The Fall 2012 season of GutterAlley kicked off Tuesday night – our 26th season! – with a full roster of 32 bowlers slated to do battle over the course of seventeen weeks in the quest to pull down the championship title. With this session made up of a lot of the seemingly eternal staples, several bowlers from seasons past made their return into the fold including: Andy McLeod (last seen Fall '06), Steve Kiernan (Fall '07), Cory Chorpenning (Spring '09), Pat Searcy (Fall '09), John Boren (Fall '09), and David Codding (Fall '10). Rounding out the league this time around are six new GutterAlley recruits making their debuts Tuesday night. A special welcome goes out to new bowlers Shane Daniel, Cliff Barendsen, Matt Bunyard, Mark DeVoe, Michael Smith, and Kent Schoonover. Let's get down to the nuts and bolts of Week 1, shall we?Reassembling the core of their Fall '09 team that went on to become the best team in league history, FTOP came out firing on almost all cylinders in their initial matchup against opponents Ballz Out. Led by anchor Ken M. Wilson and his 579 series, F nearly came away with a clean sweep but fell shy in Game #3 by nine pins...also due to anchor Ken M. Wilson. Ballz was led by rookie Cliff Barendsen, who ended his night with a 367 series. The 3-1 victory in favor of FTOP puts them into first while Ballz Out begins their run in 8th place.One pair of lanes down saw a union that has been a long time coming. For the first time in history, powerhouse bowlers and league legends Carl Goetz and Pat Searcy have joined up on the same team as the Mayan Apocalypse bringing doom to opponents Sexual Chocolate. With an impressive initial week, led by Searcy – this week's #1 Power Ranked bowler – and a stunning 184 average out of lead off bowler Scott Murdock (compliments of his 554 series, an all-time personal best for Scoot), the team notched a 3-1 matchup victory en route to a 2nd place start. Sexual Chocolate, led by anchor Jason Carpio and his 512 series, use their one win and total pins to grab 6th place.Back-to-back league champions Turkey Hunters faced awesomely named Bobby Belt and The Facebook Friends as they begin their quest for a third consecutive title. Amidst allegations of team-wide sandbagging, only Dennis "Pops" Laube didn't hold back to set a 179 average. Aubrey Moren's 541 series led the team as the Hunters kick off their season with a 3-1 win over The Belt. After promises of Ian Goetz subbing were dashed at the last minute, lead off bowler Jonathan Vigliaturo led Bobby Belt with a 494 series. With their respective notches in the win column, the Turkeys find themselves in 4th with Bobby Belt right behind them in 5th place.Down on Lanes 47 & 48, cool team shirt owners Split It and Hit It came out like gang busters to win Game #1 behind anchor Dennis Blake and his 485 series. After that, though, the Pocket Pounders found their stride and brought the pain. Led by Steve Kiernan and his 548 series, the Pounders reversed their fortunes to take the night 3-1 and start off in 3rd place. The single victory for Split It has the team making its league debut in 7th place.For those of you that bowled last season, you'll remember the Tournament of Champions. With 32 bowlers in this session, everyone will qualify into one of the four divisions to do battle with everyone else throughout the season. Initial seedings are currently up but, of course, nothing is set in stone until averages have been calculated following Week #3. If you would like to participate monetarily in the Tournament, just slip an additional $2 into the prize fund envelope next week and write your initials in the "TOC" column next to your name. The predictions for next week's matchups definitely look interesting. Bobby Belt is slated to sweep Split It and Hit It. The Turkey Hunters and Pocket Pounders are predicted to notch the first tie of the season, ending the night with the Pounders coming away with a 2.5-1.5 overall victory. Sexual Chocolate is apparently going to lay waste to Ballz Out in a 4-0 blowout while the Mayan Apocalypse is going to bring about the demise of FTOP 3-1. Will any of this come true? We'll just have to wait until next week to find out!See you next Tuesday!

THIS WEEK'S MVB No one Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Pat Searcy Runner Up: Ken Wilson	#1 H2H BOWLER Pat Searcy Runner Up: David Codding
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Thirty-two people on the league and 28 are men, three are women, and then Scoot? This season is a sausagefest." Ryan Doll, after taking inventory.

As summer winds down, the month of August has historically marked the return of the fall session of the VML Bowling League...and this one is no exception. Tuesday, August 28th will see the beginning of the 26th season. This season will feature five new recruits making their debut this season! A special welcome to rookies Shane Daniel, Cliff Barendsen, Matt Bunyard, Mark DeVoe, and Michael Smith. Several past bowlers who haven't been seen on the lanes in several years are also coming back into the fold for this go around, including: Andy McLeod (last seen Fall '06), Steve Kiernan (Fall '07), Cory Chorpenning (Spring '09), Pat Searcy (Fall '09), John Boren (Fall '09), and David Codding (Fall '10). Welcome back, gentlemen!START DATE: Tuesday, August 28th at 6:20PM (league bowling starts at 6:30 after ten minutes of practice)LOCATION: NKC Pro Bowl, 505 East 18th Avenue, North Kansas City, MO 64116. Anyone that has been in the league pretty much knows everything else that's about to be told but, just in case you are bored and/or need a refresher, here's the GutterAlley 101 so that you know what to expect in our league: Read the rest of this entry »

That's right, kiddies...it's almost time for the next session of the VML Bowling League to get underway.Here's the inside skinny:Starts: August 28th at 6:30pm (practice starting at 6:20)Ends: December 18th (total of 17 weeks)Cost: $14 per week, does NOT include the cost of rental shoes (full-time VMLers will tentatively pay only $8/week)Location: NKC Pro-BowlFor the full list, hit up http://www.gutteralley.com/recruitment/.See you next week!