Mens league DRAMA. Seriously?

[Ptnomore]

So, my Tuesday night team was a mish-mash of bowlers from the beginning. Long story short, we started the season with only 3 bowlers. After about the 4th week, the league secretary's son joined us after returning from Afghanistan. He talked one of his friends into joining. I'm 42, the other guys are in their 60's. These two new guys are barely into their 20's. But it worked. WE all got along, things were moving along great.

Then last week, I was informed that the secretary's son is $300 in the hole, and his friend just got popped in a Prescription drug sting and wouldn't be back to bowling for 3-5 years.

Now, we're picking up a guy that we all bowl with on Friday night, consistent 50ish year old, cork-screw bowler (Throws right handed, ball curves to the right) but tends to be a little "emotional", throwing fits like a 2 year old, kicking the machine, throwing equipment, getting in peoples faces, etc, etc.

I voted to kill the team for the year, and forfeit any winnings so far (doing the math, we would have barely broke even anyway). My vote got squashed, and we are forging forward with this new 4 man team for the last 3rd of the season. 11 weeks.

My team isn't the only one. From time to time, a bowler gets suspended for using foul language (womens league at the same time tends to complain when they hear it), One team thinks mighty highly of themselves and complains about the oil, the slow returns, the pinsetting equip, the racks, etc, another team has family issues, drugs, alcohol abuse, divorces, cancer (all on the same team), etc.

Anybody else go through BS like this? For crying out loud, it's bowling. It's the one night a week I get to go out without the wife and kids and concentrate on something that isn't family related. There's more drama at the bowling alley's now, than there is at home...and I have 3 teenagers! Was it ALWAYS like this?? I don't remember my mom and Dad's leagues being like this. My Dad still bowls, and he just laughs when I tell him the stuff that goes on here. He calls it the Section 8 bowling league.

[bowl1820]

$300 in the hole!

One the team captain should have never let him get that far behind. and not let him bowl being that far in the arrears. and/or kick him off the team.

Two most all leagues have rules about league fee arrearages, like "members cannot be more than a week behind in paying their
league fees". So he should have never been allowed to bowl.

If the Sec./Teas. allowed him to slide and bowl, they should be kicked out of office and reported to the Assoc.

Does the Sec. let others slide like that? if so the prize fund is going to be short, a audit should be called for immediately.

A for being voted down, you can always quit. Just do it properly and give your two weeks notice and they will still have to give you a share of the prize money.

[Hampe]

From time to time, a bowler gets suspended for using foul language (womens league at the same time tends to complain when they hear it),

LOL....thank god it's not like that here! I would have got a lifetime ban last week at league


We have a little bit of drama here in there in leagues (with teams getting accused of different stuff from other rival teams), I've never had problems like you're describing though. I think I agree with your dad .

[RobLV1]

Just wait till you're old enough for senior leagues. Talk about drama! Last week we started our ten minutes of practice. Having sustained numerous sports-related injuries throughout my life, I know it takes me more than ten minutes to get loose, so I usually go and bowl a couple of games before we start our ten minutes of practice. Most of the bowlers in the league choose to put their foot over the foul line so that the next bowler will have a full rack to shoot, unless the bowler behind them specifically requests that they leave whatever is left after their shot. In my case, being left-eye dominant and targeting the reflections of the pins, I cannot line up for a strike shot without a full rack of pins.

Anyway, last week we happened to be bowling against another three-man team, one of whom is a 215 average bowler who is in his early eighties. He throws a full roller, hooks the ball about an inch and a half, and always plays the second arrow. When the bowler in front of me in practice neglected to trigger the foul lights, I reset the rack. You'd have thought I committed a capital crime by the reaction of Mr. Full Roller. "We're just here to throw balls to warm up," he groused at me, "You're wasting time." I calmly explained that I had already bowled two games to warm up and reminded him, as this same thing had happened the last time we bowled this team, that I needed the pins to line up for my strike shot (really working to resist the temptation to point out that those of us who can actually hook the ball have a few more options that we have to explore before deciding where to play). He kept it up, and kept it up.

At one point during bowling, I was standing behind the approach waiting for my turn to go up on the approach, when apparently he thought I was too close to the table for him to get by, so he pushed me out of the way! Considering I am at least 6" taller than he is, and outweight him by close to 100 lbs., this really amazed me.

Add to this, the 230 average bowler who quits mid-game any time he's not bowling well with some health-related excuse and a whole bunch of bowlers who not only require a two-lane courtesy , but absolute silence when they bowl, and you've got plenty of drama on a weekly basis. At least you bowl at night when the bar's open!

[Ptnomore]

I don't know how he got that far behind. I know in the beginning, the rule was(is) that on the 5th week of non-payment, you were not allowed to bowl. Apparently, he's been "borrowing" from one of the other teammates as well as his Dad, his brothers, girlfriends, other bowlers, each being given different stories, and none of it that he borrowed was going toward the team dues. It all kind of crashed down on him at once, and I had no idea he was in that deep. Before Christmas, I hit the 50/50 raffle for $200, and I offered him all of it as a gift...No loan, to get paid back up (he was only down $100 at that point, approx 4 weeks), so that we could still compete as a team. He turned it down, and never asked me for anything. When this hit last week, I was blown away.

The league doesn't care, because they, like us, did the math and see that we did well enough thus far to cover for his losses upon pay out at the end of the season. So the only folks that lose out are the rest of us on the team. League treasurer looks at it as 100% our problem since the league will get their money regardless. Had our team been holding the last place, I'm sure it would have played out differently.

I would LOVE to kick out the president, treasurer and Sec. But, no one else wants it for this league. That's a bad sign in and of itself. This is my first season with this league, and I'm doubting at this point that I'll be back. It's competitive, but that's the only advantage to being in it. Even the competitive spirit has worn off.

[dnhoffman]

First off bowl1820 is right, how in the heck did someone let him get $300 in the hole? Good god.

But your real question is about drama and attitude. I bowl on a couple of leagues with some 'personalities' on them, and I've been guilty myself of being 'emotional'

I'm a perfectionist, and I put a lot of time into this hobby, but in the end it's just bowling.... Have to remind myself, and one teammate in particular of this quite often.

[mc_runner]

There always seem to be a few in every league. People who take a fun league way too seriously, get mad when the teeniest thing distracts them (when they're up on the approach for a minute and a half to begin with), slam the ball return when they leave a 10 pin, and generally just seem to not enjoy being there. That seems to be pretty universal. There was also the guy in my Tuesday night men's league who was sneaking outside to drink from a flask in between frames and ended up on the ground by the end of the third game... he didn't come back the week after that.

The other thing that annoys me is when there's a huge debate about paying an extra 20 cents a week or something in a league meeting. Is it really worth going unsanctioned, unbonded and all that to save like $4 over the course of a season? And then these same people think nothing of dumping $200 on a new ball every few months.

And echoing what the other people said - $300 is crazy and really irresponsible of the sec. Check the league bylaws to see what's going on with that. In all serious leagues i've bowled (i.e. non practice leagues) people are suspended and/or kicked after like, 2 weeks in arears.

edit - replied before seeing your update. Sort of makes sense, but what happens if you guys end up tanking the rest of the season? Suddently the problem does become a league problem...

[Aslan]

I've only been in two leagues...and they both have had their good moments and bad moments.

The one league was really bad for sandbagging and teams not showing up. And there was one team that thought they were "the bomb" so if they started bowling bad they'd throw a tempter tantrum and just start chucking it or throwing house balls or throwing it underhand between their legs. But other than that it was fine...most teams were very friendly.

In the league I'm in now, there are really only 2 problems.
1) There's a team (just like the other league) that thinks they're "God's gift" so if they start doing badly...it's everyone else's fault and the lanes and etc... And they have one guy that if you get anywhere near the approach while he's getting ready...drama, drama, drama.
2) There are a couple teams where the ladies like to just hoot and holler CONSTANTLY. All night long you hear screeching and yelling. I swear, if one of them gets 2 strikes in a row you'd think they'd won the damn powerball drawing. VERY annoying when you're on the approach trying to figure out how you're gonna adjust and all the sudden you hear a 185 decibel screech 2 lanes over.

Although, one weird thing that happened recently....and I think Rob is onto something with "old timers"...our team captain is an older lady with an even older husband. He doesn't bowl, but he sits at the table with us every night. He's one of the nicest guys you'll meet. Well, last week...I get there (I'm usually the 2nd one there after that couple) and this dude is IRATE! He's cussing and throwing stuff around! I said, "What's wrong?" And he starts cussing and describing the person in charge of leagues (who was playing against us that night) in ways that I can't repeat here...lets just say it's rare to hear a person in their 70s drop a "C-Bomb" concerning a lady. It turns out, they had picked out a table, and the league lady came over and told them that table was reserved and asked them to move to the adjacent table. Yeah...thats all it was. But people over the age of about 54...you'd be surprised how absolutely pissed they get over relatively minor things.

I've only gotten upset once...and that was a lady coughing during my backswing...and I felt she did it loudly and on purpose. But I didn't "do" anything. It's bowling...if she would have kept doing it I'd have asked her to stop...but usually, if you just act like it doesn't bother you...they stop doing it on their own. Where as, if you make them think they can get in your head by getting upset...then they keep doing it or come up with other ways to annoy you. Thats why I think PDW is kind've an idiot. Once he goes off on a fan...now everyone knows...they can get their 15 minutes of fame by bothering PDW. I guarantee there are bowling fans that will buy tickets to his event in hopes that they can get him to yell at them. Claim to fame.

[tccstudent]

Most leagues around here you would not be allowed to bowl if you are more then two weeks in the hole.

Other then that I heard there were three fistfights at a local bowling alley last Thursday night I dont bowl that league so I am not sure what the deal really was. I do know a few of the people involved and one of the fights was two brothers one of which bowls on my Wednesday night league.

[Ptnomore]

... Sort of makes sense, but what happens if you guys end up tanking the rest of the season? Suddently the problem does become a league problem...

Our league is split into 3rds. Playoff in the end consists of top team in each of 3 thirds, plus the team with most total wins.

Payout is determined by rank in each 3rd, and every team gets SOMETHING. But we've won enough in the first two thirds, that even if we came in last place in the final 3rd, we'd still be able to cover the loss of two bowlers, and come away with enough to pay for our last 3rd...barely break even.

For me though, I'd rather "break even" sitting at home and avoiding the BS and trying again next fall, somewhere else. But, the team captain is convinced that with this new 4th bowler, we should still finish in the middle of the pack again, and come out that much further ahead upon pay-out. And he's already talking about who we can get for next year. Ive been approached by two other teams in this league to join their teams, but I think I'm going to bail on this league altogether after this season. It's just way out of control.

And, this is great...they are talking about not sanctioning next year, because too many of the bowlers have bowled 300's, and since they won't be able to earn anymore rings next year, they aren't going to contribute to the fund for others to get there's. No kidding. Now, we're told that we can sanction individually to get sanctioned averages for tourney's and such, but the league will not be sanctioned.