BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: jman76 on September 26, 2016, 12:03:31 PM
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I bowl in a USBC Sanctioned mixed couples league on Friday nights that is fun and competitive. I noticed that a younger guy, a two handed bowler who doesn't use his thumb that we were bowling against, had an extra hole in his bowling ball. He had his two finger holes, a thumb hole, and a balance hole. I politely told him that he had an extra hole and I explained the rule. He said that he had no clue about it and since it was his only ball I said not a problem for this week and left it at that. I did not want to make a big deal about it because he was really nice about it and I wanted everything to remain friendly. Let me also state that my ball driller is a two hander, so I have nothing against that style at all.
Here's where the fun starts. The guy I told about having an illegal ball went and told his parents who bowl on another team. The parents went and talked to the President of our league about it. The President told the parents and the son that yes the ball is illegal and he can't throw it anymore. The kid then proceeds to bowl a 279 with the illegal ball and the President explained to him once again that he was warned about the ball and to stop using it or to risk forfeiting his scores. His parents then blew a gasket and got in my face screaming and cussing at me, basically calling me a baby and was mad because he threw a good game. I explained that I wasn't the person who turned him in to the President, but that they essentially did by informing him themselves. The parents have since decided to quit the league over all of this. I even offered for the kid to throw one of my balls. After everyone calmed down I went and talked to the parents and explained exactly how I told their son about his ball and everything seemed fine.
Our league has it's own Face Book Page for posting high scores, league rules, and general league information. After the night was over the parents decided that they will quit this league over this situation and posted it on our leagues FB page. I feel horrible that they are quitting the league all because I told their kid about his ball being illegal. I was never mean or a jerk about the ball and I couldn't have been more polite about it. I just didn't want this kid to go to a tournament and have someone flip out on him. I wasn't even mad that he was throwing the ball because he's 17 and honestly didn't have a clue about the rule. The parents now have been bashing me and the league all over FB. Any thoughts or comments on this or maybe how it could have been handled differently are greatly appreciated.
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You handled it just fine.
The issue blew up because of the parents
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Sometimes you can't win. Getting on a soapbox for just a moment, it's being silent that causes us as a culture to start sliding down the proverbial slippery slope. Congrats on doing the right thing, for the right reason, AND handling it in a fair manner. My usual line when all else fails is "Everyone has a moment in life when they are being a complete jackass. Thanks for inviting me to yours". Never stop doing what is right... silence = agreement.
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A lot of parents are tools.
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If everything is as stated then the parent are the "jackass", not you.
Knowing how hostile the parents were, it's probably better that they quit the league. It's only a matter of time before people like them find something else to blow up about.
What happened with the kid? Did he quit with the parents, or is he going to continue bowling while making his ball legal? Hope the young man continues, as it sounds like he is level headed and would continue to be a good participant in the league.
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His parents then blew a gasket and got in my face screaming and cussing at me, basically calling me a baby and was mad because he threw a good game.
It is at this very moment where the optimal decision is to simply stay calm and......literally...........just say "OK". YOU know that it's not you being a baby and you know that it's not that you care about the score he threw. Let them go let them go let them go b/c there is nothing you're going to say that they'll be interested in, at all. This is an emotional thing, not one that is going to like reason/rationale.
I explained..
No. There is no "explaining" to people like this.
At the end of the day you have to realize that the President is handling this and what you essentially wanted (the rule enforced/the bowler educated on the rule) has happened. You just smile and say OK.
YOU did the correct thing. Be content knowing you're on the right side of history.
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If everything is as stated then the parent are the "jackass", not you.
Knowing how hostile the parents were, it's probably better that they quit the league. It's only a matter of time before people like them find something else to blow up about.
What happened with the kid? Did he quit with the parents, or is he going to continue bowling while making his ball legal? Hope the young man continues, as it sounds like he is level headed and would continue to be a good participant in the league.
I don't know what the kid has decided as of yet. I hope that he does stay and continue to grow his game. From what I saw, he's a good bowler and has a lot of potential. I do know that his parents are joining a league at a different house where they don't care what balls you use. They had to put that jab in there just for me. LOL
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How dare you be polite and point out something their son was unknowingly doing as to keep him from getting into more trouble. You should be ashamed.
It takes a tribe. My goodness.
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How dare you be polite and point out something their son was unknowingly doing as to keep him from getting into more trouble.
^^^^^^
This. :)
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Sounds petty on their part. Good on you for handling the situation with class
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what type of ball was it, maybe they were upset for $200 bill
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If all happened as you described then you handled it with class.
BTW, did they give the required 2 week notice and pay their league fees before leaving for the nights that fall within the 2 weeks?
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Thing is....its an easy fix as I had to go through the transition myself when the new rule went in to place. Draw a line from the "thumb" hole to the weight hole and find a mid point between the two. Plug the two holes and drill the replacement at that midpoint. My stuff rolls pretty identical post adjustment as they did before the rule went in place.
Maybe this pro shop guy can work a deal out with the kid and offer to fix the issue without having to pay for it right away???
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If all happened as you described then you handled it with class.
BTW, did they give the required 2 week notice and pay their league fees before leaving for the nights that fall within the 2 weeks?
Funny you should mention this. They did ask on the FB page how they go about quitting the league. The President made a copy of that rule and posted it in his reply. They replied back that they would be contacting the USBC to verify the rule, but that they wouldn't pay any lineage. I think this could get quite messy.
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Sounds like they want to be bigger jackasses than they are currently. You would think they had plenty of time to "cool off' and start to think rationally.
Yet, some people just continue to dig themselves a bigger and bigger hole to satisfy themselves. Stupid!!
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As has been stated by others, you handled the situation with class. The low life parents blew the situation into something it should never have become.
But, if you want input on another way to have handled it, you could have waited until after league to have pulled the kid aside to explain the situation and how to remedy it. It would have minimized the chances of tempers flairing and things getting out of control. If the kid came back a week later having taken no action, then it would have been easier to escalate at that point.
I want to emphasize you handled it well and you were within your rights to proceed. Still, sometimes it's more effective to be discrete.
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If they want to quit, then let them. If bowling is going yo die, I would rather it die with honor by the rules, than to throw all the rules out and have it die as a joke.
People like them cannot be dealt with. They do NOT view bowling as anything other than a past time, and may not even be aware a governing body, or RULES, even exist. As such, they are idiots.
Trust me, there will be someone at the "new" center that knows the rule too, and they (if the kid goes too) will just end up going through this again.
I, As the president of the league, having been made aware of the situation, would feel OBLIGATED to let the other league about the situation and why it happened.
I, as the league president, would also inform the parents that this was going to happen.
Rules are rules. They could either follow them, or get their sanction cards pulled, whichever they wanted.
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Sounds like they want to be bigger jackasses than they are currently. You would think they had plenty of time to "cool off' and start to think rationally.
Yet, some people just continue to dig themselves a bigger and bigger hole to satisfy themselves. Stupid!!
Their is never a limit on stupidity.
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Their is never a limit on stupidity.
;) ;D ;D :P :P :-X
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Their is never a limit on stupidity.
;) ;D ;D :P :P :-X
I saw what you did there..............
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Their is never a limit on stupidity.
;) ;D ;D :P :P :-X
Lol you can't expect me to type and think at the same time.
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:P :P :P