With the Finals quickly approaching on May 1st, the reigning champs continue to further distance themselves from the rest of the league during Week #11 on what appears to be an historic run towards the best record in league history. The big story of the night, however, belonged almost entirely to Jonathan Vigliaturo...but we'll get to that here in a little bit. Let's see how things went down, shall we?The last time that Ballsagna faced opponents Splits or Swallows, the teams battled one another to a 2-2 standstill. Some things never change. Like a well-fought duel, the teams went back and forth with victories with the Balls taking Game #1 – with Russell Madsen's 411 series leading the way – before Splits battled back to take Game #2 compliments of a big series out of Mike Berlin (a 469). Ballsagna took Game #3 but not by a large enough margin to keep total pins from going to Splits or Swallows. Neither team moved up or down in the league standings, with Splits or Swallows and Ballsagna remaining in 5th and 8th place respectively.After leaving the lanes without winning a single game last week, the X-Men quickly reversed their fortunes against opponents ACE²S. With self-proclaimed "best team captain in the league" Ryan Doll leading his team with a 639 series, the Xers added a 4-0 win to their record to lessen the gap between their team in 4th place and the team just ahead of them. The ACE²S anchor Eric Lynch put up the top series for his team – a 445 – but the group just couldn't bring the right combination to stop the X-Men's momentum. The ACE²S remain in 6th place.In what was supposed to be an epic showdown against former champs and reigning champs ended up being a one-sided beat down by the Turkey Hunters over Strange Bedfellows. With both teams missing their anchors, the Turkeys' Phil Schroeder slipped in to fill the role and did so quite effectively with his above-average 547 series en route to a clean sweep over the "competition." The wins keep the Turkey Hunters a dominant 11 games ahead of the rest of the league out in 1st place. Ken M. Wilson pathetically led the Bedfellows with a 562 series in the losing effort, dragging his team back down into 3rd place.During the off season, Brown Belt Jones' very own Jonathan Vigliaturo become a true student of the game. His practice paid off in spades Tuesday night as he shot his personal best game (230) AND series (648 - a whopping 110 pin improvement!) while earning both #1 Power Ranked bowler and Most Valuable Bowler honors in the process. Opponents Bowled to Death weren't happy at all with this outcome with the exception of the ending of Game #2, which they won in the 10th frame by the slimmest of margins. The Belt took the matchup 3-1. Ryan Housknecht had the highest series for the Deaths, rolling a 403. While Bowled to Death remains in 7th place, Brown Belt Jones trades up and find themselves back in 2nd place.Bowlers finding themselves carded at the entryway into The 200 Club this week include: Anita Osthoff (202), Bill Krejci (202), Ian Goetz (215), Jonathan Vigliaturo (230, 220), and Ryan Doll (244, 201).There aren't that many weeks left until the actual Tournament of Champions takes place with the top eight seeds in the league. Division #1 is led by Ken M. Wilson (14) with Bill Krejci right on his tail (12 points). Aubrey Moren (29 points) continues to be lead Division #2 with Bob Brunker (15 point) in second place. Division #3 has Jonathan Vigliaturo at its top seed (19 points) with Anita Osthoff moving into second (15 points). Russell Madsen (18 points) continues to lead Division #4 with Eric Lemmon just behind him (17 points).Voting for this season's Hall of Fame nominees is now open. Congratulations to candidates Bob Brunker, Dennis "Pops" Laube, Janelle (Laube) Lamar, Pat Searcy, Phil Schroeder, and Seth Gunderson. Be sure to get in there and vote!See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Jonathan Vigliaturo Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Jonathan Vigliaturo Runner Up: Ryan Doll	#1 H2H BOWLER Jonathan Vigliaturo Runner Up: Ryan Doll
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "No it's not...they're all gay." Bob Brunker, speaking his piece after Pops quipped that "youth is wasted on the young" in response to the boys of Brown Belt Jones loudly celebrating.

As the second half of the season continues on, one team continues to dominate the league as they race towards the Finals...and potentially another championship. Can they be toppled or have they gotten so far ahead that it's a battle now only for second place and below? Week 10 may be looked back upon as opportunities allowed to slip by as yet another powerhouse team succumbed to the reigning rulers of the roost.In the first matchup of the evening, the ACE²S stared down the barrel of Bowled to Death. Bowled's Matt Bell put up the biggest numbers for his team – a 463 – to start the night out with a blowout in Game #1. However, with an ACE up their sleeve in the form of anchor Eric Lynch – who led the team with a 418 series – fought back to even the score with a victory in Game #2. In the end, the third and final game went emphatically to Bowled to Death to end the night with a 3-1 victory in their favor. Neither team moved up or down in the league standings, with the ACE²S remaining in 6th and Bowled to Death staying in 7th place.Boy, enshrine a man into the GutterAlley Hall of Fame and he thinks he's a pro bowler...or such was the case for the Strange Bedfellows' very own Carl Goetz on Tuesday night. Leading his team to a clean sweep over opponents Splits or Swallows, Goetz put up a league leading 692 series and added yet another notch onto his collection of stellar series that appear on the league's Top 25 Highest Series of All Time list as well as being this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler. While the wins keep them ten games out of first place, the Bedfellows may just still have some fight in them this season. Splits' AJ Hofmann had the highest series for his team, ending with a 407 series in the losing effort and remaining in 5th place.After last week's setback, the boys of Brown Belt Jones hoped to regroup this week and hold or improve their tenuous grip on second place..    It might have happened, if not for  Ballsagna's Orion Kinkaid and his 205 in game 3.   Ian Goetz led his dojo to a 3-1 victory with his 544 series, while Ballsanga served up a slice of victory in game 3 with the help of Russell Madsen's team-leading 430 series.   The Brown Belts slip to 3rd place due to the total pins tiebreaker, while Ballsanga remains in 8th.Down on Lanes 25 & 26, the X-Men swore that they would be the team that would end the Turkey Hunters' reign of terror. Such was not the case. Dropping Game #1 by a slim margin, Game #2 went heavily in the favor of The Turkey Hunters. Game #3, however, was in the bag for the X-Men before they handed it away on a silver platter, ending the evening with a 4-0 matchup victory in favor of the current league champs. The Turkeys' Aubrey Moren led his team with a 589 series – with help from this week's Most Valuable Bowler Dennis "Pops" Laube – while the X-Men's Ryan Doll dropped his average two pins with a sub-par 548 series. The Turkeys continue to destroy the league, a full ten games ahead of everyone else. The X-Men, on the other hand, hold steadfastly in 4th place.Bowlers thankful that there weren't any March Madness games on the TV to disrupt their time in The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (222), Carl Goetz (257, 201, 234), Ken M. Wilson (213, 225), Orion Kinkaid (205), and Ryan Doll (208).The race to qualify for the finals in the Tournament of Champions continue. Division #1 is deadlocked with Ken M. Wilson and Carl Goetz in the lead (both with 11 points). Aubrey Moren (29 points) continues to be lead Division #2 with Bob Brunker (15 point) in second place. Division #3 has Jonathan Vigliaturo and Rob Kaszuba leading the way with 13 points apiece. Division #4 finds Russell Madsen now leading the charge with 18 points and Eric Lemmon just behind him at 17 points.Voting for this season's Hall of Fame nominees is now open. Congratulations to candidates Bob Brunker, Dennis "Pops" Laube, Janelle (Laube) Lamar, Pat Searcy, Phil Schroeder, and Seth Gunderson. Be sure to get in there and vote!See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Dennis Laube Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Carl Goetz Runner Up: Dennis Laube	#1 H2H BOWLER Carl Goetz Runner Up: Dennis Laube
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Okay, maybe we *do* need Carpio...but let's not rush it." AJ Hofmann, after watching his team get swept for the first time in quite a while.

With the position round now in the rearview mirror, the league restarted its schedule once again Tuesday night as teams faced their Week #1 opponents. Despite an odd assortments of wins and losses across the board, not a single team managed to move up or down in the standings. For the first time in several seasons, five of the eight teams in the league have records .500 or better. Surely this won't stay true as the season rolls onward but, for the time being, there's quite a knot right there in the middle.After being swept by opponents Brown Belt Jones last week in the position round, the X-Men rebounded with a vengeance. Despite anchor Ryan Doll's below average performance (and being two people short to boot!), his 545 series was just what the X-Men needed in order to pull off the 3-1 matchup victory to stave off being passed in the standings by the team right on their heels. The Belt's Ian Goetz miraculously led his team for the first time since Week #1, ending his night with a below average 520 series. The Belt remains in 2nd place, nine games out of first, while the X-Men continue to hover in 4th place with a record of 19-17.There is no denying that the Turkey Hunters are on a roll these days. Notching the night's only sweep (made up of three charity wins), the reigning champions extend their lead over the rest of the league by a 2+ week margin by defeating opponents Ballsagna. Anchor Aubrey Moren put up the league's highest scratch series of the evening, ending with a 614. On the losing side of the equation, the Balls' Dave Winger provided the most fire-power for his crew – a 390. Both teams remain in their respective positions with the Turkeys still in first and Ballsagna in 8th place.After a loss in Game #1 to opponents Bowled to Death, this week's Most Valuable Bowler AJ Hofmann decided that enough was enough and brought it along with teammate Mike Berlin of Splits or Swallows. Berlin, who led the team with a 468 series, steadily got his team back into the matchup culminating with Hofmann's epic performance in Game #3 – his new career high of 186 – that helped win the game by a mere seven pins and giving them the 3-1 matchup victory. Deaths' Matt Bell led his team with a 426 series while teammate Kristie Carter notched her new career high game and series, rolling a 143 in Game #3 and ending with a 349 series. Again, neither team moved in the standings, with Splits or Swallows improving to 18-18 and sit in 5th while Bowled to Death holds onto 7th place. The last time these two teams met, the Strange Bedfellows dominated opponents ACE²S. Such was not the case this time around. The ACE's Chris Klee put on a huge performance against the ailing Bedfellows, setting both a new personal high game (191) and high series (454) to lead his team to a 3-1 beat down. Substitute bowler Cody Beltram showed up on the right night, earning #1 Power Ranked bowler honors for the ACE's, with a 447 series. The Bedfellows, led by anchor Carl Goetz and his 604 series, continue to struggle to find wins. Neither team moved at all in the standings, of course, with the Bedfellows barely clinging to 3rd while the ACE2S stick in 6th place.Bowlers debating who should make it into the Hall of Fame at the end of the season inside The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (203, 226), Carl Goetz (225), and Dennis "Pops" Laube (207). All three decided it should not be Phil or Pops. The race to qualify for the finals in the Tournament of Champions continue. Division #1 finds a new leader in Ken M. Wilson (11 points) with Carl Goetz closely behind him (10 points). Aubrey Moren (26 points) continues to be lead Division #2 with Bob Brunker (9 point) in second place. Division #3 has Jonathan Vigliaturo leading the way with 13 points with Rob Kaszuba behind him with 10 points. Division #4 finds Eric Lemmon leading the charge with 14 points with both Russell Madsen and Chris Klee just two points behind him with 12 apiece. Voting for this season's Hall of Fame nominees is now open. Congratulations to candidates Bob Brunker, Dennis "Pops" Laube, Janelle (Laube) Lamar, Pat Searcy, Phil Schroeder, and Seth Gunderson. Be sure to get in there and vote!See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB AJ Hofmann Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Cody Beltram Runner Up: Chris Klee	#1 H2H BOWLER Bob Brunker Runner Up: Aubrey Moren
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Wow, that's better than f#cking him in the ass!" Bob Brunker, after slapping Seth in an effort to influence his Hall of Fame votes.

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. Read the rest of this entry »

As dictated by the schedule the 8th week of the league is always the position round. a week in which the matchups are set by where teams fall in the standings. The results of this particular week have historically done one of two things: the league standings either tighten up as underdogs best their opponents or dominant teams truly leave a message and extend their leads over their closest competitors. This season's position round was a mixture of both. Reigning champions Turkey Hunters wasted no time in dismantling the bowlers of Strange Bedfellows. Easily cruising to a 3-1 matchup victory – and almost pulling off the sweep following a late rally in Game #3 – the Turkeys extend their lead over the rest of the league to six games. Aubrey Moren, who continues to raise his average on an almost weekly basis these days and earned #1 Power Ranked bowler honors in the process, dominated the league with his 660 series. Despite a large box of Justin Bieber cupcakes in honor of birthday girls Freda Schroeder and Sabrina Gray, the Bedfellows' could do no better than Carl Goetz's 599 series in the losing effort. The Strange Bedfellows fell asleep and woke up in 3rd place.What do you do when your team dynamic has been off and on? Brown Belt Jones tried something new and it paid off in spades. Completely changing their bowling order, the boys with The Belt completely whipped the now .500 X-Men to log the only sweep of the night. With newly christened anchor – and this week's Most Valuable Bowler – Bill Krejci leading the way with an impressive 634 series and – I can't believe I'm about to write this – Scott Murdock shooting his new personal high game (a 235!), Brown Belt Jones moved up into 2nd place. The X-Men, led by an off Ryan Doll and his 542 series, remain in 4th place...but by only a single game.What has gotten into Splits or Swallows? Apparently some spunk. Facing opponents ACE²S, Swallows' very own AJ Hofmann figured it was high-time he rolled his personal best series and put up a team leading 487 to lead his team to a 3-1 matchup victory. The team nearly came away with a clean sweep if not for the ACE²S' Eric Lynch rallying with a game 42 pins over his average in Game #3 to earn the victory by 27. Lynch finished the night with a team leading 457 series. With the wins, Splits or Swallows remain in 5th place but have successfully cut the distance between them and fourth place by a single game. The ACE²S stagnate in 6th place.In what has been deemed "The Battle for Last Place" each position round, the 7th and 8th place teams met up Tuesday night to beat up on one another. In the night's tightest contest, each game was settled by the smallest of margins. Bowled to Death came out firing to take Game #1 by 23 pins, compliments of anchor Eric Lemmon's 189 game (Lemmon went on to have the team's highest series of the evening, booking a 429). Game #2 went to Ballsagna, with anchor Russell Madsen's best game of the night en route to his 444 series. Game #3, as well as total pins, came down to the wire with Game #3 and total going to Bowled to Death by a mere nine pins, total pins by ten. The 3-1 win by Bowled to Death inches them up to 7th place by a total pins tie-breaker while Ballsagna now sits in the cellar.Bowlers positioning themselves for a trip into The 200 Club this week include: Aubrey Moren (243, 218), Bill Krejci (201, 211, 222), Bob Brunker (224), Carl Goetz (204, 224), Freda Schroeder (206), Ian Goetz (203), Ryan Doll (200), and Scott Murdock (235).Nominations for the Hall of Fame this season are now closed. The six candidates up for enshrinement this season will be announced next Tuesday.The race to qualify for the finals in the Tournament of Champions continue. At the halfway mark, Division #1's top two seeds are Carl Goetz (10 points) and Ryan Doll (9 points). The top point earner in Division #2 is Aubrey Moren (25 points) and then there's a tie between Dennis Laube and Seth Gunderson, both with 8 points. Division #3 has Jonathan Vigliaturo leading the way with 13 points with Rob Kaszuba behind him with 10 points. Division #4 finds Eric Lemmon leading the charge with 13 points and Russell Madsen just a point behind him with 12. See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Bill Krejci Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Aubrey Moren Runner Up: Bill Krejci	#1 H2H BOWLER Aubrey Moren Runner Up: Bill Krejci
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Damn, you'd think with that lisp he'd have more experience going all the way down." Deena Slinkard, after watching Scoot do a pathetic half-pushup.