Working on some projects that, if successful, will blow your minds.  For now though that means really short lines. Not a super interesting week of matchups on paper anyway (though any game could turn into a bowloff and that’s exciting no matter what teams are involved).

Game of the Night

#12 ICBING (7-1) -1 vs #14 Cape Fear (6-3): A rare matchup of ranked B teams.  ICBING has traded in pitchers of kamikazes in exchange for wins.  It’s working.  They have the inside track to the Tuesday B crown with a tiebreak over My Balls but they face a much tougher closing schedule, starting tonight.  Cape Fear has been hard to read.  They have one of the top bowlers in B in Southpaw and a great average, but have lost a few strange games.  They realistically can’t win Tuesday B but need this win to stay in the hunt for a top 3 spot and stay out of the Sunday Shootout.

Early Games

#6 SOD (4-4) -1 vs #9 Strikes of Hazzard (5-3): This is about where these teams started the season in the rankings, then SOD fell and Hazzard shot up to #2.  Hazzard still has the better record and if Deputy could get on track and join General Lee at the top of their lineup they can still be very dangerous.  SOD is built on depth and getting low points and overall every time.  I think they’ll do that again, accumulate the pins, win in the trenches.

#1 Back In Black (7-1) -5 vs Nutz (3-6): Back in Black is just starting to beat folks down again.  Stevie Strikes is hot right now and the ladies on that team continue putting up excellent numbers.  Nutz have been on a losing streak and this is a tough matchup for breaking a losing streak.  Busta should post a few big games but hard to see anyone knocking off BIB in the next couple of weeks.

#13 My Balls (7-1) -5 vs Pinups (4-4): My Balls will be watching the ICBING/Cape game closely (figuratively anyway, they probably won’t actually stay to watch a late game as they have long commutes).  They have all winnable games and could go 11-1 but still would need ICBING to lose one in order to win the division crown. Wej has been quietly having a strong rookie season in spite of the crazy expectations for a guy with a Brick.  Pinups have taken advantage of the schedule and fought their way to.500  I can’t see them getting over that 50/50 tonight, though.  MacBalls did represent them well at the all star game.

No Eye Deer (5-4) -5 vs Wrecking Balls (1-7): NED still has a shot at a top 3 finish and they need to win this one to keep their hopes alive.  Dirty Sylon, Donzarelli and Burt the Bandit have all stepped up to fill the old Shifter void and they are having a solid season.  The Wreck has not had a solid season.  They tend to roll just well enough to lose – they actually have a solid average, bolstered by big scores in losses to better teams.  Their Captain Dude will miss the Sunday Shootout, so the least he can do is help them get a few wins so their opponent that day is a little easier.

Late Games

Three Livers (4-4) -1 vs BILFs (3-5): This game has a lot of bowloff potential.  The teams’ averages are only three pins different, their records are close, they both have a good time on the lanes.  While neither has a shot at avoiding the Sunday Shootout, finishing in the top 6 at least gets them a Thursday B opponent for that day, and top 6 is still in reach.  Major Danks trying to get out from his brother’s shadow now.

Incredibowls (5-3) -3 vs Splits Happen (3-5): It’s been a transition year for Incredibowls losing players such as Shibs, Ivory Bisque, and Captain Boston.  Only Sweet Baby Lou remains from the old guard, joined by new captain God of Thunder and new all-star Spidey.  The new look I-Bowls could still reach the top three if they win out.  Splits is a heavy underdog, again, but Xander’s team finds ways to shock the league at least a couple times a season.  They’ve only done it once so far this year winning as 9 point underdogs.  Could this be their second?

Ball That (6-2) -9 vs Snakes On A Lane (0-8): Speaking of both new Captains and 9 point spreads, here’s this game.  Samsquampch and his lady Gutterlicious have their new team rolling.  Don’t take their quiet team demeanor the wrong way – they like you, they’re just concentrating and thinking of how to stage their next adorable couple’s photo.  Snakes is a lost cause this season, but I’m glad they stuck it out after a rough offseason, and they’ll be back and better in 2015.

#2 Yahtzee (6-2) -5 vs Saucy Posse (2-6): Walter and Hot Sauce faced Cheddar for five years as a member of BEER, now they face him as the Captain of one of the top challengers to BIB’s repeat.  He did an excellent job assembling a roster including of course Sparkles, making his first full season in BoPo and really starting to dominate.  SauPo has been scuffling, but with Walter and Wing Sauce they always have at least a shot.

Game of the Friday

#10 XXX Club (3-5) – 3 vs BEER (2-6):  The last two BoPo finals losers square off on a Friday night in a battle of desperation.  The Club has started to turn things around and do have three guys in the top 12 on Tuesday A.  They have the pieces to get on a roll.  BEER is showing some signs of life from different players on different weeks but have yet to pull together a single solid night as a team, and are 0-2 vs Thursday.  Maybe playing in Friday Night Lights will jolt them back to life.

Well this is going to be awesome.  We have one of the best slates of games all season on deck tonight, including another showdown of #1 vs #2, this time between a Thursday and Tuesday team.  Plus #8 vs #9, and #6 vs #7 and #12 vs #15.  Thursday A has closed the gap to 9-6 with some wins Tuesday and now has home court.  Plus, no blizzard!

Here goes.

Game of the Night – Early

(TH) #2 L.O.S. (7-1) -1 vs (TU) #1 Back in Black (6-1):  I can’t help it, I’m picking L.O.S.  This is the third #1 vs #2 matchup of the year I think and since we’re getting later in the season those ranking are a little more relevant now.  L.O.S. has only one loss and that was sans Precious. They will field a full crew tonight, including their hottest bowler of late Mr. Stiffy.  B.I.B. is still adjusting to life post-Bama. Stevie Strikes is running away with top dawg, and he should be able to hold off whichever of the towers bowls best.  G-Boi has been less consistent but still sports a top tier average.  Both Skittles and G-Boy’s Ma are all-stars, so that gives BIB an edge there.  It should be close all the way, played at a really fast clip, and probably not a ton of drinking.  Looking forward to watching the end of this one.

Other Early Games

Bowlderdash (3-4) -1 vs Pinny Candy (2-5): Should be a tight one.  Bowlderdash has a lot of potential and has beaten some solid teams.  Pinny Candy has beaten some lesser teams but this one would move them up a spot in the rankings.  Fried Bowlogna and Boys McCracken have been practicing a bit, and of course Carrie Okay and Michael Bowlton have a history of coming up with big games out of the blue.  Pinny Candy will just try to climb on Pay Day’s shoulders.

I.B.S. (6-2) -3 vs Five O’Clocks (0-7):  I.B.S. went 0′fer last season.  This season they’re playing teams staring at that same fate.  They showed no mercy in their other matchup but this time it’s a team that is sort of genealogically connected to them.  Tillie needs to call on all her Captain of the Year skills to pull her team out of this tailspin.  Automatic and Tha Ruckus, c’mon guys!

Slaughterhouse 7 (4-3) -1 vs Happy Hands (5-3):  This should be a solid matchup.  Coco Lopez has been tearing up the lanes and this week she should get her running partner Ishmael back from the wilds of Missouri.  Maybe even a return of Riggs?  The Hands are starting to free fall but a win here will put them right back in the running for an ever important top 3 spot.  Munj and Lance Cocksure spend a good deal of time on the lanes and can battle S7′s top 2.  This one could come down to depth, or Coco Lopez could roll another 236 and run away with things.

Late Games

Granola Bowlahs (5-2) -5 vs Lesbowlians (2-5): Look out for Granola!  The expansion squad is on fire right now.  Current Queenshit Bijou Lowry is coming off a 230 (though unfortunately she can’t make the all-star game) and looks to keep pace with VG Jess for Top (Lady) Dawg.  Ricky Vaughn is rolling like post-glasses Vaughn, and the Colluci Kid, fuhgeddaboutit.  The Lesbowlians are facing another losing record but haven’t lost hope yet – these guys are resilient.  They have the potential to hang for a while with Granola but in the end probably fall to the new guys.

(TH) #13 TDYOB (3-4) -1 vs (TU) #15 BEER (2-5): Two teams on the fringe of both the top 15 and the Sunday Shootout play in a big match for each of them.  For TDYOB this is their chance to knock off a BEER squad that has had their way with them in the past.  BEER is not bowling particularly well, and they are missing Filthy.  TDYOB will have their big offseason acquisition Shifter available, plus Sneaky Pete has been one of the best women bowlers of the last two weeks.  Dr. T is using a new technique called ‘quiet mind’, which is perhaps the most oxymoronic match of personality and technique ever.  BEER showed some life against Binga’s last week but still fell short.  The team is almost fully de-Slowinskied but need a win in this one to stay out of the Tuesday A basement.  Queen Bee will be rolling three games for the first time as BEER has only Natro, Hungus, Slow and QB.  Should go down to the wire as both teams try to balance bowling, drinking and safety meetings.  Look for a late finish.

(TU)#10 Strikes of Hazzard (4-3) -1 vs  (TH) Young & Bowled (3-5):  Woah, lots of interesting storylines in this one.  Hazzard started the season with 4 straight wins but is now on a three game slide.  Perhaps it’s at least partially due to their Captain (seen below catering to his ADHD) needing giant visual distractions when he rolls.

Well how’s this for a distraction…Maine Today just ran an article with Y&B Cap Pistol Pete yesterday in which he didn’t mention bowling, but did mention he’s an occasional nude model and he has a radio show playing nothing but show tunes!  http://mainetoday.com/blog/who-i-met/pistol-pete-upholsterer-radio-show-host/  What the what?  How do you keep ‘em down on the farm once they’ve seen a nude Pistol Pete and listened to the Pajama Game?  The Pajama Game, is the game I’m in, and I’m glad to be in the pajama game, I love it!   Y&B also has Senator ITZ who made the all-star game with Mr. Pickles’ injury, plus another all-star in Nugget.  They’d love to stick it to UJ and crew, and have a good shot at it.

(TU) #8 Sons of Danarchy (3-4) -3 vs (TH) #9 Yay? (3-4):  So, Yay? rolled a sweet 800+ game last week behind Mona’s big 220 something.  They are starting to get their pigshit together and could make a late season run up the standings.  This is not an easy task tonight however as they face a SOD team with a sick average and desperate for a win.  The injured Dentist has been at the lanes and may be back as soon as tonight.  All three ladies in this match are all-stars, pretty cool.

(TU) #7 Off Constantly (5-2) -3 vs (TH) #6 Guns of Brighton (5-2): This line is based on reports coming from GOB camp that Mr. Pickles may be sidelined with an injury.  OC has already guaranteed a victory but that’s nothing new, they’d guarantee a victory over a PBA squad.  They don’t lack for confidence.  GOB still has 4 all-stars with Pickles out, but I have a feeling they are going to want this one too much battling Nubes.  Hootie vs Nubes bartender showdown should be good to watch (bowl her leadoff, Hand, for the fans!)

So B crossovers are done, and it was significantly closer than last years 24-6.  This year Tuesday B took it 8-4.

Now it’s week 2 of A crossovers, and Tuesday has a 7-3 lead. Only three early games, and then the always fun “12 lanes of BoPo” late

Game of the night (late)

(TU) #4 Yahtzee (5-2) -3 vs (TH) #5 Leisure Rolls (6-1): A match with five all-stars and two top 5 teams leads things off.  Sparkles has been skyrocketing up the standings to  6th overall and the steady Cheddar is right behind him as Yahtzee starts piling up wins.  Leisure lost for the first time last week but now are staring at a possible 2 game losing streak with this brutal matchup.  Magic snagged the last Thursday all-star spot and hopes to show why in this one, but it will be a serious uphill climb against one of the hotter teams in BoPo right now.

Early Games

Pinups (3-4) -3 vs Snakes on a Lane (0-7): The Pinups get their second straight winless opponent.  They took advantage last week with a 15-0 win and if they do it again they’ll amazingly enough find themselves at .500.  This may be the best chance the Snakes have to break the streak – they are still winless but their scores have been gradually climbing.

(TU) #11 Turkey Club (2-5) -3 vs (TH) #12 Bowled & Beautiful (3-4): This could be a pretty good matchup, or XX Club could cruise.  Tango and Big Rig made all-stars (and Roadhouse is 1st alternate if anyone drops out).  They have been bowling better lately despite the 2-5 record.  Crossover wins are going to be big for Tuesday A teams at the bottom looking to avoid the Sunday Shootout.  B&B are having a fine 1st season and Billy James (1st time all-star as a rookie) is one of the hottest bowlers at the lanes these days.  Looking forward to seeing how this one unfolds, but I’ll play the averages and bet on Tuesday.

Cape Fear (5-3) -3 vs Three Livers (4-3): Cape is impossible to figure out.  They have the best average in B but still have three losses.  Southpaw is an all-star putting up big numbers but still seems grumpy.  Lots of paradoxes.  They should win here, but they are coming off a 13-2 loss in a game they should have won last week.  Three Livers could be up for the challenge – they are representing the Old School, plus throwing in a little Larry to boost them.  Plus Wilma is an all-star!

Late Games

(TU) #3 Bingas (6-2) -3 vs (TH) UREA! (1-6): I said in the preseason write ups that this would be a return to the top type of year for Binga’s and they are proving me right.  Jerk got off to a slow start but has rounded back into form, and the rest of the team has been excellent. They have beaten the #1 team in the league plus their old-school rivals OC and BEER, they only seem to struggle against teams they are heavily favored against.  That gives UREA! a shot, but UREA! keeps coming close and losing out.  They lost a bowloff to Y&B then an 8-7 heartbreaker to LOS.  They are bowling better, especially T-$, but just falling short.  This one could be a repeat of that formula.

(TU) #14 Nutz (3-5) -1 vs (TH) Linguists (2-5): This could end up being a close one.  La Ga will have to battle Busta hanging close enough for the overall to be in question.  Col. Angus really needs a breakout game – he used to have them every so often but this year hasn’t really clicked.  The whole Nutz crew has been solid and Peanut is strong having bowled every game this year.  Wildcard could be the wildcard.

Incredibowls (5-2) -1 vs ICBING (6-1): I don’t know why I can’t believe in ICBING yet.  They don’t do kamikaze pitchers anymore and are subsequently 6-1, but I can’t shake images of their 2013 game threes where a 500 (and not falling down) was an accomplishment.  So I’ll take Incredibowls.  They are hungry, Spidey made the all-star game, and a win makes for a much more exciting race for Tuesday B title.

Ball That (5-2) -3 vs BILFs (3-4): Ball That is also still in the hunt for the Tuesday B crown, and Gutterlicious made the all-star team.  Not bad for an expansion squad.  The BILFs got a nice confidence boost last week and some new guy rolled a 236 for them.  Too bad he missed the playoff cutoff but he could certainly push them toward a better seed.  Or maybe it was a fluke.

(TU) Saucy Posse (2-5) -3 vs (TH) BUI (1-6): SauPo has some momentum and now has a good chance to get out of the basement.  No all-stars but Wing Sauce and Walter are starting to post big numbers more often.  BUI is struggling to find their rhythm after the Snapshot injury.  This game is within their reach if they pull it together, and they could really use the win.

Corry folks, computer died.  Trying to rebuild stats page, should have updated info online today or tomorrow

Tuesday B has the 4-2 lead over Thursday after 1 night, can Thursday tie it up on their home turf?

Game of The Week

#3 Guns of Brighton (5-1) -1 vs #4 L.O.S. (6-1): Interesting match. Leisure Rolls is still in first but both these teams are right on their tail.  Precious’ attendance is hard to predict but I’ll assume he’s there.  Last week Mr. Stiffy stepped up in his absence and carried his team to victory with something around a 230 average.  He won’t need to be that good but his staying hot is a huge piece of the puzzle for the LOSers.  GOB is in a mini slump with a loss to BIB followed up by a win in their worst scoring game of the year.  They’ll need to turn it around quickly to pull this one off.  As of now all GOBbers except Captain Hand would be in the all-star game, so I’ll give them the very narrow edge.

Early Games

(TU) ICBING (5-1) -3 vs (TH) Lovernauts (5-2): It’s been the best season in Lovernauts franchise history so far as they are in 2nd place in their division and battle for first.  Newcomers Slugga and Flannel Mayhem have helped Rufio turn things around.  They face a tough one in ICBING, however, a team that will be in first again on Tuesday B with a win.  Fabio and Peanut Gutter are a strong 1-2 punch.

(TH) Slaughterhouse 7 (3-3) -1 vs N.E.D. (5-2): The averages tilt slightly toward NED, but this is being played on Thursday and who knows who can even make it to the game for them?  Plus S7 has been putting in a lot of team practices looking like they are ready to make a little run.  I’ll take Coco Lopez in this one.

(TH) Bowlderdash (3-3) -1 vs (TU) Splits Happen (2-5):  This is the same as the last game, the Tuesday team has the slightly higher average but they have to travel to Thursday.  Bowlderdash is coming off a big win last week, knocking off the 1st place team.  They should ride that momentum to a winning record.

#2 Leisure Rolls (6-0) -3 vs #14 Yay? (2-4): The Leisure train keeps on rolling.  They keep doing enough to win and look like they should get to 7-0 in this one.  Yay? is no slouch – they have the bowlers to win this match if they can stay focused.  Yao especially is due for a breakout game and Mona Laudley could be a points machine.  I think Yay? will keep it close for a while but ultimately the Rolls roll, unless they are looking ahead to next week.

Late Games

(TU) BILFs (2-4) -5 vs (TH) Pinny Candy (2-4): Pinny Candy got some confidence back with a lopsided win over the Spares last week, but they’ll need more than confidence to hang with the big, bad BILFs.  Old Thumper leads the BILFs to Thursday where they should take care of business and get back home with a win (and maybe a consulting contract).

(TU) Ball That (4-2) -9 vs (TH) Five O’Clocks (0-6): This one could get ugly on the scoreboard but will be pretty friendly on the lanes – both teams are pretty mellow.  Gutterlicious of Ball That has wrapped up a Tuesday all-star spot (unless she rolls a couple of 50s).  The 5 O’s don’t have any all-stars but could share a few of their high fiving skills, which are all-world.

Y&B (3-4) -1 vs TDYOB (2-4): This should be a good one.  The TDYOBers have Shifter back, and Sneaky Pete is the reigning bowler of the week.  She and Thunder seem to be benefiting from Bowling for Dummies.  They embark on the Bayside ownership 1-2 playing Senator ITZ and Hungus in back to back weeks.  Y&B bowls well each week and have a strong average but seem to be missing that little something that makes the difference in winning and losing.  Maybe that little something is Lou Dawg – they could use him coming out of retirement again.  They do look like they’ll place three in the all-star game which is a nice accomplishment but they’d rather just get some wins.

(TH) Granola Bowlahs (4-2) -3 vs (TU) Wrecking Balls (1-6):  Looking at the records it’s hard to believe the Wreck has a significantly higher team average.  They are just finding ways to lose – it’s been a tough year for teams captained by Mitchells (3-11), though in-law captained teams are 6-1.  Granola is beatable if Rick Vaughn leaves any 10 pins.  I’m assuming Bijou is there for this line, and Colucci Kid should more than hold his own.