Today was check in day--a chance to meet some of the folks that work at USBC and put faces to the names you see in paperwork, press releases and in USBC literature. Check-in was held in several ballrooms at the Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center. They had really great exhibits, from ball companies, to colleges, to different departments at HQ. There were plenty of free chatchkes to go around. The actual check-in was incredibly quick. I really appreciated the extra space at the convention center versus a hotel banquet room where everything's all smashed in together. Michael's been chosen to be one of the Jr. Gold bloggers, so he'll be posting on bowl.com too. Pretty cool for a first-year bowler.
Michael and Jeremy went to practice at Boca Bowl, and ended up being part of an unscheduled extra squad. With so many kids trying to get so much in, they had an overflow crowd at the site, and they bowled practice at 4:30. They observed at Tamarac, so they'll have an idea of where to play, and they'll practice there tomorrow, but they didn't get to bowl there. Last squad of practice they'll do is at University, since they'll bowl there for real on Monday morning. Big perk this year--lane graphs for all to see. Now just like the adults bowling USBC or the Women's Open, the kids and their families will be able to see how the lanes are actually dressed. Some kids can use the information, some won't, but it is available to all.
An interesting sideline--we ended up at Steak & Shake (it's probably a good thing they aren't in California..we'd be there too often), and watched a humongous thunderstorm pass through. We watched for a long while because it was coming down so hard, there was no way we were leaving the restaurant.
Posted by Angel Zobel-Rodriguez at July 8, 2006 08:58 PM