When something occurs one time, it's not a trend.
But don't try to tell Brian Himmler that as he prepares to defend his championship in the Earl Anthony Medford Classic.
The last time Himmler defended a title on the Denny's Professional Bowlers Association Tour — in 2004-05 at Vernon Hills, Ill. — he did so successfully.
Now he gets another chance.
Himmler defeated Mika Koivuniemi here in last year's finals, 214-204. He had been in command most of the match but needed to pick up the dicey 3-6-10 spare in the 10th frame to close it out.
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Having won in his previous title defense, the 14-year veteran surmises, "Maybe there's some karma there."
But he can't rely solely on fate.
"The mind-set when you're defending a title is really the same as any other tournament," says Himmler, who lives in Cincinnati. "You want to go in and get comfortable and not get ahead of yourself. You try to take your time and just bowl well. You have to get a break or two to win. You have to have some good fortune."
That's something that followed him through the end of last season but didn't pick up in the first half of this season.
Himmler completed 2005-06 with earnings of $83,855 — the second-best mark of his career — and was in the top 30 in each of the four majors.
However, in the eight first-half events this season, the right-hander with the big hook made it to match play only twice. His average of 214.56 was in the neighborhood of his career average, but he entered the second half 35th on the points list and 36th in earnings.
After placing 14th in his third tournament, the Etonic Championship at Cheektowaga, N.Y., Himmler went through a stretch of four events in which his best finish was 35th.
"I was hanging around the middle of the pack," he says. "The scores have been really high, and I'm not a big fan of shootouts. It's not that I bowl really bad in them, but the results haven't been there. When the scores get high on tour, it's really hard to keep up. You have to be shooting lights out. One missed carry can mean the difference between fifth place and 35th place."
The leading game average on tour last season was Norm Duke's 224.25. Seven players completed the first half this season with higher averages, led by Duke's 229.79.
Himmler's stretch of mediocrity didn't sit well with him.
"After the fifth or sixth tournament," he says, "I was feeling a little bitter. Having a few bad weeks kind of wears on you."
It wasn't until the final tournament of the half, the Columbia 300 Classic in West Babylon, N.Y., in mid-December, that he turned a corner.
He placed ninth, had a match-play record of 9-7-2 and earned $3,000.
Just before the tourney, the Storm ball representative whom Himmler works with noticed a chink in his delivery. His ball placement during his push-away was off by the slightest of margins.
"Every now and then," says Himmler, "I'd throw a ball that felt really good but it wouldn't react very well. I was really cutting off my push-away."
He worked on it before the Columbia 300 and saw immediate results.
The holiday break followed, allowing him to work on it some more, and now Himmler enters the second half of the campaign with renewed vigor.
"The break came at the right time for me," says Himmler. "I got it turned around the last week, and I've had time to reflect on it. I feel fresh and ready to go."
It showed this week in the H&R Block Classic in Reno, Nev. He was the No. 2 qualifier in the round of 64 with an average of 245.79, behind only Jason Couch's 247.93.
However, he lost his first match to Chris Loschetter, who had games of 266 and 267 in a 4-0 sweep.
Still, recent success bodes well as Himmler comes to a place he enjoys. Besides winning last year, he made it to the top eight the season before, when Duke defeated him to keep him out of the finals.
Himmler has made four TV finals the past three seasons, and he's won three of them.
"I just need to get there more often," he says. "That's the hard part."
Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail ttrower@mailtribune.com
