Surrounded by a steady stream of country music and an entire horde of cowboys and cowgirls, the bowlers of GutterAlley battled through the week before the Finals while a pony stood by the front door. Yes, an actual pony. You can't make this stuff up, folks...but it actually happened. Even though the drama surrounding who would win the title ended last week, teams continued to jockey for a better spot in the standings as every win means more money in the prize fund envelopes at the end of the season. Ready to find out how Week 15 went down? You're in the right place...In the initial showdown, Touch My Vlad came out firing against opponents SucmaBOWLS and easily took Game #1. After that, however, it was the Sucma show as Orion Kinkaid stormed back with a team-leading 433 series to reverse his teams fortunes and ultimately win the matchup 3-1. Vlad's Chris Able put up the top series for his team – a 429 – but only managed to secure the one win. The wins didn't boost either team out of their current spots as SucmaBOWLS holds onto 6th and Touch My Vlad remains in 8th place. After battling back after a disappointing first half of the season, No Pinheads came up short in their pre-Finals showdown against opponents Istanbowl Turkey in their effort to move up. Behind Angela Bradford's 542 series – and help from this week's Most Valuable Bowler Sabrina Gray – Istanbowl Turkey locked down Games #1 and #2 before falling in Game #3 but still held on for a total pins victory. Istanbowl's 3-1 matchup win keeps them in 3rd place with a chance to move up into second next week. The Pinhead's Aubrey Moren put up a 564 series to bring about his team's lone win and keeps them in 4th place. Both teams will face off once again in the Finals.The last time that Tonganoxie Doglift took on season champions S*I*C*K they battled them to a 2-2 standstill. History once again repeated itself as the men of Tonganoxie put on a clinic in Game #1 behind Russell Madsen's team leading 450 series to take a huge lead. S*I*C*K's Carl Goetz got his team back on track by throwing a 574 series to squeak by with a 3-pin win in Game #2 and an easy win in Game #3. The rout in the initial game was enough for Tonganoxie to hold on for the total pins victory. Both teams remain in their respective standings positions with S*I*C*K having wrapped up the season in 1st and Tonganoxie Doglift sitting in 7th place.The final matchup Tuesday night provided the lone sweep of the evening in favor of Dolls and Balls over opponents Eat Split and DI. With the team's namesake Ryan Doll leading the way with a 580 series – the highest of the evening and enough to land him #1 Power Ranked bowler honors – Dolls and Balls crushed Eat Split and DI to remain in 2nd place. Leadoff bowler Teresa Deterding wore the pants for Eat Split this week, ending her night with a team-leading 381 series but remaining in 5th place. This week's scores saw a larger group than normal hanging out in The 200 Club, including: Angela Bradford (226), Aubrey Moren (219), Bill Krejci (201), Carl Goetz (222), Ken M. Wilson (210) and Ryan Doll (219, 204).With this week's results, we now know the lineup for the Finals next week. For those of you that have never been in a Finals week it's exactly like the position round we had at the mid-point of our current season in which the team in 1st place takes on the team in 2nd place, 3rd will face off against 4th place, etc. Finals competitors:#1 S*I*C*K (44-16) vs. #2 Dolls and Balls (37.5-22.5)#3 Istanbowl Turkey (36-24) vs #4 No Pinheads (31.5-28.5)#5 Eat Split and DI (26-34) vs #6 SucmaBOWLS (25-35)#7 Tonganoxie Doglift (24-36) vs #8 Touch My Vlad (16-44)Possible outcomes: S*I*C*K will remain in 1st place regardless of the matchup outcome. Dolls and Balls could fall to 3rd place.Istanbowl Turkey could move as high as 2nd place but cannot fall any lower than 3rd place.No Pinheads, regardless of their matchup, will finish their season in 4th place.Eat Split and DI can finish no higher than 5th but could fall as far as 7th.SucmaBOWLS could move up into 5th place or fall to 7th.Tonganoxie Doglift has a chance to move up to 5th place but can finish no lower than 7th place.Touch My Vlad has 8th place wrapped up regardless of the outcome of their matchup.Predicting the actual outcome of the Finals is a tough business but Murdock the Kinda Good at Times decided to give it his best shot nonetheless. Peering into his crystal bowling ball, he was able to divine the following predictions: the matchup with S*I*C*K versus Dolls and Balls is predicted to end in a 2-2 split, the No Pinheads are expected to mop the floor against Istanbowl Turkey, Eat Split and DI are expected to take three games from SucmaBOWLS while Tonganoxie Doglift is expected to do the same against Touch My Vlad. Will all this come true? We'll find out very, very soon.Good luck to everyone next week.See you next Tuesday!
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#1 POWER BOWLER
Ryan Doll Runner Up: Aubrey Moren
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#1 H2H BOWLER
Ryan Doll Runner Up: Aubrey Moren
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FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE)
"So, how about letting me saddle you up and ride?"
Lawrence Prak, wondering if he had a chance with the pony stationed outside the front door.
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EXPANDED STANDINGS
Top Individual Achievements for Week 15
Lawrence… jump on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVMKQP0K3a0