Here is my report of the second round of the PBA Medford Open. I started the 2nd block in a tie for 46th place at +116 which was 39 pins short of 32nd. I expected the number to go up to +280 or so by the end of the additional 9 games. I started the block using my dull low particle ball (#0271) and playing fairly straight and firm up 10. I had decided that the scores the first day didn't jump up as much as I thought, so if I could throw the ball decently I might be able to sneak into the top 32 going straight. If my reaction wasn't as good as I thought it needed to be I could always jump inside and hook it like everybody else. The first game was good as I started with the front 5 strikes before pulling the ball through the nose for a 6 pin. I added another double before leaving another 6 pin to shoot 247. The 2nd game wasn't too bad as I had 2 doubles and picked up the 2-4-5-8 for 211. In game 3 I missed the 2-4-5 in the 2nd frame when I was a bit right on my spare shot and the 2 pin sailed around the 4 pin for an open. I came back with a double before leaving a couple of 10 pins. I then had my thumb grip slip while I was getting ready to throw my 7th frame and ended up switching to a polished low particle ball and had a turkey to help shoot 213. In game 4 I missed the 4-6 split after a 4 bagger and then added a double to shoot 225. In game 5 the lanes hooked just a pinch more and I kept yanking the ball. Unfortunately I had 3 opens when I left the 6-7-10, 7-10 and 4-6-7 on high shots. I did manage a double and a turkey in the 10th frame to at least shoot 181. Game 6 was a good one as I started with a turkey, spared the 3-6-9-10 and added another turkey to shoot 234. Game 7 was another decent game as I again picked up the 3-6-9-10, had a turkey and a double to shoot 226. I had a little trouble in game 8 when I chopped the 3-9 off of the 3-6-9-10 spare. I was only able to get one double to shoot 191. The scores weren't going up quite as high as I expected when we started, so I figured that if I could shoot a 220+ game I would probably have enough to make the top 32. I made a bunch of really good shots for the first 9 frames, but 2 solid 10's, a rip 7 and a 4 pin kept me down to 2 doubles. I figured that in the 10th frame I needed a strike, but I pulled the ball to far and left the 3-10 baby split which I spared. I pulled my fill ball also leaving the 3-6 which gave me a 214 and +258 for the 18 games which turned out to be 4 pins short of 32nd. I had too many pulled shots for the day and one at the end at a crucial time. In the second round I had 55 strikes out of 100 shots. I had 2 strikes while missing the pocket, a tripped 2-4-5 in the 1st frame of the 2nd game and a tripped 2-8 in the 4th frame of the 4th game. I missed the pocket 28 times. My strike % on pocket shots was 53 out of 72 pocket shots or 74%. I had 6 opens. 4 were splits (4-6, 6-7-10, 7-10, 4-6-7) and 2 missed spares (2-4-5, 3-6-9-10). I picked up the 3-10 baby split, two 3-6-9-10's, two 2-4-5-8's, three 6-10's, 3-6, 4-7, 3-6-10. I didn't throw the ball quite as well as I think that I can, but my carry was better than when I was trying to hook the ball. So close, but not enough. Walter Ray