Those of you who have checked my profile know I've only been bowling for a bit more than two years. That said, I'm continuing to learn every day.
The one thing I've learned lately has been a most disturbing lesson. People cheat. It's a harsh reality that I have trouble accepting.
Cases in point ...
I volunteered at our ABC state tournament three of the four weekends in May.
- First weekend, guy throw his strike shot and ends up with a 7-9 split. He turns around and immediately states loudly, "The 10 pin was missing from the rack." No one argues with him, and the rack is reset so he can throw his strike instead of working the split. Doesn't the rulebook state that it's the bowler's responsibility to insure a full rack BEFORE delivering the ball?
- Next weekend, I'm getting scores for brackets when I see a guy slip a scotchbrite pad inside his buff-a-ball, pick up his ball off the rack and proceed to spin it vigorously in the buff-a-ball. Sure enough, third frame of the next game, he takes his altered surface ball out of the buff-a-ball and starts using it again. He was called on it and claimed not to know the rule about altering surfaces during play.
- Same weekend, guy throws what he thinks is a strike, but a pin bounces off the curtain and stands back up on the lane. He tells me he needs a ruling, explains what happened and wants me to change the 9 count to a strike. I tell him the pin's standing, so it's a 9 count. He asks to speak to a tournament official. Although I'm standing there with a big blue badge that says "Tournament Official," I realize that I'm just a girl, so I go find the tournament director who backs up my ruling.
Then in league last week ...
I'm in the 10th frame of the last game. We're being beaten soundly by the top team in the league. No big deal. I throw the first ball, the 7 falls late but before the rack drops. The computer scores a strike, and a guy from the other team jumps up and says I need to get the 7 reset because the computer scored it wrong. Fortunately, his teammate was on the approach at the time and confirmed that the pin fell legally. Next ball, I cross over and the 2 pin falls late. Same thing happens. This time my teammate tells him the fall was legal. Gah! This guy was looking for any reason to not allow our marks, even though they were +138 in the 10th. May not actually be a case of cheating here, but it's still smarmy.
Anyway, I'm just amazed at the ways people will try to break, bend, circumnavigate or completely ignore the rules to try to gain advantage in this game.
Deb
