A HOUSE DIVIDED

Today I was thinking about Abraham Lincoln's famous House Divided Speech that he made in 1858. Do you remember that one from history class? Here is part of it:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South."


It's the state of our team that had me thinking about this speech. We appear very much to be a house divided. This season we moved from Diablo Valley Bowl to Albany Bowl to address two issues of dissatisfaction. First, with fewer than ten teams in the league, there wasn't enough competition. Bowling the same handful of teams repeatedly was getting boring and the prize funds were small. Second, there were problems with tardiness and absences. These occurred not only on our league bowling nights but at tournaments as well. As I opined when we were contemplating the move, "...the late and last-second arrivals were distracting, frustrating, and detrimental to our performance. Moving to a location that's less than 15 minutes from the office should resolve that problem, not exacerbate it. It should allow us to arrive early so we can relax, get properly prepared and warmed up to compete."

It was hoped that by moving to the Reno Invitational league at Albany Bowl, both issues would be resolved. Albany had a Monday night league for mixed 4s with nearly 30 teams. On top of that, Albany Bowl is only 10-15 minutes from our office so getting there on time shouldn't be a problem. With these things in mind and with assurances that all four of us would not have any difficulty arriving in time to bowl, we made the switch.

We are now seven weeks into our new season. Our league has 26 teams and it has certainly raised the level of competition. However, the issue of tardiness has worsened! Of the seven weeks, we've had our full lineup at the lanes and ready to take our practice shots when the lanes turned on exactly ONE time. That's ridiculous and unacceptable.

When I was a teenager, I had a baseball coach who said he could easily identify the kids who wanted to play ball. They were the ones who arrived early to stretch and warm up so they were ready to go when the practice/game started. The kids who showed up late or not at all were serving their coaches and teammates a "teeming bucket of I don't give a shit."

I understand that everyone will have circumstances that cause them to be late. That should be the exception, not the rule. There is no good reason why all four of us can't be there by 6:10 on a regular basis. That gives everyone time to get their equipment ready, take care of the money, and loosen up in time to take their warm up shots. If one needs to visit the ATM, the cafe, or the pro shop before we bowl, one should plan to arrive by 6:00.

This is how our season has gone nearly every week. Sharon and I arrive around 6:00. We change our shoes, put our balls on the rack, get taped up, and put our money in the envelope. We talk a little about the bowling we did over the weekend or any bowling news we may have heard. We're relaxed and feeling good about the bowling we have ahead of us. About 6:15, we notice our teammates have not arrived. A little later, Mike starts making his announcements over the P.A. and I begin to do a slow burn inside. The lights go on and Sharon and I take our practice shots with half of our team absent. Now I'm getting so pissed off, I can barely see straight. As the warm up session is nearly concluded, the rest of our team arrives. On a good night, they get ready in time to roll one or two warm up shots. On a bad night, Sharon and I finish the warm up session then sit down and go cold as we wait for the rest of our team to get themselves ready to bowl. This is appallingly disrespectful. By the time we get started, I am so frustrated and furious, I have difficulty focusing on making my shots. That's not how this is supposed to work. Sharon and I bowl in other leagues with teammates who are dedicated and respectful. Is it a coincidence that we have much higher averages in the other leagues?

When you agree to be part of team in a competitive sport, you owe your teammates your best effort. As the season approached, I thought all four of us were pulling on the same rope. In practice, we are not. Which course are we going to take? Are we going to be a team dedicated to improving our skills and competing for the championship? Or are we content to operate as a social club without caring if we win or lose? We must become all one thing or all the other. As Abraham Lincoln stated so eloquently, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."