Here We Go

Tuesday brought some order back to BoPo.  While the dogs barked, they couldn’t quite pull off the wins.  Now we get the two matchups everyone expected on the left side of the bracket, and a wide open right side now featuring old pal OC as the favorite.  The place was a little quiet too, with no big upsets to cheer for and everyone waiting on Thursdays big matches.

Left Bracket – The Walkaways

The Binga’s vs B.I.B. game has been the talk of the tourney since Tso and Stevie Strikes engaged in their war of words.  There is a lot more to this game, however, than just those two bowlers.  Stevie has finally looked human the last few days, but noone would be surprised if he puts up a 650-700 series.  Bama has been rolling well in the playoffs too.  Gutterboy has been far more erratic, and MIJ and Gutterboy’s Mom have also been highly inconsistent.  That said, they haven’t been as focused as they will be Thursday, though.  Binga’s took the best shot of a very game BUI team on Tuesday and survived by the skin of their teeth.  Jerk started great then fell abck in game two before picking up the clinching shot in game three.  Cookie roared pout of the gate.  Tso was up and down too.  Layne matches up well against BIB’s ladies, and PB&J has the potential for one 130-140 game.

The Walkaways look like they are on a mission.  They are running over opponents with everyone putting up strong scores.  There’s noone to single out on this squad  – any of them could be the top scorer (including, now, Valley Girl who is on a personal hot streak over the last few weeks).  Guns of Brighton are winning close ones with a couple of 8-7 comeback wins.  They do have the top bowler in this game with Mr. Pickles, and the Coco Lopez/Bowltron 3030 combo means they are looser on the lanes.  They are playoff tough, but the Walkaways look unbeatable.

I think Binga’s depth is going to pull them though in spite of a huge night from Stevie Strikes and in spite of their regular season loss. Bingas 8-7.  Then I like the Walkaways to slowly accumulate points and put away GOB 9-6.  In a Walkaways – Binga’s match, I’d go Walkaways again 9-6.

Right Bracket – Off Constantly

Every neutral person who filed out brackets had BEER or Still LOS reaching the finals from the right bracket.  That possibility went out the window on the first night.  Now we’re left with a very unlikely group of four contenders for the other berth in the finals.

First off we have the Cunning Linguists against Turkey Club.  The Linguists have been cruising through the playoffs but haven’t exactly been lighting up the scoreboard.  Gutterslut keeps getting off to big starts and he’s their top playoff dog.  La Gatita always has big game potential.  Pauly Ringwald has yet to have his best game, but he will need to be a factor for the Linguists to advance.  Windiesel has been mostly working on her crotch-chop celebration, but her game has improved to the point that she has a lot more opportunities to use it.  XXX Club has been kind of lost in the silly talk of Tango, but behind the blabber is a strong team, and despite Tango’s bluster, he’s actually come up big so far in the playoffs.  They got by Yay! on the hot hand of unheralded Samsquampch, even as their top bowler Roadhouse didn’t have his best night.  I don’t expect him to struggle twice in a row.

Old pals Off Constantly are back in the mix – again.  They have made it the finals twice in 5 years and won both times.  They want another shot in the most unlikeliest year.  They struggled all year, but after coming back from 4-1 and holding on for a last frame win over Y&B they are on the verge again.  This year Nuber has been their leader, but Oz is always a strong option, and Dick Liquor and Honey Bunny both had clutch performances last night.  Throw in a McQueen that is due and they look dangerous again.  TDYOB may have caught some breaks, but all that matters is that they are still alive.  They could worry about their low playoff scores, but they only care about winning so they’ll be focused on the opportunity they’ve earned.  Noone outside their team thought they’d be here, so they do have the “noone believes in us’ thing going for them.  Dr. Thunder needs to have the playoff game he keeps saying he’s going to have, and Spooky and Sneaky must beat the OC girls.  Dr. can get in folks’ heads, but Dick and Nuber may be immune.

I think Turkey Club wins 8-7, and OC wins 10-5.  That would set up a rematch that was an 8-7 OC win on the last frame.  I think we could get an almost exact replica.  When the dust settles, I think we see OC back in the finals.  Who saw that coming three weeks ago?  According to the brackets, noone but Nuber.