I have to catch up a bit here with some overdue BOTW honors.
A Division
Jamaican Jerk and Cookie, Bingas AND Valley Girl and McStriker, S.O.D. : In case you missed it this was one of the best games that’ll happen all year. Two excellent teams bowling their best, an 800 game, both teams averaging over 700, and then not only a bowloff but an amazing bowloff. Defending Top Dawg Jerk roared back to life with a 249 and come from behind, clutch bowloff victory. Cookie threw two 200+ games in two tries to give Binga’s the boost it needed. McStriker put up three solid games and a couple 190s, and Valley Girl had a couple 200’s herself and near bowloff win over Jerk. Plus both teams had a good time, drank, didn’t kick anything or swear – just all around BoPo goodness.
B Division
Big Red, My Balls: My Balls had a huge win over Cape Fear to stay undefeated at the top of Tuesday B, and Big Red was a big reason why. She threw a three game average in the 180s and took multiple top points. Nice rolling, Red.
The Lines
Game of the Night
#1 Back in Black (2-0) -1 vs #5 Binga’s (2-1): Hold on, this game’s on Friday! Turns out the best game of the week is our Friday Night Strikes (tm Nuber) match. Back in Black is still undefeated and sitting in the top spot, but during their bye week they announced Bama would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the squad. They say he’s out for the playoffs but I won’t believe that til we’re down to one week and he’s mathematically eliminated. Either way he’s gone now and Back In Black will be severely tested. They get a red hot Binga’s as a first Bama-less foe. Jerk has regained his form a bit but like everyone else on Tuesday right now he’s chasing Stevie. Cookie was huge in the upset over SOD and he should love the Friday night scene – kids walking up mid throw has no impact on him. Ultimately it’ll come down to Binga’s depth vs the forgotten ladies of BIB, and I think Gutterboy’s Mom and Skittles have a few things up their sleeves. Bama, Stevie and G-Boi rolled six games a night between them before. They’ll still have six between them. It’ll be close, but I’ll go with BIB to find a way until I’m proven wrong.
Game of the (Actual) Night
(LATE) #7 Yahtzee 1-1) -3 vs Body English (1-2): This game has lost some luster with unranked BEER’s awful start, but it’s still a great storyline. Cheddar, the prodigal son, returns from his sojourn only to have his spot gone. He starts his own team and now faces the team he became a star on. He definitely got himself a solid crew this year; Polly Ringwald, the steady old pro, Sparkles, the candlepin wonder, up and comer Lala, tournament head turner Bowldemort, old flame Babe Froman. Good pieces, all, but the question remained about their fit. They seemed to be coming together in a unifying, razor thin loss to BIB, but this weekend’s team practice melted down with low attendance and a frustrated Captain. Will it spillover into the game? It probably won’t matter against BEER. Hungus torpedoed his team with a preseason “lesson” that has the whole squad struggling. Given their pedigree there’s a strong chance they’ll regain form at some point but it’s hard to believe it’ll magically turn around so quickly – it may get worse before it gets better. Still, this game should bring out the best in BEER, and it’s late night. Maybe they can make a fight out of it.
Early Games
Turkey Club (0-3) -1 vs Nutz (1-2): This is simply in the ‘who needs it more category’ of predictions. Nutz had a nice win last week over then #10 BEER, and it wasn’t just Bustah – his whole team rolled well in a solid team victory. The Club welcomed a new ringer to the roster, and he performed well, but they fell just short against a strong Hazzard crew with a new ringer of their own. Now they have the 1-2-3 punch teams need to compete at the top of Tuesday A, but they still don’t have a win. I think they’ll pick one up here to get on the board.
Cape Fear (2-1) -3 vs Wrecking Balls (1-2): Fear took their first loss last week and The Wreck got their first win, but I think both those streaks stop at 1. Cape Fear has a legitimate all-star rocking the B division in Southpaw. The Wreck doesn’t have that. They do have a depth of potential, and with Swanny, Swing and The Dude there will be some solid games. If Minga returns for Fear, however, they should have plenty to get back on the winning track.
#13 My Balls (3-0) – 5 vs Splits Happen (0-3): My Balls has the bowler of the week, they’re undefeated and they’re ranked. Pretty heady stuff. Barry Violet has pulled together a nice crew with the development of Big Red and the signing of Wej to accompany the team regulars. Xander is captaining Splits as more of a developmental project this season. They will make some runs at some teams but I don’t see My Balls being one of them.
#6 Sons of Danarchy (2-1) -3 vs #9 Off Constantly (2-1): SOD lost last week, but it was in a bowloff and they still averaged well over 700. They’ll be just fine. They are rolling great. OC has some momentum coming off a win but they now face the reality of McQueen’s departure. Dick has shown some signs filling that void – he’ll need to do it in this one. Coucou and Hunny Boney will also have to come up big to pull an upset. I think OC will roll well, but SOD is looking locked in.
Late Games
Incredibowls (1-2) -1 vs Pinups (2-0): I think I’m going trust averages over records in making this pick. The Pinups are certainly a pleasant surprise at 2-0 under new-old leader Big Ern, and Silky Pete opened the season with a great night. The Incredibowls have been in a lot of tight matches already and are pretty focused on grabbing a W. Spidey has been a revelation, and though he is falling in the averages he started at a pretty lofty perch and is still in all-star contention. God of Thunder is solid when he channels his energy on the pins instead of other equipment, and he’ll rally the troops to a .500 record.
#3 Strikes of Hazzard (3-0) -5 vs Saucy Posse (0-3): SauPo has actually handled the jump back up to A pretty well. They’re averaging over 600 and in the tourney they may be better served by a season of Tuesday A losses than B wins. Wing Sauce is looking like a good pickup and the team has their good time vibe back. There will be plenty of good times against Strikes, who are partying hard on their road to the top. General Lee is living up to the hype and Deputy is loving being a number 2. The ladies have been great, Flash and Luke and Uncle Jesse have all contributed – this team is doing a great job of melding the old BoPo party vibe with wins on the lane. They’ll go to 4-0.
#15 No Eye Deer (3-0) -1 vs ICBING (2-0): A couple of undefeated teams showdown with the winner getting a spot in the rankings next week and the loser out. Tuesday B has four unbeatens left but this will help sort that out a bit. Burt the Bandit followed up his bowloff win for NED with a 200 game to get his average near 170. Dirty Sylon and Donzarelli form the trusty backbone to the team to accompany the hot rookie. ICBING saw their scores drop but still got a second win. Peanut Gutter and Fabio have the potential to take over this game but I don’t think they’ll be focused or interested enough to do it. Kamikaze pitchers are way more fun.
BILFs (1-2) -5 vs Snakes on a Lane (0-3): The BILF’s struggled last week but should bounce back nicely with this one. Old Thumper should regain his form and Major Danks is showing some life. Snakes are having a tough transition to Tuesday. Zack Morris needs to call on the cool that made him such a star at Bayside High (go Tigers!) to star a Bayside Bowl. I’m so excited! I’m so excited!
Looks like the prodigal son got the first laugh in this first match with his old team since his exile and long walk down the ramp into infamy soaked in beer after a first round loss to Y&B. This watcher thinks the spread was a little low. Early reports from Hungus after last weeks’ BEER loss was that the line would be set at -7, that still wouldn’t have been enough.
Natro after joining BEER had replied to a Cheddar post when he was in exile to the prospects of Cheddar returning to BEER something to the effect of, “Seats taken!”
Cheddar is certainly glad about this as he was the high average in the match and assembled a squad that fully throttled his old team 14-1. Cheddar was overheard saying after the match, “BEER is a shell of its former self and those certainly aren’t the bowlers that I used to know.” Sctaching critique.
Cheddar’s team storms towards the top of league his exile and infamy a distant thing of the past as his former team seems destined for some infamy of their own, the Sunday Shootout. Seems funny now Hungus put BEER on the vote tabs for preseason favorite.
BEER seems to like bowling clinics and swing coaches, maybe they should hire Cheddar. When this watcher broached that subject with Cheddar regarding the possibility of him going back to coach BEER he had this to say about those prospects (Cheddar on the wall BEER down below):