I eagerly waited in anticipation of what should have been a classic matchup of premier bowlers in my Monday scratch league right next to me.  While I didn't want to distract from my play, I was giddy knowing that I had a front row seat.  These guys are not merely local wanna be's, but truly proven champions of the highest calibur.  What I witnessed, for the most part, was a joke to league bowling.  Most of these guys didn't seem to care about winning there individual points much less the team points.  Even all the side bets didn't seem to get the competitive juices flowing in a couple of them for very long.  I almost wondered if the lights were going to be turned off and loud music would start up judging by all the clowning around.  

I realize that even a competitive scratch league pales in comparison to what some of these guys have fought for on the lanes, but is this just another indicator of how insignificant leagues are these days?  I'm just a hack, but I still enjoy bowling league and trying to win even if my competition has far less skills.  If I want to play around, then I'll just drag in one ball and shoes and have a good time with friends tossing the old orb at some funny sticks.  I wouldn't bother lugging 4+ balls around, paying high cost league fees, getting in brackets, betting with others, playing Keglers Cash just to screw around.

I know we've discussed the downfall of leagues before, but as a fan, I can't tell you how disappointed I was last night.  I can remember following Dad to the bowling alley to watch and admire the best our home town had to offer.  How often do we see that now?  The little kid in me weeps on this day.

I truly dont know. My league(s) never have a competetive side to it! Everyones just kind of blah. SCREW THAT, I wanna bowl against someone not with someone!
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16 years and still going strong! 16 years old that is! The names Warrior Princess, Xena..Warrior Princess
And why would I "saw" pins in half, THATS A WASTE OF PINS!

KSUCAT,

It has gotten to a point to where "competitive" league bowling is a lose lose situation.  If the scratch bowlers partake in "blood and guts" style of bowling, they are labeled egomaniacs and primadonnas.  Other bowlers can't stand to bowl against them or even next to them, and in some cases, teammates can't hardly stand one another.  I am a classic example of this.  If I slapped out a shot once in awhile or waggle my pointing finger towards the pins, I am labeled as cocky or arrogant.  If I show absolutely no emotion, now people think I just stopped caring.  Half the scratch bowlers out there bowl more for the brackets than anything.  I had a team where our team average was 1120, which was by far the highest team average in the league.  By the end of the second third, every one of us was standing in a different spot of the bowling center between shots.  We had a couple guys on the team that got into 40 brackets a night.  Even if they were bowling well, if they were getting beat in the brackets, they developed a temper and it ruined their night.  One of them would even scream obscenities while shooting 740+.  They did not care about winning the games half as much as those brackets.  Oh, yeah.  We also ended up finishing 3rd in the league.  

Some other problems with "competitive" league bowling, is that we spend $20 or even $25 a night to bowl and the prize funds suck, because you still get those 5-10 teams of 180 average bowlers who have NO confidence in themselves to think they can actually win the league, so they vote on the worst prize fund so as to ensure that if they do finish towards the bottom, they still get some money back.  I went through this last night actually.  The league voted on a prize fund where instead of voting on the one that had $2000 to win each third, they voted on the one that got only $1100 to win each third.  

And, finally, the last problem with "competitive" league bowling, is that the bowlers who should be labeled as cocky, are those who get 30 pins a game and walk around the center like they are some god.  Let's take last night as an example yet once again.  I shot 640 on a shot that was not that easy to put it mildly.  I was up against a guy who was getting 25 pins a game.  SO....I shoot 640 and he shoots 570 and I lose 3 out of 4 points and this guy is just talking up a storm like he just waxed me from one end of the house to the other.  What is really sad about that is that he is using a 15 year old Purple Hammer and spraying the ball from off the corner and he is getting a few brooklyn hits to go his way while I hit the 1-3 pocket 32 out of 36 shots and stick 10 corner pins with a couple 9s and 4s mixed in.  So, naturally, he is walking around with a swagger like his crap don't stink.  It would have done no good to tell the guy to pull his money out and bowl straight up, because he would have just packed his crap and walked out the door.  He even made a comment about the one point I did get from him, so I responded by telling him that I average 35 pins higher than he does and in my mind, I am supposed to win, and a heck of a lot more than just 1 out of 4 points.  I do not normally act that way, but after 3 hours of hearing his mouth, I was finally tired of it and said something back.

For all of the reasons above, league bowling in general is going downhill in a hurry and being dominated by handicap bowlers.  Scratch leagues are falling by the wayside because lineage is getting way too high and the handicap bowlers are always crying because they do not think that they get enough handicap to compete even if they are getting 25-30 pins a game.  Once they raise the handicap, the scratch bowlers are leaving because of it.  Scratch bowlers are out for one thing and that is making money.  Thanks to SOME bowling centers and most handicap bowlers, making money is ALMOST a thing of the past.  If you think I am kidding, just take a look at the number of ABC memberships year by year for the last 15 years.
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If anyone out there is worried about the scores being too high, try duckpin!!

TWOHANDED834 – First I’ll guarantee you that the vast, vast majority of the drop in ABC membership has not been from the scratch bowlers arena but the lower average handicap league bowler.

Second everyone on top wants the money on the top, why wouldn’t they. But would you bowl in a league, year after year, paying $25 a week and know that you had NO CHANCE! No chance of winning any prize money. Don’t just say get better or that is the price they pay because without those types of teams scratch leagues wouldn’t survive at all and that is some of the reason you see so many disappearing. The donators are tired of donating. You have to throw them some bones to keep them donating.

The money should be top heavy but you have to give the lower end back some or they will leave.

When even 25 years ago when the ABC membership was at 4+ million I doubt over 10% would have been considered scratch bowlers. With bowling membership fewer than 2 million a lot more than scratch players have left the game. The 10% number probably still holds pretty true so I would guess the decline by AVERAGE is proportional but maybe the serious scratch bowlers’ percentage has declined.

We have about 450,000 in the metro area. I know of at least 3 scratch leagues there are probably more.

One is a three person league and I believe the team averages are capped. It has generally had around 30 teams.

The second is a 5 person league that is capped. I’m not sure of the size of this league, I’m guessing around 12 teams.

The third is a traveling 5 person with no cap. This league is currently at 14 teams. This league use to be housed at one location but when that house closed it started traveling. Fees are $20 a week for 32 weeks.

We have a lot of scratch bowling talent around here with the college programs.

I’ve known lots of teams that have belonged to leagues for years both handicap and scratch that have had no chance of finishing in the top 4.
 
I have bowled in the 5 person uncapped league for 20 years.  I have been on teams that have finished first and have finished near the bottom. There had always been a core of about 7 teams and then we had 5 teams that were in a constant state of flux. These lower teams tended to bowl for a year or two and then quit when they couldn’t be competitive although there is one team that has hung on for about 10 years.

We have had teams come in thinking they could dominate and left after a year with their tails between their legs and some have come in a done well but I can think of only one in 20 years that came in and won the league and most of those bowlers had bowled in the league in the past on various other teams.

The money in this league is not very top heavy. You win the league and you’ll probably get about $700 a person back. The last place team will get around $150 to $200 per team member. But most are going for the prestige of winning the best scratch league in town.

If you took away all the prize money for the teams 5 thru 14 I would guarantee you that at least 6 teams would quit maybe more and you would end up with about the same prize money available for the top teams. These teams are putting in about $400 a man into the prize fund during the year and are averaging getting less than half of it back.  

Without some corporate sponsorship you can’t get enough money from league fees to pay “top” dollar to the winners without leaving the lower echelon teams high and dry and I believe they will quit in that scenario.


 

being that it was the first night back may have something to do with it. seeing people you haven't seen all summer may make it a little more social than normal. i'm sure they are not putting up their money and not trying.