It wouldn't be an LIGBT tournament without some type of drama, would it?
This past weekend was the Winter House Shot Major Tournament at AMF Wantagh Lanes run by Steve Sanders and the Long Island Generations Bowling Tournament. And, as his tournaments usually do, this one was no exception, with over 200 entries in an enormous field comprised of multiple squads spanning 2 days of tournament play. However, once again, like LIGBT tournaments in the past, this one was not without its share of drama.
The qualifying rounds were highly competitive, and headed into Sunday's finals, local bowler Sam Far
ber found himself in contention in both the handicap and scratch divisions, having made both Final 5 shootouts. And that's where things took a turn for the worse.
The Final 5 shootouts were scheduled for a 7PM start time and, as you can see by the flyer to the right, it is clearly stated that "Desperado at 6PM & Finals at 7PM." So Farber, as he usually does, planned his drive to arrive at the bowling center by 6:40PM to give him ample time to get ready for practice. Unfortunately when he arrived, he noticed that not only had the Finals shootouts already started, but they were already in the 5th frame and he was given all zeroes in the first 3 frames, basically taking him completely out of contention. Now, many tournament directors give bowlers zeroes when they arrive late. This one, however, was different, as Farber was 20 minutes early according to the start time on the Flyer.
When Farber approached tournament director Steve Sanders to ask what had happened, Sanders explained that he had sent out an email blast the previous day explaining that Finals would start at 6:
30PM. Farber, like 90% of the world, doesn't check his email on a daily basis and as such had missed the email. Three of the four remaining Scratch Shootout Finalists, Pierce Field, Joe Scianna and Brian Becktold, all had agreed that they would wait for Farber to arrive based on the flyer's listed start time of 7PM. However, Sanders refused, forcing the finals shootout to begin and giving Farber zeroes for all the frames he missed. And, as you can see by the email to the left (obtained from Farber), it ambiguously states that "Finals should begin around 6:30PM."
As such, Farber was forced to start the finals match with four
frames of zeroes and ended up finishing last in both handicap and scratch Final 5 Shootouts.
Following the tournament, Farber sent a DM via Facebook to Sanders, however until now it has gone unanswered.
And so it goes . . . another week, another drama-filled tournament run by the LIGBT.
This article was written with the permission of Sam Farber. All information provided was obtained legally.
