League Starts Tonight

[grumpter]

I'm mostly excited but a little nervous as I have only been at this for 6 weeks (to the day). It's not nerves about performance but just the nerves of doing something I haven't done before (league play for bowling) and being paired up with 3 people I don't know. Do leagues usually get a few frames for practice or it is just show up and bowl? A few frames might help ease the excitement/nervousness a little bit.

As I was typing this I received an email that the Alley wants us to push back the start time by 1.5 hours to 8:30pm as they 'accidently' booked a party on our lanes. Ugh. Now I have an extra 1.5 hours of that excitement/nervousness to endure. Luckily I have a belated 'Xmas' party to attend after work. That should eat up a few hours and then I can always use the golf simulator to eat up some more time. Hitting some golf balls should help.

P.S. I assume playing music while bowling is not considered illegal? The reason I ask is it was 'illegal' according to the Rules of Golf until Jan 1 of this year. That didn't stop me from playing music while golfing.... except for league/tournament play.

[Amyers]

As far as warming up it can vary from league to league but most here have 10 minutes of open play to start you off before league starts so make sure your their a little early. Meeting new teammates is always an adventure.

Music can vary a lot. Some of my leagues it's not allowed period. One plays loud rock. I've seen about everything.

[boatman37]

Our league gets 10 minutes of warmups and a few really good bowlers just walk up and drop their first ball I guess just to stretch their arms or so see what the ball does. Not sure. Either way it's a pretty informal thing.
Our center plays music but you can barely hear it from all the other noise. If you want to play your own music your teammates and others around might not like it. We have a guy on our team that wears his headphones connected to his phone. He routes the cord up through his shirt so it doesn't get in his way but when he is at the table with us he pulls them out then pops them back in when he goes up for his turn.

Good luck!

[grumpter]

So then music is not illegal as far as the rules of bowling (though I understand a league may prohibit it)? I have Bone Conduction headphones so I can play music, no-one else can hear it and I can hear/converse normally. They seem like a pretty easy going bunch (everyone is in for a 1.5 hour late start on short notice tonight).

I was talking with one of my warehouse guys who I just found out bowls. He is saying something about a sanctioned bowlers card where I can go anywhere and pay only $2 per game?

[Amyers]

So then music is not illegal as far as the rules of bowling (though I understand a league may prohibit it)? I have Bone Conduction headphones so I can play music, no-one else can hear it and I can hear/converse normally. They seem like a pretty easy going bunch (everyone is in for a 1.5 hour late start on short notice tonight).

I was talking with one of my warehouse guys who I just found out bowls. He is saying something about a sanctioned bowlers card where I can go anywhere and pay only $2 per game?

If your wearing ear phones no one will care. it all varies by the house and the league. One of mine allows no music the other league plays loud stuff. generally the more serious the league is the less they allow music wise.

some leagues are sanctioned some aren't. You will have to talk to league secretary or president to find out. If they are you will be required to purchase a sanction card when you bowl. They vary in price by the area. Here $17-$20 dollars for the card plus league dues the card is good for a year. Some alleys offer a discount if you bowl league there price will depend on your alley.

[boatman37]

I pay 2.50/game when I'm practicing or just having fun

[grumpter]

League went well but I am TIRED today. By the time I got home and wound down I was only able to get about 4.5 hours of sleep. My teammates are about half my age, overly enthusiastic and fueled by alcohol. Only 1 of the 3 could be a potential problem if he doesn't tone it down just a little. I enjoyed the whole experience but he stepped over the line 3 times but luckily no-one in our league got too worked up over it even though they were a little annoyed at least twice. I can see it leading to problems if it continues.

There was no mention of a sanction card so I guess they are unsanctioned. Pretty informal but enjoyable. Looking forward to next week and a normal 7pm start time.

[chrono00]

If he keeps stepping over the line, give him a warning, then call the foul yourself. That takes out the other team getting annoying about it. Depending on the seriousness of league it might not Matter a ton.

Had a guy in summer league get a trash double when he slipped onto the lane and released it. Not like slide an inch over the line but like half his body on the lane. When trying to have the counter fix it, we were told since its summer its a “no foul” league. Which is complete bs. Like i get letting it slide if you just slide past a tad, but that was rediculous. And by the “no foul” rule, your essentially saying i can walk my ball down to the deck and just throw it from there since there are “no fouls”

[grumpter]

The line he stepped over was in relation to etiquette and sportsmanship. Monday morning we got an email that the league next to us were none too pleased which wasn't that unexpected. I half expected to get a complaint from the team we were playing against. This week they have us at the far end of the alley which is a good move. We are also playing against the team of the guy running the league which is another good move. I can't help but think the choice of opponent is not a coincidence.

[J Anderson]

The line he stepped over was in relation to etiquette and sportsmanship. Monday morning we got an email that the league next to us were none too pleased which wasn't that unexpected. I half expected to get a complaint from the team we were playing against. This week they have us at the far end of the alley which is a good move. We are also playing against the team of the guy running the league which is another good move. I can't help but think the choice of opponent is not a coincidence.

In leagues where the number of teams is known before the season starts, the schedule is set up according to a formula to try and make sure every team plays as many different teams as possible with the exception of having position rounds where 1 plays 2, 3 plays 4, etc. If that was the case it probably is just a coincidence. If the league secretary didn’t know the number of teams before the first night, he or she may have deliberately teaked things to put you away from the other league and on a pair where they can resond to any misbehavior promptly.