Saturday, we had a Power Outage without a 'Storm'... while a 1st-Time Champion Won with a 'Storm'.  In one of the most unique Tournaments in the Tour's 15 year history... while in the middle of the 1st squad, a kite stuck in the power lines outside of Pacific Lanes, caused a very unusual power outage.  Partial power resumed quickly, but out of 36 lanes, only 3 pair of lanes were operational for the next hour and a half, until Tacoma Power restored full power.  So, it took a while to finish the 1st squad, with groups taking turns finishing on the 3 working pair of lanes.  The 2:00squad got started at about 3:45, with the 4:30 squad starting on time, on lanes  with the 2:00 squad.  Obviously, we lost an estimated 20-30 entries, but thanks to the tenacity of our Members, we still reached 100 entries for the day.  The Pacific Lane's staff was very impressed and appreciative of the patience and attitude of our Tour bowlers during the outage... they asked us to THANK everyone!  The 9-Tap Jackpot nearly set a record... we've never had a Tournament without someone getting at least the front 3 Taps... Kenny Burnside kept that from happening, getting 4 Taps ($100) near the end of the last squad.

A by product of the power outage, was a lack of air conditioning.  Pacific usually generates perfect scoring, but that heat really had a significant impact on the lane conditions this week, resulting in the LOWEST 'Cut-Line' (only 874) since the record was set in 2010 (868).  Last August (2016) we had a similar Tourney with a low 888 Cut-Line, which had been the previous low since 2010.  In that 2016 Tournament, Thang Duc Thai took advantage of the low scores, winning after posting one of only two 1000+ scores.  He nearly duplicated that feat Saturday, needing a big final game to pull out another Title, but settled for 2nd Place this time, with a nice 990 series.  Thang earned a hefty $795.00, pushing his career total to $23,736.00, plus another $280.00 from the Scratch Pot (not included in career totals).  At the other end of the spectrum, newcomer Tim Wallace, was impressive in 3rd Place with his 976 series, earning $311.00 ($10 Pro Pot).  A very nice way to start a new Career on the Tour! 

Amazingly, out of that interrupted 12:00 squad, emerged the ONLY 1000+ score of the day.  Mike Metcalf stayed positive during the delay, to become the latest 1st-Time Champion this year.  Despite shooting his BEST EVER series (1026) and his PB game (288 scr), Mike thought that he may have blown it, with his final game.  His previous best was two 3rd Place finishes and in one of those, he had an early lead, only to be caught in the latter squads... this time, nobody came within 36 pins of what turned out to be an excellent score.  His biggest payday on the Tour will come in very handy... after winning during a power outage, he had a transmission outage on the way home.  He said the $1,737.00 1st Place check will go toward either a new car or a new transmission.  Mike also supports our sponsors, wearing his DEXTER SST6 shoes and throwing his STORM 'Phaze' ball, drilled by Robert Kelly at Secoma.  Mike thanked his lane mates Chuck & Joshua Gonsalez (Yakima) and 5-Time Tour Champ Jerry Hendrickson, who is visiting from his current home in Williamsburg, Virginia.  CONGRATS Mike on the first of many future Titles.