Well Tuesday didn’t really offer up a whole lot of drama. Only one contest (the NED/DHD rematch) went to 3 games, and NED held on to a 7-3 lead for a measure of revenge after DHD knocked them out of the B title game. The rest of the favorites all cruised to 2 game wins. That’s part of the deal with an easier pattern, fewer major upsets. Maybe Thursday will knock my theory down. A few of the matchups look close on paper anyway, and I’d be stunned if several don’t go to game 3 at least.
Early Games
Spare of the Dog (9-3) – 3 vs Budweisers (10-3): The Dogs have had an excellent season so far: looking good, eating well, and winning games. They finished 2nd in Thursday A and have some momentum. They’ll look to shake their big game jitters with a nice first round victory to get them the Binga’s match they’ve been hoping for. The Budwesiers got here in dramatic fashion, winning a bowloff in the Sunday Shootout. They should be pretty loose as they are playing with house money. They also won’t be bothered by the Dogs’ Miller Lite intake as they know AB inBev and SAB Miller will be merging anyway.
BUI (7-5) -1 vs Cape Fear (5-8): This looks to be a great matchup. Cape rolls some heavy hitters in Soccer Dad and South Paw. They also destroy miller lites (note to self, order more miller lites). They found lots of ways to lose this year but are capable of monster scores. BUI had a very strong season. They were led by Duke Thunderwood, but G-Unit has thrown his share of 200s and Snapshot has had big moments. This should be a high scoring, close battle, but ultimately I see BUI escaping with the win.
LOS (9-3) -8 vs Ball That (2-11): Ok, this one doesn’t look like it will be that close. Ball That has had a few strong nights, and they won’t be intimidated after a season in Tuesday A, but a win might be too much to ask for. LOS has taken their foot off the gas a little but they should be raring to go now with the playoffs here. Precious had a monster season and Cheese is a recent top dog. Combined with Nugget and Stiffy they should be able to roll int his one.
Sharks and Strikes (8-5) -3 vs Cunning Linguists (6-7): The Sharks have had a phenomenal rookie season. They have more merch than most bands, dominated on twitter, got the pros wasted and had a winning record in Tuesday A. Plus they have Railroad for the stretch run. The Linguists are heading in the opposite direction, playing in what seems like a farewell tour of a season. They’d love to advance, but it also seems like they wouldn;t be that upset with the season ending. Sharks are much hungrier.
Late Games
Leisure Rolls (7-5) -3 vs Strikes of Hazzard (3-10): The Rolls likely hoped for a better 1st round draw when they finished fourth on their division, but even though Hazzard is a dangerous underdog I think they’ll advance. Genral Lee and LB Davenport are two of the best in BoPo, but the Thursday game may mean they aren’t even available. How they finished 2-10 in the regular season is baffling, anyway. The Rolls seemed to fins their groove later in the season, and they grind out playoff wins as well as any team.
Young & Bowled 2 (11-1) -8 vs Splits Happen (10-3): Y&B 2 had an excellent year, capped off by winning the Thursday A title against Dick Allen. They have title aspirations. They also will have a bullseye on their back for the playoff run. Crackerjack shattered the league scoring record and looks like the MVP…can he win a playoff MVP and a title, capping off a sensational year? He’s actually in the running still for a natural Grand Slam. Wow. Splits Happen is a feisty underdog. They’ve played to win all year, monitoring the lines and smack board for motivation. They signed Tinderella who is familiar with Crackerjack and eager to challenge him. They won’t go down without a fight, and Cotter Martin or Xander could step up to back Tinderella and make a push, but ultimately YB2 just looks really, really strong.
Incredibowls (10-3) -5 vs Roll Another (10-3): Roll Another will be in the B finals. They earned that by holding off a three-man Incredibowls on Sunday. Now, however, they face the full squad. Incredibowls came very close with three players, so it seems they should be able to get revenge here. Roll Another will be fine either way knowing they have a date in the first ever B title game.
Guacabowle (7-5) -1 vs Off Constantly (4-9): This looks like game of the night in what is becoming quite a rivalry. Last year a still upstart Guac team took OC out of the playoffs in what was, at the time, still considered a big upset. This year the met with Guac as the favorite, and OC took them down. Now they meet in a toss up with the season on the line. Guac needs to get back to their loose, party style – they used to thrive on it (maybe the miss Red Onion). OC will be down their Captian with Nuber (and Peanut) out of town. They’ll roll a very focused, short roster. This game will go down to the wire.