The good, the bad and the ugly — the beer frame at the bowling alley

Got an e-mail the other day. The fella who sent it was upset. Seems he was the victim of the dreaded beer frame on multiple occasions and he didn't think it was fair. Since, he said, I was the bowling rules "expert," he wondered if I had any advice for him.The missive sent me to the research laboratory that is the Internet to see what I could find about the beer frame. For those not quite in touch with the sport of bowling, a beer frame occurs when all the bowlers on a given team throw a strike or convert a split in the same frame. Well, except for one guy.The non-striker is then expected to buy a round of adult beverages for himself and his teammates. Apparently the original beer frame was limited to a single frame — the fifth — in each game. As time progressed and the number of times a bowler was "hung" was limited, the beer frame was determined by the lowest score a bowler had in that fifth frame.One drink per game is not too much to ask, is it? Eventually any of the 36 frames contested in a given evening became fair game for the beer frame. I'm guessing this switch came from guys wearing bowling shirts that read "We are a drinking team with a bowling problem." The e-mail came from a bowler who competes in the 55 Plus League at the K of C Lanes. In order to protect the identity of the man we will call him Mr. Jones — one of the most common of surnames. Mr. Jones informed me that he had been "stuck" three times in three games a few weeks ago. The following week that number went up to eight. In one night! I'm now feeling his pain. The problem, according to Mr. Jones, is the fact that in his league, they never know how many people will show up at the four-lane house. They divide up the four teams by the number of keglers and frequently they have three-man teams. Such was the case the night he was constantly reaching for his wallet to pay his debt.When Mr. Jones suggested that beer frames should only take place when using a five-man team, his idea was promptly rejected by a vote of 14-1. Sorry, Mr. Jones, but old habits are hard to break and you are dealing with some "old" bowlers. On one of his trips to the bar to fulfill his beer frame "duty" Mr. Jones decided to deal with the situation in a unique way. He purchased one beer and brought back three glasses. His teammates were not amused, but I found that hilarious and wondered why he was asking me for advice.But since he did, I will try to help. Let me first suggest that I agree the beer frame is not always fair. In fact I have my own tale to tell and it occurred several years ago. I was the anchor bowler on the team and in the 10th frame my four teammates decided to strike out. Many of those strikes were lucky (ne: crappy) considering that a couple of balls did not even strike the head pin. The 12 strikes constituted a perfect game of sorts and certainly a perfect storm for me.Suddenly I was on the hook for three beer frames. Unfazed I buried my first ball and 10 pins went into the pit. Not going to get me three times … My next shot was identical to the first with one little exception. The 10 pin stood unmoving, smugly smiling at me. My teammates were quick to point out that I owed them two rounds and they were thirsty. So, Ken, (oops) here's my advice. I will tell you the same thing my teammates told me that night when I complained about how unfair that beer frame was …Bowl better!This week's honor roll is led by Mike Distel who shot his first lifetime 700 series, a 714 in the Rocket League. Congrats, Mike! Rocket: Mike Distel 714, Tom Tiell 645, Shawn Fitch 624, Tyson Shope 624, Samantha Wiley 591 and Ameer Muhammad 571.Allen Eiry: Harry Smith 338, Ken Jones 307, Chris Smith 294, Ed Wise 276, Joanne Elchert 274, Sally VanBuskirk 274, Jim Donaldson 272 and Dave Everhart 266. Lady Knights: Nerita Streacker 485, Carol Burmeister 450, Alaina Ritter 426, Marilyn Gangluff 423, Linda Kimmet 417 and Lin Nitecki 408.Wednesday Morning: Tyson Shope 717, Joe Brickner 705, Rich Yates Jr. 684, Dave Jones 602, Jacob Mowery 598, Samantha Wiley 570, Dianne Smith 499 and Deb Phillips 426.55 Plus: Ken Gaietto 545, Paul Gosche 542, Bill Mizen 522, Dick Gabel 502, Jim Ruess 496, Bob Cleveland 487, Jerry Gillig 481, Jim Ferstler 480, Bob Reinhart 474, John Ferstler 457, Dave Everhart 436 and Jim Donaldson 435. Imperial-Majorette-Sportsman: Eric Smith 713, Shawn Fitch 681, Chris Johnson 674, Bob Eaton 642, Rich Yates Sr. 636, Mike Kisabeth 616, Rich Yates Jr. 615, Deb Nominee 548, Linda Brookes 444, Phyllis Hyde 425 and Dodi Gaietto 403.Al Stephenson is The A-T's bowling columnist. Read his blog at: www.advertiser-tribune.com