Some Vacation At Disneyland, I Prefer Alliance, Nebraska

After you read the title of this blog did you go to Google Maps and look up this place? You probably needed the magnifying glass to see the dot on the map. But that is part of the fun. The annual Quiv Fortner Memorial Master's Tournament is this weekend in Alliance, Nebraska, and that is where you will find me.

I have done a lot of bowling in my 25 years, been to a lot of bowling centers, and competed in a ton of tournaments, but there isn't one that I look forward to more than this one. There is just something special about walking into Bowl Mor Lanes in Alliance. It feels almost like you walked back into 1973. The bowling center only has 12 lanes, and I would be willing to bet the bar that is attached is as big or bigger than the bowling alley itself. It wasn't until just a few short years ago that they even installed automatic scoring, and I am kind of sad they did.

The cheeseburgers and chicken noodle soup in the snack bar, which doubles as the front counter/control desk, are to die for. Even though the cooking area is smaller than the inside of my car, they have figured out how to make magic happen in there.

The bowling tournament itself has a unique format, and the lanes lacking modern bowling technology truly give every bowler a chance to compete. Bowlers qualify on Saturday and the finalists all gather on Sunday to compete for the title. By the time the final match of the tournament comes around sometime on Sunday evening, seemingly the whole town gathers around to watch the match, and they even film it and give the video to the winner. All the previous years winners are on a huge banner behind the lanes, and the new winner gets a nice check and a trip to bowl with the pros at the USBC Masters in February.

I have been going to this tournament since I was just a little boy to watch my dad. I think I actually wanted him to win more when I was too young too bowl, then I wanted to win myself when I started. Now that I compete alongside him, it has always been a goal of mine to win the Quiv Fortner Masters in Alliance. I came close a few times in my bowling heyday, finishing second twice and third once, but never sealing the deal. That becomes the goal this year... Win or bust!

The town of Alliance itself is known for a  structure outside of town made of old cars meant to depict Stonehenge, called Carhenge. But, to me it's a quite little old town with a bunch of nice folks who have been extremely welcoming to us the one time a year we make it there.

This summer Alliance was rocked with a horrific incident when a man armed with a high-powered rifle walked into a pharmacy and took one man hostage and shot two law officers. The hostage-standoff drama played out for more than 14 hours, and ended when the gunman was found dead inside the store. But, knowing how the people of Alliance are, I know the town will get past this tragedy and come back as good as ever.

I look forward to a little mini getaway this weekend, and to come back with a title! Alliance, here we come!