I notice many of the rod bearings now don't come with the notches. Also, many of the new engines are NOT set up to oil the cylinder walls, and engine life is longer (in general) than ever. Maybe the extra oil was promoting a emissions problem.
All the oil that is fed to the rod bearings has to go somewhere, which must produce lots of oil spray off both sides of each connecting rod. I'm guessing that spray must soak the cylinder walls with oil.