That Emotional Roller Coaster Called Sports

We rode the sports roller coaster this morning....the second day of competition at the 2010 Special Olympics National Summer Games here in London, Ontario.

Cory's team began the day in second place in their division of eight teams. The top 3 teams at the end of play on Friday afternoon will advance to the medal round on Saturday.

Cory bowled a very good 231 in his first game, 22 points over his average. His entire team did very well, taking 7 of 8 possible points from their competition from Manitoba. Those 7 points vaulted the team into FIRST place as they headed into their next game against Alberta.

But that game did not start well for Cory or the team. Cory had only 60 points after 5 frames, meaning if that continued, he'd bowl 120. He was clearly frustrated and getting upset, and his mum and dad weren't exactly pleased with things either. The entire team was struggling, and at one point found itself over 100 points behind Alberta.

But then they started getting it together. Cory bowled strikes in the sixth and seventh frames, and finished with a 223, amazingly clawing enough points in the final few frames to finish over his average. And the team closed in on Alberta, falling just 18 points short of a victory, but a remarkable finish considering how far behind they had fallen. They did earn 3 points for individual matchups, leaving them in second place, 3.5 points behind another BC team, whom they play against tomorrow.

We'll update later with photos and video.