T.W.I.B.

What a cool scene for the end of the MIST tourney here on Sunday.  The visiting bowlers fully embraced the BoPo energy (how could they not) and the tourney director said afterward it was the most electric atmosphere they had ever bowled in.  Plus record turnout.  Good times, Bayside and BoPo are on the bowling map.  How about that?

Tonight we’ll be filling in a few more playoff spots, and the early teams will be sharing the lanes with a 6 lane company party!  Good early games to watch though.

Early Games

Blurred Lanes (6-2) -3 vs Alis (3-5):  Time is running out for the Alis.  I don’t see any team name suddenly arising at this point and as I mentioned earlier, all the nameless teams are 11-22.  Precious made a big run at the weekend tourney but now needs another monster night just to keep his team in contention.  The Alis probably didn’t want to draw Blurred Lanes for an opponent as they are as hot as any team right now.  Maybe Ali brings in Coco to mess with Natro.  I think McStriker will put this one away herself, keep the team in the chase for the #1 overall seed and push Alis to the brink of elimination.

HHH (5-3) -1 vs Lazercats (5-3): The second game listed here between women captains.  Ladies night, and the bowling’s right.  The Lazercats have rebounded nicely from a slow start and now are just jockeying for a 1st round bye.  Bama’s two 250+ games last week make me think he’s back.  He’ll be flying up the stats page again I’m guessing.  HHH is also already in the playoffs but want the bye.  Hexy and T-Square could determine this one directly with their head to head bowling and keep it out of the hands of Double Cheese and Bama.

Bustas (3-5) -1 vs Imminent Threat (4-5):  A couple more teams pushing everyone out of their way in a mad scramble for the last seat in the playoff lifeboat.  For the Threat this is it, their last game of the year.  They can feel pretty comfortable watching from the sidelines next week if they finish 5-5, but 4-6 would leave them pained by the math they’d be trying to do watching results in Week 11.  The Bustas are currently .7 pins in average out of a play-in spot.  Win or lose they just need to post some big numbers.  They’re hoping 1st round pick Bijou Lowrie is able to make it with time running out on their season.

Late Games – five of ’em!

Clam Hands Mafia (3-6) -1 vs Shatner Face (4-4): It’s the last, sticky stand for the Hands.  A loss pretty much ends their hopes (unless they post huge numbers).  They’ll try to put their hands in the Shatner Face and break through for a season saving win.  The S-Face crew has somehow managed to be .500 behind a surprisingly strong season from their top roller, Xander Rolle.  They’d like nothing more than to continue their improbable run.  Maybe Shifter will be there for them fresh off his dominant performance on Sunday.  Or he’ll be at work, guiding giant ships safely through the harbor (which seems even more improbable than Shatner Face’s strong season).

In-N-Out Bowlers (4-4) -1 vs Eskimo Sistas (3-5): Realistically this is the last stand for The Deputy.  He may not care since he’s also busy playing in his Yankee league and he’s also giddy about bringing in Terry “No Bowling Name” Robinson for BoPo’s Strikes of Hazzard, but he’ll bowl well regardless.  He’s got a great poker face.  In-N-Out has beaten 3 playoff teams, and lost to some teams outside looking in.  McQueen would tell you INO will lose, because they’re favored.  On the other hand The Dude looked great last week with a 203 average.  Either way it will likely be the 6th 8-7 game INO has played.

SODA (5-3) -3 vs G-Boys (2-6): It’s been a tough season for Gutterboi’s crew and his team is basically playing spoiler now.  As he showed on Sunday, however, an eliminated Gutterboi is good for the tourney because he’ll be every other player’s caddy, adviser and one man hype crew.  SODA is already in the playoffs behind some strong Diesel.  Coco Lopez and the Yay boys have been doing some heavy lifting as well.  The Soldiers are ready for battle.

Prestige Worldwide (4-4) -1 vs Touch Me Ralphie (4-4): A huge game for both teams and one of the more interesting ones.  PW has been living it up on lanes 1&2 and hanging around at .500 even with the lowest average in the league.  Tonight they should have the whole party squad back together and will be giving their waitress a workout with bar orders.  Touch Me has overcome the bullying scandal and now just need to get back to winning.  The team has great depth, with Dwayne Luther now an established figure and Booth have a career season.  Ralphie likes being picked to lose.  So does Thunder.  Hmm.

Dick’s Picks Vol. III (5-3) -3 vs Preemptive Strikes (4-4):

Dick’s ‘blast shield’ night helped turn his season around and so hopefully he bowls in it again soon.  His team is still a top tier team with a real look at the league title.  Bowldemort has parlayed his good Kingshit performances into a Draft League spot, and has turned a good Draft League season into a BoPo roster spot on a Tuesday A team.  Roadhouse has been making a statement for XXX Club as well.  The Pre Strikes need this one more, but it’s a tough matchup.  Ishmael has had back to back excellent weeks and is within 1.5 pins of his team Captain in average.  Tilt-A-Whirl has quietly had a strong season as well.  The Strikes are made up of very disparate pieces, and it would take a master stroke of captaining to put this puzzle together.  That said the pieces on their own are strong enough to be competitive even if loosely assembled.