RACHUIG 2006

[OTB]

As easy as it is to a) bag the mentone bowl, b) bag the state committee or c) shut up and don't comment, I feel all those who give a rats you know what about Vic Rachuig should speak up.
The lane draw in my opinion was the biggest farce. Just poor form.
The 5 man teams for stage 1 when we now go to 4 man teams for stage 2 sort of negates the general arguement for a 5 man teams trial that takes 13 hours. That being said, availablility of lanes would have been an issue, no one predicted such a great turn out. But this should have been known by Wednesday night when entries closed so surely an arrangement could have been made. Please tell me if I'm wrong.
In the morning, Mentone layed a tough, long pattern, bowlers had to work hard for shot control and sometimes ball rotation - I believe there was a 5-7-10 left, wasn't there Chris?
Lane 13 - well........ I saw bowlers who throw great shots have their ball backing up on lane 13 - you knew it was tough when people laughed AT you as you walked toward that pair.
In the afternoon, if you drew a starting lane of 7, 9, 12 or 14 - you had an advantage - no question. I'm lucky, I can loft the ball, throw it hard, whatever I like, but it was cruel to watch (with all due respect) the female bowlers and the 'non neanderthals struggle to get the ball to stay right. If anyone says that condition did not cost some people the even chance at a spot in the 16, then they have no idea what went on.
On a huge positive, congrats to all who showed up, great to see Vic Rachuig still has a heart. And a massive pat on the back to the Country bowlers who put their money where their mouth is - please don't be scared away, as Chucky said on the day - don't hold it against Rachuig, it was a poor effort at lane maintenance, and the turnout was just too big for the lane draw. To make the Vic Rachuig team is a great honour, it's an even greater honour when you make it with, and in front of, the states best.
To those who have made the 16, good luck in stage 2 - let's all hope the pattern is a little more even! I for one am going to drill a plastic ball this week, and I know Mac is glad he did last week.
The state committee right now do not look that good - but as Woza said, lets find a solution to the problem and don't let the tail wag the dog.
There's my 2c worth for today.
David McEwan.

 

[Ice_Magik]

not trying to make enemies here.
but i dont understand why people complain about the lane conditions, sure if they were falling apart i can understand...but they werent.
the lanes were dry, shouldnt you be able to change your revolutions, or your ball, or your stance, or the way you throw..... ?
being a noob, honestly i dont know, i wasnt there, but to me it seems that if the conditions are so hard, the people that addapted to them and made the 16 are the better of the tournament ?

cheers

 

[xpense]

No offence her ICE MAGIK,

but as you said you were not there. To see some of Australia best bowlers Adult & youth bowlers resorting to plastic for a strike ball, and moving this 15 boards, means that yes a problem with the lane pattern was evident.

Yes you had to make adjustments, but unless you could pick up the pace of your shot as well, and be able to swing the shot a country mile, you were going to struggle.

All these bowlers made adjustments, l even saw bowlers try to bowl straight down the guts, and that did not work. After lunch the conditions were a farce, and l hate to say that, but they were.

 

[Coconut]

Thats the point Ice Magik you weren't there so listen to what these highly regarded state and national representatives are saying. Yes as state tournament bowlers we are expected and should be able to make adjustments to combat difficult lane conditions...but these weren't just difficult these were plain near impossible......as one of those female bowlers Dave is referring to we do not have the physical ability to combat such a condition, even as Dave said many of the men were unable to either and unfortunately as a result 3 state representatives failed to make the cut based on these conditions and the fact they drew the end four lanes for the last two games as opposed to the lucky few who had the problem of having to move right to make the pocket down the other end. Some of these circumstances are beyond the control of the committee and everyone should be commended for not abusing them at the end of an excruciatingly long day...and Ice Magik after bowling for ten + hours do you think physically and mentally you could have the strength to throw the ball three times harder then you normally would...I think not. The initial lane draw due to numbers was beyond the committees control it was a fantastic turn out but the farce of altering that draw so some people avoided the dungeon on 13 & 14, as Matto rightfully called that pair, was unfair to people who had the pleasure of drawing it twice...add on that some of us did not even get to bowl across the house as we had the same draw as the morning just goes to show why the lane draw should NEVER have been changed.
All I can say is congrats to everyone who made the cut. And to the committee you had a difficult job and did the best you could, most of the time. Lets hope this is just a hiccup and the committee and everyone has learnt something, I know it will be better next year so to all those first timers please give them another chance and you willl see just how great it is to bowl in and for Victoria.
Cheryl

 

[xpense]

Dave,

Have to say that OMG what a day. And yes it was me who laughed as people said they were going to 13 & 14 prior to lunch as l had been thier, and just could not help but laugh.

Must admit l found the morning pattern great, the shot held very nicley, if you put it in the right spot, and if you missed, you paid the price. I did not see to many people with an area on this condition, of more that about 3 boards, but hey that is still plenty of room to hit.

I hope this is what we get for the next stage of trials....

I must admit l am with you about the 5 to a lane, when we are only going to 4 to a lane in the next stage. Would have made more sense for top 20, to keep it at 5 to a lane, as after all Rachuig is bowled in 5 person teams.

Also my second lane draw was lane 2, and that meant l only got to lane 10 to finish with, so never got back to 13 & 14 for a second time. But l heard the stories, and was greatful. Mind you l did find that as l went up the house, l was making about a 5 board adjsutment per pair, that was 5 boards futher left, to a point where l was standing on 45 and trying to kick over the ball return each shot, on the even lane.

It was great to see the country bowlers turn out, and give it a go. I hope everyone turns out next year, and gets behind the trials, and even behind the nationals at Altona.

 

[Ice_Magik]

hey
i wasnt looking to get shot down, as i stated.
i'm just new to bowling, and thought that adjusting to the environment was apart of the deal.......
and no, after 10 hrs of bowling, i'd b kaktus !!

 

[Twwety]

Well said David...

I fully agree with you about the females not being able to handle such a dry condition. Especially as Cheryl had commented, after 10+ hours, we did not have the strength to be able to power the shot to keep the ball to the right of the head pin... And lucky for most men they have the power to loft the ball & power through the shot, just as Dave stated...

Cheryl & I both brought Tweety out. The poor bird was exhausted after being used as a strike & spare shot!!

As Lance mentioned, I too also enjoyed bowling on the morning pattern. It was tough, but challenging, & as Lance said, you missed your spot you paid the price.

All that said, congratulations to everyone who made the Top 16 & it was good to see some new faces trying out also.

Lets keep our fingers crossed that on the weekend of the 6th & 7th everything runs smoothly..

Jenny

 

[AGE]

I wouldnt take offence ice magik, as a new bowler i guess it would be hard to understand. i was always told and always believed that a good bowler can adjust to any condition but then i bowled at mentone on the weekend and blew that philosophy out of the water. i throw a fairly big shot anyway with a fair bit of power but when you stand on the gutter and throw to the other gutter and then consistently cross the headpin hoping to score that lucky brooklyn strike with a plastic ball it becomes very laughable. we went from one extreme to the other. i couldnt move the ball in the morning to not being able to keep the ball on the lanes in the afternoon. the one positive though was the challenge as i had never bowled on such extremes in one day. good luck to the 16 who made it.

 

[Nighteyes300]

as i'm sure everyone has noticed, i'm a big boy and i can throw a fast shot, but when my plastic is hooking at the arrow's after i've thrown it end-over-end there has to be something wrong, in my opinion if we had of continued on the morning pattern there probably would have been more oil still on the lanes then what there was at the end of the night. I'm only a first timer but i will give it another shot, solong as the committe thinks about things and tries to make it a fair day (or weekend *hint hint*) for all involved.

To those that made the top 16 i bow to you all for a job well done.

 

[alexnjudy]

As easy as it is to a) bag the mentone bowl, b) bag the state committee or c) shut up and don't comment, I feel all those who give a rats you know what about Vic Rachuig should speak up.
David McEwan.

Common A or B..people want answers right now!! I don't think theres a Rock big enough in Victoria to hide you with this one.Your only escape plan is to tell them the truth. It was a April Fool Joke gone wrong !! :-\" :-\"

 

[craig]

i blame the idiot who was pushing the button

the same idiot who let the cord drag over the freshly unconditioned lanes, oh and dragging it back over the approaches

and obviously the same idiot who was responsible for the servicing of the machine.

the buck stops somewhere, and as a head technician, thats where the buck stops. not for one second can we sit here a diplomatically say these things happen, cause they don't, they happen when you take everything for granted and this is a piss poor example that gives this sport and the workers involved with it such a crappy reputation.

if the bowl was so sorry for what happened, how about giving me my money back! or maybe just the percentage of games that i bowled on appalling conditions, that being 6 games or $30

on that note, well done to everyone who made the team, and i look forward to returning back in 2007

 

[Coconut]

well chucky all i can say is i'm glad "ALL" of you will be returning in 2007....hmmm maybe bigger and better then ever Thanks for the entertainment

 

[OTB]

I've worked out what happened!!

It was Brendan from Northcote - he wants his plastic ball tournament to take off so he set up a practice tournament for us......... yeah thanks Brendan - mate (sic).

On a serious note - we all need to be constructive, hate to say it but there are a lot of very sore people who are questioning their involvement in Rachuig over the weekend. Whilst the majority were far from impressed with a few things on the weekend, we need to make sure it does not happen again - end of story. Let's hope either the governing body, or the tech who could not place the power cord in the bent board we call the gutter (well put Chucky) learn from whatever mistakes or errors in judgement were made. Lets not crucify the innocent, be thankful most of the bowlers realise that is not the norm and next year the bowlers who missed the 16 will be back to prove a point.

That's another 2c I've spent today!
Better go sell some more balls.

David

One comment - does our state committee read this site? If you do, would anyone like to comment (if you are allowed to).

 

[Woza]

One comment - does our state committee read this site? If you do, would anyone like to comment (if you are allowed to).

I know for a fact that they read but I wouldnt hold my breath waiting for a reply.

 

[OTB]

I know for a fact that they read but I wouldnt hold my breath waiting for a reply.

They'd be damned if they did and they're damned if they don't.
But it would be nice to get some acknowledgement from someone that the controlling body is listening to the bowlers. Just my thoughts.

 

[peter56]

this was my first attempt at rachuig and ive been bowling for about 25 years and what a day for my first time first 5 games i couldnt hook the ball then the next 5 you just about couldnt keep it on the lane maybe i should go back to the way i bowled 20 years ago straight lol the last time i can remember something like that was at sunshine on the last roll off of the eccc where when you let go of the ball it only got just about half way down the lane and it was in the gutter oh well i will just have to try again next year surely it cant happen again good luck to those who did make it

 

[alexnjudy]

I remember bowling one tournament with a "impossible" condition just like this. My first ball went gutter to the left. Second ball left to the gutter. I was like what the hell. So i decided to go for my tenpin..guess what.. gutter on the left too. Everyone was laughing. So i called the TD and said try to bowl on that with a house ball. He bowled ,gutter gutter gutter.
All the lanes were reoiled after that

 

[edfleminglanes]

Let me assure you that Vic Tenpins have taken note of what happened on the weekend and will make sure that history will not repeat itself. It should also be noted that the bowlers themselves asked to have a 10 game roll off and it was always going to be a long day. Maybe 8 games would be better, especially seeing we have to make the roll off as close to Rachuig conditions as possible, and Rachuig is bowled in a 5 man format. It would also be great if all the bowlers could forward a letter to the State Ass. with some constructive ideas on how to improve the trials etc. I know Justin had a meeting with several of our top bowlers and hence the 10 games for the first trials. Remember these people on the Association give up their free time to put these events on,so show them some respect and drop a letter and put your view across, you might be surprised at the response from Vic Tenpins.

 

[hamma]

Well said Mr Chandler i couldn't agree with you any more, i hope they do read this cause we return in 2007 we might be on time!!!!
(NOT 10 GAMES IN 14hrs!!!!!) But good luck to everyone who made it i hope the best 7 their blow the house apart!!!!!

 

[Carmers]

Questions: What time did check in start and finish? What time were we supposed to start? What time did the last bowler check in? What time DID we start?