PENN LAW BOWLING CLUB |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Greetings League, It is with excitement, and a little bit of sadness, that I bring you the second-to-last bowling email of the year. This has been a fantastic year, dare I say “best-ever”, and I think that I speak for many of you when I say that I wish we had several more weeks remaining on our schedule. One thing I wanted to let you all know about is the summer leagues that Gehris offers. If you are interested, speak to Joe next week, and he’ll get you all of the necessary information. Here are a couple of things to remember for this week. Remember:
It is the 11th week of the season, and the championship is still not decided. There are four teams – Colors United!, Lingonberry Pancakes, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter and Molesh and the C-Notes, who still have a chance at winning the championship. Colors!, Molesh and the Pancakes are all dominated by departing 3Ls, for whom this represents their last chance at law school glory. Gutter is comprised of entirely 1Ls, who can hopefully keep their focus on the lanes, and not their looming final exams. There is one position, however, that is firmly settled: last. Does it come as any surprise that International Bowling Shoe is pulling up the rear? Although they are the best dressed team in the league, these girls have scored just 5 points since January. Ouch. With just 23 points on the season, it is believed that the Shoe has officially claimed the title as “Worst Team Ever.” Bravo! Two other positions seem safe, that of top individual male and female bowler. Brett Altman rebounded from a mid-season slump to solidify his grip on the top spot. Altman had to withstand several furious challenges from Jae Ahn, Brian Stevens and Neil Cavanaugh, but in the end, Altman’s experience and unhealthy obsession with bowling proved too much for the other bowlers. Altman’s path to the Penn Law Bowling Hall of Fame seems paved with lane oil, as Altman is graduating having been the league’s top bowler in all four of his semesters in the league. Equally impressive has been the career of Sarah Murray. With a 20-pin lead on her nearest competitor, it is safe to say that Murray will graduate as a two-time individual champion. This past week was particularly impressive, as Murray turned a renewed sense of vigor into scores of 169, 174 and 149 to easily claim the Bowler of the Week title. As if Murray’s three-game total is not enough, it is believed that this is the first time in league history that an individual score leader has been the Bowler of the Week. Because the BOTW award rewards improvement on previous score, it is difficult, if not near impossible, for the league leader to win this award. But, for Sarah, Impossible is Nothing! On the men’s side, Mike Scalzitti, Penn Class of 1985, claimed the Bowler of the Week title by bowling 36.7 pins above his average. Mike was hot from the beginning (always?), as he bowled two consecutive strikes during warm-ups to get his night going. He finished with games of 169, 135 and 195. It was a good thing that Mike was so on his game this week, because Brett Bush had one helluva night. Bush bowled 35.7 pins above his average and will be looking to repeat this performance when his team takes on 1-800 Bowl Law this week.Here is the season recap of the Bowler of the Week awards:
And now, the moment you have all been waiting for, THIS WEEK’S MATCH-UPS!!! [Note: there was a tie between the two teams immediately following Colors! in the standings, so we had to determine who would bowl against Colors! and who would bowl against Molesh. Joe, the guy who runs Gehris, said that the tiebreak used by all the leagues he runs is total season pinfall. Thus, when this tiebreak was applied to the league standings, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter had a total pinfall of 14,670 and Lingonberry Pancakes had a total pinfall of 17,900. Lingonberry bowls Colors!] Since I am in a very chart-oriented mood, here is a chart with the matchups for this week:
One thing for everyone to remember, though, is that the champion is determined by total season points, such that one of the teams bowling in the 3 v. 4 matchup could very well end up winning the title. Here’s a look at where everyone stands heading into the knock-down week:
Well, I think is is probably enough information for everyone to digest for one time. Get ready for an exciting week of bowling, and I can’t wait to see everyone at the lanes! Roll on. Hi league, I apologize for a second consecutive lackluster email. This time, I have a valid excuse – I was on the UVA softball trip and we were busy kicking ass and taking names last weekend! Two things: 1) this is the last week of regularly season schedule, with the next, and final week, being a knock-down week for the championship and 2) I have created a Facebook group for our bowling league, so if you are on Facebook and I haven’t invited you, send me a friend invitation, and I will invite you to the group. This week’s Bowlers of the Week: for the men, this was one of the closest battles of the year. Marc Weinroth (32.4) edged former flag football teammate Vandy (31.6) to claim this week’s free beer on the men’s side. For the women, Sam Braunstein (24.9) earned the free beer, which will come in handy for her team as they celebrate the 25th birthday of Taly Dvorkis. Happy birthday, Taly, and congrats to the bowlers of the week. The standings are posted below, and as you can tell, there is a tight race for the top spot. Some are speculating that Colors! is going to fold in the final two weeks, while others think that Gutter lacks the head-to-head stamina needed for a title. This really is a four-team race at the moment, and with two weeks left, the title is still up for grabs. Stay tuned… Roll on.
Greetings League, Sorry for the delay (again) in the bowling email. Couple of announcements: 1) we have THREE weeks of bowling left, which means that the last night of bowling is April 11th, 2) Mother, Jugs & Speed, because you won’t be winning the trophy again this semester, I need it back and 3) the final week of the season is going to be a knock-down week. This week’s Bowlers of the Week are: Lauren Gee (26.8) of International Bowling Shoe, who behind a 179 in her final game, just edged Paige Fleming’s (24.8) bid to become a back-to-back winner. On the men’s side, Andy Kostoulas of Pin Cites bowled 34.3 pins above his average to claim the BOTW crown. Enjoy the free beer this week! See you all tomorrow. Roll on.
Greetings League, After an admittedly weak recap email last week, here is some bowling talk to get you through what for some of has been a miserable Monday. I have used many basketball-related terms in this email in homage to what I consider the best four days of the year (Thursday – Sunday of the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament). Last week’s “Knock-down” format did not work entirely as intended, because the standings are almost as tight now as they were a week ago. So, the race for the championship is still anyone’s for the taking. I am happy to report that this week’s Bowler of the Week awards go to two of the veterans of the Penn Law Bowling League, and two individuals with whom I speak regularly about the league [note: both of these individuals have been known to send emails, at all hours of the night, inquiring about particular scores they’ve posted, or about when I will post the standings. Constantly.] But, it gives me great pleasure to award this week’s free beer to Jae “Comeback Kid” Ahn and Paige “Can I Be Bowler of the Week?” Fleming. It seems that this duo wants to finish their careers in style, and they can celebrate with free beer for their teams this week. The “It’s Worse Than Second Place, It’s the NIT” Award goes to Strike A Posner. Although they handily beat International Bowling Shoe to move into 16th place in the team standings, celebrating this kind of win is a little bit like finishing first in the loser’s bracket. It should be noted, however, that Posner started the season with two consecutive 0s and has now managed to move up three spots in the last two weeks. The “Over-rated!” Award goes to the Lingonberry Pancakes. After coming into Week 6 sitting atop the standings, there is trouble in the Pancake-camp. They have been swept in two of the last three weeks, and after the dismal individual performances last week, commentators (and the bowlers themselves) are unsure whether they can rebound. All expectations are off, though, because as a result of their 0 this week, the Pancakes are now in 7th place overall. Do they have enough to climb back towards the top? The “Diaper Dandy” Award is shared between I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter and Hell’s Satans. Both squads, comprised entirely of 1Ls, have been steadfast all season (neither team has been shut out). Team chemistry plays a huge part here, and if these two teams can keep up their momentum, they could square off to decide the championship in April. The “Kevin Durant” Award goes to Colors United! because this team will only go as far as the volatile Jae Ahn will take them. With Jae rolling with a hot hand right now, this team is going to be hard to beat coming down the stretch. When Ahn gets in the zone, lookout… The “Perennial Favorite” Award is shared by Molesh and the C-Notes and Mother, Jugs and Speed. The previous two champions squared off this week, with Molesh taking 8 of 11, but the matches were extremely close and hard fought. With Neil Cavanaugh challenging Brett Altman for the top individual spot in the league, Mother is going to be tough to beat. That being said, Molesh holds the head-to-head advantage. For these two squads, winning is old hat, so look for them both to be in contention until the very final week. The “Your Team Is On Probation” Award goes to International Bowling Shoe. Despite having the best uniforms in the league (only uniforms in the league?), excellent team chemistry and the uncanny ability to constantly be the last team to arrive at the lanes, this crew has had a tough time scoring points this year. In fact, Shoe has not tallied a point since Week 3. No, that is not a misprint. A match-up with the Shoe is like a #1 vs. #16 seed – it’s money in the bank. The “Bubble Teams” Award goes to Attractive Nuisance, Badicool, Pin Cites, Belles of the Ball and El Bowling Team. A win this week for any of these teams and they will still be in the championship hunt with several weeks to go. However, a loss will almost certainly knock these teams out of contention. With several 3L teams among the bunch, this is could very well represent their last shot at bowling glory… The “Bracket Buster” Award goes to Pinutive Damagers, who are nestled in 8th place, just 10 points back of the leaders. With a little luck (a la George Mason, 2006), the Damagers could make a run over the next month towards the title. They have stumbled a little bit in the last two weeks, but if they can respond and right their ship, the Damagers may surprise folks around the league by challenging for the trophy. Be sure to check out the website at http://www.law.upenn.edu/groups/bowling/index.html. The site will be updated by tomorrow morning. Roll on.
Greetings league, This past week was the mid-way point for the season, and after a complete shake-up atop the standings, the championship is anyone’s for the taking. We have one more week before Spring Break, and once we get back from break, we’ll have four weeks left. Week 7 (first week after break) will be a knock-down week with a twist, then we’ll have two regularly scheduled match-ups before the championship week during the last week. As of right now, we have an 11th week scheduled (April 11th), where we are going to have a special treat for all of you. Stay tuned. There is one housekeeping item I want to address because many of you have mentioned this to me. The schedule is randomly computerized by Joe (employee at Gehris) at the start of the semester, and thus, I do not set the match-ups. I realize that many of you have bowled the same teams twice already this semester (as a result of the knock-down weeks) and unfortunately I can’t do anything about this. What we are going to do, though, is change the schedule next year from a single semester format to a year-round format, so that aside from knock-down weeks, you will never bowl the same team twice in a year. This doesn’t help the 3Ls, but for everyone else, this problem will be taken care of for next year. Heading into this week, it looked as though some perennial league powers were running away with the championship chase. No longer true. Two of the top three teams, Lingonberry Pancakes and Molesh and the C-Notes were each swept by worthier opponents, and as a result, the leader board is now a jumbled mess. There are 10 teams within 11 points of the lead, an astounding number this late into the season. Will the 1L powers I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter or Pinutive Damagers hold onto the top two spots? Do league veterans Belles of the Balls have enough left in the tank to win the title? Can El Bowling Team overcome the natural handicap of their name to be a contender? Stay tuned for the stretch run… Several individuals really stood out this week – some for how well they bowled, and others for their underachievement. On the men’s side, Haben Tesfai rolled a solid 29.6 pins above his average, a score that included a personal season best game of 192. Just behind Haben in the running for BOTW were Matt Meyerhofer (28.3) and Marc Weinroth (25.3). Not coincidentally, each of these bowler’s teams swept all 11 points from their opponents. On the women’s side, Becky Crouse was simply out of her mind, rolling 40.6 pins above her season average. She posted a season-high game of 162 in helping her team to a split with Circuit Split. Just behind Becky was Angie Stoner (29.6) who in any other week would have been the BOTW. Trailing Angie was Sarah Phillips, who aside from rolling 24.7 pins above her average posted the season high game for all females with a 189 in the third game. Way to go Sarah. Many of you will be shocked at the next award, the “Worst Bowler of the Week Award.” It pains me deeply to give this week’s award to my teammate, friend, and now #2 overall bowler in the league, none other than Brett Altman. Brett struggled to find his form, ultimately bowling 28.2 pins below his season average. Sources tell me that Mr. Altman was spotted at Gehris this weekend, critiquing his stroke so that he can regain his top spot in the individual standings. This week’s movers and shakers:
That’s all for now. Stay dry and see you all Wednesday. Roll on.
Greetings League, Well, the knock-down week had its desired effect, as the pretenders fell by the wayside and the serious championship contenders stepped to the forefront. However, with at least two more knockdown weeks planned for the semester, the standings are far from settled. Make sure to check out the standings at: http://www.law.upenn.edu/groups/bowling/index.html Just a reminder, we HAVE bowling next Wednesday, Valentine’s Day. Feel free to bring that special someone to the lanes and have them cheer you on. What is more romantic than the stale beer and cigarette smell of Gheris? The “All Estrogen” battle on lanes 3 and 4 held up to its billing. All three games were decided by less than 30 pins, and the Gutter Cats emerged victorious by a score of 8 to 3. After taking the first game behind a 141 from Karina Yamada, the Gutter Cats fell in the second game when Strike A Posner rallied with a complete team effort. There was no margin for error in the final game, as this epic was decided by just 4 pins in favor of the Gutter Cats. A match-up that did not quite live up to its billing was the showdown between Attractive Nuisance and Circuit Split. Despite a handicap difference of just 4 pins, AN was in command from the beginning, taking the first two games with ease. Justin Pauls put an exclamation point on the victory in game 2, bowling the high game of the night at 217. Nuisance almost surely would have walked away with a clean sweep if veteran Dylan Brown had held up his end of the bargain; instead, Dylan bowled a 99 and Nuisance lost by 11. So it goes… One of the best individual performances of the evening came from rookie Andy Cohen of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter, who continues his meteoric rise up the standings. Cohen, with his teammates all consistently bowling below their averages, carried Gutter in their game 2 victory over Lingonberry Pancakes, going head-to-head with virtuoso Brett Altman in the final frame. Needing a strike to clinch victory, Cohen responded with a 9. Thus, Altman was left with the unenviable task of having to strike to tie. Altman recorded a 9, and Gutter took the second game from Lingonberry. However, that was all the scoring for Gutter, as the Pancakes rode their 8 points to the top of the standings. The worst collective performance of the night absolutely goes to International Bowling Shoe. This team came into the night in sixth place, battling Molesh and the C-Notes for bragging rights. Well, Shoe laid a complete egg, losing all 11 points in embarrassing fashion. The victory propelled Molesh into the third spot in the league, just 4 points behind the Pancakes, while Shoe fell into the abyss, going from 6th place to 13th place. Just to spice up the statistical process that happens each week, I am adding a new award that will be handed out each week from now on. This is a combined award, meaning that there will only be one recipient, and will not be divided according to sex. Presenting, for the first time, the….Worst Bowler of the Week Award! The first ever winner is Mike Stafford (a.k.a. Baker) of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter. The towering lefty had an abysmal night, bowling 28.2 pins below his average, and this was a deficit his team could not recover from. Were it not for the previously mentioned exploits of Andy Cohen, Gutter would have surely been shut out. Now, for the nice awards:
See you all next week.
Greetings League, With the temperature outside dipping into the 20s, here is some bowling love to warm your belly. Many teams were animated, and there were even reports that some bowlers went to the Bards after leaving the lanes – an old tradition being resuscitated. The only bit of logistical information that I have for you this week is that next week will be our first Roll Off week! That means that next week, #1 will bowl against #2, and so forth down the list. Big week, don’t miss! I lament to inform the league that despite my best efforts to the contrary, there are individual bowlers who just refuse to abide by the league rules (for those needing a refresher: http://www.law.upenn.edu/groups/bowling/). Honestly, Amit, what were you thinking bringing a book to the lanes last night? For one, let me remind you that you are a 3L. Second, and more importantly, you were reading for Justice and Fiction. That is simply unforgivable. We would also like to welcome back Sarah Murray, who after suffering a very serious concussion last month, has made a full recovery and is once again claiming her place as the best female bowler in the league. In the Bowler of the Week news, nepotism strikes again! My lovely fiancée, Stacy Sher, is the female bowler of the week, after rolling 31.7 pins above her season average behind games of 150, 133 and 130. Right on Stacy’s heels was up-and-comer Elnaz Farnam, who was 28.1 pins above her average. On the men’s side, Brad “Wally Backman” Sorrels bowled the series of his life and was 38.8 pins above his average, and he was clapping all night long. Andy Cohen also was a force, bowling 37.7 above his average, including a strong 182 in the first game. Movers and Shakers:
For a complete look at the standings, check out http://www.law.upenn.edu/groups/bowling/standings.html We’ll see you all next week. Go Bears! Roll on.
Greetings league, Unlike last week, when it took me a full six days to get you the bowling recap (was out of the country, then very ill), I decided to accelerate this one. Before we get to the substance, a couple of housekeeping items:
Week 2 saw some statistical highlights that deserve mentioning, starting with the fact that there were three 200+ games (add that to the two 200+ games from the first week and we are well on the way to breaking the previous league high of 15). Chris Cassalanuevo bowled a 201 (which he promptly followed with a 107, nice work), Joe Fray bowled a 213, and Dave Reina popped-off with a 225. Nice job, guys. Katy Hitchins saved her best for the last game, when she bowled a 156, helping her team capture 8 points and in the process, move into third place for total team points. Likewise, Wu Kit bowled a 149 to get her team off on the right foot in the first game, and the Belles never looked back, capturing all 11 points. Belles of the Balls and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter are now tied for first place, with 22 points each. The Lingonberry Pancakes again put their bowling genius on display last night, for anybody who was left at the lanes to witness the wizardry. After losing the second game by 1 pin, da Pancakes rolled individual scores of 175 (Mike), 186 (Will), 191 (Todd) and 193 (Brett), for a cumulative total of 745. This mark fell just five pins shy of their league-record 750, bowled last year. However, the high score can come back to haunt the Pancakes if their handicap skyrockets in subsequent weeks. A special shout-out to Jason Kupper, who started the season with an awe-inspiring 55. Yes, that’s right, a 55. Jason, however, after taking some good-natured ribbing from myself and Jae Ahn, showed his true Colors last night, averaging a 131 (which included a 162). Now, if you guys could only get Amit out of the single digits… Movers and Shakers
With that, I will see you all next week. Roll on.
Greetings league, I apologize for not getting the league information to you earlier in the week, but better late than never. A couple of logistical items:
I am including in this email the standings after our first week, and even though there is no official “Bowler of the Week” because there is free beer, I wanted to give a special shout out to “Slinky” Simon Saddleton, last season’s Co-MVP, who bowled a 236, and let it be known to the whole league that he is gunning for the top men’s average. I will see you all tomorrow at the lanes. Roll on.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||