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Author Topic: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!  (Read 1219 times)

Ragnar

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How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« on: November 10, 2004, 05:34:23 AM »
We've from time to time said that one thing we don't like in league is the folks who are never there when it's their turn.  I've been thinking about how to tell people how much time it should take to bowl.  Particularly I've been ranting about people bowling on "my" time.  Here's the deal:

a five man team bowls 150 frames a night in a 3 game set.  Ideally I think it should take about 1 minute per player, per frame; so, 150 minutes total plus an extra couple of minutes between games maybe.  Thusly, 2 1/2 hours + a tad.  Does this sound unreasonable to anyone?  What I'm saying is that from the time the person ahead of you bowls until you finish your frame would ideally take 1 minute.  Sounds short, but in reality a minute is a long time, especially if the bowlers strike now and again.  Do you think I'm being unreasonable about the "my time" thing?  In effect when Harry is in the bar smoking and doesn't show up to bowl for 3 minutes, then takes another minute hasn't he used 3 minutes of "my time?" And when Harry, Doug, and Sally all are in the bar several times a night doesn't that take up as much as 1/2 an hour of my time?  

Also, the other night I was told by an employee of the center, bowling on the other team, that he wasn't taking his turn on time because he was talking to his boss.  Again, why is he using my time to talk to the boss?  

Ok, maybe I'm exhibiting "old codger syndrome" here, but I really get tired of being in the bowl from 7 to 10 or later, then going home to have dinner (I hate eating before I bowl.)
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Rev_O

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2004, 01:40:06 PM »
our tuesday night league starts practice at 6:30, league at 6:40, we are done 99% of the time by 9pm
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iommifan

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2004, 01:46:42 PM »
Rags, your not the only one who feels this way. The other villain in this is the Lotto machine or quick draw if you will. We have several players on our league who treat this machine like Egyptian God!!  One former member of my team had to tracked down every frame and I do mean every frame!! So your not alone. But at least here we have no smoking!! The smokers go out side at the end of every game. Tolerable.

Pinbuster

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2004, 02:22:55 PM »
Agreed.

Going back 20+ years ago we almost always got 5 person teams done in 2 ½ hours. And we didn’t throw nearly as many strikes as today.

It seemed to get worse when they put in automatic scores. I don’t know if they are watching the teaser graphics or can’t tell when they are up or just because they don’t keep score anymore they don’t pay attention.

Most of our 5 person teams take about 2 hr 40 minutes now days.

We don’t start our second shift league till 8:45 just for this reason and we still have to wait about half the time for the early leagues to finish up.

Ragnar

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2004, 02:32:34 PM »
Pinbuster, in the early to mid '70s I bowled two mens five man team leagues back to back.  Started the first at 6:30 and the second at 9; very rarely more than 5 minutes late and this included time to drag the lanes (my job for a while).  Finished the second shift never later than 11:30, usually before.  One night this year I didn't get out of the bowl until nearly 11 with a 7 start time and no machine malfunctions.  I've told my teammates (amongst the worst perps) that some night at 9:30 I'm just going to pack up and leave, no matter where in the game we are.
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"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal." Oscar Wilde
Ragnar sure likes to throw his purdy Uranium Buzzsaw.
Wyrd bið ful aræd!
(Thought to be a member of something called the PMS club by some.)

seadrive

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2004, 03:59:01 PM »
Rags, I feel your pain.

We're supposed to start shadow bowling at 8:50, but it seems they never turn on the lanes before 9:00.

The other team never enters their lineup before practice, so after practice, they start looking around for the sheet with their averages and handicaps.  There goes another 10 minutes.

After each game, at least two people (one on my team) have to take a 10-minute smoke break.  I smoke too, but (shock) I can do without for 3 games.  Obviously, some people cannot.

This is a trios league, but still we almost never end before 11:15, and then I have an hour drive home.  I'd be very happy if I could eat dinner before midnight...
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9andaWiggle

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2004, 05:26:57 PM »
quote:
I don’t know if they are watching the teaser graphics


How else will I know how to shoot my spare?

At the house I bowl, they start announcements at the time we are supposed to begin shadow.  Would be alright, except they won't turn the lanes on for shadow balls until they're done with announcements.  They seem to take longer than those big shot singers who think they need to drag the national anthem on for hours.  It gets to the point everyone is standing behind the lane saying "just shut up and turn 'em on".

And let's not forget about the guy on the next pair - the one who lines up and just stands on the approach holding his ball and staring down his target for 2 minutes before making the shot.  What do these people think about for that long?  I try to do all the thinking (hard for me, but still) before I step up onto the approach. That way, all I have to do is get set, find my mark, and begin the pushaway.

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charlest

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2004, 05:40:05 PM »
My 5 man league:
We're supposed to start warm-ups at 6:20 for 5 minutes; then league begins at 6:30. We've had so many complaints from the following league, since we're rarely done by 9:30, that the house asked our secretary to have us start warm-up at 6:10 PM. I got out of the house at 9:40 PM this past Monday.

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MSC2471

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Re: How much time does it take to bowl? RANT!
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2004, 09:37:31 PM »
Monday nights our 5 man league starts practice at 6:20pm and bowls for score at 6:30pm. I usually get out of there by 9:05pm at the latest. Automatic scoring here. Tuesday nights we practice at 6:10pm, start at 6:20pm and usually get done by 8:45pm at the latest. We have to keep score at this house.

What's funny to me is the league that has automatic scoring and takes longer has more striking than my Tuesday night house, yet we get out earlier in the sense of time on Tuesday nights. I think the fact that there are brackets, lotto, scratch tickets and the bar may have something to do with the longer time it takes on Mondays than on Tuesdays...

The only time it used to take 3 hours for a 5 man team would be in college bowling sometimes, and that would drive me crazy as some people would do one lane courtesy and others would demand at least 2 lane if not 3 lane...

Matt