You know why recreational bowlers don't like bowling?

[Sourtower]

Oh it's been long overdue to move on. Most of the people I used to bowl with on Mondays there are gone. One of them is on my Tuesday team at another alley. I tolerated it because I like the owner but I am fed up and done with it. There is a local celebrity that bowls on my league. He prebowls EVERY week. Not fair. But because of who he is it's ok and they let him. His team won the league last year. And the lanes even hung a very special banner up there for him. It's ridiculous. Moving on once the league is over, never looking back.

I luckily live 15 min away from at least 5 different bowling alleys. Unfortunately, my good friend whom I bowl with lives 45 min away from those same bowling alleys. Hopefully the current bowling alley we bowl 2 out of our 3 leagues with doesn't become like that bowling alley.

[Blacksox1]

Leagues are a serious commitment. 30-36 weeks of bowling is no joke. It's not a casual thing at all.

The one lanes I bowl at do something horrific. They will fill league lanes of teams that are done or lanes that are open right next to leagues with open bowlers. A lot of the league bowlers have left those lanes because of that and due to that and many other issues this is my last year bowling a league there. Tired of it. Tired of being a solid contribution to their bottom line as a consistent league bowler and being treated like a second class citizen. They got it all wrong. Like the cable companies or cell phone companies who punish loyalty and reward the new customers.

Agree, leagues are a contract between the house and the bowlers for XX weeks.

Oh it's been long overdue to move on. Most of the people I used to bowl with on Mondays there are gone. One of them is on my Tuesday team at another alley. I tolerated it because I like the owner but I am fed up and done with it. There is a local celebrity that bowls on my league. He prebowls EVERY week. Not fair. But because of who he is it's ok and they let him. His team won the league last year. And the lanes even hung a very special banner up there for him. It's ridiculous. Moving on once the league is over, never looking back.

That is a steaming pile of Shenanigans to allow the pre-bowl every week. Special banner too. LOL. If my sharpie could reach it, I would add some expressive and creative doodles.

[Amyers]

I'd disagree with that. Once a week ya go there and sit around for 3 hours and eat pizza and drink beer. Thats a commitment?

I mean, sure...if you're like me and in two different leagues and one you have to get up at 6:30AM on a Sunday for...and you're committed to improvement so you get monthly or bi-monthly lessons and practice 12 games a week minimum...yeah, THATs commitment. But most league bowlers are a joke. They treat bowling the way I treat golf. They show up for league night once a week and can't figure out why their average doesn't go up.

I agree with this 100%. I don't mind the people who show up once a week and bowl their games drink their beer and go home. The ones that get on my nerves are the ones who show up once a week kick the ball return get mad about their scores and if you ask them about practice it sounds like a replay from a Alan Iverson conversation.

[circlecity]

I'd disagree with that. Once a week ya go there and sit around for 3 hours and eat pizza and drink beer. Thats a commitment?

My wednesday league has an overall average of 196. Not much eating and drinking going on and would guess the better the league the less pizza and beer you will find.

[rv driver]

Yeah, I can't drink, eat, and bowl well.

[Mudpuppy]

I'd disagree with that. Once a week ya go there and sit around for 3 hours and eat pizza and drink beer. Thats a commitment?

I mean, sure...if you're like me and in two different leagues and one you have to get up at 6:30AM on a Sunday for...and you're committed to improvement so you get monthly or bi-monthly lessons and practice 12 games a week minimum...yeah, THATs commitment. But most league bowlers are a joke. They treat bowling the way I treat golf. They show up for league night once a week and can't figure out why their average doesn't go up.



TOTALLY agree there. Too many bowling center proprieters have bought into the new bowling center model where the center is more for birthday parties and laser tag and a night club environment. League bowlers just get in the way nowadays. Granted, they usually go under once their leagues leave...but by the time they realize the new bowling center models are wrong...it's too late.

How can you disagree a league is a commitment? You are committing to pay "x" amount, be there every week (or most weeks) and bowl instead of say watching a re-run of jeopardy and eating wish sammiches because you wish you were bowling instead of sitting around watching jeopardy.

So you are splitting hairs with your opinion of the definition of "commitment". And maybe you don't have 30 kids like I do. It's a SERIOUS commitment for me to be able to take 1 night a week away from all the things that have to be done to take care of kids, etc. So maybe for you it's not that much of a commitment because either you would sit around, drink beer, eat pizza and bowl or you would just sit at home staring at four walls. Then it is not as much of a commitment. But still technically a commitment. You agree to be there and pay, or am I wrong? Does the almighty Aslan, Lion king of the universe, have a corporate sponsor so he doesn't have to pay and his appearance is optional each week because everyone within 50 miles of the bowling alley are blessed simply by his great presence? Please enlighten me.

[Amyers]

How can you disagree a league is a commitment? You are committing to pay "x" amount, be there every week (or most weeks) and bowl instead of say watching a re-run of jeopardy and eating wish sammiches because you wish you were bowling instead of sitting around watching jeopardy.

So you are splitting hairs with your opinion of the definition of "commitment". And maybe you don't have 30 kids like I do. It's a SERIOUS commitment for me to be able to take 1 night a week away from all the things that have to be done to take care of kids, etc. So maybe for you it's not that much of a commitment because either you would sit around, drink beer, eat pizza and bowl or you would just sit at home staring at four walls. Then it is not as much of a commitment. But still technically a commitment. You agree to be there and pay, or am I wrong? Does the almighty Aslan, Lion king of the universe, have a corporate sponsor so he doesn't have to pay and his appearance is optional each week because everyone within 50 miles of the bowling alley are blessed simply by his great presence? Please enlighten me.

I think what he was getting at for a lot of us one league one night a week isn't much of a commitment. I work about 50 hours a week but I know my exact schedule and it doesn't really change I have two kids but they are responsible and capable to seeing to themselves for a couple of hours if need be and I refuse to be one of these people with commitments out the wazoo and have every second of my life scheduled. So for me even two leagues and practice once a week isn't a big deal.

Other people I know keep every second scheduled or have jobs that tie them up at inadvertent times and once a week and sometime not that is hard. I will say a lot of these people bring this crap on themselves also by overcommitting themselves or just having two many interest. I have family, I work, I bowl, and occasionally fish. That's it so my nights are not really hectic but not everyone lives that way. My friends who are the opposite I respect what they do but I have no idea why you want to live like that.

[Sourtower]

I agree with this 100%. I don't mind the people who show up once a week and bowl their games drink their beer and go home. The ones that get on my nerves are the ones who show up once a week kick the ball return get mad about their scores and if you ask them about practice it sounds like a replay from a Alan Iverson conversation.

"We're sitting in here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen, we're talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, we talking about practice. Not a game. Not, not … Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game, but we're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that?"

[Konvict1982]

I guess I am in one of the lucky houses. Our youth program is full every season filling 20 lanes and often not having enough room for all the youth that want to bowl league. Our local high school is finished their season 26w/1L for both boys and girls teams. Our adult leagues however only fill half the house each night with the exception of Tuesday nights Commercial League which fills 2/3 of the house and Friday nights 2 leagues run Friday Night mixed and The special needs league fills the whole house.

Our future looks good because our youth program is much larger than the current adult leagues and with luck those young bowlers will continue bowling and rebuilding the dwindling adult leagues here. The only real issue I know of is the company that owns our local house built a new house about 60 miles north of us closer to Nashville and have been taking profits from our smaller house (which has a lot of profit due to the huge youth program) to offer bigger payouts in their new house which has a lot of bowlers moving to a small house in the neighboring town for leagues to protest this. I know the current manager has been trying to buy the local house for years but the company won't sell because the house brings in a lot of profit yet they refuse to put money back into the local house where their new house barely breaks even.

I wish I had the money to open a nice house here because I am fairly sure it would turn a profit due to the fact that the run down house here turns more profit yearly than most houses in large cities simply because of the amount of support from the community.

[Aslan]

So you are splitting hairs with your opinion of the definition of "commitment". And maybe you don't have 30 kids like I do. It's a SERIOUS commitment for me to be able to take 1 night a week away from all the things that have to be done to take care of kids, etc.

Not my fault you've decided to re-populate the Earth with a Walton size household.

So maybe for you it's not that much of a commitment because either you would sit around, drink beer, eat pizza and bowl or you would just sit at home staring at four walls. Then it is not as much of a commitment.

Exactly.

I used to get annoyed with my Thursday league because they were primarily new bowlers (to leagues) and they were all pissed that on a Thursday night they got stuck at the bowling alley for 3.5 hours. They thought bowling leagues would take like 1 hour or something.

And I guess I just don't understand that mindset. If I'm NOT bowling on Thursday night...what am I doing? I'm not trying to fit league bowling in between two surgeries I have scheduled. It's a Thursday night and I'm 40 years old. What is the big item on my Thursday schedule that bowling is interfering with? The Office isn't on anymore...so there goes the must see Thursday TV excuse.

I asked these melon tards, "If you weren't here...what would you be doing thats so important?" and they kinda responded, "Well, I'd be home reading the paper or watching the news...relacing and falling asleep in my chair." or "I don't know...going to bed early."

You SEE MUD...whether bowling is a commitment is determined by how much of a LIFE you actually have. If you're a high school kid and in numerous sports and academic things...and have a job after school at a diner...maybe 3.5 hours on every Thursday night is a bigger deal. If you're a surgeon on call at the hospital...or a person working 2 jobs...okay...it could be a big deal. But most of us are NOT those things. And if we spend 3.5 hours at the bowling alley....thats an alternative to spending 3.5 hours watching TV, playing with stuff in the garage, playing the XBox, or doing some stupid house chore we don't want to do anyways.

But still technically a commitment. You agree to be there and pay, or am I wrong? Does the almighty Aslan, Lion king of the universe, have a corporate sponsor so he doesn't have to pay and his appearance is optional each week because everyone within 50 miles of the bowling alley are blessed simply by his great presence? Please enlighten me.

Technically I only answered because you wanted to be enlightened and said please.

Hey...if needing to be somewhere for 3.5 hours a week is a "huge commitment"....then I can't imagine having hobbies that require more than that. No wonder Lion's Clubs, Rotary Clubs, Knights of Columbus, Elks Lodges, Shriners, etc.. are losing ground...if you think 3.5 hours of bowling is an unmanageable commitment...man...try joining a club or political group or volunteer group.

Bowling is way less of a commitment than other sports/things I've been a part of:

- Figure Skating....hours and hours of practice almost every day. (of matter of fact, I only became a figure skater because as a kid my sister was and I got too bored sitting around the ice rink for hours upon hours doing absolutely nothing...figured, "well, if I HAVE to be here...might as well learn to skate")
- Bands...huge commitment of time and practicing and gigs.
- HS Football...2-3 hours of practice EVERY NIGHT...film once a week...weight room time during the week...and 4-6 hours on gameday.
- HS Tennis...2 hours of practice EVERY NIGHT...the actual matches...would take up an entire evening or entire day.
- academics/college degrees...class on multiple days a week, homework, studying, etc...
- ice hockey (as an adult hobby)...3-5 hours once a week...practice about 3 hours once a week...
- Martial Arts....HUGE commitment...3 times a week...3 hours a day of practice...testing, tournaments...etc...
- MOTORCYCLING....join a club, go on organized rides....you're looking at at LEAST 1-2 weekend days a month where you're commiting 6-14 hours to riding.
- paintball (as an adult hobby)....supplies...cleaning, fixing, testing, maintaining equipment....an entire weekend day lost at least monthly for an event...it could be 1-5 hours during the week and another 6-10 at an event.

So yeah...to ME...bowling is relatively commitment free when I compare it to other activities from my past. Even DATING is a bigger commitment than bowling because you're gonna go out for at least 2 hours once a week...and have to keep in touch in between meetings...schedule dates with other people if it's casually dating...maybe thats 2-3 nights a week? If it's a committed relationship...you're looking at seeing each other 3-4 times a week...2-3 hours each time???

Mudpuppy Cliff Note Conculsion:
A LOT of whether or not something is in fact a "commitment" is:

1) Do you enjoy it?
2) How busy is your life?
3) How "rich"/"poor" are you?

If you don't enjoy bowling...any time you have to do it is a commitment. And there are lots of people that "say" they enjoy bowling but when they actually are doing it they kinda wish they were somewhere else. For others, like me, I spend ALL WEEK anticipating league night. I CAN'T WAIT! It KILLS me that my league is on hold for the next 3 weeks!!

Some people have lots of stuff going on...lots of hobbies. I used to try to do motorcycling, paintball, and ice hockey as well as be very active in fantasy baseball and fantasy football....and at the same time juggle a demanding job and a young child. Some people have TWO jobs...or travel a lot for work. I don't have that problem. I travel rarely...my job is cushy with relaxed hours...and my kid is grown enough that I can bring her with me to league night if her mom is working. And I've given up all my other hobbies because I love to bowl. I don't even run anymore (which is a bad thing since it was my only source of exercise).

And absolutely money is an issue. But bowling is SO LESS expensive than many other hobbies. I could only go motorcycling or play paintball once per month or once every other month. Just too costly. I could never afford to play in more than one hockey league or do martial arts like I used to...too costly. And even now...I'd bowl in 3-4 leagues if I could afford it. But 2 is about the maximum I can manage right now....if I still want to practice, take lessons, etc...

So it's all relative. You have your reasons (too many kids)...what I don't get are the 60-year olds with grown kids...that have no hobbies or obligations...that complain because the league pace is moving a little slow and now they won't be home till 10PM which will delay their falling asleep in the chair watching TV.