Will lanemen ever truly honor the sport of bowling.......we are still waiting!!!!!!

     I have been thinking about writing an article about this for a very long time.....  I needed to wait until there was one more lane maintenence blunder out there to make my story a little more interesting than it would of been.......I guess Lol......

     First of all why are lanemen so stupid........ they make so many mistakes that can be advoided.  Is it lack of knowledge....Yes!!!   Is it laziness......Yes!!!   The biggest problem could be lack of common sense...........

     Let's start by saying what the hell happened at the "A" game at the High-Roller!!!!!   You advertised this as the following on your website..........

     We are pleased to announce that Len Nicholson, famed lane maintenance guru, will prepare the lane conditions that will be used for the upcoming High Roller and "A Game", January 31 through February 7!

Nicholson is no stranger to High Roller events, having served as consultant for many Showboat/High Roller events over the years. Nicholson provided the lane conditions for the recently held November Senior Classic with resounding success. It marked the first time that High Roller had retained his services since moving operations to Sam's Town. Nicholson is very familiar with the lane surfaces and lane machines at Sam's Town.

Nicholson, former head of lane maintenance for the PBA, among his many other positions, has proven many times that he can assist tournament promoters in providing a consistent and playable pattern. He will work closely with High Roller and the Sam's Town staff.

According to Nicholson, "Kegel has already sent in Service Rep. Bud Dacheaux to ensure that the Kegel lane machines are all up to par and that the players can rest assured that everything will be as professional as humanly possible."

The free practice sessions offered by Sam's Town will assist players in matching up their equipment. The patterns will be posted on site. "We are very excited to bring Kegel on with us," says High Roller's Brad Edelman. "Players who bowl with us see similar lane conditions each year and it's time we showed them something different. Len has the ability to bring the most players into play without creating abnormal scores!"

      First of all isn't this false advertising.......Lol..... did you see the scores. One squad took 240 over for 5 games just to make the first cut...... I thought Len had the ability to bring the most players into play without creating abnormal scores!  He let all the players into play and created nothing but astronomical scores! Lol  Well what happened let's take a look at the possible scenerios.....

      Well first of all there was  too much puddle (or oil) in the middle of the lane........ Eventhough I am not there it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a so called lane guru  to figure out the problem once again.  This is the biggest problem lanemen make when trying to create a fair and equitable condition without league type conditions.  Len did let everyone play that's for sure......was it fair maybe...... was it done by not creating abnormal scores......no unless you think today's league scores aren't astronomical......  The problem is Len....... this is a scratch bowling tournament, not league bowling........ many of the best bowlers in the country come out to Vegas to make some money for the two weeks....... some of the bowlers try to see  what level their game is against some of the best bowlers in the country.  They aren't there  to go out to bowl on a mixed league condition that you set up  to see who the best wall ball bowler is in the land because it doesn't mean a damn thing!!!!!!!! Because you Len showed a lack of integrity and ruined the "A" game name......  Well I guess everyone needed their "A" game looking at these scores..... Lol.....plus some luck to strike everytime too..... so I will give you a break there.....   In Len's defense I will say that every laneman is the country except for that guy who runs that tournament called the "Boot Hill" is guilty of this same thing.  Lanemen are always worried if there is enough oil on the lane to combat all those high rev players who continue to play the lanes too deep too soon when bowling.  I say the hell with them....LLLLLOOOOOOLLLLL.  Lane conditions are mainly dressed and are typically suited for the puddle players........Why aren't the straight players or the tweeners given the bone as often........it's because lanemen are afraid of not putting enough oil on the lanes for a certain type of player.....(Puddle players)

      Here is a true story that will back up this claim........2006 Open Championships in Corpus Christi Texas a 19ml pattern which is a much lower volume of oil than they used in any Open tournament in recent history.... Especially the last 2 years being at 23 and 24 mls.  Anyway the tournament in Corpus was really a break through in my opinion because every type of player (Power,Tweener,Straight,Lefty) had the same advantage, unlike most years when it is very noticable when certain types of players have a big edge over others. I told the  laneman in charge of the tournament that in my opinion it was the best as far as equity I have ever seen for a National tournament telling him I thought he did a wonderful job with what he was trying to create.....fairness among every type of bowler.  His response was "everything was good except we felt there wasn't enough oil on the lanes for the high rev players".  Why worry about them they have the advantage 95% of the time as it is..........Hello what is wrong with everyone having the same chance........Look at the leaderboard.  There were Lefties maybe a few too many in the all-events but other than that you had every type of player imaginable towards the top of the standings in every event...... Look at the last 2 years on higher volume..........there was mainly high-rev players or people who stood left in the puddle threw turtle speed to the right and hooked the whole lane. There were no lefties, and not to many straight guys or tweeners either.....take a look and see.....Lol  The biggest problem with the PBA Tour is the very same thing also (too much oil) you never see them bowl on lower volume patterns.  Maybe that is why there is always the same bowlers week after week making the shows and an equity problem to go along with it.........I've been telling you guys for years that a giant puddle in the middle of the lane will cause such a thing Lol........but no one will listen!!!!

      Bowlingfordumdums.com Open Championship Team has knocked down more pins  than any other Team the past 2 years.  We are bowling again this year but it might be it for me......because I'm sick and tired of bowling on conditions that aren't fair.....I know some lanemen try but it gets old time and time again.......As Riggs would say "your standards as far as bowling and bowling conditions are much higher than anyone else".  I say what is wrong with that.......If everyone had that same outlook and standards that I have would bowling be as bad off as it currently is now...... I don't think so......I'm not telling people to change league bowling......we need to set some sort of fair standards for scratch tournament bowling...... Why waste your time to bowl a M.A.S.T. wall ball tourney or a Burlington All Star tournament when you honestly know it doesn't mean diddly squat even if you win.  Bowling as a sport should have meaning and integrity it always lacks it because of stupidity and the laneman is a giant part of it.....

      I'm sure glad I didn't go to Vegas these two weeks to bowl for no reason....it sure looks like a waste of time again.........I sure would like to thank the High-Roller for the first article months ago about Len being in charge of overseeing the lanes.  It made my decision a whole lot easier on why not to go.........why can't anyone run tournaments like the Boot Hill........I swear he is the only guy who gets it,  maybe that is why many of the PBA guys refuse to bowl his tournaments (They are down to one this year in Vegas) Lol.........hey Len.........go talk to him he will be at the Red Rock I can guarantee his lane conditions won't be as walled up (and have that equity problem again) as they were at  the "Tournament of Champions"  a couple of weeks ago........maybe you can learn something about lane maintenence......Lol  The PBA too......   Len, maybe instead you should actually think about retirement when it comes to being a laneman ......I sure enjoy your radio show Phantom ....... it's really good.....I have no problem with you continuing with that, just no more oiling of lanes please........Lol