negative attitudes on your team (LONG rant)

[panbanger]

Being on a throw together team it has to be tough. As long as they aren't complaining about your game then just ignore them and bowl. If they are so hell bent on winning they need to "put up or shut up", they help the team out with high handicaps but that doesn't help if they can bowl their own averages.

In this situation I would bowl out the season and hope you find a few people around the alley to jump ship and make a new team. Looks like you may only need 2 people as the other guy seems to bowl well and hopefully has no ties to the couple.

I know the other guy bowls the summer leauge also - I've heard him mention it before. Towards the end of the season I'll probably see if he wants to start a team with a couple other people

[Davec13]

We have a guy on our Friday team who has become a real pain. He bowled his first ever 600 and has become a "professional". No matter what if we are winning or losing he has to comment on everything. He bowled a few pins over his 162 average and all of a sudden we are winning because he is bowling so well. He didn't take into account everyone else was 10-20+ pins over their average. If he is bowling off we get the "you'll guys will have to do better because I won the last game for us" speech. He actually was trying to give a guy pointers who had just rolled a 297 and has a 215 average. Everyone is sick of him, but he just doesn't get it. I just try my best to deal with it, but sometimes it's overwhelming hearing him, so in go the headphones.

[billf]

We have a guy on our Monday Mens league who drives us so nuts that the other four of us decided to replace him next season. It's a shame because he has been on the team for years. His issue? When he is bowling bad he will just start chucking it any where and every where. One game he purposely tried sandbagging to get a triplicate even dumping it in the gutter in the ninth frame. That game we lost by 3 pins. I was furious. Sorry but I'm from the always try your hardest school and would never have purposely let my team down.

His replacement actually has a lower average but a better attitude. We finished in second last season and won the first half this season. When we are loose and having fun we are very good as a team. Then every now and then this guy just will pick a table way in the back all by himself. Also, even when at the table with the team, we have to constantly remind him when it's his turn as he is usually texting on his phone.

[panbanger]

If he is bowling off we get the "you'll guys will have to do better because I won the last game for us" speech.

Oh wow that sucks. Luckily that doesnt happen on my team. We are quick to give credit to the person who bowled above their average to give us the win, but yeah that's a d!ck move right there.

[panbanger]

Also, even when at the table with the team, we have to constantly remind him when it's his turn as he is usually texting on his phone.

There are a few people like that in my league, but luckily not very many. I admit I'll send a couple texts through the course of the night, but it's to my girlfriend if she isn't there. It's usually me letting her know how it's going. Things like "we lost the first game, time to release the Kraken" funny things like that lol

To me one of the best things about a league is that as a society I think we get more and more of our entertainment and recreation these days in our homes. In the past it was the opposite - you ate meals at home and went out for recreation and entertainment. Now it seems like we eat from restaurants and have entertainment centers and theater rooms etc. at home. A bowling league at its' very least gets you human contact with other like minded people...something that seems to be slipping away over the last couple/three decades.

Wow I got philosophical there!

[scottymoney]

I admit I'll send a couple texts through the course of the night, but it's to my girlfriend if she isn't there. It's usually me letting her know how it's going. Things like "we lost the first game, time to release the Kraken" funny things like that lol

The only time I text during league is to my wife to tell her how my scores are and how we are doing. I normally get back texts form her like "what happened" or "wow". I normally respond with some funny also. Like I told her once that I bowled crappy because the one guy on my team Jim forgot to wear his suspenders. And yes I do have a guy on my team that bowls in suspenders, he averages around 200 with them on and probably loses a few pins when he forgets!


I am glad my team has a great attitude, even when we are bowling bad we still laugh and have a good time. Competition is one thing, but being ruthless and getting upset about it is another.

[Tampabaybob]

Panbanger.....These people are in the wrong league. They should be in a regular couples mixed league and use that as a nite out and stop being so serious. After all, most leagues like that will not make you rich, even if you win the whole enchilada. From what you said about several of the teams having high average bowlers, they're definitely in the wrong league.

As in most leagues we also have had bowlers that did not "conform" to what we thought was either good sportsmanship or was just a freakin' pain. The way you get rid of someone like that is to "tell them" next year "We will be adding a new team member, so you might want to start looking for a new team to bowl on next season". Period. If they don't like that, tough....let them be someone else's problem next year. Our league has a $59,000.00 prize fund and I'll guess most of the teams although very competitive, enjoy their night out. Sure everybody loves to win, but they forget someone has to also lose.

[panbanger]

Panbanger.....These people are in the wrong league. They should be in a regular couples mixed league and use that as a nite out and stop being so serious. After all, most leagues like that will not make you rich, even if you win the whole enchilada. From what you said about several of the teams having high average bowlers, they're definitely in the wrong league.

In the first week, when I got placed with them, they basically said that this was their night out and they weren't there to be too serious about it. But after a few weeks of winning it seemed to change lol! Hopefully things will go back to normal after we drop a couple spots

[xthe_charismatic_enigmax]

@TampaBayBob -- I want to be a part of your league. >.>

Anyway. When I started bowling again, I just got thrown onto a team. And that team, I didn't realize would consist of one of my closer friends, and a couple in which I would meet some more people when I bowled with his Dad and our friend Larry Thursday nights in the Summer. A lot of the people in our alley are pretty serious (I bowl in one of the bigger alleys in the South Central PA area.) So, I've seen people punch holes ball returns, kick ball returns, break the score panel, chuck balls from the bowling area at the racks where people walk and the such, people throwing wrist supports, etc. My Monday night team, I really, really, really like. The 60 year old guy on our team carries a 184 avg, the two women on my team carry a 150ish and 160ish average and then I bring up the anchor spot with my 216, it seems like we're always giving up pins...and when the game is on the line, I tell myself that we're down by 40 pins and that gives me the motivation to strike out and clinch things..and I've been in that position a lot this year..and I've only screwed up once..throwing a gutter ball, which resulted in a five pin loss, and the other night, threw a 4-6 in the 10th and we lost by 20 some pins. My Tuesday night team is alright, I'm with two couples on the team, next year I'll probably start a team..and Thursday night, I'm on a decent team..but the combination doesn't work..I'm probably going to be on a different team next year with my friend I talked about earlier..where we're going to have three guys' constantly fighting for the anchor spot on the team. I don't get mad persay..I get frustrated with myself when I'm not doing well, because I'm not making the right decisions, and that's when I start taking walks and stuff like that..because someone said to me a long time ago when they saw me punch something..they pretty much asked me if I knew how much of a, lack of better terms here, jerk I looked like when I did that..soooooo..I broke the habit of it..

[ZRock]

My team is exactly like this. I have the 35 year old who was a 200 avg bowler in his 20s and can't do it anymore. He carries a 170 average, then gets extremely mad when he shoots his average.... Really frustrating.