Week #10 is now in the history books and with it came a severe tightening of the league standings. With first place having been owned – with the exception of a quick flip-flop in Week #3 – by one team, the kegler collective has been slowly chipping away at the league leaders week after week. Now, with six weeks remaining, the gap has been narrowed to a single game. In a rematch of the 7th and 8th place position round battle, Sexual Chocolate and Ballz Out faced off once again. This time around, the Chocolates kept the Ballz in. With Jake Parrott and his 442 series, Sexual Chocolate narrowly missed completing a clean sweep over their opponents and ending up with a 3-1 matchup victory. Sub Bryan Mohr's 427 series was the highest output for Ballz Out, who came away with a 6-pin win in Game #2 to secure their lone win of the night. Sexual Chocolate hops one spot up into 7th while Ballz Out returns to 8th place.Oh, how the mighty have fallen...and continue to fall. At the midway mark, FTOP had secured a six game lead over the rest of the league and was looking to cruise in the second half to a title. Since then, however, they have been getting their asses handed to them and the lead has quickly evaporated. This week, the Mayan Apocalypse descended down upon them and came away with a 3-1 win. With lead off bowler Scott Murdock (yes, you read that correctly) leading the way with his 531 series, the Mayans also nearly came away with a sweep if not for a close finish in Game #2 that ended in a 6-pin victory for FTOP. The F's were led by David Codding and his 634 series. Despite the losses, FTOP remains in 1st while the Mayan Apocalypse climbs one spot into 3rd place.After bragging about a new bowling ball addition to the Pocket Pounders repertoire, it was Steve Kiernan's old ball – and his 605 series – that led the way to a 3-1 defeat of the reigning league champions. The Turkey Hunters, despite a Game #2 blowout over their opponents, were unable to carry that momentum into Game #3 and dropped one spot down into 4th place. Dennis "Pops" Laube put up the highest series for the Turkeys, ending his night with a 516 series in the losing effort. The Pocket Pounders remain in 2nd place and now sit a single game out of first.It's been a while someone has earned both the Most Valuable Bowler and the #1 Power Ranked bowler nods and walked off the lanes having lost the matchup but it happened to Bobby Belt and The Facebook Friends' Seth Gunderson. After having dropped Games #1 and #2 to opponents Split It and Hit It – led once again by anchor Dennis Blake and his 515 series – Gunderson's 592 series kept The Belt from being blanked down on Lanes 47 & 48. Neither team moved in the league standings, with The Belt remaining in 5th and Split It and Hit It in 6th place.Bowlers watching Dennis "Pops" Laube demanding to be let into The 200 Club for being close enough with his 199 include: David Codding (202, 234), John Boren (216), Neil Rieger (209, 203), Ryan Doll (222), Scott Murdock (200), Seth Gunderson (236), and Steve Kiernan (204, 203).The Tournament of Champions kept the status quo this week with each division continuing to be lead by last week's leaders. Division #1 is all Carl Goetz's (19) with John Boren (13) behind him. Aubrey Moren (19) leads Division #2 with Phil Schroeder (10) still in second. Division #3 is all Andy McLeod's (20) but Dennis Blake (13) moves into the spot behind him while Division #4's Teresa Deterding (23) continues to keep ahead of Cliff Barendsen (20). What do you mean you haven't voted for this season's Hall of Fame nominees?!? Come on...what are you, lazy?!? Every day that you do not vote for a nominee, God kills a kitten. I'm just sayin'.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Seth Gunderson Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Seth Gunderson Runner Up: Anita Osthoff	#1 H2H BOWLER Steve Kiernan Runner Up: Seth Gunderson
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "I can't tell a person's ethnicity at a distance." Scott Murdock, upon spying a blatantly obvious African American woman several lanes down that he mistook for Sabrina Gray.

Despite the individual heroics of any bowler in our league, it always comes down to how the team performs together as a unit in order to get things done. Teams win championships. Teams break records. Teams can also crap the bed.Born out of a conversation between Ken and Scoot (naturally), the following six Top 25 lists were born today. They look into the best – and definitely the worst – team performances throughout the history of our league.The Best:Top 25 Best First Half Win Records - the best starts.Top 25 Best Second Half Win Records - bringing it after the position round.Top 25 Best Team Record Comebacks - the teams that rose the most in the standings after the position round.The Worst:Top 25 Worst First Half Team Records - these guys just couldn't get going.Top 25 Worst Second Half Team Records - these guys just couldn't finish.Top 25 Worst Team Record Meltdowns - these teams just died after the position round. These top 25s – and a whole slew of others – can be found in our Top 25 section. Behold, the power of data.

With the position round in the rearview mirror and the league officially half over, everyone faced their Week #1 opponents Tuesday night as the schedule began anew. With only exception, each lower ranked team handed out an ass whoopin' to their higher ranked opponents as the league standings shuffled once again. Only ten games separate the eight teams – meaning anyone could still take the title this season over the remaining seven weeks. After being swept off the lanes last week, the Turkey Hunters regrouped in an effort to get back to their winning ways. Despite a 10th frame meltdown in which opponents Bobby Belt and The Facebook Friends came away with an 18-pin victory in Game #1, the Turkeys reversed their own fortunes – compliments of this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler Aubrey Moren and his career-high 667 series – to win the showdown 3-1. The Belt's anchor Bill Krejci put up the second highest series of the night (606) but only managed the Game #1 win. With the victories, the Turkey Hunters climb two spots into 3rd while The Belt slips a notch down into 5th place.Word on the street was that Split It and Hit It's anchor Dennis Blake had the game figured out. Shooting his third career 200+ game to start off the night to easily take Game #1, Blake seemed to be the man to watch as he shot his 520 series. Yet, the Pocket Pounders had other plans. Down two bowlers, Ryan Doll and Rob Kaszuba combined to take the remaining games in a 3-1 matchup victory. Anchor Doll led the team with his 534 series. The wins were a welcome change for the Pounders, who remain in 2nd but have cut the gap from first by half. Split It and Hit It, still trying to regain their first half magic, remain in 6th place by total pins.While most of us know that the world will end in December according to the Mayan calendar, very few would have predicted that the 8th place team Sexual Chocolate would outright clobber the recently surging Mayan Apocalypse. With this weeks' Most Valuable Bowler Teresa Deterding leading the way with her 488 series, the Chocolates crushed their opponents in a clean 4-0 sweep. Carl Goetz led the Mayans with his 579 series but finds his team slipping one spot into 4th place. Despite the four victories, Sexual Chocolate remains put in 8th place.When your team is six games up over the entire league fresh out off the position round, generally you look to extend that lead. This simply wasn't in the cards for current league leaders FTOP. To celebrate absent bowler Dave Winger's birthday, Ballz Out decided to blow out FTOP like candles on a birthday cake. With en fuego roller Cliff Barendsen leading the way with his second consecutive impressive over-average series (shooting a 500 this week), Ballz Out took each game in the 10th frame and never let FTOP snatch a single come-from-behind victory. Lead off bowler John Boren led FTOP with a 596 series but received no help from the rest of his teammates. Despite the wins and losses, neither team moved spots in the standings with FTOP remaining at the top of the heap in 1st and Ballz Out staying put in 7th place.Bowlers ending better than the St. Louis Cardinals and hanging out at The 200 Club this week include: Angela Bradford (209), Aubrey Moren (223, 254), Bill Krejci (202, 213), Carl Goetz (202), Dennis Blake (203), John Boren (216, 201), and Pat Searcy (224).And speaking of Pat Searcy, he and five other bowlers – namely David Codding, Demond Robinson, Janelle (Laube) Lamar, Jason Carpio, and Seth Gunderson – would very much appreciate it if you would vote for them as they each try to make their way into the GutterAlley Hall of Fame. Voting is now open and will remain so until the end of Week #15, just before the Finals. What are you waiting for?!? Get in there and vote!The Tournament of Champions continues on without very little change in the current top seeds in any division. Carl Goetz (19) is still the top dog in Division #1, with John Boren (12) holding onto the second spot. Division #2 is still represented with the 1-2 punch of Aubrey Moren (19) and Phil Schroeder (10), respectively. Andy McLeod (20) remains atop Division #3 while AJ Hofmann (10) makes his move to tie Dennis Blake (10) in the second spot. Division #4's eternal leader Teresa Deterding (22) may soon find herself in second place as Cliff Barendsen (20) moves right on her tail.Remember, voting for this season's Hall of Fame inductees is now open. Please be sure to vote! It only takes a minute.And, lastly, if you are still feeling the sting from last night's battle, perhaps this shot of Jonathan Vigliaturo will cheer you up slightly:
See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Teresa Deterding Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Aubrey Moren Runner Up: Teresa Deterding	#1 H2H BOWLER Bill Krejci Runner Up: Aubrey Moren
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "So let me get this straight, to get nominated for the Hall of Fame you have to get swept by the 2nd to last place team?" Cliff Barendsen, after absolutely destroying David Codding and team.

Kicking off in the Spring 2011 season, our bowling community collectively cast its votes for the inaugural class of enshrinees to the GutterAlley Hall of Fame. These initial four bowlers were tasked with carrying on the Hall's enshrinement duties, promising that one new bowler would make his or her way to join them at the end of every season going forward. We are happy to say that the tradition is about to continue for a fourth time to welcome in the seventh inductee. The GutterAlley Hall of Fame Screening Committee is proud to announce the names of the six candidates up for enshrinement this season – David Codding, Demond Robinson, Janelle (Laube) Lamar, Jason Carpio, Pat Searcy, and Seth Gunderson.Each of these six bowlers, in his or her own way, has made an impact on the league over the years. It will now be up to you to cast your votes to send one person to join AB, Scoot, Freda, Ken, Carl, and – most recently – Bob in the Hall.Every member of the bowling community that has an active account on GutterAlley.com will be assessed a number of votes based upon his or her tenure within the league. Bowlers who have not yet completed a full season are ineligible to vote for the Hall of Fame candidates. Bowlers who have completed 1-2 full seasons are allowed one vote. Bowlers who have completed 3-4 season are allowed two votes. Bowlers who have completed 5+ seasons are allowed three votes. Hall of Famers are allowed four. Voters are not required to cast all of their available votes.Voting starts today and shall remain open until the week before the Finals (Week 15 - December 4th, 2012).For your convenience, we have prepared a page about each nominee so that you can get to know them better and see their influence on our league both on and off the lanes: Read the rest of this entry »

The Fall 2012 season is, without a doubt, the highest scoring session in GutterAlley history: we've seen our first perfect game, a 299, two 700+ series, two 690+ series, and the average average this season is the highest over the course of our twenty-six seasons (157.9). The position round was the best opportunity for teams to flex their muscles and try to edge in on the leads of their closest competitors. In the end, three teams came away with sweeps over their opponents just ahead of them in the league standings. The stage is set now for what will more than likely be an interesting second half. The battle between the top two teams in the standings started off with the Pocket Pounders taking Game #1 over the league leading FTOP, compliments of Steve Kiernan's 235 game. Kiernan would go on to lead the Pounders with a 635 series. Fortunately for FTOP, John Boren was able to put on his cape despite the absence of two of his teammates (some would argue his third teammate was absent as well) to get his team back on track with a Game #2 victory. The final game came down to the wire with FTOP pulling out an 18-pin charity win in Game #3 and a 3-pin total pins victory to extend their record to 24-8 – a full six games ahead of the rest of the league, thanks to Boren's team leading 573 series. The Pocket Pounders, with their one win, manage to hold onto 2nd place for another week.Lanes 43 & 44 hosted the matchup between the Turkey Hunters and Mayan Apocalypse. Fresh off his 299 game last week, the Mayans' Carl Goetz continued his quest for a perfect game by shooting a 279 to start off his night (he threw 11 strikes in the game, with a 9 and a spare in the 3rd frame – so, once again, just one pin away from a perfect game). Goetz would go on to shoot the 4th highest series in league history with his 728 en route to an absolute blow out of the Turkey Hunters. To add to the beat down, lead off bowler Scott "Scooter J" Murdock hoisted his first 600+ series (a 617!) to earn Most Valuable Bowler honors this week. The Turkey's Aubrey Moren led his team with a 594 series in the losing effort, dropping two spots into 5th place. Mayan Apocalypse continue to prophesy doom while climbing one spot into 3rd place.Continuing the domineering performances was Bobby Belt and The Facebook Friends taking all four games from rivals Split It and Hit It. Despite the team pre-bowling, The Belt's scores held up as the night progressed. Led by lead off bowler Jonathan Vigliaturo and his 551 series – the highest across both teams – Bobby Belt easily took Games #1 and #2 before Split It decided to Hit it. With a chance to steal Game #3, the guys fell shy in the 10th frame – despite anchor Dennis Blake's 494 series – and ended the night without a single victory. With their first sweep all season, Bobby Belt and The Facebook Friends ascend the standings two spots into 4th place. The Splits split from 5th to take over 6th place.Second only to the Finals, the position round is the best time to roll your all time high game and series. No one took this to heart moreso than the Ballz Out's very own Cliff Barendsen. Having spent the entire first half of the league in 8th place, Cliff's breakout performance came at just the right time as his 601 series – including a 241 and 207 – to lead his team to a clean sweep over opponents Sexual Chocolate and moving into 7th place. It goes without saying that Cliff was this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler. What makes it even more impressive is that his performance is the second best in league history. Congratulations, Cliff! Sexual Chocolate's Teresa Deterding led her team with a 475 series but it simply wasn't enough to even come close to derailing the Ballz march up the standings. Sexual Chocolate falls one spot into 8th place.Bowlers crowding The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (224), Carl Goetz (279, 256), Cliff Barendsen (241, 207), John Boren (213), Jonathan Vigliaturo (207), Pat Searcy (203, 213), Phil Schroeder (203), Ryan Doll (201), Scott Murdock (203, 200, 214), and Steve Kiernan (235, 210).The Tournament of Champions continues to heat up as the season progresses. Carl Goetz (19) continues to lead Division #1 with John Boren (12) chasing him. Aubrey Moren (13) and Phil Schroeder (10) lead Division #2, respectively. Division #3 is all but owned by Andy McLeod (19) with Dennis Blake and Anita Osthoff (7 each) battling it out for second place. Teresa Deterding (19) still controls the top spot in Division #4 but Cliff Barendsen (14) is gaining ground. Nominations for this season's Hall of Fame enshrinee are now closed. Voting will officially open next week. See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Scott Murdock Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Cliff Barendsen Runner Up: Carl Goetz	#1 H2H BOWLER Scott Murdock Runner Up: Cliff Barendsen
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Dammit, quit talking about me rubbing my balls!" Steve Kiernan, responding to John Boren's trash talk.

Before this season even began, it was blatantly apparent that some really heavy hitters were going to be participating in this session. Names that dominate the league records and the Top 25 lists were slated to lace up their shoes to and face one another over the course of 17 weeks. What have we seen so far? A perfect game. A near perfect game. A 700+ series. The best part? This season isn't even half way over. There's no telling what else is in store.The first matchup of the night pitted the Pocket Pounders against opponents Sexual Chocolate. Both teams put up a great fight with almost every game coming down to the 10th frame in a showdown, with the Pocket Pounders come away with the win each time. Putting up the biggest numbers for the Pounders this week was Neil Rieger, who ended his night with a 586 series to lead the team to a clean sweep and improving to a 17-11 record and rising into 2nd place. Despite Sexual Chocolate's high rolling Jason Carpio and his 627 series, the team simply couldn't put together a winning combination and remain in 7th place. Down on Lanes 43 & 44, FTOP's John Boren wanted to make sure that the rest of the league knew that his was the team to be most feared when going up against them. Setting a season high with a 715 series – behind games of 239, 255, and 221 – and earning #1 Power Ranked bowler honors, Boren took his team along for a 3-1 matchup victory over opponents Bobby Belt and The Facebook Friends. The team remains in 1st place despite anchor Ken M. Wilson increasing his chances of overtaking his own below average slump league record and costing them the sweep. The Belt's Seth Gunderson put up the most fire power for his team, ending his evening with a 552 series but slips one spot down into 6th place.Teams tend to pick on Ballz Out each week. Split It and Hit It was no exception. After dropping Game #1 by a mere three pins to the Ballz, compliments of Cliff Barendsen's team-leading 429 series (and snappy hat!), Split It decided to hit it and hit it hard. Reversing their team's fortunes, the men stormed back for a 4-pin victory in Game #2 and then a blowout victory in Game #3 to take the night 3-1. Anchor Dennis Blake handily led the comeback with a 548 series including his first 200+ game, a 210. With the wins, Split It climbs one spot up into 5th while Ballz Out remains in 8th place. In their first matchup of the season, the Turkey Hunters sized up opponents Mayan Apocalypse and let 'er rip. With anchor Aubrey Moren returning to form from his past two seasons to lead the reigning champs with a demonic 666 series and Most Valuable Bowler honors to boot, the night seemed to belong entirely to the Turkey Hunters. That's when the Mayans' Carl Goetz decided to make another brush with league history. Rolling eleven consecutive strikes, Goetz stood on the cusp of joining David Codding in the rarest of feats by bowling a perfect game but fell a single pin shy to come away with the league's second 299 game. Naturally, Goetz led his team with a 698 series and brought the matchup to a 2-2 split. While the wins keep the Mayans in 4th, it did cause the Turkey Hunters to slip one spot into 3rd place and setting up a rematch in the position round next week.Here's the video of Carl's 10th frame...For those of you new to the league, the position round is the half way mark of the season in which the schedule is set to pit teams adjacent to one another in the league standings against their placement opponent. First place bowls second place, third takes on fourth, and so on. This season's matchups will be as follows:#1 FTOP (21-7) vs. #2 Pocket Pounders (17-11)#3 Turkey Hunters (16-12) vs. #4 Mayan Apocalypse (14-14)#5 Split It and Hit It (14-14) vs. #6 Bobby Belt and the Facebook Friends (13-15)#7 Sexual Chocolate (10-18) vs. #8 Ballz Out (7-21)Bowlers lamenting the lack of Octoberfest beer in The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (237, 240), Carl Goetz (202, 299), David Codding (269, 203), Dennis Blake (210), Jason Carpio (235, 200), John Boren (239, 255, 221), Neil Rieger (206), Ryan Doll (216), and Seth Gunderson (202). The Tournament of Champions continues with Carl Goetz (13 points) leading Division #1 with John Boren (9) in second. Division #2 find Aubrey Moren (13) in the lead with both Jason Carpio and Phil Schroeder (7) sharing second place. Despite a round two loss, Andy McLeod (16) continues to dominate Division #3 while Anita Osthoff (7) gains some ground. Even missing a week, Division #4's Teresa Deterding (18) continues to dominate Division #4 while Cliff Barendsen (8) steps up into second place.Get ready for the always volatile position round when anything can – and typically does – happen. To put things into perspective, here's what can come about next week: Read the rest of this entry »

With over 35,000 individual games rolled in our league's 13-year history, no one has ever walked away with a perfect game. That all changed Tuesday night as David Codding became the first person to string 12 consecutive strikes to walk off the lanes with a perfect 300. Here's video of the 12th strike that made league history:While Week #6 will forever be remembered as the week Codding shot a perfect game, other things did go down: several games were settled by just single digits, half the league changed places in the league standings, and the gaps in-between teams tightened up as the position round quickly approaches. After getting back on track last week with their first sweep of the season, the rollers on Mayan Apocalypse looked poised to double their number of sweeps while facing opponents Ballz Out. After taking Game #1 by a mere four pins and Game #2 by a huge margin, Game #3 seemed to be in the bag for the Mayans until all four Ballz Out bowlers rolled over average forcing a 10th frame showdown. End result? A single pin victory for the Ballz and a 3-1 matchup victory for Mayan Apocalypse. Cliff Barendsen had the highest output for Ballz Out, ending with a personal best 412 series while Pat Searcy's 600 led the way for the Mayans. Despite the wins, neither team moved from their respective positions – Mayan Apocalypse holds onto 4th while Ballz Out remains in 8th place.Typically when the predictions powered by ScooterMath™ call for the 2nd place team to drop three games to 7th place team, people scoff. But when Split It and Hit It turns it into a reality over reigning champs Turkey Hunters, you have to wonder why Scoot doesn't play the lottery. Game #1 went to Split it, 663-617. The predictions? Game #1 to Split It, 641-617. Game #2 went to the Turkey Hunters 689-632. The predictions? Turkey Hunters, 689-638. Game #3 and total pins went to Split It and Hit It, compliments of anchor Dennis Blake's 494 series and a #1 Power Ranked bowler performance from teammate Michael Smith. Game #3 was won 735-721, total pins by three. Predicted outcome? 670-642 and total pins by one. Amazing. Aubrey Moren led the Turkeys with a 553 series in the losing effort but remain in 2nd place. Split It and Hit It hop one spot up into 6th place.Sexual Chocolate had plans to take some games from the current 1st place FTOP and emphatically did just so in Game #1. With Jason Carpio leading the way with his 596 series – include a 246 to start his night off – the Chocolates easily took the first game of the matchup. FTOP, led by the man of the night David Codding and his 693 series, took Game #2 by four pins to even it at one game apiece. Game #3 ended up being the game that David Codding has chased his entire life, rolling a perfect 300 and winning the game but not by a margin large enough to overcome the total pins beat down from Game #1. The teams split the series at two games apiece. FTOP remains in first place, ahead now by a margin of four games, while Sexual Chocolate slip a spot into 7th place.Down on Lanes 47 & 48, the Pocket Pounders bounced back from their woes from last week to lay down the only sweep of the night against opponents Bobby Belt and The Facebook Friends. With all four men raising their averages – led by Ryan Doll's 633 series and a Most Valuable Bowler performance from Neil Reiger – the Pounders took control early and never let any games even get close to being settled in the 10th frame. The Belt, led this week by Bill Krejci and his 527 series, just couldn't get into a rhythm and drop two spots in the league standings down into 5th place. The Pocket Pounders swap places with them and now sit in 3rd place. Bowlers telling Codding that he needs to go find The 300 Club down the street this week in The 200 Club include: Aubrey Moren (210), Carl Goetz (206), Dennis "Pops" Laube (202), Jason Carpio (246, 201), John Boren (212), Neil Rieger (206, 215), Pat Searcy (210), Ryan Doll (226, 204, 203), Seth Gunderson (204), and Steve Kiernan (213).Participants in the Tournament of Champions continue to add points to their totals. Carl Goetz continues to lead Division #1 with 7 points while John Boren and Pat Searcy chase him with 6 points. Division #2 still has Aubrey Moren out in front with 9 points but Phil Schroeder, Cory Chorpenning, and Seth Gunderson all sit three points behind him. Andy McLeod continues to crush the competition in Division #3 with his 15 points while Matt Bunyard sits in second at 6 points. Division #4 is pretty much owned by Teresa Deterding, who has won every week so far and maintains her first place perch with 18 points – Michael Smith is second with 5 points.Congratulations again to David Codding for being absolutely perfect in Game #3...a fitting game for a 300.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Michael Smith Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Neil Rieger Runner Up: David Codding	#1 H2H BOWLER Ryan Doll Runner Up: Steve Kiernan
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Wait a minute. Seriously?!? Now, if I shot a 300 and didn't get a 700 series I'd be absolutely ashamed. I'm serious." Pat Searcy, upon discovering Codding ended the night with a 693 series despite his 300 game.