RPI Fiasco

There's an interesting article in Bowlers Journal International about "What Went Wrong at the RPI?" The RPI or Regional Players Invitational is a yearly tournament that has the top PBA regional players from all the different regions of the country competing for cash. What's more, the top seven finishers earn exemptions the following season on the national tour. 2009's tournament was held recently at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. But there was a big problem with the proceedings.

You can read all about it in the BJI article, but the gist of it is that bowlers on one end of the house started the round on what was supposed to be the Cheetah pattern but was actually the Chameleon pattern laid down by mistake, while bowlers at the other end started on the Cheetah pattern like they were supposed to. Furthermore, depending on where they bowled after the first game, some bowlers ended up bowling several more games on the Chameleon pattern than others did. Despite the fact that bowlers complained about it from the outset, the decision was made to let them continue, and the mistake was confirmed only after the round was completed. Then the decision was made to let the scores stand instead of taking measures not to put the bowlers who bowled more games on the mistaken Chameleon pattern at a disadvantage. Also, the lane maintenance man who made the mistake was fired.

The article raises two questions. First, should the lane maintenance man have been fired? He argued that everyone makes mistakes, that he was profoundly sorry for his, and that he'd make sure he never made such a mistake again. Others argued that his mistake, by forcing some bowlers to bowl more games on what is widely acknowledged to be a more difficult pattern,. unfairly impacted livelihoods, and, thus, he deserved to lose his job for his carelessness.

The second question the article raises is, Did the PBA make the right decision about letting the scores stand, or should it have done something to take away the unfair advantage that those who bowled more games on the Cheetah pattern had over those who bowled fewer?

Finally, I have a question of my own. How many of those who bowled more games on the mistaken Chameleon pattern finished in the top seven and earned tour exemptions for next season?