Well, this is it, we’ve nearly reached the end of the season and the championship round is next week. While much attention has been focused on the struggles this season of defending champions Serious Bowlers and the fact that they are now eliminated from trophy contention, there’s another part of this story that deserves even more attention. And that is the quiet but rapid rise of BDE. Once dangling limp down in 7th place, BDE has firmed up into virile force that has penetrated into championship contention and could explode into a messy situation for all of us next week if a couple of other teams don’t use adequate protection. More on next week’s potential sticky situation in a moment, let’s first run through how everyone did last night…

The fifteenth week of Fall 2018 saw one team climb in the standings, while one team slipped. Monica Hufford picked up this week's high game (154) and series (444) for the women, while Aaron Barber earned this week's high game (231) and series (627) for the men. Meanwhile, Tournament of Champions is officially down to its final eight bowlers, who will face each other next week competing for two cash prizes! Read on for all the rest of the details!

The power of Aubrey's rolls sent at least two ceiling tiles crashing down.

First up, on lanes 3 & 4 1 & 2: We Don't Give a Split found their destiny gripped in the icy hands of 8 Balls. Despite Aubrey Moren leading his team with a 511 series that literally brought the house down, Split Not Given accomplished only 1 win against 8-Balls. On the other half of the score sheet, Matthew Taylor with his 560 series reigned supreme within 8-Balls as his team took the match with 3 wins. We Don't Give a Split drops 1 spot in the standings to 5th place, while 8-Balls remain in 2nd and will be one of the three championship contenders next week.

On lanes 5 & 6 3 & 4: After working out some problems with a bug in AMF’s scoring software, Open Frames R Us and Teeby Dee got to begin their battle . In spite of the leadership of Monica Hufford with her 444 series, Open Frames accomplished only 1 win against TBD. Curtis Whiles with his 438 series drew the spotlight of TBD as his team took the match with 3 wins. Open Frames R Us remains in 7th place, while TBD remains in 6th.

On lanes 7 & 8 5 & 6: Bowling For Beers attempted to make life difficult for Red Strikes Matter. Instead they lost the first two games and seem destined to get swept. But then tragedy struck: the bowling alley ran out of beer and BFB sobered up. This unexpected sobriety helped Jeremy Varnell with his above-average 482 series lead Beers to a single game 3 win against Red Strikes. Simultaneously, Sean Miller with his better-than-normal 511 series motivated Red Strikes as his team took the match with 3 wins. Bowling For Beers remains in 9th place, while Red Strikes remain in 1st and will have to work a little harder next week if they want to keep it that way.

On lanes 9 & 10 7 & 8: With closely-matched team strength, BDE continued rubbing out victories against Gucci Lane. Strengthened by Jeremy Cline with his 503 series, BDE sported an impressive package of 3 wins against Gucci. Brian Orrick with his better-than-normal 411 series commanded Gucci despite his team notching only a single win. BDE remains in 3rd place and now can potentially cause an upset to win the championship if they can keep it up to shoot off a full wad of wins next week. Gucci remains in 8th.

Finally, down on lanes 11 & 12 9 & 10: In a rather lopsided matchup, the no-longer-defending last-season champs Serious Bowlers faced off against the forfeiting Bowl Movements. Headlined by #1 Power Ranked and #1 Head-to-Head Aaron Barber and his above-average 627 series, with kudos to Most Valuable Bowler Seth Gunderson, Serious Bowlerss collected 3 wins against a total lack of BMs. With BMs forfeiting, all Serious Bs needed to do was roll within 40 pins of their combined team average each game. But that's just not quite how things went. Though it didn’t matter, as once BDE took their series tonight, Serious Bowlers became mathematically eliminated from any chance to reclaim their title. Serious Bowlers climb 1 spot in the standings to 4th place, while BMs remain in 10th.

With all that said, three teams remain in contention for the championship next week: Red Strikes Matter, 8 Balls, and BDE. Red Strikes must win 2 to take the championship outright, and 8 Balls must sweep to do so. And BDE must sweep against Serious Bowlers to remain a contender. If Red Strikes go 1-3 against 8 Balls (which is the most likely outcome based upon their history rolling against each other), there will be an additional game rolled at the end of the series to break the tie. But there is a wrinkle to this. If Red Strikes win only 1 game against 8 Balls and BDE can keep it up to sweep Serious Bowlers, there will be a three-way tie of 41-23 win-loss records. Breaking a three-way tie requires rolling an entire bonus series across four lanes, with each team switching lanes in-between games. We are still trying to wrap our heads around the logistics of how this will work, but we will have it figured out by next week just in case it comes to it!

Bowlers who crashed the party at The 200 Club include: Aaron Barber (231,223), Aubrey Moren (219), and Michael Gordon (203)

In this week's Tournament of Champions brackets: Matthew Taylor routed Division 1, while AJ Hofmann staked a claim for the Iron Throne in Division 2. Nobody claimed victory in Division 3, and in fact we aren't even going to talk about Division 3 as it was a complete embarassment, and JoAnne Barber vanquished Division 4. Finally, Pat Hamell (Division 4) crushed this week's Interdivisional bracket. Congratulations to our division champions! The following eight people will compete next week for the big prize! Division 1: Matthew Taylor and Jeremy Cline. Division 2: Aubrey Moren and AJ Hofmann. Division 3: Dennis Laube and Neil Hufford. Division 4: Chuck Kissee and Emily Nicolet.

Only two weeks of bowling remain, but next week is the last week that counts for points and prize money. So keep that in mind, even if you aren’t a contender for the crown, every win you get next week is a little more money coming your way the following week!

The Spring 2019 season will begin on January 22, and we will start accepting sign-ups this coming Tuesday. For the newcomers: this will be an entirely new session, so teams are not required to remain intact. This is your chance to be drafted onto another team or bring in some friends who didn’t get to bowl this last time.

NEXT WEEK:

• First, on lanes 3&4, 1st-place Red Strikes Matter (hcp 65) will share a couple of pitchers with 2nd-place 8 Balls. Red Strikes are expected to maintain their current strength as they get swept; while 8-Balls are forecast to hold steady as they rack up a sweep.
• Moving to lanes 5&6, 3rd-place BDE (hcp 69) will battle 4th-place Serious Bowlers. BDE might roll a little low and get swept; while Serious Bs ought to raise their average while they rack up a sweep.
• Then, over on lanes 7&8, 5th-place We Don't Give a Split will meet with 6th-place Teeby Dee (hcp 71). Split Not Given will likely maintain their current strength as they just barely lose the series; while TBD will probably raise their average while they enjoy their victories.
• Next up, on lanes 9&10, 7th-place Open Frames R Us (hcp 10) will socialize with 8th-place Gucci Lane. Open Frames might maintain their current strength as they win the series; while Gucci ought to hold steady as they avoid getting swept.
• Finally, on lanes 11&12, 9th-place Bowling For Beers will compete against 10th-place Bowl Movements (hcp 16). Beers are predicted to roll a little low and lose the series but avoid getting swept; while BMs are anticipated to hold steady as they enjoy their victories.

^*(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 Seth Gunderson Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Aaron Barber Runner Up: Jeremy Varnell	#1 H2H BOWLER Aaron Barber Runner Up: AJ Hofmann
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Because a little fore-play stimulates BDE to roll longer and harder than any opponent who tries to beat us off." Jeremy Cline, on why he has pre-bowled several times this season.