This time Thursday gets the full treatment, 10 lanes early and all 12 lanes late. BoPo party central.
Predictions: Tuesday 7-2 … Season 20-9
Game of the Week
#6 Guns of Brighton (0-1) -2 vs TDYOB (0-0): This one was a no brainer pick for game of the week. GOB took a loss on opening Sunday to T-Club, but unveiled the biggest new weapon in the league in Railroad. He throws it so fast he shut down the speedometer. He didn’t get a lot of help in their opener but the team is loaded and Mr. Pickles almost never has two bad weeks in a row. As for TDYOB, no team has seen a bigger shakeup. Thunder retired, but not before helping orchestrate a merger with Y&B. They picked up Pistol Pete, Senator ITZ and even Lou Dawg (proud owner of a new Yeah Baby! ball that he loves too much to drill holes in, forcing him to throw two handed). They join Shifter Pawl (back in town today), Space Farmer, Roy Munson and Spooky. Oh yeah, they also signed all-star Steff Infection, though she will be out of this one with a difficult injury. It’s kind of a circus, but that’s the way they like it. Circus, late night, beer flowing, Thursday – all their elements, and no one has seen yet how Railroad handles the full on party scene. In the end I think they lose this one but it could be more interesting then people think. It will definitely be fun watching.
Early Games
Spare of the Dog (1-0) -3 vs Cunning Linguists (1-0): The Linguists traveled to Tuesday and picked up a crossover win, but they won’t be treated as conquering heroes on their return. The Dogs are hungry and looking to break into the top 10, and they have this one marked as a W on their calendar. Coco Lopez looks great in her new home. The rest of the team looked silly because they wore shirts from another league. The Linguists cruised on the strength of Wild Card and La Ga even with a rough week from Gutterslut. They’ll battle but Lopez and Laudley make the difference.
Bowled & Beautiful (0-1) -1 vs Guacabowle (0-1): This is a big game for both teams if they hope to hang around in Thursday A. Guac jumped out to a 4-1 lead in their A debut last week before being bum rushed 10-0 to lose 11-4. B&B never quite got it going but did debut Viking, a strong rookie of the year contender in a tough class with folks like Brooklyn, Railroad and LB Davenport. I’ll take the team with the top bowler (though Cilantro has been putting in WORK!)
IBS (1-0) -3 vs Lesbowlians (0-1): IBS got off to a fast start in their pursuit of a 2nd straight Thursday B crown. Oolie is back and the lean crew of Captain Wut What, The Ram Bros. and Lucky is very solid. They’ll battle a Lesbowlians team that lost a very close match in their opener. Stayfree opened some eyes with three strong games perhaps finally giving Tilt A Whirl the teammate she needed to pick up some more wins. The Lesbowlians are improved, but this is a tough matchup.
Bowlderdash (1-0) -1 vs Happy Hands (0-1): How about Sweet Tamm? The dude in the cozy jeans crushed pins all night last Thursday leading his team to victory, and has followed up with a few practice sessions this week. I’m picking his team to edge Happy Hands based on that alone. The Hands will get better results this week from Munj and Marv Cocksure, but I’m picking Tamm and Co.
Roll Another (1-0) -13 vs Bad News Spares (0-1): The Spares may have expanded their already league record roster. They rolled at least 8 folks last week and I expect that’s just the beginning. Their average creeped up from last year too but wasn’t enough to stop a shutout. They may face a similar fate against the old timers of Roll Another. Chupacabra’s crew will quietly contend for the Thursday B crown all year.
Late Games
#7 Body English (0-1) -3 vs Ball That (1-0): Here’s a weird one, a couple of Tuesday teams just borrowing space to get their game in on the wrong night. BEER hopes to pick up a win to go along with their solid average. Natro, Slow Roll and Queen B did the heavy lifting last week, now we’ll see if the depth pays off with any big games from the rest of the crew. Ball That took care of business in their A division debut. Newcomer Boots has a hefty 188 average and Captain ‘Squampch is sitting just outside the top 10. They will win their share of games this year but BEER may be a little more desperate sitting at 0-1.
#1 L.O.S. (1-0) -13.5 vs Granola Bowlahs: Um, yeah. Well, LOS does hate late games. Colucci Kid and Rick Vaughn will take their lumps.
Leisure Rolls (0-1) -3 vs UREA! (1-0): The Rolls took a loss on Sunday in a tough rematch of the 2014 Finals. A lot of teams will end up losing to LOS this year, it’s not a bad loss, but the Rolls dropped out of the top 10 and are feeling overlooked. They’ll try to harness that against a game opponent in UREA! J-Bird’s crew are looking for an improbable 2-0 start even with Steff Infection gone. Purple Nurple and T-$ will make some noise, but the Rolls are hungrier.
5 O’Clocks (0-1) -1 vs Pud’s Taxi (0-0): Pud’s returns under new management. Their new Captain is Pud’s vet Bullett (you may remember her unique release where she gets lower than anyone else in the league). They’ll be psyched to be back and could definitely grab a win here, but I’m going to go with Automatic and the 5 O’s. He’s due for a breakout week, why not this one?
Pinny Candy (0-1) -3 vs Lovernauts (1-0): At first glance it may seem weird to have a team that won 15-0 be 3 point underdogs to a team that lost its opener, but they played very different opponents. Pinny Candy had a huge start in terms of average and actually has a few guys in the top 6 overall on Thursday. That should get the job done against a solid Lovernauts squad unless Rufio! takes over.