From: cosell@world.std.com (Bernie Cosell)
Subject: Re: Comments welcome...
Organization: Fantasy Farm, Pearisburg, VA
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 07:16:09 GMT

In article <93027.40855.L621035@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM>, L621035@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM wrote:
} To make a short (NOT!) story boring...
} Last Sunday, a meeting was called for officers & capitans for my league.
} (Making us miss shadow balls! :-((( )  & the contretemps were...
} Team A: going to the Showboat Invitational (they always shoot +700 against us)
} Team B: just some local yokels (who usually get +150 pins handicap)

} Team A schedules with team B to meet on *the next, next* Sunday to make up the
} games that they'll miss.  They show up, & no one's there, & our rules say they
} can't bowl unopposed, so they wait until our 5pm league & file a protest.
} Team B showed up on the normal league Sunday, & bowled.  They claim that they
} didn't agree to bowl at a different time..."We can't shoot 6 games in one day!"

... gad... it still gives me shivers to remember back to when I used to
be a league secretary or president and _had_ to sort out messes like this...
ugh...  It is too late now, but in our leagues we generally had the rules
set up so that postponements *HAD* to be arranged by _both_ team captains
contacting the league secretary.  Once scheduled, an agreed-upon postponement
became a *real* match, and if a team didn't show they forfeited.


} Our league isn't bowling next Sunday due to some stupid game on tv, but the 2
} teams seem to have a conflict on getting together, because of scheduling.
} What would you do?

In the case of scheduling conflicts, the time for a postponement is always
at the convenience of the NON requesting team... in the event that they
cannot agree on an alternate time, then the team that caused the postponement
in the first place just forfeits [after all, the *obligation* is to bowl
at the assigned time on the assigned day... it is just a courtesy and
good sportsmanship and such to allow postponements].

In this case, I think that the matter ought to turn on the conditions of
the original postponement: if Team B's captain denies that there was ever
any agreement to bowl the match the next Sunday [and there are no
disinterested witnesses to the contrary], then I think that Team *A* just
is stuck with forfeiting.

} Issues at hand:  Should team B's games be nullified? 

Which games are you asking about here?  Team B [I think] should get a forfeit
for the first week's [non]bowling [unless team A can substantiate to the
satisfaction of the rules committee, or protest committee or league officers
or however you sort these things out in your league] that team B *did* agree
to the postponement.

} Should team A take a
} forfeit?

*IF* they cannot convince the league arbitration mechanism that there really
was an agreed-upon postponement.  If they *can* [e.g., if they told the
league secretary, or another team's captain heard team B's captain telling
the team to plan to bowl the extra match the following week or some such],
then team B forfeits.

Now, in the case at hand, *IF* the two teams can agree on a new postponement,
then that's clearly the best tack and makes the question of forfeits moot.
Even if you can make a 'legal' case for a forfeit, I *HATE* having that happen
in a league... even the big money leagues shouldn't get THAT cutthroat!

} If they can't get together within the specified time period, should
} both teams forfeit?

In general, no.  The only case for a threatened double-forfeit would be if
the situation about whether the postponement was agreed-to is REALLY unclear.
In that case, you could try to use the threat of a double-forfeit to
convince the two teams to be more cooperative.

}  Should I join another league? (I'm VP & Team captain in
} this one)

Dunno... do you like pseudo-legal wrangles like this?  I always kind-of
did [it was about the only thing that made being on the rules committee
anything more that total boredom].  If you league does this kind of thing
a LOT, then maybe you should find a more-fun, less "litigious" one [those
make-you-late-starting team meetings are a REAL drag...:-(]

} One of the most difficult things about scheduling make-ups or pre-bowls is:
} THERE AIN'T NOTHING ELSE TO DO IN MODESTO! So Sunday through Friday  all 52
} lanes are booked solid for leagues until after 9pm, & the kids  (2-22) have
} all 52 lanes from 9am to 12 noon, on Saturdays, & then the blind league is
} until 2:30pm.  Seniors, wheelchair & special olympics use alot of the lanes
} during the weekdays...sigh...(Big $$$ for someone!)

That's why the usual position of the league is to put the
onus-to-reschedule on one of the two teams --- to make it fairly
hard to HAVE postponements so you don't have 'em very often: one
team is asking for a favor from the other team, and if it can't be
worked out the asking-team just loses.  In handicap leagues there
is even a more subtle point: what handicap should you use for the
postponed/prebowled match?  And what about matches that happened
AFTER the postponed match in the league schedule but actually
happened before the postponement was bowled... should you 'correct'
everyones average [and so the match results] after-the-fact?  All very
messy....

   /Bernie\
-- 
Bernie Cosell                               cosell@world.std.com
Fantasy Farm Fibers, Pearisburg, VA         (703) 921-2358
Newsgroups: alt.sport.bowling