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 history, a substitute earned Most Valuable Bowler honors this week. Pretty sweet, eh?Also, if you haven't yet, check out GutterAlley's new Hall of Fame and be sure to vote. Thank you!The last time these two teams met in Week #1, Istanbowl Turkey came away with the victory over Tonganoxie Doglift. Such was definitely NOT the case in their rematch. With Doglift's Shane Pfaffly leading the way with a 418 series, the underdogs came away with a 3-1 win over one of the league's powerhouse teams. Had his team been able to come up with one more strike or spare in that game and we'd be updating this write-up with them having logged a sweep. Istanbowl's Bob Brunker put up the top numbers for his team, ending his night with a 426 series. Both Istanbowl and Tonganoxie remain in their current spots in the standings, 3rd and 7th respectively.After adding four wins to their record last week, an energized SucmaBOWLS opted to continue their trend of increasing the notches in the W column. The victim this time? Second place Eat Split and DI! With dandy Dave Winger putting up a 402 series, Sucma ordered Eat Split and DI down on their knees in the 3-1 upset. Eat's AJ Hofmann had the highest series for his team – a 413 – but it was only good enough to log his team one win. Like the majority of the league, both teams remain in their current standings positions with Eat in 2nd and Sucma in 6th place.In the epic "Battle of the Cripples" – in which both of these team's captains are out with an injured arm – Dolls and Balls managed to make the right move in bringing in substitute Adam Messner. Making league history, Messner became the first substitute to earn Most Valuable Bowler honors as his 566 series was the deciding factor in the Doll's 4-0 matchup win against No Pinheads. Adding insult to injury (yes, yes, pun intended), Messner's well-above average scores earned him the nod as this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler as well. Dennis "Pops" Laube was the top roller for the Pinheads in the losing effort with his 478 series. Dolls and Balls trades spots in the standings with No PInheads, moving up into 4th while the Pinheads drop to 5th place.The final matchup of the night pitted league leaders S*I*C*K against everyone's favorite underdog, Touch My Vlad. Unfortunately for them, Vlad was unable to mimic the other underdogs' winning ways and fell to the reigning champs. S*I*C*K's Carl Goetz continues to have the season of his career, booking a 649 series and *almost* moving his average back into the 200s. Vlad's Chris Able provided the most firepower for his team, ending his night with a 378 series. S*I*C*K improves to a four game lead over the rest of the league while Touch My Vlad remains in 8th place.After slim pickin's last week, The 200 Club opened its doors to let in more patrons this week. They include: Carl Goetz (247,229), Ken M. Wilson (207,216) and Seth Gunderson (201).The league had a surprise visit from a long-time friend when former champion Dick Labonte stopped by for a little bit. Nice to see you, Dick! Stop by any time.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Adam Messner Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Adam Messner Runner Up: Carl Goetz	#1 H2H BOWLER Adam Messner Runner Up: Ken M. Wilson
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "So naturally S*I*C*K, Eat Split and DI, Istanbowl Turkey and No Pinheads kicked everyone's butts tonight, right?" Bill Self, before seeing the results of this week's bowling in which just about every lower ranked team beat up on the higher ranked teams.

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 GutterAlley wish her a speedy recovery.

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 of Fame. If you haven't taken a moment to check it out, please do so and be sure to vote. In the big battle between the 1st and 2nd place team, a funny thing happened. Second place Istanbowl Turkey managed to beat down current league leaders S*I*C*K 3-1...but fell to third place in the process. I guess that's what happen when you "Be Ass." Led by Angela Bradford's 529 series, Istanbowl weathered a Game #1 loss before turning the tables and taking the next two games along with total pins. S*I*C*K's anchor Carl Goetz led his team with a 556 but it simply wasn't enough to warrant more than the single win. S*I*C*K remains in first place by a single game while Istanbowl falls to third place.Once again resuming their spot in 2nd place is Eat Split and DI. Facing off against the short-handed and, let's face it, crippled Dolls and Balls, Eat Split logged four easy wins behind Eat's AJ Hofmann and his 426 series. Doll's Rob Kaszuba shot a 486 series but couldn't bring enough firepower to turn the tide. Eat Split and DI moves up into 2nd place while Dolls and Balls slips down to 5th place due to total pins.Continuing their quest to return to glory, No Pinheads added four more wins to their win record after making a meal out of Tonganoxie Doglift. With Dennis 'Pops' Laube leading the charge with his 518 series – good enough to make him this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler – No Pinheads moved up into the top half of the league standings to land in 4th place. Russell Madsen put up the top series for Tonganoxie with his 452 but the team slips down into 7th place.The final matchup of the evening went entirely SucmaBOWLS' way as they avenged their 4-game loss from last at the hands of Touch My Vlad by returning the favor. With a one-two punch delivered by team captain Orion Kinkaid's 493 series and this week's Most Valuable Bowler performance by Sam Nau, Sucma swept Touch My Vlad and hopped up into 6th place. Touch My Vlad, led this week by Jeremy Stockbridge and his 363 series, remains in 8th place.For the first time in a long, long time only one bowler made his way into The 200 Club this week: Ian Goetz (203).See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Sam Nau Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Dennis Laube Runner Up: Bob Brunker	#1 H2H BOWLER Bob Brunker Runner Up: Dennis Laube
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "One leg up, a hand-held shower head...it's dangerous stuff." Angela Bradford, explaining her recent neck injury...we think.

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 before there was a web site (Freda Schroeder!), bowling each season without question...even after heart surgery (Dennis "Pops" Laube!), drinking more beer than the bowling alley carried (Pat Searcy!), programming GutterAlley (Scott Murdock!) or simply by making the league more fun by just being themselves (too many names to mention). So it was with this in mind that we sat down and drafted up the Hall of Fame as a way to honor these individuals as voted upon by you, the bowling community. Here's how it'll work: at the beginning of each new season, we'll open up a section on the site that will allow you to nominate an eligible candidate (someone that has bowled four seasons, doesn't have to be consecutive seasons either...don't worry, we have a program that will generate the list of who is eligible each season). You'll merely select his or her name and then write something about why you feel this person should be included in the GutterAlley Hall of Fame. Nominations will remain open until the conclusion of the position round (the mid-way point each season). A committee of four* will then weed through the submitted nominees and choose six worthy candidates for the bowling community (translated: anyone with an active GutterAlley.com account that has completed at least one full season in the league) to vote upon as they see fit. Based upon one's longevity within the league, you are given a set number of votes. A person that has completed 1-2 seasons will be able to cast one vote. A person that has completed 3-4 seasons will be allowed to cast two votes. Anyone with 5+ completed seasons under their belt will be allowed to cast three votes. Those inducted into the Hall of Fame will have four votes to cast. You are not able to vote for the same person more than once with your votes nor can you vote for yourself. Also, you do not have to use all of your votes if you so choose. Voting will remain open until Week 15, the week before the Finals. At the end of the season awards ceremony we will announce the winner and hopefully have them in attendance to receive their award. We will be creating a unique trophy to present to each Hall of Fame inductee. We're really excited about this new feature on the site since we all spend so much time talking trash about one another throughout the season it'll be a welcome addition to hear something nice for a change about those with whom you spend your Tuesday evenings. * = As I mentioned above, a committee of four (that we call the Screening Committee) whose role it is to weed through the nominations each season to present the best candidates from those nominated will be picked by you...as the first four inductees into the Hall of Fame.This inaugural class will be the only inductees enshrined not through what will become "the normal process." For the inaugural class, we're going to do it differently. To start things off: (1) Rather than a pool of six candidates, EVERY person that qualifies for candidacy into the Hall of Fame will be listed as a potential candidate.(2) Voting will begin now. When you reach the page to vote you will see your set number of available votes to cast. Again, if you have not completed one full season in the league you will not be eligible to vote this season. Those of you that have bowled 1-2 seasons will get one vote. Anyone with 3-4 seasons will receive two votes. And, lastly, those of you that have been around 5+ seasons will get to vote for three candidates. (3) Voting will run just like the rules say above with the poll remaining open until the end of Week 15 (the Tuesday before Finals).(4) The top four vote getters will be announced at the awards ceremony at the conclusion of this season. We will try to get the winners to be present at the meeting to receive their trophy.(5) The four inductees will comprise the Screening Committee going forward.So there you have it. Welcome, one and all, to the Hall of Fame!What are you waiting for...?!? Read the rest of this entry »

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 in the most advantageous way to allow your team to move up in the standings):1. S*I*C*KHighest: 1st place, with a 6.5 game lead if they sweep Istanbowl Turkey and Dolls and Balls sweeps Eat Split and DI.Lowest: 1st place, by total pins if Istanbowl Turkey sweeps them.2. Istanbowl TurkeyHighest: 2nd place, as long as they win the same amount of games as Eat Split and DI (provided neither team gets swept)Lowest: 4th place, if they get swept by S*I*C*K and Dolls and Balls beats Eat Split and DI 3+ games3. Eat Split and DIHighest: 2nd place, by total pins if they win one more game than Istanbowl TurkeyLowest: 4th place, if Dolls and Balls sweeps them4. Dolls and BallsHighest: 2nd place, if both Eat Split and DI and Istanbowl Turkey gets sweptLowest: 5th place, if they get swept by Eat Split and DI and No Pinheads sweeps Tonganoxie Doglift5. No PinheadsHighest: 4th place, if they sweep Tonganoxie Doglift and Dolls and Balls gets swept by Eat Split and DILowest: 7th place, if they get swept by Tonganoxie Doglift and either SucmaBOWLS or Touch My Vlad sweeps in their matchup6. Tonganoxie DogliftHighest: 5th place, if they sweep No PinheadsLowest: 7th place, if they get swept by No Pinheads and either SucmaBOWLS or Touch My Vlad sweeps in their matchup7. SucmaBOWLS Highest: 6th place, if they sweep Touch My Vlad and Tonganoxie Doglift sweeps No PinheadsLowest: 8th place, if they get swept by Touch My Vlad8. Touch My VladHighest: 6th place, if they sweep SucmaBOWLS and either Tonganoxie Doglift or No Pinheads sweeps in their matchupLowest: 8th place, if they win less than 3 games in their matchup against SucmaBOWLSGood luck to everyone! Who knows what next Tuesday will bring.

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 has bowled one another once, we have what is called the position round. Rather than following the regular schedule of facing everyone else once again, the team in 1st place faces off against the team in 2nd place. Third place takes on fourth place, so on and so forth. This gives teams their best shot to do some damage against their closest competitors in the standings. With that out of the way, let's see how everyone did around the league...After getting sidetracked last week against the current league leaders, Dolls and Balls decided to get back to winning and did so this week at the expense of Eat Split and DI. Led by Rob Kaszuba and his 555 series, the Balls put a 3-1 hurting on their higher ranked opponents. AJ Hofmann put up the top series for Eat Split – a 408 – but it simply wasn't enough to earn more than a single victory. Dolls and Balls remain in 4th place while Eat Split and DI takes over 3rd place in a total pins tie-breaker. Continuing to hold onto the top spot in the standings is S*I*C*K, who came away with a 3-1 matchup win against Tonganoxie Doglift. Led by anchor Carl Goetz's 585 series – plus this week's #1 Power Ranked performance by Seth Gunderson – S*I*C*K heads into the position round with a four game lead over the rest of the league. Led this week by Russell Madsen and his 441 series, Tonganoxie added one win but slipped one spot in the process and find themselves now in 6th place.If someone had told the rollers on Touch My Vlad that they were going to demolish SucmaBOWLS on the lanes the week before the position round, they surely would have made a wise crack about it. No one is laughing now as Vlad did just that. With anchor Chris Able leading the way with his season-high 441 series, Touch My Vlad doubled their wins in a single night and are very close to climbing out of the cellar. Super sub Neil Rieger shot a 566 series for Sucma but simply couldn't put the pieces together to topple Touch. SucmaBOWLS remains in 7th place and will face Vlad next week for a rematch.The final battle of the evening took place down on Lanes 21 & 22 with league fixtures No Pinheads taking on cagey veterans Istanbowl Turkey. After winning Game #1, the Pinheads suffered back-to-back losses – including a single pin 10th frame squeaker in Game #3 – before holding on for the total pins win to come away with a 2-2 split. Lead off bowler Aubrey Moren put up the top series for the Pinheads – a 547 – while Scott Murdock (wait, what?!?) led Istanbowl with a 447 series. Murdock's teammate Sabrina Gray was this week's Most Valuable Bowler. Istanbowl resumes its spot in 2nd while No Pinheads claws its way up into 5th place.Bowlers earning their beads in The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (202), Carl Goetz (216), Ian Goetz (212), Rob Kaszuba (238) and Seth Gunderson (201).With the standings now completely calculated, here's how next week's position round face offs line up:1. S*I*C*K vs. Istanbowl Turkey (S*I*C*K won 4-0 in their last matchup)2. Eat Split and DI vs. Dolls and Balls (Dolls and Balls won 3-1 in their last matchup)3. No Pinheads vs. Tonganoxie Doglift (Tonganoxie won 3-1 in their last matchup)4. SucmaBOWLS vs. Touch My Vlad (Vlad won 4-0 in their last matchup)We've also compiled a list of possible outcomes showing you how high (or low) your team can move next week. See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Sabrina Gray Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Seth Gunderson Runner Up: Aubrey Moren	#1 H2H BOWLER Seth Gunderson Runner Up: Aubrey Moren
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Hey, Sucma! You = Japan. We = earthquake. Suck it!" Emily Podhajsky, after her team recorded their team's first 4-0 finish this season.

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. Firstly, if you didn't notice, hats off to Scott Murdock for developing the new and vastly improved white sheets that will be distributed before each week's round of bowling. For more information of why they are so great, check it out. Beautiful work, Scooter J!In what was jokingly referred to as "The Battle for Last Place," the 7th and 8th place teams faced one another for the first time all season. After quite a rough initial few weeks, the bowlers of No Pinheads returned to their winnings ways – compliments of Phil Schroeder's team leading 513 series and this week's Most Valuable Bowler performance by Dennis "Pops" Laube. Despite a Game #2 tenth frame scare from opponents Touch My Vlad, the Pinheads managed to hold on to the lead en route to nearly doubling their win record with their four victories Tuesday night. Vlad's Chris Able led the charge for his team with a 416 series. No Pinheads climbs one spot into 6th while Touch My Vlad remains in 8th place.What got into SucmaBOWLS's very own Orion Kinkaid? The chance to do some damage to the league's 3rd place team, that's what. Although Istanbowl Turkey managed to somehow pull off a 3-1 victory – including a single pin total pins victory despite the not-matching-up ScooterMath on their scoresheet – Orion's 555 series (including a 223 in Game #1) earned him the distinction of being this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler. Yet it was the Turkey's Angela Bradford and her 547 series that gobbled up the victories for her crew, keeping them in 3rd place. Orion and his fellow Sucma's slip one spot down into 7th place.After hearing that his team would not have a legal lineup due to the absence of two of his Dolls and Balls bowlers, recent surgical patient Ryan Doll decided to take one for the team and roll nonetheless. Despite his best efforts, Doll may not have been able to turn the tides against current league leaders S*I*C*K (temporarily renamed K*S*I*C due to their former anchor's demotion from the anchor spot) but he certainly earned kudos from those around him. Rob Kaszuba led the Balls with his 523 series but it was simply not enough to derail K*S*I*C's Carl Goetz, who continues to have his best season to date. Goetz ended the night with a 623 series. The four victories increases K*S*I*C's lead over the league to two games while Dolls and Balls remains in 4th place, back 6.5 games.The final matchup of the evening pitted fifth place Tonganoxie Doglift against 2nd place Eat Split and DI. After taking Game #1, Tonganoxie seemed poised to add even more wins to their record before Eat's AJ Hofmann woke up and carried his team with his 465 series to a 3-1 matchup win. The Doglift, led this week by Shane Pfaffly and his 410 series, remain in fifth place but gained ground while attempting to get back to the top half of the league standings. Eat Split and DI remain in 2nd, trailing first place by two games.Bowlers earning their beads in The 200 Club this week include: Carl Goetz (213, 227), Ian Goetz (200), Orion Kinkaid (223), Rob Kaszuba (204) and Seth Gunderson (205).See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Dennis Laube Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Orion Kinkaid Runner Up: Seth Gunderson	#1 H2H BOWLER Seth Gunderson Runner Up: Orion Kinkaid
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "That's how they win...they wear you down by taking for-EVER to bowl to the point where you just want to give up and go home." Sarah Manning, after her team's battle with No Pinheads concluded...half an hour after everyone else had gone home.

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 always seem to have something missing or they've changed the gender of someone (Favorite example of all time? Pat Searcy, a legendary male bowler on our league, was listed as having the high series scratch for women. Attagirl, Patsy!). Well, we're doing away with them and debuting our own white sheets this evening. What we think you'll like about them is that they'll not only show you accurate information from our current season, they also show each person's individual records so that you can see just how you've done over the years as well as the scores from the league's all-time highs! If you like 'em, be sure to give Scoot a pat on the back for the time he spent crafting these data-chocked beauties.Enjoy!Be sure to tell us what you think of the new white sheets.

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 into 2nd place last week, the bowlers of Eat Split and DI decided to up the stakes and make some serious waves in their matchup against first place S*I*C*K... and, boy, did they ever. Handing the reigning champions their first sweep in a very long time, Eat Split took the wind out of S*I*C*K's sails and single-handedly tightened the league standings in one gigantic swoop. Led by lead-off bowler Teresa Deterding's 444 series, Eat took Game #1 by the slimmest of margins before routing S*I*C*K in Game #2 by a hundred. Game #3 was once again close – with Carl Goetz putting his team in range with his 573 series to come away with the win – but the team's anchor once again failed to deliver in the 10th frame. Way to go, Wilson. The victories keep Eat Split and DI in 2nd place with a record of 14-6 while S*I*C*K clings to their first place position by a single victory.Making the leap from fifth to fourth this week was Dolls and Balls. With their anchor sitting out in preparation for shoulder surgery, sub Adam Messner stepped in to fill the role of anchor to great success. Rolling a 464 series, Messner lead his merry Balls to a 4-0 matchup sweep against opponents Tonganoxie Doglift. Despite Russell Madsen's 384 series, Tonganoxie was unable to take flight and find themselves forced to swap places with their competitors as they assume the position in fifth place. Dolls and Balls are now 2.5 games back from first place.After a rough couple of weeks, No Pinheads planned on rebounding against second-to-last place team SucmaBOWLS. What they didn't plan on was Sucma's Sam Nau raising his average 20 pins while earning both Most Valuable Bowler and #1 Power Ranked bowler honors in the process. Nau's output – combined with anchor Orion Kinkaid's 463 series – brought about a 3-1 matchup victory in their favor. If not for a 520 series out of the Pinhead's Phil Schroeder (including his first 200+ game of the season in Game #3), we may have seen four sweeps in league play Tuesday. With the wins, Sucma switches places with No Pinheads as they land in 6th and 7th places respectively.The final matchup of the evening pitted 3rd place Istanbowl Turkey against 8th place Touch My Vlad. Despite a 4-0 sweep from the Turkeys – handed over compliments of sub Neil Rieger's impressive 658 series (you should have had him last week, Turkeys!) – neither team changes places in the standings. Vlad was led this week by Chris Able, who put up a 347 series in the losing effort. Only three bowlers this week turned in performances worthy of admittance into The 200 Club this week. They include: Carl Goetz (217, 226), Neil Rieger (265, 215) and Phil Schroeder (201).See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Sam Nau Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Sam Nau Runner Up: Neil Rieger	#1 H2H BOWLER Phil Schroeder Runner Up: Freda Schroeder
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Bi-polar? Hell, Ken wasn't even a bi-bowler. He just flat out sucked. Even in a terrestrial realm. I'm a wizard. Boom." Charlie Sheen, after hearing how poorly S*I*C*K's anchor performed in the 10th frame Tuesday night.