I think everybody's had those games or nights where everything is just working right, and whether you start really thinking about it or not, by even the 4th or 5th frame you know you've got a good possibility of getting them all. Then there are other nights where you feel just as good or better, but it's just not happening at the pins. Revzilla said it best about the matchups. Sometimes 300's just fall in your lap, and other times you've got to do some serious work. Yes, mine are all on house shots, but there are a few I really feel like I earned, and a few I'm almost embarassed about, then the rest are just kind of in the middle.
At the same time, the seemingly universal value that the majority of bowlers have given the number 300 is what everyone has the problem with. I know plenty of people who are insanely cocky about it, and view 300 as a sign they've arrived, despite any big 4 cavings or brooklyns it took to get them there. Those are the people nobody likes, those are the attitudes that people take issue with, and I think they combat that by being overaggressive with the "the game is too easy," argument. Or in other words, they fight a blanket value of a 300 with a blanket statement of all house shots are too easy.
Somebody said nobody averages 300 so it's not too easy, which is a pretty extreme statement. Averaging "perfection" wouldn't happen no matter how easy a game was, but the game being too easy should only in part be reflected by scores. There's still an awful lot that has to go right to get a 300 no matter how good you throw it. There are tons of physics involved, and it all has to work inside the same 12 frames at the right time. How many 300s would everyone have if they counted 12 strikes in a row ANYWHERE as a 300? Practice games? I've had practice 300s that were more difficult to get than some of my sanctioned ones.
At the same time, I think LGD probably has the best attitude of anybody about it. You can't control anybody else, you can't change their mind, or how they think. You know what's of value and what's not, and things have a way of evening out. Some little cocky bastard can plop one in and go around running his mouth, but if he does nothing else but donate in leagues and tournaments, what good is it? There was a kid here that shot one in high school practice a couple weeks ago, and boy he sure was quick on the trigger telling people how many he had now, but did it help him at all in their meet the following day? Not a bit, had a pretty mediocre day.
All in all, I've got a pretty different attitude about it now. It still won't quell the frustration of certain comments like, "Well now I've got a 300, I can put my name right up there with a bunch of other people, and I don't even practice or have all the fancy balls or anything," and "I don't need coaching, I have 300's, I know what I'm doing," and especially everybody who thinks that having 300s gives them a license to start coaching themselves. I get frustrated with the problems that type of thinking causes because I have to deal with them quite often. But at the end of the day, you can't "fix" everybody, you can't solve every problem, and there will still be ignorant people out there. Just have to do your best to wade through all of it and keep it from dragging you down.
