the latest and greatest from this tournament.
 
It's going to be a great week as we search for the final term in the dictionary of bowling:
 

• Champion.

 
Let's do this!