· Proposed amendment 3, which permits local associations to charge a fee when issuing a second (or more) replacement membership card, is recommended for rejection by the ABC board because ABC is, by definition, a service organization and thus should serve its members.

I was wholeheartedly for this amendment until I realized that NCABA now requires those who phone in requests for a duplicate card send not only a letter with sanctioning information (which is kept on file to satisfy ABC's accounting department) but also submit a self-addressed stamped envelope. Thus, the only current cost to the association is the time spent by office staffers to prepare the duplicate card.

I would bet, however, that members would take better care of their cards if they knew up front that there was a charge of $2 or $3 to replace them, so frankly, I'm not going to shed any tears if the amendment passes.

· Proposal 18, which specifies that ABC members may receive one 900 series award per season (instead of one in a lifetime, which is currently the case), demonstrates the scoring insanity present in today's game. Yes, yes, it does provide consistency with the WIBC rule, which is the only thing in its favor, but really, the idea of anyone getting two or more 900 series is absolutely crazy—or at least it should be.

Pass this amendment, and then let's hope and pray that we never have to worry about it.

· Proposals 9, 10, and 13 deal with qualifying averages (for leagues and tournaments). Despite the fact that proposal No. 9's author, Frank Barnhart of Missouri, is a friend and colleague, I am against his proposal because I've always been against using summer league averages for tournaments. I've seen too many people do things in the summer—experiment with new equipment or play extreme angles on the lane—that they wouldn't dare do, or used to not do, in the real (winter) season. (I realize that shorter-season leagues are increasing and further eroding the natures of the "serious" winter and "just-for-fun" summer seasons, and this situation indeed will have consequences for many handicap tournaments in the coming years—which brings me to No. 10, another proposal I am against.)

In today's less-serious league environment, we need tournaments to raise their game requirements to establish an official entering average rather than force tournaments to accept all 21-game averages—as No. 10 does to association tournaments. Tournaments that require 30- or 42-game averages and/or use 10-pin-over rules do so to help protect bowlers whose averages truly reflect their abilities—and due to the environmental changes in the game, these bowlers need more protection than ever before. So as Nancy said, just say "no" to No. 10.

Proposal 13 asks that 30 games be required for an association to accept an average as official, and obviously, I am for that idea. With the growth of shorter and, shall we say, "less formal" league seasons, the continued use of 21 games for establishing an official average likely will increase the number of individuals whose published averages are below their true abilities due to their purposely shaving pins—it's easier to get away with cheating in a shorter season—or simply because they can't help but have a less-than-serious attitude about their bowling in a mere seven-week league.

If you're a bowler whose average reflects your true ability, you've got to be concerned about proposals 9, 10, and 13 or else more and more bowlers are going to take advantage of them should they become rules—and they ultimately will take advantage of you.

Bob Cosgrove, editor of BOWL Magazine, is a past president of the Bowling Writers Association of America.