I have a few, OK more than a few but I'll leave some for you guys lol. One thing I HATE is when some league bowlers walk right up to the ball return to drop off their ball and drag water from their shoes all over when it's raining or snowing.

THE top pet peeve are young kids who go to the lanes with their parents and have ZERO discipline. They spill soda, drop candy, cry, scream, fight, want quarters, cough on you, take your seat and get you away from enjoying your night out.

How about you? Lets hear em.

-People who bring noise makers to league. Yes, we actually have people that bring, AND USE, noise makers to league.

-People who [censored] on the approach (yup, high class, let me tell you!)

-Getting stuck on the "end" pair and getting stuck next to a bunch of open bowlers

-Going to open bowling expecting bowling etiquette from people who know nothing about it

-People who take 15 minutes for a smoke break between games

I could go on as well, but I'll be nice and leave some for others

I have a few...
1)people on the other team who are nowhere insight when its their turn to bowl.

2) kids running amuck through out the center...
I had to stop right in the middle of my push off when a little 3-4yr. old ran right in front of me on the approach.

3)people who swear loudly, and kick the ball return, furniture etc. after they make a bad shot

Many , many more...I'll hand off to someone else

The little kids whining and crying in the bowler's area because their parents won't buy more French Fries or give them another $5 for the video machines. For God's Sake folks, get a sitter!!!

My folks bowled when I was a kid. We were never drug out to the bowling center all night. They got a sitter. If you cannot afford a sitter, then you can't afford to bowl. Either that or bowl a Jr/Adult league where you can spend constructive time with your kid instead of dragging them along to your activities like pets.

Now if they stay up on the concourse that's fine. But they usually end up screaming from the concourse for their mom or dad. I bowl a 9pm league on Friday. We get out around midnight. When I was a kid we were in bed at 9pm even on the weekends. My folks would never have left the house at 9pm dragging us with them. You would not believe the young parents out there that are dragging babies and toddlers out into the weather so they can go bowling at midnight for $1.50/game. Stupid!! No wonder the kids are screaming and crying, they're TIRED.

OK, thanks Mike for this venting opportunity. LOL

Erin

- The opposing team members (or my team members) not ready to bowl.
- A dirty bowling alley.
- Sticky approaches.
- swearing at, kicking, hitting, throwing something at the ball return or score table because the person can't pick up a 10 pin.
- excessive trash talking. (a little is fun).

My first one has already been mentioned, the 10-minute smoke break.

Opposing bowlers who do not give you a high five for a good shot despite the fact that you give them one.

People who spend more than 30 seconds standing on the approach before thier shot.

Different coasts same pain lol I bowl with 2 different sets of parents and their kids know how to behave in the bowling alley. Last year I bowled with a set of parents who's kids not only made me want to drink but get a vasectomy and I'm single with no kids! lol

Another pet peeve is not having room to put your stuff since everyone and their sister has a 3 ball roller and spreads their stuff out.

Good topic for us to vent out I have the same pet peeves as you guys around my area as well. Here's a couple more...

I can't stand being in the middle of my approach and having the guy on the adjacent lane run up and throw his shot. Not that it is horribly distracting (well, sometimes depending on what they're doing...), but it's just an etiquette thing. I don't do that to others, I wish some people would be nice enough to allow the adjacent lane to finish the shot before running to the line. My one exception is if it's a little kid, I don't mind and will try to stop my approach so I don't hurt them somehow. Most adults don't realize this rule of etiquette either.

On the kicking and hitting things front, we have a team in our Tuesday Mixed that is made up of mainly recreational bowlers, straight ball shooters without any clue, but they have fun which is cool with me. You have to have fun right! Well, most of the team is really nice and whatnot, but they have one guy who is wild. He will throw his shot, lay down on the approach, throw his hat if he doesn't get a good pin count, stomp...all sorts of distracting things. We had a laugh one night because during one of his antics he dang near fell on his tail. We ended up calling a meeting about on lane etiquette. Occasionally he will forget though and revert to his usual hat throwing and stuff, then his teammates yell..."Get up!!!" or "Don't do that".

Several times I've tripped up over shoes and bags where they shouldn't be.

I love watching the college kids around here come to bowl. They grab the lightest ball they can find (usually a 6 or 8 pounder), then they whip it down the lane as fast as possible. When it hits and dies with a thud and no pin action they wonder why they got all of 4 pins...Usually provides some entertainment during moonlight bowling.

I can't stand drinks and food in the settee area too. Too many times in open bowling I've seen spilled drinks and stuff.

I totally agree with the smoking breaks. Man that's annoying! I just want to bowl and not have to sit aroud wondering where the other team went. My Tuesday night league is the worst offender of this one. Most of the league goes outside between games, sometimes teams go between frames. Ooo I hate that. Wait until the series is over, then smoke.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with some of this stuff going on

The smoke break thing isn't as bad if someone would just say "hey, we're going out for a smoke" so we're not left sitting there wondering where the heck the other team went.

*edit: I should also point out that NY state law prohibits smoking in public places, so there's no smoking inside of a bowling center. You have to go outside in order to smoke, which is what causes the delays. The nice part is that you can go home and not smell like stale smoke. The bad part is dealing with the smoke breaks.

That's the thing here though. Nobody here says "We'll be right back." They just up and walk out.

Biggest pet peeve I have is when during league I'm on the approach in the 10th, make my delivery when all of a sudden I see a ball whizz by me on the next lane (they guy is standing on the floor off the approach) as I'm posting the shot because the dude that I'm bowling against is losing and is such a bad sport that he will often resort to this.

Maybe some of the smokers can answer this question. How long does it take to smoke a cigarette? Because I swear we've been held up for over 10 min while an entire team goes out to smoke.

How long do you think it would be reasonable to wait on a bunch of smokers or even one smoker before you give them a 0 for delay of game? I mean for those of you out enjoying your cigarette, the rest of us are just sitting wasting time, waiting to bowl.

I think if you smoke and have to go outside to do so, then it should be between games and you leave right after your 10th frame so that you can get your smoke in before you are up for the next game.

Erin

I can't appreciate those who use bowling as an excuse to drink beer. I think it's unsavory and demeaning to the sport. Spilled glasses, wet floors, seats and tables. Not to mention the vulgarity and raukishness of many. Waiting for people to return from the bar. Tracking wet feet with them onto the floor. There is no place for this while bowling. Not to speak of the boorish, uncivilized and vulgar attitude of some. Beer classifies bowling as an unrefined an classless sport to many.

If you want to drink, go to a bar. If you want to bowl, then bowl.

I agree Dennis,

I do not know about your league but in mine the good bowlers are not drinkers. The only good think about drinkers is that they almost always tail off the drunker they get making them easier to beat in those 2nd and 3rd games.

While I agree when someone gets drunk to the point of not helping the team or they make drinking as important as bowling that takes away away from the night. I do how ever have one night a week where my team likes to have 2-3 beers and that's about it so I join in. Until this year I never mixed bowling and a single beer but honestly one or two beers doesn't kill me. If I was on a team that minded a drink or two then I wouldn't, I'm there to bowl.

Yes sometimes a drink might even relax someone but we have some bowlers that just get tanked and that is not good.

- Bowlers not being ready to bowl.
- People who think it's their right to put as many balls on the ball return as they want.
- Bowlers not being ready to bowl.
- Bowlers who stand on the approach forver.
- Did I mention bowlers not being ready to bowl?
- Bowlers who get up on the approach and then decide to turn around and have a conversation with people.
- People who want to start a conversation with you as you're going through your pre-shot routine.
- Did I mention..

When I used to smoke (will have quit 4 years ago this Feb.), I could choke one down in 2 or 3 minutes if I needed to. 5 minuites was still pretty quick. 10 minutes is if you're just shooting the brease, kicking back and having a smoke. That annoyed me even when I did smoke.

And once they banned smoking indoors here, I only smoked after I finished the 10th.

I had a first in a mixed handicap league this summer. One couple on the opposing team set up a 4’ x 4’ portable playpen, complete with two toddlers, behind the ball return in the team seating area. Beside the one continually dropping toys outside the pen and the noise, they were more of an obstacle than anything else. However, I don’t think they appreciated my comment that I thought that all pets should be left at home………………….

Well i do have kids. They are good maybe I'm the exception I get complements and asked where r they when they arent there. So sorry kids get such a bad rap.I do see the ones that are always running around too.I do acknowledge what you are saying.

The thing that gets me the most is just not being ready to bowl when your up.

As much as I begged my parents to come and watch them bowl, their answer was always a firm "NO". They told me, "Saturday morning at 9:00 is your time to be at the bowling center not (fill in date and time here). That time is for adults." To this day I hate when parents bring their unruly kids to the bowling center when adults are bowling. If they're good kids who don't pitch a fit when mommy or daddy doesn't fork over some change to dump into the video games, they're fine.


Dear God, this is my biggest pet peeve. There have been nights where I've used two balls, but if only one could fit, I pulled one off. But for the most part, I use one freakin' ball all night long and there are some nights, even bowling in a 4 per team league, I find myself pulling my only ball off the rack because some !@#$%^& straight-chuckin' idiot thinks he/she needs 2 or 3 balls on the rack. The last time I did that, one person who had 3 on the rack asked me why I was taking my ball of the rack. I said, "because there are certain people who feel the need to empty their [bleep] [bleep] bowling bag onto the rack, thus leaving no room for my [bleep]in' ball, and if there's no room on the [bleep]in' rack, balls will get stuck in the [bleep]in' return. Of course, people like these have no respect for anyone else, so why should they give a good golly [bleep] [bleep]?" Yeah, messeage sent, and received.

And I am one of those smokers, and I try not to put everyone else out when I feel the need to pollute the air. I bowl anchor, so I either try to sneak in a smoke before my 10th frame, or I smoke 1/2 after my tenth and finish it after my first frame. If I'm bowling against another team who also feels the need to pollute the air, well, we take as long as we feel like. My other teammates find this a good time to open their car trunk and dive into their cooler for a shooter.

- Open Play bowling next to people who dont know about lane courtesy.

- People who are no where to be found when its there turn to bowl

- Team members who are always late and you dont know if there comming or not

- Team members who show up when they feel like

- People who put all there balls on the ball rack so there no room for any more people ball.

I have to agree with Brian. Go have a cigarette. The most rediculous laws we have enacted are the smoking ban laws. Here, in Chicago, in zero degree temperature, people are being forced to go outside, most without jackets, to smoke a cigarette. Now, the Chicago laws state that they cannot stand within 15 feet of the doorway. So, they stand in the street.

If the intent is to protect those who do not smoke because it is harmful, then OUTLAW IT FOR ALL, because it is harmful. And not just in public places. The politicians are reacting to a majority who object to smoking, while they accept funds from those same company lobbyists so they don't vote to bankrupt the Commonwealth of Virginia, or State of Kentucky. And at the same time are happily spending the cigarette taxes they collect. This is the biggest abuse of Democratic authority this Country has seen. Eliminte Cigarette taxes, and watch your property taxes escalate.

If it is bad for one, it is bad for all. It is not just bad in the Bowling Center. So if you passed a law prohibiting smoking in the center, live with the stupid results.

Tell me how an employee on the 90th floor of the Sears Tower is supposed to get outside to smoke in 5 minutes. The elevator takes 15 minutes. There has to be a tremendous amount of lost productivity do to these stupid, one sided laws.

So, if he has to go outside for 10 minutes, you made him do it. Live with it.

When I smoked, I was always chided by a female employee who couldn't stand the smell of smoke. Little did she know that I was deathly allergic to certain perfumes.
After I had a seisure at work because of her perfume, all cosmetic scents were banned in our closed-in office environment. You wouldn't believe the uproar. But, it helped being the Boss.

Don't get me started on recycling.

OK, I'm off my soapbox.

Then I'd think it wouldn't take too long to smoke enough to satisfy. I've been in Chicago and lived in the Mid West, I know the cold of which you speak. :-)

Now I grew up with a chain smoking mom. And I live with a smoker. I am not an anti smoker type person. I just hate to sit there doing nothing, getting out of rhythm, cold and bored while someone gets their chemical fix. Its not our problem you are hooked.

Erin

So I have another peeve. And I think that's 3 for me that rank tops.

Re Racking during league practise. OHHHH how I hate this. In fact I'm surprised it didn't come to mind faster. 10 min we have and 10 bowlers (or 8) on two lanes (lane might have problems or have slow racks too). I want to get as much as I can into each 10 min. But when you rerack because you dont' have a full rack you waste TIME, very valuable time. And some folks that rerack wouldn't know ball reaction if they ball had turn signals on it. If you didn't get a full rack, then shoot a 10 pin, or 7 pin. Or pretend. I bowled in one house that had true shadow practise....NO PINS.

Erin

There's a drama queen on one of the teams on my Sunday League. He gets up there makes his approach, throws the ball, and doesn't matter if its a strike, spare, open, or even a gutter, he stands there in is finished position re-throwing an imaginary ball over and over so long that the ball has already been returned. This can be upwards of 30 seconds sometimes. Needless to say I've exchanged words with him from time to time. It totally throws any rhythm anyone might have out the door, not just the team he is playing against but teams on the other lanes.

In two of the leagues I'm in we throw the first ball and then foul if it is not a strike. That eliminates the need for some people to rerack. Extra balls on the return bugs me the most. I have made people remove their extra equipment.

Pretty much everybody named most of the pet peeves out there. I suffered through many of those as well. One that has not been mentioned:

-Bowlers from a previous league that leaves litter(paper cups, rest of food, etc) in the tables.

How could I forget this?!?! Tonight was a perfect example, machinery that CONSTANTLY breaks down. My local lanes are HORRIBLE and THE worst lanes I have ever bowled at. They put no money into the lanes and it shows with the amount of duct tape they use to repair things. It was so bad we had to move to the break down pair and even then they lost a ball. This pains my very soul, if it keeps up I'll just not bowl or save it for the weekend and travel to better kept lanes. I can understand breaking down now and again but this is every night!! Not once do I leave there without setting up pins, asking for the ball return, making score changes, having pin holders changed out, blacks outs you name it. I hate it!

I worked in such a place, Mike. I can tell you that the employees are probably as frustrated as you are with having to do all that if they give a hoot. It was not uncommon to hear me cussing in the back because the tightwad owner never invested in parts. I can't tell you how many "make do" repairs I made in 7+ years. It was sickening.

Unless they totally blow you off or give you attitude, they truly care, so give them a little bit of a break and lend an empathetic ear and commend them for doing the best they can with what little they have to work with. Believe me, nobody wants those machines to work better than they do, and nobody wants you to get out of there on time more than the employees. The more negativity they get, the more likely they will give up on you, the bowler. I know I did in my situation. They can't help it if they're trapped by an idiot owner or manager.

Remember, you chose to bowl there, and if you were aware of the problems, then you have to put up with some of the mess. And there, too, you're only there for 2-3 hours a night. Most of the employees are there 40 hours a week.

I think this has a more subliminal effect then at first perceived. You have various sports and none have such poorly maintaned components that effect the game. Granted bowling has more machinery then most. I think every time you have a lane breakdown it just re enforces the stuck in the 1950's, not gunna invest anymore then we have to, mentalilty, that most bowl owners seem to have.

And it is amazing the way bowlers treat their establishment of enjoyment. Most do totally trash the place each and every night with no thought as to the extra work it puts on all the staff. Most bowlers would not treat their own house like this, but will leave the bowling alley an absolute pig pen and think nothing of it. Think of yourself as a person that's rarely entered a bowling alley. What would your first impressions be of trash, food containers, cans, drink glasses (many 1/2 filled) scattered all over the place with trash cans meer inches away? And it extends to the rest rooms too.

Both these items keeps our sport a "not to be taken seriously" activity.

Erin

Erin, this is for you.

I really love bowling, since I have restarted.
I am a fairly mellow guy, so very little bothers me.
OK, people are discourteous, dirty, sloppy, they drink, smoke, too many balls, not there on time, too oily, no oil, machines break.......
I really enjoy this site, and talking with so many interesting people.
But, there is one thing that really bugs me about it.
Why do people have Site Names that I can't pronounce? Atochabsh!!!

I can accept acronyms, numbers, even made up words, but how do you say ATOCHABSH?????

LOL

LOL OK you say it Atocha....B.S.H.

The Atocha was the 16th century Spanish galleon found off the coast of Florida in the 1970s with treasure intact. Mel Fisher the famous treasure recoverer, found the Atocha after much pain, cost and effort on his part.

The BSH stands for British Shorthairs. The cats I have shared the last 24 years of my life with, shown and exhibited across the country. Known Internationally for my knowledge of this breed, and a US Published writer pertaining to his breed. You might think I know something about bowling....ask me about British Shorthairs. LOL I know just enough about bowling to get myself in trouble, but British Shorthairs......no problem.

See?..... it makes perfect sense now.

Erin

PS, cat fanciers never leave a show venue as messy as bowlers leave the bowling alley each shift of league.

My bowling pet peeve is ....... myself!

I KNOW that I have to have a certain ball speed to bowl well. Sometimes, if I don't concentrate on this, I bowl slower and everything goes out of the window!

The big problem is that I never recognise the problem until it's too late!

I must concentrate on this problem all the time.

Oh, well.

[quote=Atochabsh][quote]See?..... it makes perfect sense now.

Now it does. thanks.
"Nuestra Senora de Atocha"
Have you been to Mel Fischer's Museum in Key West? You seem too young to be an investor. Many artifacts of the Atocha on display. Quite a find! $450 million in Gold and Silver.

My friend Mike, who got me back into this great game, and a teammate for the past 3 years, raises Staffordshire Bull Terriers, (the white dog in the Patton movie), and judges Dog shows all over the Country on weekends. When I talk with him, I marvel at his knowledge of animals.
With your knowledge displayed on this board, I can only imagine your BSH expertise. LOL

OK, here I go with my pet peeves...you guys have covered most of them, I'll see what I can add...

...bad children in the bowling alley (and I do take my children and they are well-behaved, because I don't play)...

...women who wear tight clothing/short skirts to bowl in...

...someone who gets upset about every miss or mistake who's not a good bowler to begin with...

...SANDBAGGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just because you're up or down at the end of a game, doesn't mean it's OK to throw off to keep your average. Or it's OK to bowl a 160, then turn around and bowl 260...we all know these bowlers. I'm surprised nobody mentioned that one.

And a quick story about children running wild in the bowling alley...a buddy of mine and I were practicing one day and there was a group of young adults about 2 pair down from us with several toddlers in tow. My buddy gets up to throw a ball, begins his approach and never saw the little girl running down the approach toward us. He goes into his backswing and on his forward swing hits the little girl with the ball. Severely bruised her ankle/leg, and he never released the ball and ended up dislocating his shoulder, spraining his wrist and tearing up his knee in the ensuing fall.

Children are not to be left unattended at the bowling alley...or anywhere for that matter. Sorry for the PSA...

Oh, before I forget...the little girl's mother was upset with my buddy for 'hitting' her daughter with the ball. Never mind the fact that if she had been doing her job, it wouldn't have happened in the first place.

But I'm happy to report that my buddy made a quick recovery and has been bowling even better since the incident.

Ah yes, forgot about sandbaggers. The thing with me is I am geared to try to do the best no matter what the situation so I do not get how someone can sandbag.

Worst case I saw was in the 2nd week of the league a guy was averaging - 95, yes no 1 in front just 95. Then he goes out and bowls a 157 against us???? Granted he was not that good but his other two games were in the 140's, well over the 95 average he had.

Yeah, I'm with you Scott...if I'm bowling bad, it's because I'm bowling bad. If I'm on, it's because I'm on. There is no in between...I put my best into every ball I throw, evidenced by my current 205 average across 3 different centers. And the fact that I haven't shot less than 610 in the last 7 weeks...including a 289 and 697 series last night. And if it wasn't for tap...but I digress.

Nice job Show. I hope to get to that level someday but I need to have patience.

Show300
I guess you would have called me a sandbagger, but I really wasn't.
After the first three weeks of bowling on Wednesday, I carried a 143 average. On itsown that could be believeable, but, I am at 202 on Monday, and 205 on Friday, all in the same House. Yeah, the Wednesday people who know me talked about sandbagging. There were no real accusations, but it did come up in conversations. So, I know some were thinking it. For whatever reason, I was having trouble, but only on Wednesday. I am, as of tonight, back to 187. But I have to average well over 600 a night to get back. Will I reach 200? I will try.

I haven't ever seen anyone that I would suspect sandbagged in the 3 years I have bowled. But, then again, I think the leagues I bowl in don't help a sandbagger. Most of the prize money is for individual achievement and bracket payouts. There is more prize money for top bowlers, games, series, then for first place team. and when you add the bracket money, you are bowling against 4 other bowlers each night, and can win additional prize money. And the lowest in the bracket gets zilch for the night. So, I guess this stops sandbagging.

We can't mention sandbagging within our team because one of our members gets upset. Her dad sandbags in league for low tournament averages (isn't that typical?). 3 of the 4 of us have a problem with it.

I mention it jokingly to other teams because they always seem to have their best nights against us. Last week in the 3rd game, each of their bowlers was at least 10-20 pins over thier averages. It was all in good fun, and everyone knew it. That's just the down side to 100% handicap leagues.

We have a team member who gets all tied up in knots over averages and handicap. In all fairness through 10 weeks, 30 games, there is only one bowler on one team that I would consider a sandbagger. At the end of the day a lot of people just have that one night or in some cases one game that is well above their average. That one bowler who I suspect of sandbagging in 10 weeks raised his average from 95 to 137. I always tease one of my teammates of being a backwards sandbagger as he went from 169 to 138.

I'm actually surprised that no one has accused ME of sandbagging. My scores have leveled off as of late, but in the past, my scores usually cover a range of ~100 pins through 3 games (I could go from bowling a 240 one game to bowling a 140 the very next). I guess with a 180 avg, sandbagging isn't as big of a concern.