Ice, you know I have respect for ya and think you're a stand-up guy and all…but hearing bowlers talk about how all bowling should be scratch when they themselves are in all handicap leagues….is lame. And don't give me that, "it's so hard to find a scratch league" nonsense. You have SO many options whether scratch leagues or tournament play…yet you CHOOSE to just play in a couple handicap leagues in your one house that you know. Hell, I've even played in a tournament already and I'm nowhere NEAR your talent level! Not saying your concerns aren't legitimate…I'm sure sport leagues are harder to find…but until you find them….criticzing handicap play is ridiculous.
Everyone has to go out and play their best. If vdub can't bowl his average…and ZDawg bowls 40 pins above his…zdawg was the better bowler. All handicap does is close the "experience gap".
#2 on my list of things that surprised me while making the center list = all you people whining that there aren't many centers near you…you'd be SHOCKED at how many centers are near you.
Smallest number I think was 13 for ZDawg (sorry, but San Diego sucks for bowling centers)…followed by tccstudent (16) because Oklahoma is, well, Oklahoma. I think the one with the most centers within 90 miles was Mudpuppy…148 centers!! But there were lots of choices!! Which is why it took me so damn long to make the lists. And it didn't help that 4 of our bowlers are from traditionally strong bowling areas like Detroit area, Chicago area, New York area, and Missouri not to mention with the exception of classy granny, noeymc, vdub, and stormed….all the other 8 participants lived near enough to state/USBC chapter borders that I had to take into account more than 1 state/chapter when creating their list. I mean, Janderson's state is barely 90 miles across and borders 3 states and he's almost within 90 miles of a 4th. Much different challenge than tic student where there's really only 1-2 cities with a stoplight in a 90-mile radius.
As stated, a bowler's average will be their average or composite average of the last year listed on Bowl.com. ONLY IF they do not have an average listed nor USBC number will league scoresheets be used.
Since you had averages listed, those most current averages were used from Bowl.com. Since I did not have averages listed, my average is a composite of both my leagues from 2013 which comes out to a 151. Had my 165 average been listed on USBC, I would have just used that and ignored my upper 130s average from the non-sanctioned league I was in with Bunny. But, since it wasn't listed in time for the averages to be established, per the rules, a composite based on scoresheets was used. And we can't necessarily "throw out" non-sanctioned averages since we have a few participants that are non-USBC members and those are the only scores they have. Bunny's average is based on the same non-sanctioned league that my 2nd average was generated in.
There is a good reason for doing it this way. This league is unusually short. We're going to have roughly 7 months bowling once per month. That makes using established averages difficult. Most leagues take a few weeks to establish an average…and shorter leagues (10-weeks) always have trouble with sandbaggers. Using the average in the calculation keeps your performances the next 7 weeks grounded in reality. It's less possible to sandbag…and you're less harmed if you have a rare 800 series out of the gate.
You for example…if you bowl a 120, 120, 102…that will lower you average into the 140s and obviously help you going forward…but not AS MUCH as if you got to start in the 120s. In the same respect, if you bowl an 800 series…you don't have to drop out of the tournament after month 1…because you start next moth with a 700 series average…more reasonable.
It's simply a way to keep averages somewhat grounded in reality for a shorter than average league.
I thought we already decided…but I'll re-state:
If you bowl against a player that does not show or does not bowl or does not make an attempt to get their scores in on time…you bowl against their average (at the time) minus 10 pins from their handicap.
If we have bowlers enter the tournament late…and it gives us an odd number of participants…the person bowling against an open spot will be drawn an opponent to bowl against…and then 2 players will be bowling against said opponent (DRAW SYSTEM).
I'll reset the average based on your right hand. So it'll be the adjusted 193.
Gotta Go! I'm gonna bowl my series this morning!! Get it out of the way early!!
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