IKAN User Profile: Jeff Parker, Florida

My buddy, and fellow Central Florida Quad Squad Bowler, Jeff Parker is this month's profile. Bowling wise, Jeff sets the pace for bowlers with Muscular Dystrophy; his high score (mentioned with his below profile) is the current record for bowlers with MD. Jeff has a zest for life; he loves having fun and loves watching NASCAR (his favorite driver is Tony Stewart). A while back, Jeff said that bowling with the IKAN Bowler "is an absolute blast, the most fun I’ve had in a long time." And it really didn't surprise me when he added a touch of NASCAR/Tony Stewart to his IKAN Bowler, by having some friends paint a special black finish with orange, razor-edged flames on the sides his IKAN Bowler! :-)

Here's Jeff's profile, and pictures are below...

~~~~~

Name: Jeff Parker
Age: 37
Location: Lady Lake, FL
Reason for Wheelchair Use: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Onset or Injury Date: I was diagnosed in 1975 and have been in a wheelchair for 25 years.
Wheelchair Operation Method: Joystick operated
High Bowling Score: 172
Approximate Bowling Average: 135
Typical Range of Scores: 100-150
Bowling Frequency: Generally once a month when our Central Florida Quad Squad bowls at Spanish Springs Lanes in The Villages, but I do occasionally go to Classique Lanes when Quad Squad bowling is there in Tavares. [Ok, Bill here interjecting this comment... what readers don't know is Jeff likes to talk some trash when he's bowling, so I'm going to throw some back here: "Come on Jeff, Spanish Springs is 5 minutes from your house -- you gotta bowl more often if you're gonna beat me more than once in a blue moon at Quad Squad outings!!!" :-)]
Bowling Ball(s): Columbia White Dot but I’m looking for a new one.
Quote from Jeff: "Life is too short; live each day to the fullest!"

~~~~~

Thanks for sharing and being a good sport Jeff! :-)

Click HERE for two videos and a slideshow of two Quad Squad outings (before Jeff got his flames on his Bowler) and here's the pictures of his new paint job...

IKAN User Profile: Jon Musgrave, Colorado

I've mentioned Jon Musgrave in some previous blog entries. Jon is the world record holder for dynamic bowling by a wheelchair user. When he got an IKAN Bowler, he bowled 3-5 days per week for more than a year, and wrote: "Who could have thought that one thing could change a person's life so much. I have something that I'm good at to look forward to enjoying every day; something I can share with my family and friends. I can tell you this for sure, my life has not been the same since I got my IKAN Bowler®."

See below to find out more...

~~~~~

Name: Jon Musgrave
Age: 36
Location: Grand Junction, Colorado
Reason for Wheelchair Use: Spinal Cord Injury C4-5
Onset or Injury Date: April 19, 1991
Wheelchair Operation Method: powerchair joystick
High Bowling Score: 243 <-- World Record (see scoresheet HERE:)
Approximate Bowling Average: 165
Typical Range of Scores: 130-214 (like Bill, I'm also not the most consistent:)
Bowling Frequency: Lately on Monday nights with my 10 year old son in a league, and I try to go once or twice a week. My 243 is good, but I want to be the first to bowl 300! :-)
Bowling Ball(s): First ball is a Hurricane; second (for spares) is a Columbia White Dot
Quote from Jon: "Bowling is a great way to take your mind away from everything and just be happy."

~~~~~

Thanks for sharing Jon! :-)

Click HERE for five things to know about power wheelchair bowling!

IKAN User Profile: Bill Miller, Florida

Most of the previous blog entries were to set the foundation with all the background info about power wheelchair bowling, power soccer, and how our products can empower wheelchair users (scroll down or click HERE for Five Key Things to Know). Now I want to start profiling people who think life is better as an IKAN User.

To kick this off, since I haven't established a format yet, I'm going to start with me and get my profile out of the way.

~~~~~

Name: Bill Miller
Age: 30
Location: Central Florida (Leesburg)
Reason for Wheelchair Use: Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) at C1-2 level
Onset or Injury Date: August 23rd, 1997
Wheelchair Operation Method: Sip-and-puff
High Bowling Score: 202 (twice achieved)
Approximate Bowling Average: 155
Typical Range of Scores: 130-180 (I'm NOT the most consistent!:)
Bowling Frequency: Typically twice a month for Quad Squad outings (scroll down or click HERE for Quad Squad info; I'd like to bowl more, but my current schedule won't allow it)
Bowling Ball(s): Columbia White Dot (very economical)
Quote from Bill: "Life doesn't have to be a spectator sport -- even for people with significant physical challenges."

~~~~~

The Quad Squad...

The Quad Squad refers to a group of friends with varying levels and types of quadriplegia (a quadriplegic is broadly defined as someone with impairment in all four limbs and can result from spinal cord injury, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and other conditions).

We have a Central Florida Quad Squad group that goes bowling regularly. Quad Squad member Rhonda Reese, a C4-5 quadriplegic since August of 1991, came up with our name. We usually bowl on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, from roughly 4-6 p.m. at a Central Florida bowling alley. We typically bowl at Classique Lanes in Tavares on the second Saturday of the month, and at Spanish Springs Lanes in The Villages on the fourth Saturday. Anyone who wants to watch or try power wheelchair bowling with an IKAN Bowler is more than welcome to join us. Please e-mail me (MaxNWM@aol.com) in advance to verify that we are on for bowling at our usual time and place, and if you want to try it, so we can make sure to have an extra IKAN Bowler available.

Any group of quadriplegic friends can use the Quad Squad name; it's not trademarked or anything, so people in a certain geographic area can feel free to use it, e.g. Phoenix Quad Squad, Chicago Quad Squad, etc.

If you're local to Central Florida, think you might visit, or just want to know what we're doing, I'd be happy to put you on my Quad Squad e-mail list, to which I send updates and verification of when and where we're bowling. I'm not the overall record holder, that honor belongs to Jon Musgrave with an amazing 243, but I'm a pretty good bowler and have had five games over 200 (three 201s and two 202s). So... to help keep my "ego in check" per my Dad:-) he has offered $20 to any IKAN User who beats my best score of the afternoon. To further encourage competition, he also pays for our bowling. So come on out and we'll have some FUN! :-)

Click HERE (or scroll way down) for Two Videos and a Slideshow depicting Quad Squad outings!

Click HERE (or scroll down) for Five Things to Know about Power Wheelchair Bowling!

Sincerely,

Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 202 High Bowling Game
Co-founder of Manufacturing Genuine Thrills Inc. d/b/a MGT
Business website: http://www.ikanbowler.com/
Personal website: http://www.lookmomnohands.net/

Five Things to Know about Power Wheelchair Bowling! :-)

#1. Virtually ALL power wheelchair users can use an IKAN Bowler for real, dynamic bowling. (Wheelchair users, IKAN? Yes You Can!:)

How can virtually all wheelchair users bowl? The IKAN Bowler attaches to the user's wheelchair, and is designed so that anyone who can safely drive their chair, can bowl. It's basically a really well engineered attached ramp system -- the momentum from driving forward and stopping releases the ball. We have two types of mounts: Universal and Center-Post. The Universal Mount can accommodate any wheelchair with two side legrests (traditional or sport style legrests; not power elevating -- but people with power elevating legrests can use a set of regular legrests when bowling). The Center-Post Mount is a custom mount designed for newer chairs with the legrest system that has the foot pads coming off the single center post. Between those two mounts, we can accommodate the vast majority of wheelchairs on the market and in use today.

What makes it real bowling? The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) sanctioned the IKAN Bowler for league play -- any league, anywhere in the U.S. -- bowling with and/or against able-bodied bowlers, or fellow IKAN Users. The USBC sanctioned it because the process mimics the able-bodied bowling process, i.e. setup, physically approach and release the ball upon stopping at the foul line. This is referred to as dynamic bowling, not stationary ramp bowling.

Who bowls and what are top scores? Thus far we've had people with Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, and Spinal Cord Injury, driving their chairs with different methods (joystick, sip-and-puff, head control and chin control) achieve scores of 150 and higher. The overall record is 243 by a spinal cord injured C4-5 quadriplegic in Colorado named Jon Musgrave. Click HERE for our message board thread with additional records.

#2. The IKAN Bowler is considered therapeutic medical equipment, and as such, financial assistance is available in most every state. One customer ONLY had to pay the SHIPPING cost for an IKAN Bowler! Click HERE to contact us for details!

#3. For $599 the IKAN Bowler with Universal Mount can be purchased and delivered anywhere in the continental United States. There's no sales tax for residents outside the state of Florida and shipping is included to the continental U.S. We can ship worldwide, click HERE to contact us for a shipping quote.

#4. Our mounts work with both the IKAN Bowler and IKAN Soccer Guard, enabling users to compete in two sports! Our quality mounts actually reinforce the legrests, especially compared to most existing mounts for power soccer. We have the best power soccer equipment available anywhere. Power soccer is already a popular sport being played lots of places. Click HERE for details.

#5. You've got to see it to believe it -- click HERE for links to two videos and a slideshow on power wheelchair bowling -- it's social, therapeutic, recreational, allows for legitimate competition, and it's a whole lot of FUN! :-)

Sincerely,

Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 202 High Bowling Game
Co-founder of Manufacturing Genuine Thrills Inc. d/b/a MGT
Business website: http://www.ikanbowler.com/
Personal website: http://www.lookmomnohands.net/

Two Videos and a Slideshow on Power Wheelchair Bowling! :-)

Greetings! :-)

At the links below are videos showing two different Quad Squad Bowling outings, one of which is accompanied by a picture slideshow. We currently have about 8 Central Florida Quad Squad members who get together and bowl generally twice a month (contact me for more info if you want to check us out and/or join us!:). We generally have 3-4 wheelchair users bowling, and it just so happens that the same three are in the two videos below.

Video one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4i6DaLYmic
Video two: http://www.wftv.com/video/13470876/index.html
Slideshow: http://www.wftv.com/slideshow/13471076/detail.html

Video one above is very well done; it has tastefully appropriate music throughout, so I'm going to provide some commentary if you're interested:)...

That's me at the beginning having the Universal Mount and IKAN Bowler arm attached to my chair. I've been a C1-2 quadriplegic for almost 10 years, after dislocating two vertebrae in my neck in a freak fall that actually occurred in my off-campus apartment when I was a student at the University of Florida (I'm back in school at UF via their online business program). I'm bowling with the Blue ball and controlling my chair via sip-and-puff.

My friend Jeff is bowling with the Orange & Black ball (which he got because he likes Tony Stewart -- I joke and say that Tony Stewart ball is holding his game back!:). Jeff has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and bowls via joystick. Our friend Melissa, she has Cerebral Palsy, she's bowling on the other side of Jeff and she uses a head array to control her chair. The videographer / editor was trying to get good shots from everyone, and to keep it relatively short. The lanes were pretty dry that day and I think we all struggled bowling a little bit. My ball wasn't breaking nearly as much as normal, with my strike setup.

Where the ball's finger holes are positioned, determines the shape of the shot. With my ball, when all the finger holes are on the left, it curves left, and when they're all on the right, it curves right. If the holes straddle the top, it goes straight. I usually use a straight ball setup when attempting spares.

Video two and the accompanying slideshow were done (very well:) by the Central Florida ABC News affiliate. Both have narration accompanying them, so I won't elaborate here.

If you want to see the record scores for multiple categories of wheelchair users, checkout our message board and feel free to register & post! Here are the links:

Main forum: http://www.ikanbowler.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2
Bowling records: http://www.ikanbowler.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3

For more of the basics and details about power wheelchair bowling, see my introduction to this blog, scroll way down or click HERE! :-)

Sincerely,

Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 202 High Game
Co-founder of Manufacturing Genuine Thrills Inc. d/b/a MGT
Business website: http://www.IkanBowler.com
Personal website: http://www.LookMomNoHands.net

Smother Movie Uses IKAN Bowler®!

(If you have no idea what the IKAN Bowler is, please see the intro to this blog, scroll way down or click HERE:)...

Here are three pictures from the movie Smother, which is set to be released in late 2007. Smother stars two from Hollywood's A-list, Diane Keaton and Liv Tyler, and an up-and-coming actor, Dax Shepard (see the link above for more details). As you can see in the pictures below, the IKAN Bowler was used in filming a scene for the movie. Assistant producer Stanley Monahan found the IKAN Bowler, contacted us, and of course we were quite excited that they wanted to use the IKAN Bowler in their movie. What was surprising (in a good way) was that they put the IKAN Bowler on a 3-wheeled scooter! That could potentially open up bowling to another group of people, scooter users, in addition to power wheelchair users. We were told they also had the IKAN Bowler on a wheelchair, but we really have no idea as to what will actually be shown in the movie. The movie's central figure (Shepard) is a physical therapist and apparently there's a scene where he's with someone who is using the IKAN Bowler (it's therapeutic recreation:). But I'm kinda guessing on that, I really don't know how or even if it will make the final editing cut. But these pictures show that they used the IKAN Bowler in filming a scene for the movie... enjoy! :-)

Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 202 High Game
Co-inventor of the IKAN Bowler®
Business website: http://www.IkanBowler.com
Personal website: http://www.LookMomNoHands.net

Above on the left I think is Dax Shepard, and in the middle is indeed Diane Keaton, a very accomplished actress that most movie watchers have probably seen in multiple films.