The 23rd season of VML Bowling will kick off tomorrow (Tuesday, January 25th) at the NKC Pro-Bowl in North Kansas City, Missouri. The lanes will come on for practice at 6:20pm with league play beginning ten minutes later.For those of you new to the league, welcome! We're glad to see that you've been suckered into, er...that you've joined our league. We have just a few little rules for you to know about how it all works:

1. Bowler's EtiquetteThis is a fairly simple rule to remember -- if someone is up to bowl on the lane immediately to your left or your right, please wait for them to begin bowling before stepping up onto your lane to roll. That's it. See? Simple. The other no brainer portion of this? Do not ever shout up at the person that is currently in the act of bowling. We've condoned beheadings when this has happened in the past.




2. PaymentEach week you'll find white envelopes down on your lanes before you start with your team's name on it. This is where you'll slip your money each week to bowl. If you are a full-time VMLer you will only need to pay $8 per week. Everyone else will need to put in $14 per week. If you are going to write a check, please make it out to AMF. Once you've placed your payment in the envelope, write how much you have paid for that particular week only next to your name in the appropriate dated column. So, for example, if tomorrow night you are going to pay for three weeks you would write $42 in the column for Week #1 and you're done.




3. Remove those wet shoes!There's nothing we enjoy more than seeing someone step up to bowl with something wet on the bottom of their bowling shoes from snow tracked in by someone else. Why? Well, when they go to slide they are going to stop abruptly and possibly fall. There's even a chance for serious injury. It's so funny to watch that happen! In all reality, it's not fun at all...and with the weather the way it is right now, lots of people will be tracking in snow and whatnot. Please remove your shoes before stepping off of the carpeted area after you arrive. It'll save everyone – including yourself – from possibly wiping out.




4. Smoking is not allowedStupid ordinances. Smoking is not allowed inside the bowling alley. If you need to smoke, please do so quickly outside in-between games.




5. Being lateIf you are running late to the bowling alley and will be past 6:30 when we officially start, please do us all a favor and call someone on your team to let them know. According to the league rules, "any bowler who arrives late may enter any game provided the anchor bowler of the opposing team has not completed the fifth (5th) frame. Frames missed may be made up." If you don't make it by that time, your average will be carried for the game that you missed and you can then jump in and bowl the remaining games that evening. The ONLY exception is the very first week. If you can't make it then you are SOL as we need people to bowl three games to set their average and you can't do that if you're late on the first night.




6. AbsenteeismIf you are going to miss a Tuesday there are just a couple of things you'll need to do. Firstly, let your team know that you'll be absent. Secondly, you can make arrangements to have someone bowl in your place (a substitute) or your team can opt to simply carry your average that night. Lastly, you'll still be responsible for payment that night -- if your team opts to carry your average you'll owe the full $14 (or $8 if you're a full-time VMLer) as usual. If they bring in a sub, you'll only need to pay $4 for that week while the sub will need to pay $10 for lane fees.




7. Pre- and Post-BowlingLet's face it...sometimes life gets in the way of bowling (shocking to fathom, I know) and there may be times when at least two of the people on your team cannot make it. Since you need at least two core members of your team to form a "legal lineup" (see the league rules) in order to bowl, if your team finds itself in a position where people simply can't make it you have three options: 1) You can pre-bowl, 2) post-bowl or 3) forfeit. Forfeiting should always be the last option and avoided at all costs because, hey, you lose all four games straight up. Pre-bowling is when your team can make arrangements BEFORE the Tuesday you'll be absent and get your games in. You'll need to make arrangements with the league president (Ken) as well as with NKC Pro-Bowl (so that they can set up a time when you could bowl). Once you are finished, write down your scores and email them to Ken. Post-bowling, which we only allow a team to do two times per season, is when you are granted time to make up your games BEFORE the following Tuesday. Again, you'll need to let Ken know as well as calling NKC Pro-Bowl to make arrangements to go up there to bowl. If you do not make up your games before the next session of bowling you'll forfeit.

That's it for starters. Did we scare you away yet? Hopefully not. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask either Ken or Scoot.We look forward to seeing everyone there tomorrow night to get this party started.