I have a quick question for anyone in the know.  This year our Thursday night league used the Kegel Challenge shots.  I was told by one of the workers at the Alley, that next year we won't be able to do that again, unless we declare ourselves a Sport League.  (apparently this was mandated from AMF/Bowlmor Management.  Of course you never know about such things). 

My contention is that I thought the definition of a sport shot was a ratio of less than 3 to 1.  The Kegel Challenge shots are in the range of about 4 to 1 (more or less). 

Is there a clear definition here?  Or can you declare any shot a sport shot and pay the extra money required to sanction it as a sport league?

I agree with spmcgivern as to the shot ratio on a THS. The winter league i bowled in is a large league(5 man team, 60 teams). we had 20+ 300 games and my guess would be 10-15 800 series for the season and 46 people carry a 210 or better for the season.

it amazes me how much people will complain about $10 dollars over the course of multiple weeks. I really don't understand these guys that walk around with a six ball roller and $1000 bucks invested in balls and then complain about the USBC or sport league dues.

Yep, these are the same guys that pour thousands of dollars into their gear but have holes in their slacks, stains on their shirts, and the most disgusting street shoes that a bum would not wear. I don't get it.

Trash,
    You hit the nail on the head. True bowlers, want the challenge of a Sport shot league. But the current rules make it a pain in the @$$ for the center in order to make that happen. You have to pay extra fees, run tapes every week, send them in, and be ready to tell your bowlers that just had the game/week of his life that his Sport honor score doesn't count because the lanes didn't meet specifications. Most centers, that I know of anyway, don't want to do this because of the extra cost of having to put down more oil than their typical house pattern. Much less all the added hassles above. And if you get lucky enough to find a center that will spend the extra time/money to do this, you get bowlers who talk about wanting to get better, but quit halfway through league because they can't average their 200+, 210+, 220+, 230+, etc on this condition. They talk a good game, but when they see just how bad they really are, they run back to THS quicker than you can say House Hack. What center will spend the extras needed to put this out, when they see fewer and fewer bowlers coming in for it?!? If you run one of these in the Summer, you get a big turnout......since Summer averages don't count. So it doesn't effect people who now average 180-190 instead of 220-230. Plus the league length is shorter, so people don't have to feel frustrated for 30-34 weeks, only 12.

CPA,
    I am not sure you thinking is correct. That is exactly what should be done. If your teammate is/was getting upset over this, then he is trying to sandbag on purpose (and not saying he was, just mentioning it). I have no issues if a league/center doesn't want to certify as Sports league, based on the hassles that have already been mentioned. But I also don't think the league should hide the fact that it is bowling on Sport patterns. Any bowlers bowling in that league should be rerated if that is their only average. Having gone through this in a certified Sports league, the rerated average is still probably lower than the person's true THS average anyway.

BigMike,
     You highlight my exact point. I averaged 203 in my Sport league the last full season I bowled in it. My THS average going in was about 230. The 203 comes out at 214 (I think). What that tells me, and maybe I am wrong in my thinking, is that based on my actual skills, I should a be 215ish average bowler, and easy THS has given me 15 pins a game over and above that. Maybe I am looking at it wrong.

It is possible to average much higher on sport patterns by changing your game to less axis rotation ( not less revs ).  It is not necessary to hook the lane nearly as much as most THS high average bowlers do

Jorge,

I was not complaining about my teammate being rerated.  The league put out a  sport pattern and to be fair he should be rerated.  He only bowls one night a week and the only tournament he bowls in is our local city tournament.  The league was sanctioned, but not sport certified.  Therefore honor score were not recorded as sport honor scores.