Hutch
A broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barret
...keep those Skeptics rolling....
It has been noted in the TAM7 Hotel thread that the Southpointe Casino contains, among other amenities, a 64-lane bowling center. This of course led to the thought of a JREF bowling tournament.
Hokulele was in Vegas this month and was kind enough to take the time to visit the center and provide me a report and some costs. It was enough to come up with a draft plan to throw out to the multitudes and see if it is feasible or not.
TIME: The only time they could advise for now would be Thursday night 9-11PM. That's fairly late, but heck, this is Vegas. Two hours, based on 4 people per lane, should allow us to get at least two games in (league bowlers, if you are out there, please advise). And at least the late hour shouldn't interfere with any dinner plans and you can try and catch an early show if you are so inclined.
COST: Hoke reports the rental is $20/hr per lane, or $40 for 2 hours. If we have the planned 4 people per lane, then it's only $10 per person--and they throw in the shoe rental--not a bad deal. Add $10.00 as a contribution to the JREF to bring it to $20.00, and maybe $5.00 for trophies and certificates (for any American knows, it ain't bowling if you don't have trophies), which I will talk about more below. So at worst, $25.00 to benefit the JREF and embarrass yourself....I mean, have some fun with friends.
TEAMS: Do we want to allow teams for this, or let people sign up as individuals and just assign them as is? I like the idea of teams, one because bowling is designed to be a group activity, not something you do all alone, and two, it might encourage some to come up with fairly imaginative (if not downright scandalous) team names and team shirts.....
AWARDS: I'd like to award Certificates to all participants (working title--suggestions welcome: I rolled in the Gutter for the James Randi Educational Foundation) and also offer trophies for such achievements as: Best one game score, best two game total score, most consecutive strikes, best 4-person team score (2 games), worst score, most gutter balls in one game, best team name, worst team name, best team bowling attire, worst team bowling attire, and I'm sure this group can come up with some more. They wouldn't be the biggest trophies on the mantle, but they would be special...
NUMBERS: I figure to make it worth our, the JREFs', and the Bowling Center's time, we'd need at least 32 people (8 lanes x 4). I'd like to canvass the population here at the Forum who plan to attend TAM 7 and see what the interest is like. If there is enough here, I'll try and talk Jeff/Linda in letting me put it out on the main TAM7 site and see what the interest of the masses are. The limit I have in my head is 96 (24 lanes x 4) as what is manageable and would represent about 10% of the entire TAM audience.
So please read this over, let me know your thoughts, and thank Hokulele for her fine work (you just got drafted to help, you know, if this is a go...).
And for the record, I bowled yesterday for the first time in 2 years--116 and 120 for a 118 average.....
It has been noted in the TAM7 Hotel thread that the Southpointe Casino contains, among other amenities, a 64-lane bowling center. This of course led to the thought of a JREF bowling tournament.
Hokulele was in Vegas this month and was kind enough to take the time to visit the center and provide me a report and some costs. It was enough to come up with a draft plan to throw out to the multitudes and see if it is feasible or not.
TIME: The only time they could advise for now would be Thursday night 9-11PM. That's fairly late, but heck, this is Vegas. Two hours, based on 4 people per lane, should allow us to get at least two games in (league bowlers, if you are out there, please advise). And at least the late hour shouldn't interfere with any dinner plans and you can try and catch an early show if you are so inclined.
COST: Hoke reports the rental is $20/hr per lane, or $40 for 2 hours. If we have the planned 4 people per lane, then it's only $10 per person--and they throw in the shoe rental--not a bad deal. Add $10.00 as a contribution to the JREF to bring it to $20.00, and maybe $5.00 for trophies and certificates (for any American knows, it ain't bowling if you don't have trophies), which I will talk about more below. So at worst, $25.00 to benefit the JREF and embarrass yourself....I mean, have some fun with friends.
TEAMS: Do we want to allow teams for this, or let people sign up as individuals and just assign them as is? I like the idea of teams, one because bowling is designed to be a group activity, not something you do all alone, and two, it might encourage some to come up with fairly imaginative (if not downright scandalous) team names and team shirts.....
AWARDS: I'd like to award Certificates to all participants (working title--suggestions welcome: I rolled in the Gutter for the James Randi Educational Foundation) and also offer trophies for such achievements as: Best one game score, best two game total score, most consecutive strikes, best 4-person team score (2 games), worst score, most gutter balls in one game, best team name, worst team name, best team bowling attire, worst team bowling attire, and I'm sure this group can come up with some more. They wouldn't be the biggest trophies on the mantle, but they would be special...
NUMBERS: I figure to make it worth our, the JREFs', and the Bowling Center's time, we'd need at least 32 people (8 lanes x 4). I'd like to canvass the population here at the Forum who plan to attend TAM 7 and see what the interest is like. If there is enough here, I'll try and talk Jeff/Linda in letting me put it out on the main TAM7 site and see what the interest of the masses are. The limit I have in my head is 96 (24 lanes x 4) as what is manageable and would represent about 10% of the entire TAM audience.
So please read this over, let me know your thoughts, and thank Hokulele for her fine work (you just got drafted to help, you know, if this is a go...).
And for the record, I bowled yesterday for the first time in 2 years--116 and 120 for a 118 average.....
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