Monday - May 12, 2008

Light posting, sorry

Been busy here the past few days. Family obligation’s for Mother’s Day, have to meet with a client to work out an estimate for some deck work tomorrow. Spent today trying to learn 3 similar software applications at the same time so I can figure out which one is better.

I bowl. In leagues. I’m not that great, but I like to compete, and it’s a night out for not too much money. My Saturday league had issues this past season, so I put my oar in the water and said I’d like to help out. So I managed to get myself elected Secretary, which is the position that has 80% of the work. So I’m trying to figure which score keeping application to buy, Bowl101, Perfect Secretary, or League Secretary. They all cost about the same, so ease of use, pretty graphic output, and added features will be paramount. Sure, I could write one myself, but for $80 of not-my-money, why bother?

I’m also trying to learn the USBC rules, which are long, but not terribly complex. Part of that is about how to handicap the teams, so the super bowlers don’t have too much of an advantage, and yet the newbies aren’t given too easy a ride. Once upon a time, an 80% handicap between the team averages was standard, but the USBC bowling organization is trying to get away from that. I spent a couple hours running different handicapping schemes on a spreadsheet, but I haven’t really had any revelations yet. No matter what system you choose, it works best for bowlers of a certain caliber, and less well for everyone else.

You see, one of the issues that league had this year was what we call sandbagging. Bowlers bowling just good enough to keep their team in the top 4, but come playoff nights suddenly they can play waaaay better. Ok, that’s strategy, but is a bit of a dirty trick. So is bringing in your sister and her 65 average to bowl on your team halfway through the year, when the other 3 guys all average up in the 240s. Poof! No more giving away handicap points from then on in, and they put a headlock on 1st from around Valentine’s Day. Not kosher IMHO.

So I’ve got some ideas to discuss with our new league officers. See, the USBC says just about any rule you make up is legitimate if the officers agree to it and it gets written down and applied evenly. so instead of an absentee penalty of 10 pins, which stings the newbies who can’t roll, but is a joke to the guys with the 239 averages, I’d make it a flat 15%. You don’t show up, your team gets screwed. I’m also going to try to run the pyramid game next season, in hopes that winning $30 a week will be enough to make people do their best all the time.

Do we have any serious bowlers here at BMEWS? At least 2 nights a week in the alleys, you own several balls, you watch Norm and Parker and Rino on Sunday ESPN. You know what I mean. I wouldn’t mind some advice about the software, or what bylaws to put in place to keep things balanced, or what kind of handicap actually works the best in the long run.

Summer league starts tomorrow night. I am not an officer there, but I am the guy who pushed for the 90% handicap last year, which made a bunch of the top rollers pissed. Gosh, they had to work hard to actually win, instead of cruising to an automatic victory as is their right. I think I’ll split the difference and push for 85% this year. I doubt they’ll be doing individual handicaps for the summer.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/12/2008 at 07:13 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
• Comments (11) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner