It was the best of teams, it was the worst of teams, it was the age of strikes, it was the age of gutterballs, it was the epoch of skill, it was the epoch of dumb luck, it was the season of Wins, it was the season of Losses, it was the spring of spares, it was the winter of despairs, we knocked down every pin before us, we had no pins fall down before us, we were all going direct to first place, we were all going direct to dead last -- in short, the second half of the current season has polarized three teams each around two diametrically opposed goals.

One one side, we have the Winners. where Going, Going, BALD!, ChuckaScoot, and Glory Bowl are engaged in a finely-choreographed dance, orbiting around the end goal of First Place. And the other extreme we have Flamboyant Fluffykins, The Wally McWallingtons, and Splits & Giggles each doddering about and bobbing around the Last Place position, despite each team displaying their own weeks of brilliant bowling performance from time to time.

This week saw two teams climb in the standings, while three teams slipped. One bowler set a new personal best series, and one rolled new personal high game. JoAnne Barber picked up this week's high game (145) and series (389) for the women. As for the men, Carl Goetz snagged this week's high game with a 240, and high series was earned by Seth Gunderson with a 615. Read on for all the rest of the details!

First up, on lanes 1 & 2: We find a pairing of virtually equal strengths that got even more equalized after a last minute roster change, as The Wally McWallingtons traded splits and gutters with Flamboyant Fluffykins. Despite a show of strength by Scott Murdock with his 498 series, The McWallingtons got swept by Flamboyant. On the other half of the score sheet, Dustin Schmeltz with his better-than-normal 597 series laid down the law for Flamboyant as they swept the competition, aided in larger part by Brandon Martinez rolling his new personal best night fo at least the second time this season. The Wally McWallingtons drop 1 spot in the standings to 5th place, while Flamboyant jumps 2 spots to 4th.

On lanes 3 & 4: In a rather lopsided matchup, the mischievous ChuckaScoot made use of voodoo dolls resembling each member of the charming Glory Bowl. Despite the strength of #1 Power Ranked and #1 Head-to-Head Seth Gunderson and his above-average 615 series, Scoot Chuckers accomplished only 1 win against Glory. Among the other players in the match, Kent Harms with his 503 series oversaw Glory as his team took the match with 3 wins. ChuckaScoot drops 1 spot in the standings to 2nd place, while Glory remains in 3rd.

Finally, down on lanes 5 & 6: In a battle of good against evil, the swashbucklers of Splits & Giggles shared a platter of cheese sticks with the scoundrels of Going, Going, BALD!. The cheese sticks backfired. Despite being propelled by Jeremy Varnell with his 423 series, Giggles accomplished only 1 win against Baldness. Countering this, Most Valuable Bowler Ben Spencer and his better-than-normal 563 series commanded Baldness as his team took the match with 3 wins. Splits & Giggles drop 1 spot in the standings to 6th place, while Baldness move up 1 spot to 1st.

Bowlers lounging at The 200 Club include: Ben Spencer (212), Brett Affolter (210), Carl Goetz (240), Dennis Walling (203), Dustin Schmeltz (227), Jonathan Vigliaturo (222), and Seth Gunderson (204,208,203)

A new personal high game was set tonight by Brandon Martinez (166, previous best 157). In addition, a new personal best series was rolled by Brandon Martinez (417, previous best 407).

In this week's Tournament of Champions brackets: Seth Gunderson topped Division 1, while Dustin Schmeltz staked a claim for the Iron Throne in Division 2. Nobody claimed victory in Division 3, and in fact we aren't even going to talk about Division 3 as it was a complete embarassment, and Brandon Martinez trounced Division 4. In terms of overall points: Matthew Taylor leads Division 1; Dustin Schmeltz tops Division 2; JoAnne Barber holds the reins in Division 3; and Brandon Martinez runs the show in Division 4.

NEXT WEEK:

• First, on lanes 1&2, 2nd-place ChuckaScoot will match wits with 1st-place Going, Going, BALD! (hcp 31). Scoot Chuckers are expected to maintain their current strength as they lose the series but avoid getting swept; while Baldness are forecast to hold steady as they enjoy their victories.
• Moving to lanes 3&4, 4th-place Flamboyant Fluffykins will spend some quality time with 6th-place Splits & Giggles (hcp 10). Flamboyant might perform well and sweep the series; while Giggles ought to hold steady as they endure a rough night.
• Finally, on lanes 5&6, 5th-place The Wally McWallingtons will tussle with 3rd-place Glory Bowl (hcp 6). The McWallingtons are predicted to have a bit of an off night and lose the series but avoid getting swept; while Glory is anticipated to hold steady as they enjoy their victories.

^*(Remember, the predicted results above are based on mathematical extrapolations and can be changed by all sorts of factors. If you don't like how your team's results are predicted, you and your teammates have the power to prove the math wrong!)

THIS WEEK'S MVB Ben Spencer Runner Up: (See Posting)	#1 POWER BOWLER Seth Gunderson Runner Up: Dustin Schmeltz	#1 H2H BOWLER Seth Gunderson Runner Up: Dustin Schmeltz
FROM THE GUTTER (GUTTER QUOTE) "Hey, you guys wanna try some of this smoothie?" Dustin Schmeltz, seconds before creating a pink lake and then getting out the mop and bucket in an act that would come to foreshadow the mopping up of his competition that soon followed.