The ninth installment of "The 11th Frame" features some interesting nuggets from our Top 25s collection, covering the accolades (and disappointments) of our current and not so-current league rollers.As mentioned already in this week's write-up – Steve Kiernan hoisted a huge series after having not been around the entire first half of the season while Cliff Barendsen got back to his MVB ways in an effort to turn his team's season around. Wondering what else happened that you probably didn't know about? In this special Hall of Fame edition, we'll look at things you might not have realized about this season's six nominees. Check this out:INDIVIDUALS:
| Bill goes up up and away | |
 Bill Krejci |
Bill has been rolling with us now for 12 years, starting out in Spring 2001 on the 9th-place team Pink Bunnies over at Northland Lanes. Bill ended that season with a 130 average and his team finished in 9th place out of 10 teams. How things have changed.
In the year that followed, Bill raised his average 30 pins, then raised it again another 20 a couple of years after that. Bill is already the 15th best bowler in league history, but with his current average pushing dangerously close to 200 he has the potential to jump to the #6 spot this season. (Assuming he doesn't miss more than twice the rest of the season so it will count!) Bill owns the highest position round performance and the 3rd highest series in league history, both set just last week. And he did all this with a used ball he picked up for $3 at a thrift store. |
| Props to Captain Seth | |
 Seth Gunderson |
Seth has also been rolling with us for 12 years, starting out in Spring 2001 as the lead-off bowler for the aforementioned Pink Bunnies. Though the bunny ears would be replaced with a tool belt after only one season, Seth has maintained the theme of using a prop with each team he has been on with the exception of the two 2011 seasons where he briefly slipped over to The Dark Side. His antics make whatever team he is on one of the league’s favorite to face season after season, and are also a major reason our league is the favorite among the bowling center’s staff.
Seth has raised his average 30 pins over the course of his career, is tied with Ken and Scoot for the most consecutive titles (4), and is 2nd only to Ken Wilson for total number of wins and runner-up nods for Captain of the Season. Seth’s 5 championships are the most earned among this season’s Hall of Fame candidates. |
| Carpio keeps 'em comin' | |
 Jason Carpio |
Carpio joined the league in Spring 2002 as the anchor of the 4th place Unabowlers. His debut score of 107 in that very first game might make it hard to believe that he would go on to roll the 4th highest game (286) and be tied for most MVBs in league history. Having raised his average more than 50 pins over the course of his career, Carpio is among the top bowlers in terms of 200+ games with 105 so far.
His biggest contribution to the league has been his recruiting efforts, bringing in more bowlers than anyone apart from the league’s founders. We have identified at least 15 people that he personally recruited and there are probably more, and several of those have gone on to become Hall of Fame eligible themselves. At least twice he has possibly saved the league from folding or scaling back by helping find enough bowlers to get us enough teams |
| D still dominates | |
 Demond Robinson |
Demond, or "Big D" as he was called, joined the league in Spring 2003 as a member of the championship team D-Day. Demond only got to roll with us for 5 seasons before moving to St. Louis, but during those 5 seasons he improved his game by about 20 pins and won the title 4 of those 5 seasons.
Though he hasn’t rolled with us in 7-1/2 years, Demond remains on 14 Top 25 Lists and is in the top 10 on 3 of those. The four teams he help lead to the championship remain on 6 of the team-related Top 25 lists, including the the best second-half win record in league history. Demond is best remembered for the tips and advice he willingly gave to help overs improve their game – advice that continues to be passed down (via Ken and Seth) to newer bowlers today. |
| Doll dials it up | |
 Ryan Doll |
Amusingly, Doll joined the league in Fall 2005 as a sub for what is by far the worst team the league has ever seen. The 475 series he rolled that night was more than enough to make him the best of the 9 different guys who rolled for that team throughout the course of the season. The following spring Doll joined a real team and, after a shaky start with a house ball, bought a real ball went on to become the league’s most improved bowler. He has been the overall most valuable bowler of the season 4 times, the most among this season’s candidates.
Doll is 2nd only to Don Glasscock as the best bowler to never win a championship, an oversight he is working very hard to correct this season. He also has the 3rd highest number of 200+ games, which is realistically as high as anyone in our league can get until Carl Goetz and Ken Wilson either retire or step in front of a bus. Doll has brought at least 8 new bowlers into the league, many of whom still bowl today. This puts him among the league’s top recruiters. |
| Pins kneel before Chorp | |
 Cory Chorpenning |
Cory joined us in Fall 2006 as a sub for the championship team Bowlkake2. He came out firing, setting a 181 average the first time he subbed and raising it to 188 the following week. Except for a hiccup in Fall 2012 after a 3-year break from bowling, Cory has maintained averages in the 180s thru low 200s for his entire career.
Cory has the 2nd highest lifetime average of anyone in the league (and the highest among anyone who has rolled 4 or more seasons), holds the record for most pins knocked down in a single season, and has the third highest game in league history (289). Seriously, if this guy rolled every season, he’d be the one everyone else would be terrified to bowl against. Off the lanes Cory is a class act --- willing to help others out. Back when Kendall Kukowski was in the league, Cory mentored him from being a mid-range bowler into the 12th best bowler the league has seen. Most recently he recognized Cliff Barendsen’s potential and straight up gave him one of his bowling balls. |
TEAMS:
| Back from the brink |
| Bill Krejci is currently enjoying his best season ever. However it was much earlier in his career that Bill helped rescue a team in trouble. In Spring 2003, Spanked was in dead last at the position round with an 8-24 win record. They turned it around in the second half, going 19-13. Though this would only be good enough for a 6th place finish, it lands as the best second-half comeback the league has ever seen. |
| Another big second half finish |
| Nominees Seth Gunderson and Demond Robinson share something in common with Hall of Famer Scott Murdock -- all three were members of the team with the best second-half win record in league history. The Fall 2004 Champions The Belt Strikes Back went 26-6 in the second half, better than any team has ever done since. |
| Bringing the pain |
| Between Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 Jason Carpio improved his game 27 pins, the 3rd-highest inter-season improvement in league history. Benefitting from this was the men of I'm Gonna Belt Ya, Sucka!, whose championship win was aided by Carpio's continuously-climbing performances that season. |
| It's important to read the rules |
| Sorry, Ryan Doll, but this is too funny to pass up! Back in Fall 2008, Is This Billable? was in a comfortable spot to end the season in 5th place out of 10 teams with a 36-28 record when their opponent failed to show up for the championship game. Instead, they became the only team in league history to get "swept" by a forfeiting team and ended with a 7th-place 32-32 record. How? Because they had not read rule 6B, which explains how forfeits are scored, so goofed off and rolled between their legs thinking any score would be a victory. Lesson learned, the team returned in Spring 2009 with a more appropriate name and a 3rd place finish. |
| Win big, win a lot |
| Finally, Cory Chorpenning's powerful Fall 2008 season (203 average!) led Ain't No Sh!t to some pretty amazing performances. First, the scratch score of 921 rolled in week 6 is the highest game and contributed to the 3rd-highest series (1st until this season, a record Cory helped break) ever rolled by a team of 4. In addition, their 21-game win streak is the second-longest win streak in league history. |
ODDITIES & STRAIGHT UP NUMBERS:
| Time to shame the nominees! |
| Now, just for fun, what are some accomplishments our Spring 2013 Hall of Fame nominees might be embarrassed about?
Bill: Should already be the the 7th best bowler in league history instead of the 15th due to his Fall 2012 performance, but he didn’t show up to bowl enough for it to legally count as a completed season. (Lowest game: 101) |
