Some of the comments about costs presented earlier and elsewhere make me wonder about some things: why do so many bowlers complain about line fees of $3 or $5 per game but cheerfully pay $50 or more for a round of golf? why do so many decry the cost of coaching yet see nothing wrong with paying a profssional golf coach high fees? why do we complain about the cost of a bowling ball for $200 but take pride in laying out hundreds of dollars for a single golf club? and why do so many moan and whine about tough lane conditions but glow with pride when they play a really difficult course even if they don't even approach a par score? It is somewhat similar to those folks who weep when paying $4 for a gallon of gas, which is a necessity, but don't even consider the cost of bottled water at $8+ a gallon, which is pure indulgence.
Okotte

Well I don't golf so that's a non-issue, but I have seen the comparison many times over the last few years when people complain about the cost of bowling including equipment, sanction dues, lineage fees and so on, yet the golfers will think nothing of the equipment, USGA dues and greens fees that are much more. I've never got the whole buying bottled water just to have it thing either. If I buy it its because I can't get drinkable water any other way, and I usually prefer Gatorade anyway.

okorimbo. why are you being sensible, when people just want to complain?

I can comfortably bowl 5 games in an hour. At $5 per game, that's $25 per hour, which is the going rate. A round of golf at $50, takes 4 hours. Fours of bowling is $100.

I will admit, the cost of a bowling coach is far less than a golf coach by about half.

Equipment cost, well, I carry close to $1000 of equipment to the lanes. Four balls, shoes, 4-ball roller and other stuff. That is about the same that is in my golf bag.

But, you have a good point, and I will never understand paying for a bottle of water which is free at any fountain. Filtered or natural, or spring fed, makes no difference.

I even heard that some places make you prepay for gas. As if you are going to drive off and steel it. What is this world coming to?

To most of us its odd to hear about a station that lets you gas up before paying and people still find a way to steal it, especially now. Even in the more rural areas in Maryland you have to prepay, there is no trust in the world anymore and for good reason.

Jim, somehow I missed this until now. Thanks for the offer, I would have liked to been able to, but it would have been hard to do this week, especially with the time I'm reading this. Maybe sometime in the near future.

Right now the thing is to just drill a hole into the gas tank and let it run out into a container. They don't even bother with trying to get through the gas cap or syphoning. Many stations are now closed in our area. The news said that many stations cannot afford the gas themselves to refill their own tanks. Others are eliminating debit and credit cards because of the percentages and fees attached to taking those as a retailer. We already pay $.10 more a gallon (at most stations) to use a debit or credit card. Guess that's not enough for them. I use a Debit card for gas. I'd have to carry around $100 just to fill my tank.

It all comes back to the economy. People in general are pretty depressed about it and it makes getting excited over things like bowling harder, especially if you are doing well.

Erin

Paid $4.06 for regular yesterday in the Western Suburbs of Chgo. Was in Chgo last night where I found the price to be $4.45 from the same retailer.

It's the EPA emission cost added in the Metropolitan area, plus the higher taxes in the City. Get rid of both and the price is cut in half.

Credit will kill this Country. Now, you can't buy auto insurance without a credit check, and it's a law to have it. You can't get a job, even at Home Depot, without a credit check. Somehow, we have our priorities out of order. We sign up for privacy rights every time we sign up on an internet connection for pleasure, then give them away when we want to work. It's no one's business what my credit standing is but myown.

My Insurance man told me of a story that a retired widow, conservatively worth well over a few Mill, was turned down for Auto Insurance because she owed no one anything and had NO DEBT, and never applied for credit under her name. And, she had retirement income over 6 figures. She went elsewhere for insurance on her Mercedes. This is absurd.

Where is the ACLU when we have real rights fights on our hands?

Around here its usually only a $.05 difference from credit to cash, of course we are still paying at least $.50 a gallon less than in California. Most of the stations still accept credit, at least the ones I normally use. At the stations that give a "discount" for using cash I might save $2 over the 34 gallons that constitutes a full fill up, so its only one game I would have to cut back on using league discounts.



I think this right here sums up my situation. Over the last 3 or 4 months work as been sporadic and the important things had to take priority.

there were a couple of times when i found myself questioning why exactly i was continuing to bowl. the junior league i was previously on had "graduated" all of its top average members, and suddenly i felt like there was no one there to spur me to do better (i was about 20 pins above everyone who was left in average the year before), and consequently my average suffered a bit (only down from 194 to 185, but at 17 that was a considerable drop. also, i fought from a 160 average at the beginning of the season to get to that 185) i found a different junior league last year, and found an old tournament buddy with whom i always competed in local tournaments and saw my average jump to 203, while his also jumped to 201 from 190. i suppose the point of this whole vignette is that sometimes all you need is someone to push you to be better.

I don't know what I can add, other than words of encouragement and my own "slump" story. Last season I started off on fire, rolling 683 and 692 out of the gate. Then the slump hit. Out of 21 series (2 weekly leagues plus a few sets subbing) I had 4 600's, the rest 500's. Then I hit another prolonged slump, going nearly a month without a 600. Then, a former teammate of mine who is also a coach saw me one day and told me my armswing was all off. I was holding the ball in front of me and pushing out to the side instead of holding the ball to the side and pushing straight out. As soon as I shifted it was like a light went on and I began crushing the pins. My final 19 series of the year, I averaged 206. Now I'm averaging 180 (ok, 179.61 but who's counting?) in my PBAX league.