For the second season in a row, a second place team made a shocking comeback at the last possible moment to steal the championship from the expected winner. And, the common element in both comebacks is Aaron Barber. Is he a good luck charm that teams will fight to recruit in the off-season? Bidding starts at $100, make checks payable to Scoot.

If you haven't done so already, please take a moment to vote for your end-of-season favorite bowlers & teams! Ballots are due by 5pm Monday.

On lanes 1 & 2: Holy Sandbaggers, Batman! were poised to take the belt, having held onto first place for the past 6 weeks. But NotContra apparently had other plans for the night. Led by Aubrey Moren and his 539 series, Holy Sandbaggers, Batman! managed only 1 win against NotContra. Meanwhile, led by Aaron Barber and his 545 series (or it might be more accurate to say "in spite of the 148 he rolled in game 3 that cost his team a sweep, came within 4 pins of costing himself victory in the Tournament of Champions, and late in the game appeared poised to possibly cost his team the title entirely" ), NotContra secured 3 wins. Holy Sandbaggers, Batman! drops 1 spot in the standings to 2nd place, while NotContra moves up 1 spot to 1st to claim the championship

This is the first championship title for rookie Nick Kinney, the second for Aaron Barber, and the fifth for Jonathan Vigliaturo. Seth Gunderson, however, becomes only the third person in league history to reach 10 titles. Congrats, guys!

On lanes 3 & 4: The Alt-Left is probably very relieved to finally be able to switch back to their right hands, though they'd probably have appreciated a slightly better final outcome against Mustache Cash Stash. But the one-two punch of Dennis Walling and his team-leading 575 series plus #1 Power Ranked AJ Hofmann setting a new personal best game for the second week in a row (a 215 this time) kept games 1 & 2 fully Stashed away. It was only when Lefty Carl Goetz (413 series) decided to roll his best left-handed game ever (193) as the final game of the season, that the Left manage to squeak in one win. Not enough to avoid a drop in the standings, but enough to avoid a sweep. (Carl's 193 was, incidentally, the 3rd best game among all five of this season's opposite-hand bowlers.) Mustache Cash Stash remains in 3rd place, while The Alt-Left drops 1 spot to 5th.

Why is AJ laughing? Film at eleven.

On lanes 5 & 6: The end of the season served as a mercy killing for Scott Murdock's 5-week-long below-average slump, dashing what had at the start of the slump been his best season ever by a significant margin. Fortunately his damage was not enough to keep Less Terra Bowl from earning a couple of wins from Brooklyn Strikers and gaining a spot in the standings. Led by Matthew Taylor and his 530 series, Less Terra Bowl split the series with Brooklyn Strikers. "Sub" Doug Bonney led the Strikers with an uncharacteristically off 467 series. Less Terra Bowl climbs 1 spot in the standings to 4th place, while Brooklyn Strikers ends in 6th.

On lanes 7 & 8: Roll, Drink, Repeat couldn't stop undressing with their eyes the members of Split It & Hit It, which Mark DeVoe and Dennis Blake found to be too creepy so they refused to bowl. Led by Sean Simmons and his 503 series, Roll, Drink, Repeat managed only 1 win against Split It & Hit It. Russell Bingham must have found the attention from the other team arousing inspiring, as his 569 series was his best for the season and led his team to three wins. Roll, Drink, Repeat ends in 7th place, while Split It & Hit It ends in 8th.

Finally, down on lanes 9 & 10: Bowl Yer Ballz Off celebrated their love of large, heavy balls with DB's Rusty Nuts. Led by Most Valuable Bowler Rob Kaszuba and his 506 series, Bowl Yer Ballz Off cupped 3 wins from DB's Rusty Nuts. Meanwhile, led by Josh Rothermel and his 418 series, DB's Rusty Nuts whipped out only 1 win. Bowl Yer Ballz Off ends in 9th place, while DB's Rusty Nuts ends in 10th.

After a hard fought season, the Tournament of Champions was won tonight by Aaron Barber (Division 1), with Sean Simmons (Division 2) landing in second place. Aaron will pocket the nice first-place pot, while Sean will take away the second-place pot. Congratulations!

(One more interesting things to note: Tonight's TOC championship included TWO ties that had to be settled via tiebreaker. Michael Gordon vs Carl Goetz in round 1, and Aaron Barber vs Freda Schroeder in round 2. We believe that is a first.)

Bowlers entering The 200 Club for the final time this season include: Aaron Barber (204), AJ Hofmann (215), Aubrey Moren (214), Dennis Walling (203,223), Michael Mead (202), and Russell Bingham (226)

NEXT WEEK WE BEGIN WITH A LEAGUE MEETING AT 6:30. Unless we notify otherwise, plan on gathering in the Finnigan's banquet hall like we did last season. (For those of you who are new or unfamiliar with the complete layout of the building: head to the snack bar and turn right just as you reach the seating area. There is a hallway leading back to the other side of the building. Take that until you reach another lobby, then turn left to find the banquet hall. NotContra will be running the awards presentation (as per our traditional punishment reward to championship teams), and we understand there will be A/V equipment involved. Come for the cash prizes and possibly some of Freda's famous peanut brittle, stay for the 9-pin tap bowling after!

THIS WEEK'S MVB Rob Kaszuba Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER AJ Hofmann Runner Up: Russell Bingham	#1 H2H BOWLER AJ Hofmann Runner Up: Russell Bingham
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "They'll be coming back later to pick up Freda, after we finish having our way with her team." Aaron Barber, as an ambulance sped by before bowling started.