I just came across this new ruling in our monthly "Friendship Tournament". This is a D/E tournament where the lodges (Moose, Elks, Eagles, and VFW) in the town play for a travelling trophy. There are 2-man teams with two teams from each lodge. They pretty much use bar rules, No BIH, call only the pocket where as long as one of your balls go then the shot is good, double hits are allowed as long as you can't see it clearly, must play out of the kitchen. Anyway the tournament director pretty much makes up the rules as it goes. Even though it is frustrating, it can be fun. The bragging rights go a long way and when you bring the trophy back to the lodge you get a rousing ovation. Sharking out the wazoo..... Heaven forbid if you play a good safety because you must be cheating, of course without BIH it doesn't make any difference.
Anyway every month they seem to pull a new ruling out of the hat. The most recent one....
We are in the hotseat and our opponents are breaking... he miscues and misses the rack. I go to break and I get the response he gets another break attempt BECAUSE he missed the rack or a ball didn't move. So I ask what the hell is considered a legal break. Response...at least 4 balls have to hit a rail. I told the TD in the 40 years I've played this is a first. All he would say is he read it somewhere, just doesn't remember where. I guess it's time to ask to see the rules they want to use in writing. The funny thing is this same TD does use BCA rules in a seniors league and obviously doesn't like them. So at least he has heard that there are established/published set of rules. That is where the frustration comes in. You play well and then get screwed. Heaven forbid if you actually lose and move to the loser's side because of some additional restrictions.
When these hacks win it's funny to watch their reactions. It's even more fun to kill some of these guys and watch them get frustrated by actually play a great safety anyway. Of course they will saleout. I must admit I have never deliberately played an illegal shot to get an advantage. After the match we do attempt to educate them on the correct rules though. More and more of them are going that's a great idea/rule. Still trying to get them to implement ESTABLISHED rules, whether APA or BCA. As a minimum BIH would take care of most of the problems, except for this NEW one....
Anyway every month they seem to pull a new ruling out of the hat. The most recent one....
We are in the hotseat and our opponents are breaking... he miscues and misses the rack. I go to break and I get the response he gets another break attempt BECAUSE he missed the rack or a ball didn't move. So I ask what the hell is considered a legal break. Response...at least 4 balls have to hit a rail. I told the TD in the 40 years I've played this is a first. All he would say is he read it somewhere, just doesn't remember where. I guess it's time to ask to see the rules they want to use in writing. The funny thing is this same TD does use BCA rules in a seniors league and obviously doesn't like them. So at least he has heard that there are established/published set of rules. That is where the frustration comes in. You play well and then get screwed. Heaven forbid if you actually lose and move to the loser's side because of some additional restrictions.
When these hacks win it's funny to watch their reactions. It's even more fun to kill some of these guys and watch them get frustrated by actually play a great safety anyway. Of course they will saleout. I must admit I have never deliberately played an illegal shot to get an advantage. After the match we do attempt to educate them on the correct rules though. More and more of them are going that's a great idea/rule. Still trying to get them to implement ESTABLISHED rules, whether APA or BCA. As a minimum BIH would take care of most of the problems, except for this NEW one....
