Behind the Numbers Part 4 - 2010 Citizen Masters
by Mike Ryan
Well it's finally over, a very long month of bowling, writing, speaking, organizing, and whatever else comes up. I can't thank enough for the support that the Citizen Newspaper and Wayne Bibbens has given to the tournament. Also the hours of service that Dan Pilat, David MacDonald, JT Locastro and Neale Baran, not to forget the rest of the Board of Directors like Mike Prior, Greg Walczyk, Rick Liccion, Jeff Matty, and Darrin Emperato volunteered toward running a successful tournament. You guys worked great together unselfishly toward one common goal, a professionally ran tournament. I would take this crew anywhere with me. Then there is my wife, Denise, who when they say: “behind every man is a better woman”, they must've had a camera in my house somewhere when they came up with that one. She supported me in every way possible and pointed me in the right direction when I needed it most.
I have to say that the final eight bowlers represented nothing less than first class and made the final weekend one of the most memorable ever. I'm not surprised that Greg Spinelli made it to the final match as I watched him throughout the tournament. The focus that I saw in him told me right where he was heading. He was relaxed, happy and supportive of his opponents every weekend. Then there was John Ashby. Greg and I both know that it wasn't just bowling against a great bowler with ice in his veins; you had to beat the crowd as well. He was by far the fan favorite on Sunday. I eventually nicknamed my Virtual Gravity “the Crowd Silencer” because when I fired a strike at him, I could hear a pin drop, but when JJ fired one back at me, I thought we were in the Carrier Dome as the crowd cheered like Andy Rautins nailing down a three. What class John displayed when he just smiled and cracked jokes during the whole day and just seemed to be happy no matter what. If you ever get the opportunity to bowl with or against him, he's just on your side no matter what. And then there is Rick Liccion. Sure, he has a few nicknames that I won't mention, but what a great bowler. He is the type of bowler who will push you to the limit just to beat him. He makes you feel like you really bowled great weather you beat him or not. He would also be the first guy to give you a piece of tape if you needed one so you could hang on to your ball a little longer for that extra strike against him. Darrin Emperato showed a lot of heart out there throughout the tournament. He made it a point to wish everyone good luck before a match and congratulated bowlers on their win afterwards. Even though he was focused on his game, he made others around him feel really important by never letting his bowling interfere with his job as a director. Here is a gentleman that we all would like to see in the final eight again, and I'm predicting that we will see him in a final match in the next few years. The same goes for Kevin Ashby. Kevin probably has the smoothest release around. He's young, strong, and has the ability to throw a flurry of strikes at you at any time in a match. We will also see him in the finals again. It was a great tournament for Mark Sokernyk as he went 4-0 going into the final weekend. He showed a lot of versatility in his game by outscoring his opponents on three very different conditions before getting to the Falcons. Even in the final weekend, he was never out of the match. Mark showed tons of class by never giving up and always put pressure on his opponent whenever he could. Last, but certainly not least, Mike Suarez in his first year in the adult leagues managed not only to make the cut in the qualifying rounds, but made it to the final eight by taking out some giants such as Benny Appleby, Chuck Ostrander and Jamie Cordway. Mike kept a level head and threw strikes when he needed them. He won his matches like a champion and lost like a champion also. This young star has a big career ahead of him and we will be seeing more of him in the upcoming years.
At the beginning of the tournament, I had a small contest to see who could pick the most bowlers to make it to the final 8. We had a two way tie between Ed Detomaso and Greg Walczyk. Both entrants picked three bowlers correctly to make it that far. Congratulations Ed and Greg. It's tougher than we all think it is. You always have to pick a couple of dark horses and a couple of favorites and there are so many great bowlers to pick from. Every year it seems three or four new names make it to the final eight, this year it was an incredible 5 new faces. It always good to see new faces and their bios in the paper and website.
Thank you to all who have supported this tournament in any way, whether it was qualifying, volunteering, cheering, supporting, and even reading the articles in the Citizen and website. You all make this tournament what it is today. It's always a great time to bring in families and see old friends, meet new people, and watch the newest bowlers on the scene. It's already less than 330 days until the opening squad for the 2011 Citizen Masters at Cedar House Lanes! See you all there.