Another BoPo regular season is almost wrapped up, crazy how time flies. For A division teams this is the last chance to play within the division before the season ends with crossover games. For B, it’s a three way race for first and if things break just right we can have a Week 13 showdown for all the marbles…
Plus, PBA AT BAYSIDE BOWL IN 2015!
Game of the Week (early)
#2 Yahtzee (8-2) -1 vs #6 Off Constantly (6-3): The race for 2nd place! BIB can officially wrap up Tuesday A and the number one overall seed in the tourney with a win over Saucy Posse or TDYOB, but Yahtzee can clinch 2nd place in Tuesday A (putting them on the opposite half of the bracket from BIB) with a win in this one. OC is the only team left that can catch them as they launch a weird week with two games (also playing Friday night against #12 Strikes of Hazzard). They are coming off a loss but their average creeped up and they are bowling well. For Yahtzee, Sparkles has shown some glimpses of being human again but is still leading the way and Cheddar and Pauly provide huge upside, reliable backup. They are a definite title contender, especially if the ladies get going. OC has two titles and know what it takes to win. They can take 2nd place themselves by winning out. They’ll pull out all the stops, and hopefully get Coucou back to make her playoff qualifying push. Would love to see a Sparkles-Oz bowloff, ending in a tie, followed by a Dick-Cheddar bowloff, ending in a tie, followed by a Nuber-Pauly bowloff. Is that too much to ask?
Early Games
#3 Sons of Danarchy (6-4) -3 vs Body English (3-7): For the 2nd straight week BEER faces the #3 squad. Can they pull off two massive upsets in a row? I’m guessing no – SOD is a tough matchup for them. SOD is hitting their stride again and sport a gaudy 685 team average. BEER has only rolled over 685 in a game twice all year, though both were last week. While The Dentist has been plagued by injury and Diesel has been on a downward slide, the overall depth of this team has kept them on top and a tough team for anyone to play in the playoffs. McStriker and Valley Gurl have carried a lot of the weight and when they guys click they are almost unbeatable. BEER sounded the ‘not dead yet’ alarm last week, but they’ll have to roll even better this week to back up last week’s results. As TR goes, so goes BEER nation.
#1 Back In Black (9-1) -9 vs Saucy Posse (2-8): Not much to write here. BIB should cruise and clinch another Division crown, though they don’t really celebrate division titles. They are only focused on April 19th and becoming the first repeat champs in BoPo history. Stevie Strikes has started to play at a different level with a couple 700+ league series, and the rest of the team is doing enough to keep on winning. SauPo are locked into the Sunday Shooutout but won’t be an easy out in the 1st round of the playoffs if they have Walter and Wing Sauce together.
#11 My Balls (9-1) -9 vs Wrecking Balls (1-9): Yikes, 9-1 vs 1-9. The brother-in-law Captains have led their teams to very different results this year. My Balls can’t clinch with a win but can take another step toward the division crown. The Wreck can only hope to put a blemish on that shiny won-loss record their opponents have. New addition Wej has been a great team player for My Balls, and Barry V finally got on the 200 train last week. The Wreck need the league’s only father-son combo of Dude and Dude Jr to have career nights to win this family clash.
Late Games
#13 Cape Fear (7-3) -5 vs BILFs (5-5): There is no team I get asked “who are those guys?” about more often than Cape Fear. They apparently don’t bother much with pleasantries, or interacting with their opponents in any way, when they bowl, they just crush pins and move on. There are no friends in war I guess. The BILFs are a little more gregarious, but may be outmatched in terms of bowling in this one. They’ll still have a chance at a .500 season with a loss.
#8 Binga’s (6-4) -1 vs #9 Turkey Club (5-5): This has become quite a heated rivalry in the last couple years. Things reached a boiling point when members of Binga’s kidnapped T-Club mascot and did horrible, unspeakable things to him (while viedotaping it). Tango’s drunken slobbering into Binga’s megaphone this year was hardly comparable but does show how much these teams like to go after each other. Lost in the mayhem of the rivalry is the importance of the game to both teams. T-Club has worked hard for weeks and finally gotten back to .500, a loss would blunt that momentum. Binga’s has been treading water since a hot start and need to start peaking again if they want to make a deep playoff run. Hide the kids and grab a beer and pull up a seat for this one – it’ll be entertaining for sure.
NED (6-4) -3 vs Pinups (4-6): NED looking to make a late push up the standings for an easier Sunday Shootout match. Dirty Sylon and Burt the Brooklyn Bandit could be a tough playoff opponent for someone if the conditions are right. The Pinups are looking for what I believe would be their first win over a team with a winning record.
Ball That (8-2) -1 vs ICBING (8-2): The best combined records for any game on Tuesday. Both teams are still in the hunt for the Tuesday B crown, but only Ball That controls their own fate. A win here set up a week 12 showdown with My Balls for an ‘all balls’ division title showdown. ICBING’s path is a little less direct. They did hand My Balls their only loss so could win out to get to 10-2 and take the division, but would need My Balls to lose to either Wrecking Balls (1-9) or Ball That (8-2) in addition to winning out. This should be a fantastic, exciting throwdown between a mostly veteran ICBING crew and the expansion BTers.
Incredibowls (6-4) -3 vs Three Livers (4-6): A contrast in franchises. Three Livers has been around from the get go and while they have lost some memorable players (Hannnnnnnnk! for one) they have the same core of Wilma, Bernie and Pearl leading the way. The Incredibowls changed hands when Boston retired, and new Cap God of Thunder brought in all kinds of new faces. This year the new face crew should have the firepower to overcome 3L’s vets. The biggest reason is that one of those new faces is Spidey, who has now pulled away a bit from Southpaw as top B bowler of the year. These guys could bust some BoPo brackets come April.
Splits Happen (4-6) -5 vs Snakes On A Lane (0-10): Splits usually does their best work as 55 to 9 point underdogs, trailing 7-3. So how will they respond to being a huge favorite, or getting out to a lead? I guess we’ll find that out Tuesday as they face the winless Snakes. Last week was the highest scoring showing for the Snakes yet so maybe their is some fight left in them. They have more talent than an 0-10 team they just need the right pieces all together at the same time.