Were rules made to be broken?
In 1972, Don McCune was a so-so professional bowler. That year he won almost $24,000 in prize money. The following year, he won six titles and tripled his winnings to $69,000. How did he do it? He cheated. Except there was no rule against what he did.
McCune and almost every other professional bowler was trying to find a way to get more "grab" from their bowling balls. New technology had made the surface of the lanes sturdier and the hard bowling balls being manufactured at the time just didn't hook like they had on the old lanes. McCune talked to a chemist he knew and then went out and bought a five gallon can of a solvent (most believe it to be Methyl Ethyl Ketone, known as MEK). He soaked a ball in it overnight, which softened the surface dramatically. Next thing you know, he's PBA player of the year. Only a few weeks after he began his winning ways, 22 of 24 semi-finalists at a tournament were using "soakers".
And at this point let me offer a disclaimer. Before rules about bowling ball hardness came into effect, once I learned how this was being done, I took a plastic ball I had (it had to be plastic, the process did not work well with rubber bowling balls) and soaked it overnight. It didn't make a major improvement in my game, but it sure did hook like crazy. Ultimately I had trouble controlling just how much that ball hooked and I got rid of it.
Soon after soaking became a major factor in bowling at more than just the professional level, the American Bowling Congress changed the rules. Durometer is both a measure of the hardness of a substance on a scale from 1 to 100, and the tool that's used to take this measurement. ABC said that all bowling balls has to be at least a 72 on the durometer scale. The Professional Bowlers Association went even further. They said 75 and they insisted that all bowling balls used by PBA members had to have a small hole drilled in it for truly effective measurement of the ball's hardness.
After the 1973 season, Don McCune did not win another PBA title. He was elected to the PBA Hall of Fame in 1991. This year, he was inducted into the USBC (the United States Bowling Congress replaced the ABC a number of years ago) Hall of Fame. With 8 PBA titles and his other accomplishments in the game, he deserved it.
Or did he? Did he cheat? It wasn't against the rules. That's the argument that people who want to see Mark McGwire in Baseball's Hall of Fame make. Baseball had not banned steroids until 1991 and whether or not the specific drugs that McGwire used during his career were "illegal" (which would have made them banned based on a baseball policy dating back to 1971) is subject to debate. However, he will almost certainly never become a member of the Hall of Fame because of his use of steroids.
Like politics, these issues are all about perception. The rules are written in black and white, but usually contain shades of gray. In the eyes of most people, McCune did not cheat while McGwire did. That's probably why the former is in his sport's Hall of Fame and latter is not.
* * *
I went to a midnight movie last night. It's always a tough choice to make. I never needed much sleep. Most of the 1990s and 2000s was spent getting just four or five hours of sleep per night. Now my body craves sleep. Maybe it is part of the aging process and maybe it's because of my various illnesses.
I knew in making the choice to go to that film last night that it would be debilitating today. But I don't work today, I'm probably not going to see a movie today and we are playing trivia tonight somewhere fairly close. So today will be a day of recovery from making a choice to do something I enjoy.
Why I love to see a movie on opening night (or opening day) is a mystery to me. It's still the same movie the next day or the next week. Obviously there is an urgency in terms of getting reviews posted to www.TailSlate.net as quickly as possible. I have three unwritten reviews to do at the moment and I've set a self-imposed deadline of this coming Sunday to finish them. "Lovelace", "On Frozen Ground" and "The Wolverine" are the three. I have passes to see a screening of "Austenland" in a couple of weeks, just before it opens.
There was a time when I thought I was writing my "daily headlines" for my friends. Now I know that I'm doing it mostly for me I am trying to have more fun with it. So if you've noticed me trying to inject a little more humor, or focusing on stories I find interesting, that's why.
* * *
A reminder that you're cordially invited to follow me on Twitter. @cyclist1959
Random ponderings:
Did Paula Deen really ask her African-American cook to dress like Aunt Jemima and ring a dinner bell? Seriously?
Who really expected Shaq to "mentor" DeMarcus Cousins? Cousins says he hasn't heard a word from Shaq since he said he would make Cousins "the best big man in the game."
Bad enough the DWP pays its employees too much, now we're learning they have essentially unlimited paid time off for illness without any serious documentation of illness required. In the last three years, DWP employees have taken 415 years worth of "extra" sick days.
So the EDD is going to be closed on Monday, who cares? You can't get through to them on a Monday anyway.
There is something seriously wrong with the legal system in Israel, where a man who molested his children can block his wife from being granted a divorce.
If you think that I'm going to have just one vanilla crème filled donut the minute I can get to one of the new Dunkin Donuts stores that are opening on the Westside, two years from now, you would be wrong! :) I'll have one vanilla crème filled and one chocolate crème filled. Odds are good those will be the last two of their donuts I'll have.
The Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro will be spending the rest of his life in prison. Is that a better ending to this story than a long drawn out fight to put him to death?
I have no scientific evidence to support this, but based on anecdotal evidence it appears the rate of DUI arrests among rappers is higher than the rest of the population.
This Date in History:
On this date in 1745, the first recorded women's cricket match is held in England.
On this date in 1788, New York ratifies the US Constitution and becomes the 11th state.
On this date in 1847, Liberia declares independence.
On this date in 1891, France annexes Tahiti.
On this date in 1936, the Axis Powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
On this date in 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt orders all Japanese assets in the U.S. to be seized, in response to Japan's invasion of Indochina.
On this date in 1944, the first German V2 rocket hits the United Kingdom.
On this date in 1945, the Potsdam Declaration is signed.
On this date in 1948, President Harry Truman signs an executive order desegregating the U.S. military.
On this date in 1965, the Maldives are granted full independence.
On this date in 1989, Robert T. Morris, Jr. is indicted for releasing a computer worm, becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
George Clinton (the 4th Vice President of the U.S., not the musician)
Mariano Arista
George Bernard Shaw
Carl Jung
Aldous Huxley
Gracie Allen
Estes Kefauver
Vivian Vance
Bob Waterfield
Blake Edwards
Jason Robards
Jan Berenstain
Hoyt Wilhelm
James Best
Stanley Kubrick
Joe Jackson (patriarch of the Jackson family, not the singer)
Dobie Gray
Peter Hyams
Helen Mirren
Susan George
Dorothy Hamill
Kevin Spacey
Sandra Bullock
Jeremy Piven
Kate Beckinsale
Daniel Negreanu
Movie quotes today were going to come from "Last Days of Disco" in honor of Kate Beckinsale's birthday, but we did that movie recently. So instead we get "Two Weeks Notice" for Sandra Bullock's birthday:
George Wade: I own the hotel, and I live there. My life is very much like Monopoly.
#2
George Wade: I'm now poor. When I say I'm poor, I mean we may have to share a helicopter with another family.
#3
George Wade: Before you came into my life I could make all kinds of decisions now I'm addicted I have to know what you think. What do you think?
[holds up cufflinks]
Lucy Kelson: I think your the most selfish human being on the planet.
George Wade: Well that's just silly. Have you met everybody on the planet?
#4
Lucy Kelson: [during divorce proceedings] You're referring to the alleged infidelity?
Lauren Wade: *Alleged?* He was having sex with her in our *bed*.
George Wade: Well, I knew how worried you were about getting anything on that sofa.
McCune and almost every other professional bowler was trying to find a way to get more "grab" from their bowling balls. New technology had made the surface of the lanes sturdier and the hard bowling balls being manufactured at the time just didn't hook like they had on the old lanes. McCune talked to a chemist he knew and then went out and bought a five gallon can of a solvent (most believe it to be Methyl Ethyl Ketone, known as MEK). He soaked a ball in it overnight, which softened the surface dramatically. Next thing you know, he's PBA player of the year. Only a few weeks after he began his winning ways, 22 of 24 semi-finalists at a tournament were using "soakers".
And at this point let me offer a disclaimer. Before rules about bowling ball hardness came into effect, once I learned how this was being done, I took a plastic ball I had (it had to be plastic, the process did not work well with rubber bowling balls) and soaked it overnight. It didn't make a major improvement in my game, but it sure did hook like crazy. Ultimately I had trouble controlling just how much that ball hooked and I got rid of it.
Soon after soaking became a major factor in bowling at more than just the professional level, the American Bowling Congress changed the rules. Durometer is both a measure of the hardness of a substance on a scale from 1 to 100, and the tool that's used to take this measurement. ABC said that all bowling balls has to be at least a 72 on the durometer scale. The Professional Bowlers Association went even further. They said 75 and they insisted that all bowling balls used by PBA members had to have a small hole drilled in it for truly effective measurement of the ball's hardness.
After the 1973 season, Don McCune did not win another PBA title. He was elected to the PBA Hall of Fame in 1991. This year, he was inducted into the USBC (the United States Bowling Congress replaced the ABC a number of years ago) Hall of Fame. With 8 PBA titles and his other accomplishments in the game, he deserved it.
Or did he? Did he cheat? It wasn't against the rules. That's the argument that people who want to see Mark McGwire in Baseball's Hall of Fame make. Baseball had not banned steroids until 1991 and whether or not the specific drugs that McGwire used during his career were "illegal" (which would have made them banned based on a baseball policy dating back to 1971) is subject to debate. However, he will almost certainly never become a member of the Hall of Fame because of his use of steroids.
Like politics, these issues are all about perception. The rules are written in black and white, but usually contain shades of gray. In the eyes of most people, McCune did not cheat while McGwire did. That's probably why the former is in his sport's Hall of Fame and latter is not.
* * *
I went to a midnight movie last night. It's always a tough choice to make. I never needed much sleep. Most of the 1990s and 2000s was spent getting just four or five hours of sleep per night. Now my body craves sleep. Maybe it is part of the aging process and maybe it's because of my various illnesses.
I knew in making the choice to go to that film last night that it would be debilitating today. But I don't work today, I'm probably not going to see a movie today and we are playing trivia tonight somewhere fairly close. So today will be a day of recovery from making a choice to do something I enjoy.
Why I love to see a movie on opening night (or opening day) is a mystery to me. It's still the same movie the next day or the next week. Obviously there is an urgency in terms of getting reviews posted to www.TailSlate.net as quickly as possible. I have three unwritten reviews to do at the moment and I've set a self-imposed deadline of this coming Sunday to finish them. "Lovelace", "On Frozen Ground" and "The Wolverine" are the three. I have passes to see a screening of "Austenland" in a couple of weeks, just before it opens.
There was a time when I thought I was writing my "daily headlines" for my friends. Now I know that I'm doing it mostly for me I am trying to have more fun with it. So if you've noticed me trying to inject a little more humor, or focusing on stories I find interesting, that's why.
* * *
A reminder that you're cordially invited to follow me on Twitter. @cyclist1959
Random ponderings:
Did Paula Deen really ask her African-American cook to dress like Aunt Jemima and ring a dinner bell? Seriously?
Who really expected Shaq to "mentor" DeMarcus Cousins? Cousins says he hasn't heard a word from Shaq since he said he would make Cousins "the best big man in the game."
Bad enough the DWP pays its employees too much, now we're learning they have essentially unlimited paid time off for illness without any serious documentation of illness required. In the last three years, DWP employees have taken 415 years worth of "extra" sick days.
So the EDD is going to be closed on Monday, who cares? You can't get through to them on a Monday anyway.
There is something seriously wrong with the legal system in Israel, where a man who molested his children can block his wife from being granted a divorce.
If you think that I'm going to have just one vanilla crème filled donut the minute I can get to one of the new Dunkin Donuts stores that are opening on the Westside, two years from now, you would be wrong! :) I'll have one vanilla crème filled and one chocolate crème filled. Odds are good those will be the last two of their donuts I'll have.
The Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro will be spending the rest of his life in prison. Is that a better ending to this story than a long drawn out fight to put him to death?
I have no scientific evidence to support this, but based on anecdotal evidence it appears the rate of DUI arrests among rappers is higher than the rest of the population.
This Date in History:
On this date in 1745, the first recorded women's cricket match is held in England.
On this date in 1788, New York ratifies the US Constitution and becomes the 11th state.
On this date in 1847, Liberia declares independence.
On this date in 1891, France annexes Tahiti.
On this date in 1936, the Axis Powers decide to intervene in the Spanish Civil War.
On this date in 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt orders all Japanese assets in the U.S. to be seized, in response to Japan's invasion of Indochina.
On this date in 1944, the first German V2 rocket hits the United Kingdom.
On this date in 1945, the Potsdam Declaration is signed.
On this date in 1948, President Harry Truman signs an executive order desegregating the U.S. military.
On this date in 1965, the Maldives are granted full independence.
On this date in 1989, Robert T. Morris, Jr. is indicted for releasing a computer worm, becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
George Clinton (the 4th Vice President of the U.S., not the musician)
Mariano Arista
George Bernard Shaw
Carl Jung
Aldous Huxley
Gracie Allen
Estes Kefauver
Vivian Vance
Bob Waterfield
Blake Edwards
Jason Robards
Jan Berenstain
Hoyt Wilhelm
James Best
Stanley Kubrick
Joe Jackson (patriarch of the Jackson family, not the singer)
Dobie Gray
Peter Hyams
Helen Mirren
Susan George
Dorothy Hamill
Kevin Spacey
Sandra Bullock
Jeremy Piven
Kate Beckinsale
Daniel Negreanu
Movie quotes today were going to come from "Last Days of Disco" in honor of Kate Beckinsale's birthday, but we did that movie recently. So instead we get "Two Weeks Notice" for Sandra Bullock's birthday:
George Wade: I own the hotel, and I live there. My life is very much like Monopoly.
#2
George Wade: I'm now poor. When I say I'm poor, I mean we may have to share a helicopter with another family.
#3
George Wade: Before you came into my life I could make all kinds of decisions now I'm addicted I have to know what you think. What do you think?
[holds up cufflinks]
Lucy Kelson: I think your the most selfish human being on the planet.
George Wade: Well that's just silly. Have you met everybody on the planet?
#4
Lucy Kelson: [during divorce proceedings] You're referring to the alleged infidelity?
Lauren Wade: *Alleged?* He was having sex with her in our *bed*.
George Wade: Well, I knew how worried you were about getting anything on that sofa.
posted by me at 12:43 PM
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