Six weeks ago, seven teams embarked on a journey to take the title in the VML Bowling League. With the midway point quickly approaching, four of those teams seem to be distancing themselves from the rest of the pack en route to what should be an exciting position round on October 12th. While there was no change whatsoever in the top four spots on the standings, the gap between first place has been narrowed even more. Want to know how everyone did? Well, read on...When will someone be nice to the monkeys?!? You certainly can't count on Ground Zero Mosque to do so, at least not this week. Facing the 7th place Feed the Monkey team, the Zeroes wasted no time in dishing out a 4-0 beat down over their competition. Led by anchor Jason Carpio's 516 series, the Zeroes remain in the hunt by improving their record to 16-8 for the season while remaining in 3rd place. The Monkeys, once again led by Chris Able – who booked a 458 series for the night – came up short and continue to hold the league's worst record at 1-23. Things look brighter next week for the Monkeys as they face everyone's favorite competitors, Ray & Stevie.Electing to post-bowl for their second and final time this season was Kitten Mittons, whose scores ended up as we predicted. Winning all four against the blind team, the Mittons – led by anchor Nick Allegri's 474 series – easily earned their four wins and remain in 4th place with a record of 16-8.Down on lanes #19 & 20, the Pin Pricks faced opponents Drink and Hurl for the first time this season. With each game coming down to the wire, the Pricks managed to get the best of the Hurlers when it counted the most. Leading the team this week was anchor Ken M. Wilson, who ended his night with a 622 series (shut up, Ian!) and earned Most Valuable Bowler honors as well as the #1 Power Ranking spot for Week #6 for his performance. The Pricks improve to 18-6 and are now one game back from first place. The Hurlers, who were led by lead off bowler Jake Parrott and his 433 series, came up short and remain in 6th place with a record of 11-13. Everyone will hear the old phrase "every pin counts!" at least once in their lives as a member of any bowling league. Such was the case for league leaders No Pinheads as they narrowly took a 3-1 matchup victory over opponents Bowl Movement Tuesday night. After emphatically taking Game #1, the second game down to the wire and was decided by a mere 2 pins. Bowl Movement was able to continue their momentum in Game #3 – mainly due to a 470 series performance from Brian Cunningham – to steal the victory and improve their record to 12-12 on the season. The Pinheads were led by Phil Schroeder, who rolled a 526 series. The Pinheads remain atop the league standings while Bowl Movement remains in 5th place. Bowlers slipping into The 200 Club this week include: Carl Goetz (208, 204), David Codding, (214, 217), Ken M. Wilson (215, 213) and Phil Schroeder (201).For the full results of this week, please check out Season 22, Week 6.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Ken M. Wilson Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Ken Wilson Runner Up: David Codding	#1 H2H BOWLER Ken M. Wilson Runner Up: Phil Schroeder
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Talk about an aptly named team...'specially that tall guy." Aaron Chandler, after falling 0-4 to the Pin Pricks.

If historians ever study the 22nd season of the VML Bowling League and look for the week in which the tables turned the most, we predict that it will be Week #5. Of course, we'd all wonder why the hell they are studying our bowling league in the first place but one never truly knows. Regardless, Week #5 was the week in which the first place teams massive win streak was ended and when the standings were tightened quite a bit. A mere five games now separate six of the eight teams in the league. Want to know how things shook out? Well, read on...Having warned No Pinheads last week that they would end their win streak, the Pin Pricks looked as if they were going to have to eat their words. Instead, at the hands of this week's #1 Power Bowler Carl Goetz, the Pricks stood true to their word. Led by Carl's 680 series, the Pricks took a 3-1 matchup victory over the current league leaders. The Pinheads' anchor Freda Schroeder put up the top series for her team – a 495 – but it was only good enough for the Game #1 victory. The Pinheads streak ends at 12 games but not before amassing the season's best record at 16-4. The Pricks remain in second place, trailing behind by two games.After adding only one win to their record last week, Bowl Movement stormed back Tuesday night with a 3-1 matchup victory over opponents Drink and Hurl. Game #3 was settled by a mere 11 pins in favor of the Hurlers, compliments of a 420 series out of Aaron Chandler. But it was the 469 series from Brian Cunningham that pushed his Bowl Movement teammates into the victor's circle. Movement improves to 11-9 on the season and find themselves in 5th place, barely inching Drink and Hurl in the standings due to total pins. A mere three bowlers rolled on Lanes 19 & 20 in the first meeting between Ground Zero Mosque and the team blinded since birth – Ray & Stevie. Amazingly, Game #1 found the Mosque letting the victory against themselves slip away. Derrick Grimpo, however, turned the tide for his team and brought them back for a 3-1 series win with his 418 series. The Mosque move up one spot into 3rd place while the memberless blind team remains in 8th place.Make no doubt about it, Kitten Mittons is on a roll. With only two bowlers showing up, the team managed the only 4-0 clean sweep on the lanes last night while facing opponents Feed the Monkey. Led by this week's Most Valuable Bowler Kelly Sands and his 491 series, the Mittons jump two spots up into 4th place. Coming very, very close to reversing their fortunes in Game #2 (which ended in a 3-pin loss), the Monkeys continue to seek out their second victory of the season. Chris Able continues to put up the largest numbers for the Feeders, ending his night with a 448 series. Feed the Monkey remains in 7th place.Bowlers spied busting a move this week in The 200 Club include: Carl Goetz (214, 242, 224), Freda Schroeder (214) and Ken M. Wilson (202, 240).For the full results of this week, please check out Season 22, Week 5.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Kelly Sands Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Carl Goetz Runner Up: Ken Wilson	#1 H2H BOWLER Carl Goetz Runner Up: Brian Cunningham
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Come on, Winger...bowl higher than the number of candles on your last birthday cake!" Jerry Krall, to teammate Dave Winger when Game #3 was on the line.

Week #4 is now just a memory as the 28 members of the VML Bowling League have logged their scores into the history books. While the bowlers of No Pinheads continue to add to their impressive record, the rest of the league continues to beat up on one another in an effort to topple the current league leaders. How did your favorite team fare this week? Read on, my good friend, and find out...They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Such may be the case for Ground Zero Mosque who welcomed back anchor Jason Carpio with open arms after a 2-week absence. Carpio, putting up a 509 series, reversed the fortunes of his team while securing a 3-1 victory over opponents Bowl Movement. Managing to save her team from getting blanked, Jessica Thomas of the Movement put up a team-leading 375 series just in the nick of time to take Game #3 by a margin of nine pins. The lone win drops the Movement two spots into 5th place while the members of the Mosque hold steady in 4th place.Pushing their current win streak to 11 games, everything seems to be coming up roses for No Pinheads. With an impressive 579 series from lead off bowler Aubrey Moren (who was also #1 in this week's Power Ranking), the Pinheads denied this season's underdogs – Feed the Monkey – from doubling their win record. Adding four more notches to their win column, the Pinheads are off to a 15-1 start and currently dominate the league standings. The Monkeys, led by Chris Massey's 358 series, end their first month in the league with the opposite record of 1-15 in 8th place.After losing Game #1 by two hundred pins, this week's Most Valuable Bowler sprung into action. Kitten Mittons' very own Alison Radke decided that enough was enough and put on the performance of her career. Rolling both her personal best highest game and highest series ever, Radke's scores – combined with a team-leading 468 series from teammate Kelly Sands – dashed any hopes of the Pin Pricks gaining any ground in the league standings. Despite a 632 series out of the Prick's Ian Goetz, the team never recovered after their Game #1 victory and split the series at two games apiece. While the Pricks remain in 2nd place, the Mittons slip one spot into 6th place. What do you call a team that would pick on the blind? Drink and Hurl, that's what. Facing the eternally-sightless team Ray & Stevie, the Hurlers wasted no time in adding four more wins to their season's record. With lead off bowler Jake Parrott hoisting a team-leading 426 series, Drink and Hurl improved to a 10-6 record and vaulted from sixth place into 3rd. Bowlers cursing the names of their fellow competitors this week in The 200 Club include: Aubrey Moren (212), Carl Goetz (233), Dennis "Pops" Laube (206) and Ian Goetz (236, 200).For the full results of this week, please check out Season 22, Week 4.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Alison Radke Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Aubrey Moren Runner Up: Ian Goetz	#1 H2H BOWLER Aubrey Moren Runner Up: Ian Goetz
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Damn. I haven't been spanked this hard by an old person since I set the living room rug on fire as a child." Emily Podhajsky, after her team fell 0-4 to the members of No Pinheads.

Week #3 of 17 is officially history now and with it came some surprises. While more than half the league changed places in the standings, No Pinheads continues to rack up victories and mow down anyone they face. How long can they remain at the top of the heap? Only time will tell. With the newly launched Power Rankings feature in place, one bowler has taken both MVB and the #1 Power Ranking for the week. Here's how the night went down...After completing their post-bowling on Friday afternoon, the results from the matchup between Drink & Hurl and Kitten Mittons could be calculated. After taking Games #1 and #2, the Kittens' quest for a sweep was halted dead in its tracks by a surging Drink & Hurl comeback. Led by Aaron Chandler's 358 series, the Hurlers were able to tie the series up at two games apiece. Mittons was led by anchor Nick Allegri, who hoisted a 499 series for his team. The tied series also results in the teams tying with a 6-6 record overall, but due to total pins the standings find Kitten Mittons (5th place) just above Drink & Hurl (6th place). After taking a swift kick to the nads last week, the men of Pin Pricks bounced back with a 4-0 victory over hapless Ray & Stevie. Leading the charge was big man David Codding whose team-leading 603 series is the first of the season to crest the 600+ mark but also pushes him to the #1 cumulative spot on the Power Rankings. The victories push the Pricks back up into 2nd place with a record of 9-3. It looks like it may take more than just prayer to help Ground Zero Mosques ascend to a higher spot in the standings...especially after they ran head first into the league's leading team, No Pinheads. Increasing their win-streak to seven games now, the Pinheads trounced Ground Zero four games to nothing on Lanes 19 & 20. Putting up the top numbers for the Pinheads was Dennis "Pops" Laube, who ended his evening with a 517 series. On the losing side, fill-in anchor Scott Murdock tried his best to stop the competition with his 506 series but it just wasn't enough. Will Jason Carpio ever return and help his team out? The members of No Pinheads don't care as they remain in first place. Ground Zero does a nose dive into fourth.Seven days prior, the men of Bowl Movement shamefully lost two games to the blind team. This week, however? Brian Cunningham responded in a big way. Leading his team with a 483 series, Cunningham not only helped his team earn a clean sweep over competitors Feed the Monkey but also landed this week's Most Valuable Bowler honors. Brian also sits atop this week's Individual Power Ranking listing. The wins temporarily propel the Movement into 3rd place, depending on the outcome of the post-bowling scores matchup. Feed the Monkey, led this week by Chris Able and his 379 series, continue to double their wins in 8th place.Bowlers making their way into The 200 Club this week include: Carl Goetz (205), Ian Goetz (204, 210), Aubrey Moren (218) and Ken M. Wilson (233).For the full results of this week, please check out Season 22, Week 3.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Brian Cunningham Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Brian Cunningham Runner Up: Ian Goetz	#1 H2H BOWLER Ian Goetz Runner Up: Phil Schroeder
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Man, I knew Scoot let's down everyone at work...but on the lanes as well? Damn. Jake Parrott, after watching Scott Murdock dash his team's chances at a victory in Game #3.

With nearly every bowler having six games under their belt after two weeks, the VML Bowling League is off and running. Historically, the second week of every league is each individual bowler's moment to shine – they are either dealing with an over-inflated average from the previous week and on a mission to prove that they can maintain it or they are on the opposite side, and facing an opportunity to really bring the heat after a sub-par performance seven days prior. The teams that found themselves on the positive side of that equation rose while the teams that weren't floundered. Want to know how your favorite team did on Tuesday? Well, you've come to the right place...Having declared war on the blind, the members of Bowl Movement found themselves bowling the league's favorite team of missing bowlers – Ray & Stevie. Now, according to league rules, when facing a team of all blinds a team merely has to bowl within 10 pins times the number of bowlers on the team (so, in this case, 40 pins) of their team average. In other words, it's like Friday night for most preteen boys...they just have to beat themselves. Unfortunately for the Movement, this task proved rather difficult. Led by Jerry Krall and his 394 series, the team only managed to add two notches into their win column. Their 3-5 record drops them into 6th place while Ray continues to look for answers in 8th.Starting off a season with a sweep is a tough feat to accomplish. Staying perfect for two weeks in a row is almost unheard of (I said "almost"). Had it not been for an incredible Game #1 from Nick Allegri and his Kitten Mittons, the now-1st place No Pinheads would have done it. Allegri's team-leading 498 series was enough to end the Pinhead's perfect start. Dennis "Pops" Laube put up a 458 series for the Pinheads to reverse the tide and bring the rest of the victories over to his side. With a 7-1 record, No Pinheads sits atop the league standings all by themselves while the Mittons take their 4-4 record into 5th place.Talk about bringing in the right person at the right time. After missing the initial week of bowling, new recruit  Teresa "T" Deterding brought the necessary oomph (a 372 series) to Drink and Hurl to help her team secure a 3-1 victory over opponents Feed the Monkey. The Monkeys, who were once again led by Chris Able and his 416 series, did manage to eek out one narrow win at start but remain in 7th place. The Hurlers, however, improve their record to 4-4 and slide up to 5th place.Also attempting to remain perfect after two week were the cocky bowlers of Pin Pricks. Unfortunately for them, however, they ran into AJ Hofmann and  Derrick Grimpo of the Ground Zero Mosque. Grimpo, who set an average of 119 last week, shot a 504 series en route to securing a 3-1 matchup victory over last season's champions, while Hofmann's similar performance barely edged him out over Grimpo for this week's Most Valuable Bowler award.  Leading the charge for the Pricks was the tallest Prick, David Codding, who shot a 566 series but could only manage one win for the night. While Ground Zero moves up into 2nd place with a record of 6-2, the Pricks go limp and slip into 3rd with a record of 5-3.Bowlers making their way into The 200 Club this week were: Nick Allegri (212), Ian Goetz (201), David Codding (208, 205) and Ken M. Wilson (225).For the full results of this week, please check out Season 22, Week 2.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB AJ Hofmann Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Derrick Grimpo Runner Up: Ken Wilson	#1 H2H BOWLER Derrick Grimpo Runner Up: Scott Murdock
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Oh, nice. You've put a gigantic wet spot on Ian." Melissa Wilson, upon seeing Ken wiping his sweaty forehead on Ian's back.

Week 1 is now officially in the books. With solid debuts from veterans and rookies alike, this season promises to be an interesting one as seven teams (and one blind team) battle for supremacy to take home the title in December. Two teams of old timers even kicked off their seasons with perfect 4-0 records – an accomplishment that has only happened a handful of times in the league's 10-year history. Want to see how your favorite team fared? Well, you've come to the right place...Before we get started we'd like to officially welcome and recognize the rookies that made their debuts Tuesday night: Aaron Chandler, Brian Cunningham, Chris Able, Chris Massey, Jake Parrott, Jessica Thomas, Rick Heckadon and Sarah Manning. Thanks for joining the league!In the first matchup, returning champion Carl Goetz of the aptly-named Pin Pricks set the pace for his team's night against opponents Feed the Monkey. Putting up a 569 series, Goetz led his team to a rare 4-0 first night series win. With a strong rookie debut out of Monkey Chris Able and his team-leading 425 series, the team finds themselves with no place to go but up . The outcome of the matchup propels the Pricks into first place due to total pins and cages the Monkeys into 8th. Two lanes down, the embattled members of the Ground Zero Mosque faced the debuting members of Drink and Hurl. Starting his season off with one of the league's two 200+ games rolled last night, the Mosque's Jason Carpio put up a 506 series en route to a 3-1 matchup victory against the competition, Drink and Hurl. Made up of four brand new bowlers to the league, Hurl got the best output via lead off bowler Jake Parrott. Parrott, starting the season off with his new personal best high game (a 179), put up a 394 series and helped secure the team's lone victory. The outcome between these two teams finds the Ground Zero Mosque erected in 4th place while Drink and Hurl has a chaser in 6th.Down on lanes 19 & 20, the sunny team Kitten Mittons met up with four people taking a Bowl Movement. Apparently beginning to figure out his new bowling ball, the Kitten's Nick Allegri came out firing with a team-leading 515 series to earn his team three notches in the win column. The Movement, led by last-second replacement Jessica Thomas and her 409 series, managed to poke its head out just in time to win Game #3 and avoiding the sweep. The Mittons, after Week 1, find themselves sitting in 3rd place with their 3-1 record while the Bowl Movement floats in 5th with the opposite record.The final face-off of the night was a fast and furious fete for No Pinheads who found themselves facing the team devoid of any actual bowlers, aka Ray & Stevie. Putting on this weeks' Most Valuable Bowler performance was lead off bowler Aubrey Moren who, coupled with the team's high 495 series from anchor Freda Schroeder, managed to secure a first week sweep and move into 2nd place. Hapless (and memberless) Ray & Stevie see their way to 7th. The only bowlers making their way into The 200 Club this week include: Carl Goetz (223) and Jason Carpio (211). For the full results of this week, please check out Season 22, Week 1.See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Aubrey Moren Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Carl Goetz Runner Up: Nick Allegri	#1 H2H BOWLER David Codding Runner Up: Ken M. Wilson
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Does this t-shirt idea for my team (the Ground Zero Mosque) make me a bad person?" Scott Murdock, upon showing a sketch of a bowling ball flying like an airplane into two Twin Towers looking bowling pins.

The 22nd season of the VML Bowling League officially begins tonight. With only seven teams signed up, this is the smallest crew we've had since the Fall 2002 season. The Finals are a full four months away. Which two teams will end up facing one another in the championship matchup? Rest assured, returning champions Ian Goetz, Carl Goetz and Ken M. Wilson will do their best to defend their crown and return to the Finals but with several brand new teams in the mix, it's anyone's guess as to who will emerge victorious. So, without further adieu, let's get this party started!Bowlers making their debut this season include Aaron Chandler, Ben Coffman, Brian Cunningham, Chris Able, Chris Massey, Jake Parrott, Rick Heckadon, Sarah Manning and Teresa Deterding. Welcome to the league, new blood! If you have any questions at all please drop Ken or Scoot a line.Now we know that there are several of you that will not be able to make it the first night. This is okay. It's better to miss now than later on in the season when your team will need you. In the event that you cannot make it on a particular night, just alert your team captain or leave a note for Ken and/or Scoot. This way we can make sure that everything is taken care of on the administrative end.We hope that everyone has a fun time this season and good luck to everyone.

It is with great pleasure that we launch the new and vastly improved GutterAlley.com web site. After nearly seven years of faithful service, we've retired the old code in favor of a revised look and feel running on the WordPress engine. While there is still plenty of work to be done porting over code from the previous site, rest assured that we'll bring it all over while adding many new features as well. For those of you in the league this season, Ken and Scoot will be creating you accounts on the site very soon so that you can enjoy a more customized experience. And for those of you who are not in the league this time around – but have bowled in our league before – please contact Ken or Scoot and ask them to set you up with an account. Naturally, development will continue on as the season progresses bringing you the same level of statistics as you've enjoyed in the past. However, the use of Google Charts will make its way onto the site providing you with a deeper level of number crunching of how you're truly doing over the course of the season as well as throughout your career in our league. We plan to implement all of the data we have dating back to 2003 over time so that you can graph yourself – or others – until the cows come home.Many, many more features and enhancements will be added to the site as well but it's coming up on three o'clock in the morning and 'tis time to call it a night.We'll let you in on more as we progress.Stay tuned!