Early Games
#14 Turkey Club (2-1) -7 vs Splits Happen (0-3): Tango is getting into the trash talking community, and the rest of the Club is getting settled into the league. They should take advantage of this one as they won’t be favorites again til March. Splits Happen may not be favored all year, so may as well go for the upset now.
#3 Back in Black (3-0) -3 vs #6 Still L.O.S. (2-1): Most weeks this is game of the week material. BIB has been surviving without excelling, but they are 3-0 and Stevie Strikes is finding his groove. LOS is coming off a huge confidence boosting win over Off Constantly, but word on the street is that Precious and/or Double Cheese will miss the game. No Cheese, no win.
#1 Walkaways (3-0) -3 vs #2 B.E.E.R. (3-0): The Walkaways handed B.E.E.R. its only regular season loss last year, and it was convincing. Ultimately, they fell short of the finals and BEER lost in the finals, so it wasn’t particularly impactful. In the offseason Walkaways cut La Gagita and added Valley Gurl Jess and The Dentist. So far so good – undefeated and not really challenged. B.E.E.R. is rolling without Slow Roll, but Tom Richards is back and he has a knack for big games against these guys. Cheddar is the hottest bowler in the league right now. The Walkaways depth should be the difference in this game, but they will see each other again.
#15 Cunning Linguists (2-1) -5 vs I.B.S. (1-2): I.B.S. is a bit backed up these days. They got off to a hot start but have now been pumelled in back to back games. That said, after this week they will likely be favorites for their next five games. This game may play into their hands a bit as they are the distractors, and aren’t easily distracted. The Linguists finally played to their talent level last week and upset Binga’s by a wide margin. Now we’ll see if they can handle success.
Late Games
D-Guts (1-1) -1 vs Y&B (0-3): Hard to judge D-GUTS yet. They won big when they had their whole team, lost big when shorthanded, then had a bye week. They would love to get some momentum back before facing BEER next week. Y&B are really hurting. Something needs to change for them fast. Lou Dawg could reappear in his motivational short shorts, or Pistol Pete could recover. They have a chance here and probably need a win more than any team in the league.
N.E.D. (2-1) -1 vs My Balls (1-1): Another game that should be a good one. NED is coming off a thrilling bowl-off victory, and hope that carries over. They aren’t getting much from any bowler not named Shifter Pawl yet, though Donzarelli has looked good in practice. My Balls may have their Captains back (not sure), and those Captains would love to get a win for new baby Ham.
#12 Pinny Candy (2-0) -5 vs Pinups (1-1): The Pinups have a ‘power win’ in their minds, and have proved a feisty group of commenters. Now they need to translate that feistiness to bowling. Pinny Candy could quietly go to 3-0 and be one of the last undefeateds standing.
#10 Strikes of Hazzard (2-1) -5 vs Incredibowls (2-1): The Strikes have really been playing well, and had they not let a 6-4 lead against BIB slip away last week would be sitting in the top four. They need to stay focused after back to back games against top 5 teams. The Deputy has been a great free agent pick up for Uncle Jesse. The Incredibowls had a wild win last week, getting last place all three times and sneaking out an 8-7 vcitory. A win here would get them in the top-20.
#9 Binga’s (1-2) -3 vs #13 Saucy Posse (2-1): This should be a very entertaining matchup. Do you prefer the herb-infused Rasta vibe of Binga’s, or the hard working/hard drinking vibe of SauPo? I like both, personally. These are original teams going at it. I’ll take Binga’s this week because they kind of dropped the ball last week and need the win more.
#11 Off Constantly (1-2) -7 vs Nutz (0-3): After another loss it occurred to OC they are going to have to work a bit this year if they want to win. This week they finally started showing up to practice. That is probably bad for the Nutz. The Nutz need their whole roster to show up to have a chance. OC is vulnerable, but the Nutz need their best game of the season.