For most of us, last night was a bit of an off night. Only a few of us hit our averages consistently, and many of us were well below our norms. The problem might have been that Matthew Taylor sucked up everybody's mojo so he could roll his first (and this season's first) 700+ series! While he as doing that, one team climbed in the standings and another team slipped. Emily Nicolet picked up this week's high game (147) and series (369) for the women, while Matthew Taylor unsurprisingly earned this week's high game (254) and series (707) for the men. Read on for all the rest of the details!

First up, on lanes 3 & 4: In a closely-matched lineup Splitbowl Countries had a rendezvous with HOF Sandwich. Propelled by the skills of #1 Power Ranked and #1 Head-to-Head Matthew Taylor and his thrilling 707 series, Splitbowl missed a clean sweep over the Sandwich by just one pin. In the midst of this, Pre-bowled Bob Brunker with his 552 series guided the Sandwich as his team missed getting swept by just one pin. Splitbowl Countries remains in 2nd place, while the Sandwich remains in 4th.

On lanes 5 & 6 & 1 & 2: Sit Down, Be Humbowl waged a heated competition against Mary Janes Last Frame. Demonstrating the prowess of Most Valuable Bowler Brian Byfield and his above-average 442 series, Humbowl collected 3 wins against Mary Jane. As for the opposition, Michael Mead with his 526 series motivated Mary Jane despite his team notching only a single win. Sit Down, Be Humbowl leaps 1 spot in the standings to 7th place, while Mary Jane remains in 3rd.

On lanes 7 & 8: In what was clearly a failed battle of good against evil, the long-shots PBR Me, ASAP tussled with the intimidating WITNESS!!!. Despite being led by Josh Rothermel with his 408 series, PBR got swept by Witness!!!. While that was going down, Aaron Barber with his slightly-off 576 series laid down the law for Witness!!! as they swept the competition. PBR Me, ASAP remains in 6th place, while Witness!!! remains in 1st.

Finally, down on lanes 9 & 10: In a rather lopsided matchup, the charming Three Strikes and a Spare entered a showdown to the death with the dark lords of Holy Sandbaggers, Batman!. Although blessed by James Tott with his 423 series, Three Strikes accomplished only 1 win against the Sandbaggers. On the other side of the tracks, Aubrey Moren with his 569 series took the lead among the Sandbaggers as his team took the match with 3 wins. Three Strikes and a Spare drops 1 spot in the standings to 8th place, while the Sandbaggers remain in 5th.

Bowlers paying far too much for well vodka at The 200 Club include: Aaron Barber (248), Aubrey Moren (200,202), Bob Brunker (202), Carl Goetz (202), Dennis Walling (200), Kody Karnes (206), Matthew Taylor (213,240,254), Michael Mead (202), and Russell Bingham (202)

A new personal best series was rolled tonight by Matthew Taylor (707, previous best 671).

Adding to the excitement, the 707 rolled by Matthew Taylor is this season's new high series for men.

In this week's Tournament of Champions brackets: Matthew Taylor conquered Division 1, while Dennis Laube triumphed over his enemies in Division 2. Jonathan Vigliaturo decimated Division 3, and Emily Nicolet trounced Division 4. In terms of overall points: Aaron Barber tops Division 1; Phil Schroeder and Dennis Laube are both in the driver's seat (on each other's laps?) in Division 2 in a tie; Jonathan Vigliaturo leads Division 3; and Emily Nicolet runs the show in Division 4.

NEXT WEEK:

• First, on lanes 3&4, 6th-place PBR Me, ASAP (hcp 136) will tussle with 5th-place Holy Sandbaggers, Batman!. PBR is expected to roll a little low and get swept; while the Sandbaggers are forecast to drop their average a bit even as they rack up a sweep.
• Moving to lanes 5&6, 8th-place Three Strikes and a Spare (hcp 170) will battle 1st-place WITNESS!!!. Three Strikes might roll a little low and get swept; while Witness!!! ought to hold steady as they rack up a sweep.
• Then, over on lanes 7&8, 7th-place Sit Down, Be Humbowl (hcp 92) will chill with 2nd-place Splitbowl Countries. Humbowl will likely drop their averages like a brick as they get swept; while Splitbowl will probably raise their average while they rack up a sweep.
• Finally, on lanes 9&10, 4th-place HOF Sandwich (hcp 6) will hang out with 3rd-place Mary Janes Last Frame. The Sandwich is predicted to maintain their current strength as they win the series; while Mary Jane is anticipated to drop their average a bit while they avoid getting swept.

^*(Remember, the predicted results above are based on mathematical extrapolations and can be changed by all sorts of factors. If you don't like how your team's results are predicted, you and your teammates have the power to prove the math wrong!)

THIS WEEK'S MVB Brian Byfield Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Matthew Taylor Runner Up: Brian Byfield	#1 H2H BOWLER Matthew Taylor Runner Up: Sean Simmons
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Ok so we might lose that first game, but Kody and Sean are doing OK so as long as Angela rolls just a pin or two over average we should take the series and jump into 2nd place easily." Pre-bowled Bob Brunker, unaware that Angela was a no-show.