Big Night!

Well this is going to be awesome.  We have one of the best slates of games all season on deck tonight, including another showdown of #1 vs #2, this time between a Thursday and Tuesday team.  Plus #8 vs #9, and #6 vs #7 and #12 vs #15.  Thursday A has closed the gap to 9-6 with some wins Tuesday and now has home court.  Plus, no blizzard!

Here goes.

Game of the Night – Early

(TH) #2 L.O.S. (7-1) -1 vs (TU) #1 Back in Black (6-1):  I can’t help it, I’m picking L.O.S.  This is the third #1 vs #2 matchup of the year I think and since we’re getting later in the season those ranking are a little more relevant now.  L.O.S. has only one loss and that was sans Precious. They will field a full crew tonight, including their hottest bowler of late Mr. Stiffy.  B.I.B. is still adjusting to life post-Bama. Stevie Strikes is running away with top dawg, and he should be able to hold off whichever of the towers bowls best.  G-Boi has been less consistent but still sports a top tier average.  Both Skittles and G-Boy’s Ma are all-stars, so that gives BIB an edge there.  It should be close all the way, played at a really fast clip, and probably not a ton of drinking.  Looking forward to watching the end of this one.

Other Early Games

Bowlderdash (3-4) -1 vs Pinny Candy (2-5): Should be a tight one.  Bowlderdash has a lot of potential and has beaten some solid teams.  Pinny Candy has beaten some lesser teams but this one would move them up a spot in the rankings.  Fried Bowlogna and Boys McCracken have been practicing a bit, and of course Carrie Okay and Michael Bowlton have a history of coming up with big games out of the blue.  Pinny Candy will just try to climb on Pay Day’s shoulders.

I.B.S. (6-2) -3 vs Five O’Clocks (0-7):  I.B.S. went 0’fer last season.  This season they’re playing teams staring at that same fate.  They showed no mercy in their other matchup but this time it’s a team that is sort of genealogically connected to them.  Tillie needs to call on all her Captain of the Year skills to pull her team out of this tailspin.  Automatic and Tha Ruckus, c’mon guys!

Slaughterhouse 7 (4-3) -1 vs Happy Hands (5-3):  This should be a solid matchup.  Coco Lopez has been tearing up the lanes and this week she should get her running partner Ishmael back from the wilds of Missouri.  Maybe even a return of Riggs?  The Hands are starting to free fall but a win here will put them right back in the running for an ever important top 3 spot.  Munj and Lance Cocksure spend a good deal of time on the lanes and can battle S7’s top 2.  This one could come down to depth, or Coco Lopez could roll another 236 and run away with things.

Late Games

Granola Bowlahs (5-2) -5 vs Lesbowlians (2-5): Look out for Granola!  The expansion squad is on fire right now.  Current Queenshit Bijou Lowry is coming off a 230 (though unfortunately she can’t make the all-star game) and looks to keep pace with VG Jess for Top (Lady) Dawg.  Ricky Vaughn is rolling like post-glasses Vaughn, and the Colluci Kid, fuhgeddaboutit.  The Lesbowlians are facing another losing record but haven’t lost hope yet – these guys are resilient.  They have the potential to hang for a while with Granola but in the end probably fall to the new guys.

(TH) #13 TDYOB (3-4) -1 vs (TU) #15 BEER (2-5): Two teams on the fringe of both the top 15 and the Sunday Shootout play in a big match for each of them.  For TDYOB this is their chance to knock off a BEER squad that has had their way with them in the past.  BEER is not bowling particularly well, and they are missing Filthy.  TDYOB will have their big offseason acquisition Shifter available, plus Sneaky Pete has been one of the best women bowlers of the last two weeks.  Dr. T is using a new technique called ‘quiet mind’, which is perhaps the most oxymoronic match of personality and technique ever.  BEER showed some life against Binga’s last week but still fell short.  The team is almost fully de-Slowinskied but need a win in this one to stay out of the Tuesday A basement.  Queen Bee will be rolling three games for the first time as BEER has only Natro, Hungus, Slow and QB.  Should go down to the wire as both teams try to balance bowling, drinking and safety meetings.  Look for a late finish.

(TU)#10 Strikes of Hazzard (4-3) -1 vs  (TH) Young & Bowled (3-5):  Woah, lots of interesting storylines in this one.  Hazzard started the season with 4 straight wins but is now on a three game slide.  Perhaps it’s at least partially due to their Captain (seen below catering to his ADHD) needing giant visual distractions when he rolls.

Well how’s this for a distraction…Maine Today just ran an article with Y&B Cap Pistol Pete yesterday in which he didn’t mention bowling, but did mention he’s an occasional nude model and he has a radio show playing nothing but show tunes!  http://mainetoday.com/blog/who-i-met/pistol-pete-upholsterer-radio-show-host/  What the what?  How do you keep ’em down on the farm once they’ve seen a nude Pistol Pete and listened to the Pajama Game?  The Pajama Game, is the game I’m in, and I’m glad to be in the pajama game, I love it!   Y&B also has Senator ITZ who made the all-star game with Mr. Pickles’ injury, plus another all-star in Nugget.  They’d love to stick it to UJ and crew, and have a good shot at it.

(TU) #8 Sons of Danarchy (3-4) -3 vs (TH) #9 Yay? (3-4):  So, Yay? rolled a sweet 800+ game last week behind Mona’s big 220 something.  They are starting to get their pigshit together and could make a late season run up the standings.  This is not an easy task tonight however as they face a SOD team with a sick average and desperate for a win.  The injured Dentist has been at the lanes and may be back as soon as tonight.  All three ladies in this match are all-stars, pretty cool.

(TU) #7 Off Constantly (5-2) -3 vs (TH) #6 Guns of Brighton (5-2): This line is based on reports coming from GOB camp that Mr. Pickles may be sidelined with an injury.  OC has already guaranteed a victory but that’s nothing new, they’d guarantee a victory over a PBA squad.  They don’t lack for confidence.  GOB still has 4 all-stars with Pickles out, but I have a feeling they are going to want this one too much battling Nubes.  Hootie vs Nubes bartender showdown should be good to watch (bowl her leadoff, Hand, for the fans!)