MY PERSPECTIVE

 

TO CAP OR NOT TO CAP: This will not serve as the official blog entry for the week, nor shall it be a regular path for me, but the topic is contentious and I have an opinion and a forum, so I will voice it.
During our league meeting last night, there was a vote cast to replace the current handicap system, 90% of 220, with one that completely closes the gap, 100% of team difference. The vote passed, 100% is now the rule, and hopefully our league will remain 36 teams strong.
This did not pass without inciting emotion. There were rumblings of teams dropping out of the league due to this change. I will state that most of the rumblings seemed to emanate from the higher average-entry teams.
The intent of the vote was an attempt to completely level the playing field in our league. Candidly, a 90% weighting still favors the higher average. Here’s a look at your final standings from your 08-09 league:
1st place-10th place team average- 941.55(9 teams, 1 team was incomplete)
11th-20th-                                        864.11(9 teams, 1 team incomplete)
21th-30th-                                       800.20

So a 90% system favors the stronger teams.  And science would say that a natural process would favor a stronger team.  Fair enough, your team is better than mine, you win.  But there is more to it than that….

Back when I was throwing a Bleeder or an Angle there were two constraints on leagues to keep things level. There was a handicap system, but there was also an entering average cap. Your team could not bowl if they exceeded the cap. Same rule applied if you brought in a sub, the overall team average could not exceed the cap. The current trend is now towards “open”, or uncapped, handicap leagues. So one of the levelers was removed, leaving the possibility of a team with a 1030 average competing in a league with another team at a 660. Not hard to predict which team placed higher last season. 
I’m not sure if Via Linda even has a capped handicap league, that concept is met with quizzical bemusement when discussed.

I was absent for the vote last night, but in the absence of an entering average cap it would seem for the sake of fairness or, ugly word coming, “parity”, the 100% system would be a better equalizer. I don’t know if opening night was the right night to institute such a change, but it passed meaning it was favored by the majority. Throw in an enhanced prize fund, and we should be trying to enable all teams to compete on a field as level as possible.

I would love to gather your feedback on this topic.

And what ever happened to the idea of a “mixed” handicap league anyway? (Don’t get me started on that one!)