Finally,
a Change that Worked!
Out of the Cellar
Posted by BowlerCluke Saturday, April 11, 2009 8:39 PM
Factor X pulled one place ahead of Hee Haw in the standings this week thanks to their 13-7 upset of Todd Tetreault’s Degeneration X team, dropping the league’s other X team down another spot in the standings from second to third, and raising their own stock ever-so-slightly from last place to ninth, six points ahead of the Hee Haw team they switched places with.
Finally,
a Change that Worked!It appears that this season’s hard-luck heroes finally came up with a roster change that paid dividends in week number 28… they gave their beloved team captain the week off!
Absent from the rotation for the first time this season was team mainstay Tom Clukay, who had to withdraw from the action due to family matters. Bowling in place of Clukay in his new lead-off spot was Bill Allen’s son, Will Allen who, with the exception of game two, bowled admirably in place of Clukay… arguably better than Clukay has been bowling himself. The younger Allen bowled games of 180-135-207 for 522 overall, taking three-of-four points from head-to-head opponent Todd Tetreault.
While both teams bowled respectably, neither shot lights-out, helping to keep the scoring close beginning-to-end. High game for Degeneration X came in the very first match which they took from Factor X 4-1 on the strength of Gregg Underwood’s 204 and Chris Brown’s 190. Factor X quickly evened things up in game number two however thanks a 204 of his own by the team’s new middleman Bill Allen that earned his team the scant four-pin victory in the lowest-scoring contest of the night. Looking to regain control of the match in the nightcap, Gregg Underwood stepped up the Degenerator attack in the finale, but it was not enough. With teammates Todd Tetreault and Chris Brown both struggling, even Underwood’s big 227 finish could not overcome Factor X’s total team effort. Led by sub Will Allen’s 207, X saved their best for last, scoring 565 scratch in the nightcap and defeating the Degenerators 670-647 for another 4-1 win.
Series points for both teams came down to the wire as well, with Factor X earning the 4-1 series win by a final handicap score of 1939-1923, including a narrow two-pin win by Bill Allen over Chris Brown, 647-645.
“We finally had a close match come out in our favor for a change,” team anchor Henry Caouette later commented.
The team will try to make it an unprecedented two wins in a row next week when they take on the Low Rollers; Tom Clukay is expected back in the lineup.
With back-to-back losses to start the final round of the season, it looked for all the world like Paul Falk, Gisi Dellmuth and Gary Carpenter were ready to pack their bags and start making their summer plans. Since that time however, the team has won four in a row with a winning percentage of 0.731 to pull into second place, just seven-and-one-half points back of league-leading SRS.
G&P’s latest victim turned out to be none other than the once-mighty Low Rollers, who lost their third match in a row since threatening to take over the top spot in the league themselves. The 15-5 G&P win had to have felt good to them, exacting a measure of revenge on the Low Rollers who beat G&P by the exact same score back on December 18th. As is the case with Factor X, G&P has to feel as though maybe their luck is finally changing; the win came despite a rough outing from team anchor Paul Falk in which he averaged just 149, yet took three-of-four points from opponent Jeremey Hutchinson.
SRS meanwhile turned out to be the Dreamers’ worst nightmare; bowling once again without the services of their anchor bowler Dave Umbrello, the Dreamers dug themselves an early hole in this one, scoring just 507 scratch in the opening game against scores the likes of 223 (Stan Meunier), 209 (Steve Budwick) and 195 (Ron Bernard) for 627. The match was competitive after that with both teams trading 3-2 wins in games two and three, but SRS’ big game one win proved to be the difference, earning them the 13-7 win that extended their lead over the rest of the field another half-a-point, from seven to seven-and-one-half points. The loss dropped the Dreamers from third to fifth place overall.
In other action around the league this week, How’s Ya Burger bounced back after their week five loss with a 15-5 win over Hee Haw, while Aramark handed USA their third consecutive loss, 12-8. Since losing Kelsie Pushee to injury on March 12th, USA is 34-46 and has fallen from second place to seventh.
It seemed like an inevitable conclusion that Bill Marois would somehow end up back on top of the Bonus Singles standings at some point. Leading the league in average by more than ten full pins over his next-closest competitor, Marois has dominated most of the Bonus Singles rounds all season long. Even when he has struggled, he has had the great fortune to end up paired against opponents who have struggled to an even greater extent; opponents who have matched up perfectly with him, tossing their low games at exactly the same time he throws his.
This week was no exception, as Marois’ week six opponent was none other than Will Allen, subbing for scheduled opponent Tom Clukay. In Allen’s defense, with the exception of game number two, Allen bowled admirably, opening with 180 and finishing his night with 207. As has been the case all season long however, Marois combined the perfect blend of bowling well when he had to with a dash of luck when needed to pull out his second consecutive 5-0 sweep, taking over the standings lead for the first time in this third and final round of action.
There were no surprises in the opening game in this one; Will Allen’s opening 180 was more than 20 pins removed from Marois’ season average and Marois cruised to the easy 220-180 win. Game two however was a totally different story, and a perfect example of just how much the bowling gods have looked with favor upon the Marois camp this season. Marois’ lowly 145 game was the second-lowest score of his entire season, with only his 134 game bowled back on September 11th coming in at a less-impressive mark. Yet despite all of his struggles, Marois again found himself the lucky lottery winner of another point in the win column thanks to Allen’s sub-par 135 clunker. Despite having missed his golden opportunity to steal a point, Allen recovered wonderfully in the finale shooting 207, but it was not enough as Marois was now back on his game as well, defeating Allen 217-207 to complete the sweep.
Combined with Henry Caouette’s surprise 5-0 sweep of the “Dave and Dave Show” (Dave Umbrello and Dave Uppgard), the Marois sweep catapulted him from two points out in second place to two points ahead of Stan Meunier who now moves into second. The Dave and Dave Show dropped from first place to third as a result of their inopportune 0-for-5 performance.
3-1 victories by Gisi Dellmuth and Stan Meunier have both bowlers positioned near the top of the Factorxbowling.com Match Point challenge round three leader board; Dellmuth continuing her ride in first place at 19-5, and Meunier perched just two points behind her in second. Dellmuth’s latest victory came at the expense of the Low Rollers’ Phil Gauthier, while Meunier kept pace by rubbing salt in the wounds of the “Dave and Dave Show,” defeating Dreamer substitute Dave Uppgard by the same 3-1 score.