We're Baaaack... 2013

The Brew Crew is back for the 2013 season.  Our averages are starting off a little high so it will be a tough grind again this year but so far we are about .500 (Still waiting on the scores from the first week to be re-calculated).

One interesting note from Week #1 is that we bowled a team triplicate.  That's right... all three games we bowled  the exact same team score - 917.  Maybe this is a year for amazing things :)

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times...

Well, that's the best title I could come up with.  The bad news is:  We didn't gain any ground on Muncher's.  The good news is:  We didn't lose any ground on Muncher's. 

Our performance last week was lack-luster but hard fought.  After losing the first two games, we rallied in the third to win that game and take total pins by just 7 pins on the night.  While seemingly missing our reliable anchor-man (sometimes known as "The Hammer"), he would have had to bowl something like a 280, 250, 200, for a 730 series to make any real difference.  [But we missed him in spirit even though he went to Florida without us.]

I think we're still out of first by two or three games (maybe four?).  Gonna have to cinch up our belts, buy some wranglers, and get down to business.

The Home Stretch

The Brew Crew took three out of four last week and are just one game out of first place as they gain momentum going into the home stretch.  Everyone is looking very focused on the prize... here we go.

to-be-determined

So, I could not decide on a title for this week's post. My ideas were:

• Pants on Da Ground
• Boo-shit, Boo-shit, Boo-shit, or
• Monte Owns Me

Fact of the matter was, I should have conquered Monte but choked in games two and three and ended up with a tie on the night.  We'll see what this week brings.

[scores will be updated soon]

If We Ever Go to War with Mexico, Sign Me Up!

It was raining 600-series...(but I still haven't beat Darrell)

Not sure what our team's individual high game for the season is but Bryant matched Michael's 264 of the week before. Call us "butter".... cause we're on a roll.

Week 21                             LM
Monte C.    ---  ---  ---     604    x
Michael B.  ---  ---  ---     493   *x
Rick W.     ---  ---  ---     614    x
Bryant C.   ---  ---  264     671    x
Darrell E.  ---  ---  ---     619    x
----------------------------------------------
            ---  ---  ---    ---- (2-2)
opp.        ---  ---  ---    ----

Week 19

Pretty good night overall... MB rocked some bones in the second game and had the only 600 series on the night!

Week 19                             LM
Monte C.    ---  ---  ---     536   *x
Michael B.  ---  264  ---     613    x
Rick W.     ---  ---  ---     554    x
Bryant C.   ---  ---  ---     587    x
Darrell E.  ---  ---  ---     590    x
----------------------------------------------
            ---  ---  ---    ---- (3-1)
opp.        ---  ---  ---    ----

Week 18

Michael had to beat me by 27 pins... grrrrrr

Being low man sucks. (and Darrell might have as many 600 series as I have low-man weeks!)

Week 18                             LM
Monte C.    ---  ---  ---     555    x
Michael B.  ---  ---  ---     498    x
Rick W.     ---  ---  ---     471   *x
Bryant C.   ---  ---  ---     554    x
Darrell E.  ---  ---  ---     642    x
----------------------------------------------
            ---  ---  ---    ---- (3-1)
opp.        ---  ---  ---    ----

Week 17

Week 17                             LM
Monte C.    ---  ---  ---     526    x
Michael B.  ---  ---  ---     514    x
Rick W.     ---  ---  ---     475   *x
Bryant C.   ---  ---  ---     595    x
Darrell E.  ---  ---  ---     621    x
----------------------------------------------
            ---  ---  925    ---- (3-1)
opp.        ---  --- 1008    ----

The Bar Has Been Raised

Continuing on the heels of last week's game of 257 [Note 1], I posted scores of 205, 191, and 235 [Note 2] en-route to a lifetime personal best series of 631. As I was able to maintain a level of consistency that has been pretty rare for me, I was able to mark in all but three frames the entire night [two of those three were the 2-10 baby split so it was a little disappointing that I did not convert at least one of them; I am pretty sure the third open was a hung 10-pin somewhere along the line].

Note 1: My 257 included an open in the first frame after missing a 10-pin spare. As another rarity, it also held up as the league's high scratch game (and also handicap game as a 284).

Note 2: I cannot say for sure but my 235 is most likely my third or fourth best lifetime score. So at worst, I have bowled two of my four highest lifetime games in the past two weeks :-)

I was able to avoid being low man for the week which was dubiously accomplished by Michael Burnett. It should be noted however that he bowled most of games 2 and 3 with an absolutely brand new ball that broke so monstrously hard in the back end with the dry lane conditions that he was rarely able to hit the right hander's pocket.

So, good news for the week. The Crew took 4 of 4 and maintained its hold on second place just four games behind Muncher's. Last week was a golden opportunity to pull even but at least we did not lose ground either.

Week 16                             LM
Monte C.    189  168  220     577    x
Michael B.  173  144  168     485   *x
Rick W.     205  191  235     631    x
Bryant C.   181  199  194     574    x
Darrell E.  178  259  216     643    x
----------------------------------------------
            926  969 1023    3010 (4-0)
opp.        827  939  934    2700

Feast or Famine?

Well, I was gonna blog about last week but I can't because my team thinks I only blog when I do something good or when they do bad. Even though it is *my* blog and I should be able to do what I want, I am going to prove them wrong... but the title is a good hint... and if you pay attention to our recent scores you might guess too.

[Real Blog Entry is pending...]

Thanksgiving my @$$

So, as usual I am posting about last week's results as I leave to bowl this week. Other than my usual procrastination, this week's post is less than fun since I effectively humiliated myself last week by adding another low-man "honor" to my season. What made it even worse was that I finished the first game as HIGH-MAN! I didn't even see it coming.

Oh well... I gotta get going to erase that dismal performance but I am sure the guys wanted to read something if they bother to check.

I will update scores later but here is what I know off the top of my head...

Week 12                             LM
Monte C.    ---  ---  ---     ---    3
Michael B.  ---  ---  ---     ---    1
Rick W.     ---  ---  ---     ---   *5
Bryant C.   ---  ---  ---     ---    2
Darrell E.  ---  ---  ---     ---    1
----------------------------------------------
            ---  ---  ---    ---- (3-1)
opp.        ---  ---  ---    ----

November... A Month for Thanksgiving

Well, I missed a week of blogging so I hope that this post does not break a good streak but does break a bad one. The Crew has successfully taken 7 of 8 games in the last two weeks as they were apparently up to my challenge; unfortunately, our team captain has taken it in the shins as he has now posted three straight weeks as "low man" (personally, I've finished smack dab in the middle both weeks).

We go against the blind next week so that ought to be as exciting as watching paint dry. However, we have a history of dropping one to ourselves so that is going to come to an END!

p.s. To Bryant... You were low man the very first week, not me. In fact, I was second on the night behind Darrell. And, you were not high man three weeks in a row... but still two out of three, so good job on that.

Week 11                             LM
Monte C.    146  136  188     470   *3
Michael B.  158  191  146     495    1
Rick W.     169  189  173     531    4
Bryant C.   186  232  153     571    2
Darrell E.  192  212  192     596    1
----------------------------------------------
            851  960  852    2663 (3-1)
opp.        822  849  860    2531

Week 10                             LM
Monte C.    184  179  161     524   *2
Michael B.  195  184  175     554    1
Rick W.     190  152  206     548    4
Bryant C.   185  210  173     568    2
Darrell E.  179  206  159     544    1
----------------------------------------------
            933  931  874    2738 (4-0)
opp.        895  802  792    2489

We're Back

(Week 9)
Well, technically it was still October but it felt like a whole new month. The Crew finally got their head.... above water and could breathe a little easier as we took three out of four in a hard fought night.

Ok... to challenge the slackers, er, I mean my team mates: I currently have a commanding lead in the not-so-desirable statistic of "weekly low man". My goal is to not be the season leader in that category despite having the current lowest average. Good luck!

                                    LM
Monte C.    160  163  178     501   *1
Michael B.  221  193  158     572    1
Rick W.     170  154  191     515    4
Bryant C.   180  184  213     586    2
Darrell E.  166  187  226     579    1
----------------------------------------------
            906  881  966    2743 (3-1)
opp.        839  896  880    2635

An October to Forget

(Week 8)

Um... that prediction did not turn out well at ALL. Well, I was right about the sweep. Except it was US who got swept. Weeks like this make us grumpy! (Should we be impressed with how consistent our team score was? probably not)

Monte C.    147  157  179     483
Michael B.  130  150  168     448
Rick W.     169  192  190     551
Bryant C.   136  136  144     416
Darrell E.  235  183  145     563
----------------------------------------------
            817  818  826    2461 (0-4)

Spring forward, FALL back...

I'm really slacking on the blog... probably because of our overall dismal performance (particularly mine).  However, I do predict a win this week... oh, what the heck... how about a sweep?!

Here are last week's results:

Monte C.    136  191  226     553
Michael B.  148  161  166     475
Rick W.     166  156  183     515(*)
Bryant C.   180  209  189     573(z)
Darrell E.  164  191  183     538
----------------------------------------------
            794  908  943    2645 (1-3)
opp.        811  951  894    2658

(*) Only team member without a 600-series
(z) What the hell?! Highest team series? That can't be right

Week 6

Week 6

Monte C.    202  226  226     654
Michael B.  222  188  192     602
Rick W.     150  183  168     501
Bryant C.   185  232  145     562
Darrell E.  ---  ---  ---     ---(*)
----------------------------------------------
            844  914  816    2874 (3-1)
opp.        745  726  834    2605

(*) 185/gm, 555/series

Week 5

Week 5

Monte C.    195  204  150     549
Michael B.  190  189  233     612
Rick W.     153  148  180     481
Bryant C.   152  177  164     493(*)
Darrell E.  191  179  167     537
----------------------------------------------
            957  973  960    2890 (1-3)
opp.        921 1014 1064    2999

(*) I can't believe I couldn't get 13 more pins!

It's Alive!... It's Alive!!!! ~quote from Dr. Frankenstein

After a long hibernation, our Brew Crew fourth-man showed signs of life.  As if saving pins for a winter slumber, spring finally came as Bryant Clark found his smooth-breaking power ball and flirted with a 700 series.  In fact, except for 7-10 split late in the third game, Bryant would have finished without an open frame in all three games!

The Brew Crew took all four games again this week but needed the stellar performance of the Brew Crew youngster to offset the handicap pins given up to our friendly rival "Forest View".  Particularly in the first and second games where the Crew won by a "mere" 43 and 34 pins, respectively.  Actually, on the night, the Crew bowled well and consistently as everyone met their average. However, Forest View would not lay down easily as they were led (at least in spirit) by mad man Darryl Messer. 

So... I think I am the only one without a 600 series this year.  Even though I have only bowled one other in my life.... maybe next week is the week!  Stay tuned... same bat time... same bat blog.

Monte C.    196  146  191     533
Michael B.  174  166  216     556
Rick W.     140  191  188     519
Bryant C.   248  204  233     685*
Darrell E.  217  187  161     565
---------------------------------
            975  894  989    2858

* Personal Season-First 600-series

Battle Royale : The Aftermath

The Brew Crew took all four games this week against team "5 Star"...

And finally, Bryant was inspired to not be the low man on the totem pole this week.  After a slow start where he was six pins behind me, Bryant bet $1 he could finish with a higher series.  Smelling easy money I took the bet.  After a strong strike-pair combination in the first two frames, the engine fell out along with the brakes, tires, and about every other part of the car as I finished with an abysmal, hopefully team season low game of 113.  (oh... wait... Bryant had a 93 earlier this year... whew... I will not be the lowest game!)

Monte C.    177  203  145     525
Michael B.  180  190  179     549
Rick W.     205  180  113     498
Bryant C.   169  210  178     557
Darrell E.  210  200  192     602*

* Personal Season-First 600-series

Battle Royale : Round 1

I may have a future in sports predictions.... though the Brew Crew did not sweep our series this week, we did take 3 of 4 to pull ourselves out of the gutter to almost .500 while the season is still young.

Game 1 was definitely the highlight this week as 4 of our 5 bowlers broke 180 to win by 195 total pins. Darrell Erhart led the way with another 200 game (213) as it looked like he was on his way to the seasons first 600 series.

Game2 was more closely fought. Eerily similar to last season's championship winning game, it came down to the final man on each team but Brew Crew finished 2 pins up. Michael Burnett picked up the slack this game posting a roaring 222 on his quest for the team's first 600 series.

Game 3 was a pot-pouri of good luck, back luck that finished with the Brew Crew down 10 pins for our only loss of the night. Lyle Morris of the Bad Men threw a knockout blow as he came out of the gate with 5-straight strikes and finished with a 2xx. However, the silver lining for the Brew Crew was Michael Burnett winning the first 600 "pin" of the season as his third game finished with a 193 for a 605 series.

We'll be there next week to continue our quest for a repeat. Don't turn that dial!

p.s. Even though Bryant bowled his average all three games (and I did not), my other prediction also came true. He might have a chance this week, but... I wouldn't bet on it ;-)

Monte C.    183  159  168     510
Michael B.  190  222  193     605*
Rick W.     183  134  195     511
Bryant C.   149  163  148     460
Darrell E.  213  191  148     552

* Team's First 600-series