Surrounded by a steady stream of country music and an entire horde of cowboys and cowgirls, the bowlers of GutterAlley battled through the week before the Finals while a pony stood by the front door. Yes, an actual pony. You can't make this stuff up, folks...but it actually happened. Even though the drama surrounding who would win the title ended last week, teams continued to jockey for a better spot in the standings as every win means more money in the prize fund envelopes at the end of the season.... (more...)

May is here and with it comes the big conclusion to the Spring 2011 session of the VML Bowling League. With the Finals just two weeks away on May 17th, teams need wins now more than ever if they are going to move up in the league standings. The distance between several teams is very tight and wins over the next two weeks could make all the difference. Is there enough time for teams to move up? Definitely. It's now up to the members of each team to follow through.Please, please, please, if you... (more...)

Week 13 is now in the books and oh what a week it was. The league standings may not have changed very much but the stage is being set for an exciting finish to Season 23. Three teams seem to have broken themselves off from the rest of the league with the Finals just as many weeks away. Only seven games separate the triumvirate at the moment and a showdown between the top two teams is slated for next week. In the meantime, GutterAlley witnessed yet another impressive series of high games from... (more...)

There are only a few more weeks of voting left before we close up shop on the inaugural class of enshrinees for our recently formed Hall of Fame. So if you have a moment, please visit the Hall and cast your vote(s) today. All season long, the trash talk has flown back and forth between reigning champs S*I*C*K and long-time rivals Istanbowl Turkey. In their first meeting, S*I*C*K came away with a sweep. When they met again in the position round, it was Istanbowl's turn to win it, 3-1. Tuesday... (more...)

At the mid-point of April – with the Finals five weeks off – the VML Bowling League witnessed quite a shakeup in the league standings. While the team at the top of the standings continues to hold onto that coveted spot, there was quite a shakeup amongst the rest of the league. All it took was a nod from a doctor clearing a long-time bowling powerhouse to return to the lanes after arm surgery to bring about one of the largest single-week climbs of any team this season. We're still accepting... (more...)

Another week, another round of wins and losses to make the league's standings interesting. While S*I*C*K continues to top the league, their lead has once again been cut into and is within striking range of two other teams. With the Finals six weeks out, can another team finally knock them from their first place perch? It seems highly likely with as many ups and downs as each team is facing each week...including a long-time bowling legend earning his first Most Valuable Bowler performance in a... (more...)

With the position round in the league's rear view mirror, the schedule now calls for every team to begin down the seven week trek of facing one another once again...with the Finals looming in the distance. After last week's tumultuous position round – in which the majority of the league changed places in the standings – big wins and losses were handed out in key matchups...but only two teams ended up swapping spots. Another key highlight was that, for the first time in the league's... (more...)

Hey, gang! Sad news to report...Freda broke her shoulder.As several of you know, long-time league fixture Freda Schroeder bowls on another league on Thursday in our same bowling alley. Unfortunately, while getting ready to bowl, she took a fall as she was coming down off the steps into the bowling area and tripped on a lip in the tile. As she fell she attempted to catch herself with her left arm and, in the process, ended up breaking her left shoulder. She's currently resting at home. We at... (more...)

Ahh, the position round. One of the two true wild cards of each season. Teams can make meteoric rises or suffer huge drops in the standings. The results of this season's position round truly reshuffled the standings as every single team – with the exception of the 1st and 8th place teams – changed spots in the league standings. Now THAT'S what we're talking about. Along with the reporting of the position round, we'd also like to take the opportunity to introduce GutterAlley's Hall... (more...)

After having kicked the idea around for several months, Scoot and I finally knuckled down and programmed the newest feature to the league – the Hall of Fame. With the league into its 23rd season now, we thought back through the hundreds of people that have bowled over the years and remembered a great number of bowlers who have contributed to the league by donating their time to originally get it started (Angela Bradford!), bringing in a ton of new recruits (Jason Carpio!), keeping weekly stats... (more...)

So, as we do each season around this time, Scoot and I got to thinking about how the standings could move around depending on the numerous outcomes from next Tuesday. Finally we decided to just do the math ourselves (always a recipe for disaster) over lunch and came up with what is listed below.The highest each team could move next week after the position round, provided "perfect conditions" take place (and by "perfect conditions" we mean that your team sweeps and the teams above end their matchups... (more...)

Week #7 has come to a close and with it comes the lineup of which teams will compete against one another in the season's position round at the midway point. This week alone, four teams swapped placed in the league standings. The surprise of the night came with an unlikely sweep from a team that mounted a huge comeback starting this time last season as well. Could history be repeating itself?For those of you that do not know how the position round works, here's the inside skinny: once each team... (more...)

As the league nears its midway point, the position round awaits. Certain teams that figured they would be near the top of the standings aren't exactly where they figured while other teams are somewhat surprised that the rest of the league doubted them. Week #6 provided a lot of one-sided victories in which the victorious teams came away with 3-1 or 4-0 matchup victories. Overall, the positions within the standings didn't change very much but the margins in-between win percentages shifted somewhat.... (more...)

In our eternal quest to keep improving the bowling site – and the league overall – we're debuting two new additions today.Firstly, we've started a Twitter feed for the bowling league. Feel free to follow us. Our latest tweets will appear on the site in the right-hand column just above the fake ads.The biggest addition to our league experience will be the debut of our new and improved white sheets. You know, those sheets that are printed out each week by the bowling alley that almost... (more...)

My, my, my...what a difference a single week can make in the VML Bowling League. After amassing a 15-1 record to start their season, the team that was trying to run away with the 2011 Spring season has been given a reality check after running head first into the 2nd place team, ending the night with first through fourth place now separated by only 2.5 games. With the position round only a couple weeks away, things could get really interesting. Let's see how everyone did, shall we?Having just moved... (more...)

Four weeks of the Spring 2011 VML Bowling league are in the books now and the standings offer up some surprises. One of last season's powerhouse teams is off to a slow start while a low team from two seasons ago has completely reversed its fortunes and has racked up big wins. The team atop the standings increases its record thanks to big output from its youngest bowler. All in all, the first month has been a roller coaster and who knows where it'll take us next.For fun, we've decided to implement... (more...)

Typically after three weeks of bowling, averages stop going through wild swings as scores settle down. We also usually get a good glimpse at which teams mean business by their initial win records. Currently, four teams can claim winning records. While the teams in first and second place are made up of former and reigning champions, the two teams in third and fourth are off to a great start in the 2011 Spring league. This season should prove to be an interesting one if this continues.The first... (more...)

Each and every season of the VML Bowling league, Week #2 seems to be the wildest. Averages set in the initial week are put to the test as each and every bowler must do his or her best to stay on pace from their initial output. While a few historically remain basically the same, the vast majority radically raises or lowers their average. This season was no exception. And while the same two teams from last week remain tied atop the league standings, this is shaping up to be an interesting season.The... (more...)

At 6:30pm on Tuesday night, eight teams all began their quest towards the Spring 2011 title in the VML Bowling League. Along side a good number of returning veterans, four new faces made their debuts – we gladly welcome Kelly Anderson, Russell Madsen, Jeremy Stockbridge and substitute Matt Miquelon into the fold. Ready to find out how everyone did? Well, let's go...Fresh off their championship run last season, three of last season's 1st place team returned as S*I*C*K (named after the first... (more...)

The 23rd season of VML Bowling will kick off tomorrow (Tuesday, January 25th) at the NKC Pro-Bowl in North Kansas City, Missouri. The lanes will come on for practice at 6:20pm with league play beginning ten minutes later.For those of you new to the league, welcome! We're glad to see that you've been suckered into, er...that you've joined our league. We have just a few little rules for you to know about how it all works: (more...)  Read More →