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How could I not do this on Chris Warren.

I have known Chris for a long time. We go back to the Dallas area when he and his family were everywhere. You could not bowl a tournament in the DFW area that a Warren wasn't competing in. All very gifted bowlers Chris was the one that decided to take it to the professional level.

The passion that Chris had back then is still there. I can not tell the story of Chris's personal experiences between the time I left Dallas in the late 80's till the time I saw him back on tour last year. I know of all the personal situations he has been through and we could talk a long time about those, but I don't want to waste time talking about something that I don't see or know about. Instead let me tell you about the Chris Warren I see each week.

Chris travels with his wife and son each and every week. Chris has told me he would not be on tour if it was not for his wife and he would not want to be out here without them. The Warrens live in the Northwest and Chris has been in the bowling business both as a center manager and pro shop operator.

I can see how important his family is to him as he doesn't hang out in the bowl after he is done bowling. He is still the same Chris Warren in the center. As nice and likeable a guy as you can be but when his work is done he knows where he wants to be. That can be difficult for many as most bowlers like to hang out and either practice or rehash their experiences. I have been talking with Chris several times and I can tell the internal alarm clock went off and it is time to get back to his family.

As far as bowling is concerned Chris is still very gifted. The most obvious difference to me is when I look at Chris's hand. He has the old style bowling hand. You have no doubt he is a bowler. His fingers are the most callused on the professional bowlers tour. Bowlers just don't hit the ball with their fingers as hard as they use to. Bowlers use more timing, body rotation, elbow, and wrist action than they use to...you just don't see callused fingers at this level very often anymore.

I remember Chris asking me last year why his ball didn't react like the other guys did. I told him to look at his hand and then go over to the work out table and show me one bowlers hand that had callused fingers. Tommy Jones, Michael Fagan and Wes Malott were over there and not one of those guys had calluses on their fingers.

Chris doesn't have anybody on tour that he can read ball reaction off of he has to be his own man, which he has always been OK with. He likes working with bowling balls and has his own theories based upon his experiences and just recently decided to make a dramatic change in his grip.

Chris decided maybe he was catching the ball too much, his fingers and hand were taking a beating. He decided to go conventional. After drilling a couple balls up he asked if he could get one of the Twisted Fury's. He told me how great the ball has looked going down the lane the last month and he was convinced that was a ball that he would like. I guess he knew what he was talking about and as you saw on the show Chris Warren can still bowl.

 I have always loved watching Chris and his passionate ways on the lane. As passionate and intense as he is I have never seen Chris treat his opponent with anything less than the respect he thinks every player deserves. I have heard him say "That just isn't right" and shake his head when he sees the way other players are acting.

Maybe I will get lucky and have the opportunity to have Chris add to this section next week when I see him in Spartanburg. But right now I had better pack things up and head to the airport.

Until next week. Exercise when watching TV. Lunges are good for bowlers. Stretching is even better.