An Unfortunate Situation

[RobLV1]

Whenever people talk about the heat in Vegas, there's always a comment that "at least it's a dry heat." The problem is that, in Vegas, it's usually a dry heat. When there is any significant humidity, we are not equipped to handle it. This morning I bowled in a trios league. The humidity is 56% today which probably sounds very low to most of you, but in a bowling center that's located in a casino that has no way to control humidity, it results in horrendously sticky approaches and a very, very difficult wet/dry lane reaction.

Today, half way through the first game, one of the bowlers on the opposing team quit because he could not figure out how to compensate for the sticky approaches. In this league, an absent bowler gets 100% of his average on his first missed series. As a result, the team we were bowling won all three games based solely on the fact that one of their bowlers had quit. In the second game, their absent bowler had the highest score on the pair! I know this just sounds like sour grapes, but it seemed to me and my teammates that the condition was the same for everyone, and that everyone should have tried to figure out how to bowl the best way that they could.

What do you all think?

[J Anderson]

I have obviously led a very sheltered life since three weeks ago was the first time I ever heard of a league using 100% of average as the blind score. I had thought this was just an odd fluke applying to only one unsanctioned senior league. Now I see that this idiotic rule exists in at least one other league.

I basically agree that as long as you are all bowling on the same conditions, the game is fair and you should just try to do your best. An argument could be made that the sticky approach gave planters an advantage over sliders but if the blind score was high on the pair that would seem to be a moot point.

It seems to me that leagues should have rules that encourage bowlers to bowl, or rather discourage them from missing league and having teams bowl without a complete lineup. In the sport league that I bowl in, if you are not there and do not get a sub, you can not win any points. Your opponent has to beat a blind score of 172 to earn points but you get nothing if they fail to beat it. Most of the other leagues that I’m familiar with use a blind that’s average less 10 pins to penalize bowlers or teams that fail to get a sub. The first league I bowled in used 90% of the average as the blind score which really penalized the higher average bowlers for not showing up.

[RobLV1]

I really don't think that the 100% of average, first-time absent is an issue. I agree with it as it discourages bowlers who are sick from coming and infecting everyone else on the lane. Today, if the average had been 90% instead of 100%, it wouldn't have made a bit of difference. The issue to me was the fact that a whiney league bowler who chose to quit rather than challenge the same difficult situation as everyone else could make the difference between his team winning seven points and, most probably losing seven points.

[Aslan]

I agree with Rob in theory. And, it's why I always vote to punish absent voters by using their average minus 10 pins.

However, it sounds like...in our post-Covid world...we're seeing one of the many by-products. Some leagues may choose to reward absent bowlers rather than risk a bowler feeling "obligated" to "bowl sick" and thus create some deadly plague or super-spreader event on the lanes.

At the end of the day, once the hysteria dies down, I think leagues will go back to the "old days" and go back to punishing absentee bowlers with a minus 10 or something along those lines. Why? Because nobody likes to lose to someone who didn't bother to even show up...or who showed up and left.

I don't understand the humidity issue in Vegas. Seems like with the air conditioning in the center...it should more than handle the 56% humidity. But, I guess with the heat so high...maybe its all the air conditioning can do to just keep the temperature down.

I get it. Sticky approaches are tough. And, they can be dangerous. Bowlers can blow out a knee or take a major fall due to sticky approaches. Very few bowlers bring an arsenal of interchangeable soles and heels with them. Even those that do (like me), are not that stable when you start getting to the extremes of those soles and heels. I know I've never been able to use the Ebonite elastic sock that slips over your shoe. I've tried it many times...and it's just too slippery. I'd rather bowl in socks (if the center allows it). But, like Rob said...if everyone has to deal with it...then everyone should suck it up and bowl. IMO.

[bowl1820]

Today, half way through the first game, one of the bowlers on the opposing team quit because he could not figure out how to compensate for the sticky approaches. In this league, an absent bowler gets 100% of his average on his first missed series. As a result, the team we were bowling won all three games based solely on the fact that one of their bowlers had quit. In the second game, their absent bowler had the highest score on the pair! I know this just sounds like sour grapes, but it seemed to me and my teammates that the condition was the same for everyone, and that everyone should have tried to figure out how to bowl the best way that they could.

What do you all think?

The player quit in the middle of the first game? Did they they follow USBC rules then?

(Rule 108 – Failure to Complete Game: 108b. Without Cause
When a player does not complete a game for reasons other than disability, injury or emergency, the player’s team shall count zero for each remaining frame in the game.

Commonly Asked Question – Rule 108b.
108b/1 After missing a spare in the fifth frame of the second game, the player gets upset and stops bowling. How do you score the bowler’s second and third game?
The team is credited with the actual score for the first five frames bowled and zero for each remaining frames in the second game. For the third game, the team uses the player's absentee score. In calculating the bowler’s average, only the first game is included in the bowler’s average record.)

The lanes being sticky is not considered sufficient cause for quitting in the middle of the game according to the rules. In this case the players score then should have been zero for the remaining frames of the first game. Which could have caused them to lose that game and maybe wood for the series.

[RobLV1]

Thanks, Al.

[boatman37]

That sucks. Our league is -30 off average for absent bowler. That is a big hit

[Ryster]

Sounds like everyone bowled under average, and it was a combination of getting beat by the rules and not applying the correct scoring for a "failure to complete game" situation.

Everyone has different comfort levels when it comes to approaches. If the bowler that stopped was uncomfortable with their footing, or concerned they would injure a knee or hip [or worse, fall] they are perfectly within their rights to bow out and go home. Of course, whatever the appropriate scoring rules are for this should be followed. If it is deemed "failure to complete a game without cause", then they get a zero for remaining frames. If they claim that they are stopping due to injury, then they get their score up to that point and then 1/10th of their average for each of the remaining frames of that game (Rule 108a). Then they get whatever the league rules state for the remaining games they will not be bowling that session.

If the league rules state that a bowler gets to use 100% of their average on their first missed series, there is nothing that can really be complained about. At the next league meeting, float a motion to remove that rule from the by-laws and change it to either 90%, 10 pins off, or whatever you can get through the voting.

In one of my leagues, you have to earn individual points when matched up to a vacancy by bowling within 10 pins of your average. If you average 225, you need to bowl 215 or better to win your point. However, if a bowler is absent and takes a blind it is 20 pins off that bowler's average per game. The person bowling against the blind bowler simply needs to beat the blind bowler's average after the 20 pins come off. That 20 pin penalty is to discourage people from not bowling or not finding an eligible substitute.

At this point, you should reach out to the league secretary and get that first game score reviewed and corrected and see if it changes the outcome. If the secretary balks at this, send it up to the local association for review.

[RobLV1]

It seems that you all missed my point. I don't care about losing the points. I don't care that he broke the rules. I don't care about the absentee percentage. My question is this: Do you think that a bowler should quit because conditions are difficult or uncomfortable, or do you think that finding a way to overcome adversity that affects all the bowlers on the pair the same is a true test of a bowlers zeal for the game?

[boomer]

No - a bowler should not quit because they cannot handle the condition. Suck it up like everyone else and bowl.

Injury? Legitimate emergency? Sure.

We've had people "get hurt" at the end of their second game so they could take their absent score for their third - the mockery and derision from much of the league stopped that. If you're injured, be injured (at least FAKE it) - made it hard when someone like me, just prior to my knee replacement, actually GOT injured and then got the side-eye. HATED that. But people knew - I bowl until my leg is hanging by a tendon . . . those guys? Nah - mock them at will.