The Other Half of the Lines – A Dr. Thunder Joint

From Thunder…

Enjoying a little vacation in sunny Tampa, Florida, Hungus has asked me to do an unbiased side of the bracket that he remains on.  As a member of Team BEER and a proponent of Team Destiny he just didn’t feel right doing them.  Well I am not sure I am going to end in a different place.  Going to be an awesome night, hate to miss it, but I did cut the family vacation a day short so I can take in the action at the bowling ball.  Let’s get cracking:

Bingas (9-5) -1 vs Linguists (12-2):  Ugh, am I now a proponent of this Team of Destiny thing?!?!?!?!?!  I picked this matchup two weeks ago on the podcast and because I feel that Linguists with all their “sluttiness” possesses the stronger and deeper team I picked them to come out on top.  Gutterslut is routinely a monster at the end of the season and in the playoffs and has been breaking the 200 threshold on the regular over the past month, which is no small task on this pattern.  Roo gives them a top of the team ace, LaGa is in a league of her own when it comes to the lady rollers in the league, and Hombre, Windiesel and Hot Pocket have all put up big games in clutch moments for the squad.  Then I look at the other team.   Bingas is battle tested and they have proven that the bright lights do not affect them at all, just ask the Philadelphia Hitmen.  I did just pause when checking Facebook and seeing Layne awoke to a stiff neck which she thinks will be affecting her bowling tonight.  Not good.  But then dig deeper, Cookie, Layne and Jerk won the draft league.  Jerk then won the PBA Pro-Am after telling me two weeks in advance he had every intention of winning it.  Then two days later he and his squad beat a team comprised of pro bowlers with a 5^th ball clutch X to close them out.  Add that to the fact that Hungus has been talking about this squad as a team of destiny all year long and well fuck if I am not starting to buy into it.  So it boils down to a team of sluttiness versus a team of destiny and at the end of the day in a tight 3 game match I see Bingas coming out on top.  Tso has been hot, Mango Mike runs hot and cold and Cookie is always cooking something up in the kitchen.  I can see Linguists winning this all day long, but at the end of the day I see Bingas looking at an opportunity to potentially play BEER in a semis match and I see them pulling out all the stops to make that happen.

GOB (7-7) -3 vs BEER (8-6).  Both these teams had up and down regular seasons.  But once again they have proven the regular season doesn’t mean jack.  All signs point to GOB.  They have an 813 on the season.  They have two guys with bricks on the wall.  Their captain is rolling hot and with confidence playing himself against future hall of famer OZ and defeating him in a bowloff and they made the semis last year.  Seatown is the best female bowler in the match.  Hold the fucking phone, I just got a text saying that Natro is out.  I know they only rolled him one game the other night but this is a  fucking game changer.  (I had BEER favored by -1 prior to this intel.)  This could be sandbagging but apparently using bowling as his only form of exercise has finally caught up to him and he is currently at an ortho doctor with lower leg injuries.  Again could be sandbagging but with that in mind I’m flipping the pick.  Hungus put up a Hungus score the other night with a 247, Filthy is a proven clutch playoff beast, Slow and Queen B are capable of strong games, Hacksaw has thrown a 230 out of nowhere in these types of situations, and this is what they brought McQueen in for right????  That said Natro is a clutch postseason bowler his absence is huge and could cause others on BEER to press.  Pickles is nails, the bright lights will not affect Railroad, Seatown has been clutch and they are minus an injured Jon Moon.  Will Hand take matters into his own Hand and play the lineups to win, or be a nice guy and give everyone a turn, that almost cost him against OC and is a wildcard in this match.  Even with an old Hungus night I see the depth of GOB being too much.  They have a healthy Natro I am picking BEER because you know they want that matchup against Bingas.

SEMIS

GOB -3 vs Bingas:  Here is where it clicks midnight for Cinderella, if a storied franchise like Bingas can ever be called Cinderella, but I see destiny meeting reality in this one.  GOB has been knocking on the door since they were founded a few years ago, brought in a ringer to kick the door open and tonight that door gets kicked in.  They are a low key team, pretty chill, nice to their opponents, but don’t let any of that fool you they want to win.  Bingas won’t be scared, but Jerk is going to have to go off over 6 games tonight to deliver them back to the finals averaging around 200 and Tso needs to be right there.  Layne as the only women bowling 6 games in a night injured is a tough task.  Yes she will have enough medicine to try and stay loose but a neck injury and bowling ain’t good.  In this match of old school versus new school I see the relatively new kids on the block coming out on top.  To me GOB gets out of this bracket of death and punches their first ticket to the finals proving once again that the guy that oils the lanes has the advantage……