The Sunday Shootout was nuts. 32 teams battles on a beautiful Sunday morning and 16 survivors made the bracket. We have 32 teams left, 16 will survive the week. Frankly I still haven’t recovered from the PBA (nor practiced bowling), and I assume lots of folks are in the same boat. A lot of the heavy favorites are coming in rusty, and playoff energy leads to some crazy occurrences. Hopefully we get some close games and maybe an upset or two.
Remember that if matches are decided in 2 games, do not play the third game. Good luck everyone!
Early Games
Yahtzee (10-2) -8 vs Lions Den (10-3): Yahtzee got off to a 10-0 start before stumbling into the playoffs on a 2 game losing streak. Tango has been a great signing, Rotini has been a revelation and Cheddar is back. Rick Vaughn led Lion’s Den on a magical run. He brought a very random group together and turned them into a tight party squad that won an impressive 10 games. Alas he won’t be there tonight when the run ends against a team thinking banner or bust.
BIB (9-3) -8 vs Tattoos & Titties (3-10): Ralphie brings her new team into a match against her old team. Yes Back in Black used to be Team Yayy, with Ralphie at the helm. Her new crew bowled well on Sunday, but they are playing BIB a week too soon. Next week BIB may be down to just three players, which should keep BoPo’s record of no repeat champs intact. Tonight, though, with a full crew, BIB should be done T&T before Rubby’s even jumps on Gutterboy’s back.
Saucy Posse (11-1) -7 vs Lovernauts (9-4): The Lovernauts had the highest average in Thursday B but missed out on the B playoffs. They did cruise to victory on Sunday and have a number of bowlers capable of throwing 200s. I can’t see them beating SauPo but if Slugga shows up they could force a game three. SauPo is in totally new territory as a championship favorite. I think they’ll be fine with it, still partying hard. Their scores may be down a little tonight but with newcomers Master Splinter and Nut Sauce they have a lot of margin for error.
BEER (8-4) -5 vs My Balls (7-6): My Balls had one of the bigger upsets of the Sunday Shootout, knocking out a 2015 semi finalist in GOB. Now Barry Violet leads his charges against his brother in law, Karl Hungus (who is wracked with the PBA plague). Sister Bubbles should be fired up too. BEER though loaded up with Tommy Gunz and Brandy this offseason so the can withstand a few big games. Wej is the only player in the game with a Bayside brick, but he might need another one to pull off the surprise.
Late Games
Turkey Club (8-4) -7 vs ICBING (6-7): What was that? ICBING doesn’t generally even try to win, then on the Sunday Shootout they put up monster scores, led by 2 Dogs Fucking, to knock off TDYOB and advance. I tend to think that was their super bowl and they’ll go quietly and quickly vs the Club tonight, but not before getting Ripcord a few tastes of their kamikaze pitcher, and maybe vipering E-Minor. The Club loves a good party, and they’ll enjoy this game thoroughly before the road gets a little tougher.
Bingas (7-5) -3 vs UREA! (5-8): These guys have already played once this year, so the Knuckles vs her old team story line won’t be new to them. I think this could be the best match of the night. UREA had some monster games this year, losing by the narrowest of margins to top teams like LOS and YB2. They have the ability to step up in big games, with T-$, Automatic and crew capable of big scoring. Binga’s barely survived an upset bid in the first round last year before going on a run all the way to the finals. They’d love to get back there and the brackets shape up in their favor, but they can’t look ahead in any round.
No Eye Deer (10-3) -3 vs DHD (10-3): These teams met on Sunday in the B playoffs, and DHD pulled the upset to advance to the B finals. NED ended up staying for another three hours to practice and are really keying in on this game for revenge. DHD certainly gained confidence with the Sunday win. Going to be a great battle since they just played two days ago. DHD can lose and their season will still go on. For N.E.D. this is the last stand, and I think that makes the difference.
S.O.D. (7-5) -3 vs Bowled and Beautiful (5-8): This is a playoff rematch of 2014 when B&B pulled one of the bigger upsets in BoPo history. They come into the game confident. They have the top bowler in the match in Viking. Mr. Mayor finished one of the Sunday games with 7 straight to rally the team, and Billy James has started dropping 200s again. S.O.D. has had a bit of an up and down season, but they do have a ton of talent on the roster and have flown a bit under the radar. Valley Girl had an excellent season, trailing only newcomer Nut Sauce among women. The Dentist has heated up int he 2nd half of the year too. This game could be interesting if Viking has one of his big nights, but ultimately I like SOD’s depth.