Week 9 of sixteen is now in the history books and with it, only three teams swapped places in the standings...in the top half. While there was no change in the #1 spot, 2nd through 4th place shuffled spots with the lead over the league being cut by one game. While there is still plenty of time to catch the current league leaders, they have only suffered one matchup loss all season long. If any team is going to catch them, it'll at least be two weeks out.Before we get down into the recap from this week's matchups, GutterAlley is proud to announce the six nominees for this season's Hall of Fame vote. Congratulations to Bob Brunker, Carl Goetz, Dennis "Pops" Laube, Janelle "Nellie" (Laube) Lamar, Jason Carpio, and Pat Searcy! Please take a moment of time to vote for your favorite(s). All six are deserving for induction into the Hall but now it's entirely in your hands as to who makes it in. The winner will be announced at the end of this season.In the first matchup of the evening, Vier Reiter Der Apokalypse looked to get back on track against the surging Kitten Mittons. After dropping Game #1, newly married Ryan Doll decided to exchange vows with victories and led his team to a 3-1 matchup win with his 589 series. Game #2 was settled by a mere five pins. The Mitton's Kelly Sands put up a 419 series but it simply wasn't enough to turn the tide. While the Mittons slip down two spots into 4th, their win record is tied with the Reiters at 20-16. Due to total pins, Vier Reiter Der Apokalypse now sits in 3rd place.Despite a broken pair of glasses, the rollers of STFU Donny rose to the occasion in their second matchup against Das Sauer Popes this season to earn the lone sweep of the evening. Led by this week's Most Valuable Bowler Ken M. Wilson – who put up a 669 series – and gaining extra firepower from this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler Ian Goetz, Donny refused to be quiet as they moved up into 2nd place. Mike Berlin led the Popes with a 412 series but it couldn't derail the reigning champions as they continue their quest to claw their way back to the top of the league standings. Das Sauer Popes remains in 8th place.The predictions had called upon the Mysterious Platypus Appendages to fall three games to one against opponents Skirtz & Jerkz. Such was not the case Tuesday night. With Teresa Deterding's 445 series leading the way, the Platypi put a 3-1 hurting on their opponents as they came away with the wins necessary to tie the win record of Skirtz & Jerkz. Lead off roller Neil Rieger's 526 series set the pace for the Jerkz but his teammates simply didn't follow. Although neither team changed positions in the standings, the Skirts 6th place spot over the Platypi's 7th place is only separated by total pins.The last time the Gutterballs met No Pinheads, they became the only team this season to come away with a matchup victory against the current league leaders. History did not repeat itself. Despite a 10th frame mishap in Game #1, the Pinheads' anchor Aubrey Moren struck back to reverse the night's fortunes en route to a 3-1 win compliments of his 581 series. The Gutterballs' Scott Murdock hoisted the highest numbers of the night for his team – a 468 – but it couldn't make a dent after their lone win in the initial battle. Neither team moved at all in the standings with the Pinheads holding onto 1st and the Gutterballs remaining in 5th place.Roller's enjoying a week of being treated rather than tricked in The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (236), Carl Goetz (229), Dennis Laube (207), Ian Goetz (219, 233), Ken M. Wilson (238, 205, 226), and Ryan Doll (248).Okay, okay, so you've read this far down. Now go and place your vote(s) for the Hall of Fame nominees, pleeeeeeeeeeease. It'll only take under a minute.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Ken Wilson Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Ian Goetz Runner Up: Ken Wilson	#1 H2H BOWLER Ken M. Wilson Runner Up: Ian Goetz
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "I pulled a Ken." Sarah Sauer, after rolling the ball into the gutter and watching it hop out en route to missing the spare...just like Ken had done earlier.

Last season, our bowling community collectively cast its votes for the inaugural class of enshrinees to the GutterAlley Hall of Fame. These 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. Read the rest of this entry »

There were no winners in this week's trivia contest, so the FREE PITCHER OF BEER for the winning team goes unclaimed. Don't worry, you'll have another chance to win next Tuesday night. Hopefully the beer doesn't go flat by then!

The second best week of the season is always the position round. With the chance to watch the standings swing wildly in any direction, the matchup victories set the stage for a potentially crazy second half. Can the current league leaders hold onto first place? History has proven otherwise, watching them fold like a paper napkin season after season in the second half. Perhaps this is their time...perhaps not. The stage has been set for the second half. Let's go.Regardless of the outcome of the matchup, No Pinheads was going to remain in first place. After taking Game #1 and stealing Game #2, thanks to a below-average performance by anchor Aubrey Moren and his 497 series, Kitten Mittons won a battle of attrition to take Game #3 ending the night with a 3-1 matchup victory in favor of No Pinheads. Nick Allegri led the Kittens with a 421 series. The Pinheads maintain their 9 game lead over the rest of the league while the Kittens remain in 2nd place. After a two pin loss in Game #1, reigning champions STFU Donny decided that enough was enough. With anchor Ken M. Wilson putting up a 633 series, Seth Gunderson contributing this week's Most Valuable Bowler performance, and Ian Goetz earning #1 Power Ranked bowler honors, STFU turned the night around and defeated the members of Gutterballs 3-1. Despite the Gutterballs' Jason Carpio rolling a 596 series, nothing could stop the revitalized Donny. STFU moves up a spot into 3rd while the Gutterballs drop two spots into 5th place.Also making a move was Vier Reiter Der Apokalypse. With Bill Krejci leading the way with his 540 series, the Reiters handed out the first of Tuesday night's two sweep to opponents Skirtz & Jerkz. Even with lead off roller Neil Rieger's 556 series, nothing could put a dent into the Reiter's quest to move up in the standings. The four wins help propel the Apokalypse up two spots into 4th while the Skirtz jerk down one spot into 6th place.The final matchup of the evening saw no change in the league standings, however it did bode well for Mysterious Platypus Appendages. With AJ Hofmann's 465 series leading the way, the Appendages increased their win record by 50%, adding four more victories to improve to 12-20 on the season. Eric Summers put up the best numbers for the Das Sauer Popes – a 353 – but it could never even bring a single game into range for them. The Platypi remain in 7th while the Popes stick to 8th place.Rollers enjoying full pitchers of Octoberfest (finally!!!) this week include The 200 Club: Ian Goetz (218, 212), Jake Parrott (210), Jason Carpio (202), Ken M. Wilson (223, 223), Neil Rieger (209), and Ryan Doll (221).See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Seth Gunderson Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Ian Goetz Runner Up: Jason Carpio	#1 H2H BOWLER Jason Carpio Runner Up: Ian Goetz
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "I told you that we should have hugged Pops more." Alison Radke's sweater puppies, conversing after losing close contests to No Pinheads.

Fellow bowlers, Our very own Scott "Scooter J" Murdock has fallen on his knees to ask of you – on this season's position round – that you refrain from humping him in the event that you throw three strikes tonight. Instead, he begs, he feels that everyone should simply go and give Dennis "Pops" Laube a big hug for each and every strike that you throw. Perhaps even a pat on the back for every spare.Murdock simply wants to spread the love around after having received so much this season.What do you say?

With the position round a mere week away, a sense of urgency swept across the league with teams needing to win big Tuesday night during Week #7 in order to face the opponent they most desired. In the end, four teams came out with three wins while the rest of the league took their lumps and walked away with only a single win. While only the bottom half of the league standings shifted around, two teams in the top half managed to extend their lead away from the rest. For those of you not familiar with the position round, next week's matchups will be determined by your placement in the standings. The team in first will face the team in second place, third will face off against fourth, etc. Next week officially marks the midway point of our league. Got it? Okay, let's go.In the first matchup of the night, the rollers on Das Sauer Popes came away with a solid victory in Game #1 compliments of anchor Mike Berlin and his team leading 451 series. After that, however, the night belonged entirely to Skirtz & Jerkz' very own Jennifer Seefeldt. Rolling a 516 series – which included her very first 200+ game, a 203 – Jenn reversed her teams fortunes to come away with a 3-1 victory. The wins allow the Skirtz to leapfrog up one spot into fifth while opponents Das Sauer Popes slip one spot into 8th place. Make no mistake, the Kitten Mittons are on the prowl...and their latest victims were the members of Gutterballs. After having let Game #1 get away from them, mainly due to the Balls' lead off roller Jonathan Vigliaturo's 461 series, the Mittons' Nick Allegri brought his highest output of the season thus far to take complete command of their matchup. Ending the night with a 516 series – and earning the #1 Power Ranked bowler nod in the process – Allegri made the difference for the Kittens who remain in 2nd and will take on the current league leaders next week. The Gutterballs, despite dropping three games, remain in 3rd place.In what should have been a great night for STFU Donny to shorten the lead that first place team No Pinheads has over the league turned into a rout in reverse. With the Pinheads' Dennis "Pops" Laube throwing his highest series this season – and coming away with Most Valuable Bowler honors as well – the 540 series missed a clean sweep of STFU Donny by a mere three pins in Game #3. Donny's underperforming anchor Ken M. Wilson led his team with a 548 series but amazingly remained in 4th place despite the big losses. The Pinheads now hold a five game lead over the rest of the league and will face Kitten Mittons in the position round. STFU Donny will battle the 3rd place Gutterballs. This season hasn't been too kind to the Mysterious Platypus Appendages...but the bowlers of Vier Reiter Der Apokalypse certainly were down on Lanes 25 & 26. With the Appendages' Teresa Deterding putting up a 406 series, the team bounced back after being out-bowled by the Reiters in Game #1. The high output from Deterding proved to be the winning factor in their equation allowing the team to move out of 8th for the first time in quite a while, landing in 7th place. Bill Krejci led the bowlers on Vier Reiter with a 475 series but it simply wasn't enough to stop the Platypi. Krejci and crew drop one spot in the league standings to find themselves in 6th place.Bowlers wondering what the position round will bring next week while hanging out in The 200 Club include: Dennis Laube (202), Jenn Seefeldt (203), and Ken M. Wilson (202).See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Dennis Laube Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Nick Allegri Runner Up: Kelly Sands	#1 H2H BOWLER Nick Allegri Runner Up: Kelly Sands
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "A 147 and a 149?!? Wow, son. Seth and I take one night off and you and Ken roll like No Pinheads did all last season." Carl Goetz, vowing to put the team on his shoulders and carry them to victory.

We're now six weeks into the season and one team has resoundingly pulled out ahead of the rest of the pack. While half the league jump all over the place in the standings, the other half remained steadfastly in their current positions. The position round is just around the corner so wins this week and next week are truly important leading into the mid-point of the Fall 2011 season. Ready to see how everyone did? Let's go.After a bad opening week of the season, the members of No Pinheads began a run that has resulted in them sitting in first place a full five games ahead of the rest of the league. Their latest victims? Mysterious Platypus Appendages. Led by Aubrey Moren's 564 series – and accompanied by this week's Most Valuable Bowler Freda Schroeder – the Pinheads added yet another four wins to their record to improve to 20-4, the best record in the league. The Platypi, led this week by AJ Hofmann's 416 series, continue to look for answers as they remain firmly rooted in 8th place. After being blanked last season in all three of their matchups by the eventual champions, Vier Reiter Der Apokalypse decided to exact their revenge Tuesday night...and did so emphatically. Led by Bill Krejci and his 581 series, the Reiters handed out a 3-1 smack down to STFU Donny. Despite Donny's Ian Goetz throwing the highest series of the night – a 626 – STFU was simply unable to stop the rolling Reiters. The wins push Der Apokalypse up a spot into 5th while the reigning champions drop two spots into 4th place.Third place seems to suit the bowlers of Gutterballs as the their 3-1 win over opponents Skirtz & Jerkz kept them firmly rooted in the same spot as last week. With former anchor Jason Carpio leading the charge with his 556 series, the Gutterballs seemed poised to come away with a clean sweep until the Jerkz' Neil Rieger showed up with his 584 series – earning him the #1 Power Ranked bowler nod this week – to come away with a four pin victory in Game #3 and staving off being swept two weeks in a row. Despite their bad luck here lately, the Skirtz fall only one spot into 6th place.Down on Lanes 25 & 26, Kitten Mittons is quickly causing a revolution. Adding four more wins to their record – and leaping more spots in the standings than any other team this week – the Mittons punished opponents Das Sauer Popes as they moved up to 2nd place. With anchor Nick Allegri leading the way with his 497 series, the Kitten Mittons were able to keep Das Sauer Popes winless Tuesday night. Sarah Sauer provided the most fire-power the Popes, ending the night with a 448 series and remaining in 7th place.Bowlers still accusing one another of hiding the Octoberfest beer kegs at The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (224), Bill Krejci (219), Carl Goetz (203, 213), Ian Goetz (246), Jason Carpio (204), Ken M. Wilson (239, 206), Neil Rieger (203, 213), Orion Kinkaid (201), and Ryan Doll (226).See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Freda Schroeder Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Neil Rieger Runner Up: Ian Goetz	#1 H2H BOWLER Ian Goetz Runner Up: Neil Rieger
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Their old hearts can't take the excitement of being in first place for this long. You're killing them!!!" Ken, explaining to Ian and Seth how their team's continued losses are helping to keep No Pinheads in first place.