And your Fall Champion is…

On October 26, 2011 two playoff-tested, battle ready met for the final games of the Nocabulabet Bocce League for the year.

In one corner we had Days of Thunder in their second season in the league and making their first ever final appearance in this league.  Days of Thunder while fairly new to our league, they already have conquered the other Providence bocce league:  Downcity League by winning their 2009 championship.

Around the same time and across town,  What up, Biocce? was trying to accomplish their own finals win in the Fall of ’09.   They fell short on that rainy fall day, and it would take them a full two year to get back.   So they are another team that has played under the bright lights.

On this night, one of these 2 teams would be crown champion, another rainy day seem in the forecast.  A few teams were in attendance, License to Roll, was there, to know what a final games looks like.   Swim, Bike, Bocce represented, along with Team Schweddy, and others, like last season’s winners Bocce Bartokomous.   The incentive of Sicilia’s pizza might have also played part for this.

The games started at 7pm and Days of Thunder started drawing blood quickly by taking an 8-2 early lead.   But What Up, Biocce? would fight to make it 8-7, but would get a push back and fall to a 11-7 deficit.   Close it up to 11-9.

Days of Thunder then added three more points to their lead to make it 14-9.   In a display of power Days of Thunder finish the first game in a rather imposing manner winning 21-11.

At this point in the night, there would be a small recess so that players and spectators alike could replenish their bellies with pizza and drinks.

With a new slate, and a renovated spirit What Up, Biocce?  would start in the right leg this time by taking a 2-0 lead, and then later on a 6-0 lead.   They seem to be in complete control of the match.   But Days of Thunder only needed to score their first pair of points to get back into a groove.

What Up, Biocce?  would get a 10-6 lead, before Days of Thunder tied the game, and then proving once and for all why they are a force to be reckon with throughout the season, and next season too, they would score the last 15 points of the match and completely outplayed their challengers.

Days of Thunder ended the match ahead 21-10 and crowned themselves Nocabulabet Bocce League Fall Season ’11 Champions.

Hands shaken, congratulations were given, a team definitely to watch out in the spring.

Come and partake in the celebration and awards ceremony for the last 4 seasons at the Wild Colonial on Wednesday November 30th.

Fall Playoffs 2011: A new champion will be crowned…..

Freshly groomed courts, races to 21, win by at least 2, no time restraint.    Playoff bocce was all around us last night as a nice cool New England weather was upon us.  Rain hold off to not be a factor.

Top 8 teams meet for the playoffs, and oh, what a night it was for it.  After being pushed back from Oct 19 to Monday Oct 24th the teams were ready and excited to get the ball rolling.

On the quarterfinals 6:45  games:

In the Casserta court we had (#5) Bocce Bartokomous vs. (#4) That’s How We Roll.   In a game of back and forth, both teams traded scores at the beginning of the match.  Until the middle stages of the game Bartokomous took a healthy lead of 4 points, and seemed posed to take advantage of it.   That’s How We Roll would not be denied of the opportunity to come back, just like in the regular season, little by little chipped away at the lead til they catch up to Bartokomous and overtake them.   It wasn’t quickly, and it was a hard fought battle, but the defending champs bow out in the first round to That’s How We Roll 21-15.  Who moved on to play the 9pm game.

The Tuscan Court offered (#6) Bocce Said She Was 18 vs (#3) Segals.  Bocce Said/18 has been on a total tear lately, and in arguably the closest game of the night, and that’s saying something, we were witness to what playoff bocce is all about.  A game that was nail biting and as exciting as their counterparts in the Casserta court.   Bocce Said traded scores with the Segals until they pull away with a 5 point lead.  Things look bleak for the Segals, but in amazing comeback fashion, the Segals pull a bocce and traded by just the single point.   Bocce Said would reply back with a win, but Segals would score 2.  Until we were all tied up at 20.  Knowing that the winning team needed 2 points to win, they roll in the middle of the court, and Segals had one of their needed point, Bocce Said spend all their balls, but let one close enough, that the Segals would need to try to really score their second point.   With the last ball and with a measurement of the ref, the Segals come out victorious 22-20.

The 8pm games would not be pushed aside, as they added their drama to the night:

Casserta court game: (#7) Swim, Bike, Bocce vs (#2) Days of Thunder.  No other team was as handicapped as Days of Thunder because of the rain out.  They would need to use an alternate of their roster in order to field a full team.  And at first it didn’t seem like a problem, as they march all over Swim, Bike, Bocce  for a quick 9-1 lead.  But in playoff bocce fashion, Swim, Bike, Bocce starts eating at the lead, 1 point at a time, and before you know it they are only trading by one point, and then they tied the game.  Unfortunately for the triathlon group, they used all their energy into tying the game.   Days of Thunder is an experienced team and they know what they are made of, and start getting into form again and  start pulling away once more, and when all is said and done, they come out ahead 21-15.

In the Tuscan court (#8) What Up, Biocce? vs (#1) License to Choke Roll.   Another close games in the early going, and a lead change, multiple times.   But What Up, Biocce? a team to quickly overlook because of their seeding, but foolish to do so, gave it all to the leaderboard of the season.  Even in the teens it was tight game, a game for the taking for either team, but the sphincter of License to Choke started resembling a freshman prisoner at the county jail shower.   And by the end of the night, and for 7 out 8 times, the top seeded team falls short of the championship.  What Up, Biocce? pulls an impressive win 21-15 to play in the Semi-final game.

By the time 9pm rolled around there was still plenty of bocce left.   With the Semi-Finals ahead, 2 games left, the winners of each game will have the chance to play for the championship.

What Up, Biocce  coming from their high of beating the #1 seeded team, squared up against That’s How We Roll in the Tuscan court.   What Up, Biocce is a team on a mission, they have an addition to the family coming soon, and who knows what changes that would bring.   So they brought it all for their semi final match.  They build a small lead and never really looked back.   That’s How We Roll tried to make it a game, by using their patented slow comeback win, but in this game, tensions were high, and in the end they fell short of their final goal.   What Up, Biocce? wins 21-15 and take the first seat in the finals game.  Their second overall trip to the finals.

Days of Thunder being the highest seated team still playing, decide to play in the Casserta court vs. the Segals.  The Segals were part of the 2 most exciting games of the night.  In this game, Days of Thunder takes a 4 point lead early on, and keeps the Segals at that distance for a while.   But the game would be slow, and methodical, every kissing ball would be break apart, every bounce mattered.   Multiple measurements were needed, a dollar instead of string, because that’s how close the balls were from each other.  That 4 point lead became a tie later on, and well into the night there was just not much differentiating this two teams.  What Up, Biocce? didn’t even left, even after half hour from their own deciding game, since they wanted to know who their opponent would be.  Like a great boxing match, every jab was met with a reply.  The teams, climbed the score chart.  They would be tied at 18.    When Days of Thunder scored 2 points and put themselves a point away from victory.    The Segals looked once more to pull another jab, but Days of Thunder puts an end to the match by scoring their last point and moving on to the finals.  Last punch thrown.  21-18 Days of Thunder.

Championship game: What Up, Biocce? vs Days of Thunder Wednesday October 26, 2011.

First game at 7pm, food at about 7:45 (Pizza from Sicillia’s).   Come and support your league, bring family and friends.

Tonight’s Games:

Tonights racket for those playing at home.

	Bocce Said She Was 18
6:45 PM		________________
(Swim, Bike, Bocce)	Segals	8:45 PM
		(Loser of 7:45 game)
	Swim, Bike, Bocce
7:45 PM		_________________
(Bocce Bartokomous)	Days of Thunder
	Bocce Bartokomous
6:45 PM		_________________
(What Up Biocce?)	That’s How We Roll	8:45 PM
		(Loser of 7:45 game)
	What Up Biocce?
7:45 PM		________________
(Bocce Said /18)	License To Roll

Playoffs preview: Elite 8

A quick recap of the playoff-bound team and how they made it to this stage:

License to Roll – For the 3rd straight season they ended in first place, however that hasn’t translated into any championship wins.   With a record of 3-3 in the playoffs they need a better showing to eliminate the pretender status an become a contender.  Pros: stable lineup and best defense this year.   Cons: Lost their last game to their first round opponents What Up Biocce? will it carry over?

Days of Thunder  - 2 Seasons in the league, and 2 trips to the playoffs.   So this is a team that knows how to work together.  Their losses came against the Segals and Revenge of WAH.   They have something to prove this postseason.  Pros: Their first opponent Swim, Bike, Bocce they beat once in the season, can they repeat? Cons: unknown commodity in the postseason.

Segals – 2 time champions and always threat in the postseason.   Another team of multiple players (maybe too many?) .   Take away their Week 8 stinkers and their only loss came against What Up Biocce? Pros: Professional team that knows how to get it done.  Cons:  Another week 8, and it will be a quick day for them.

That’s How We Roll – A note on this team: they carried a minus in differential point all the way till their last game, a game against the Mumbling Skulls.  So they have the least blowout wins of any playoff team.  Pros: They know how to win close games and stay calm under pressure situations.  Cons: How often can they play with fire before getting burn?

Bocce Bartokomous -  Defending champs had to thank the schedule maker gods that their last game came against Mumbling Skulls so they could squeeze in the playoffs.  They don’t seem as formidable this year, so they’ll have to prove themselves worthy of a repeat.  Pros: They’ve done it once, once a champ, always a champ.  Cons: During the regular season they lost against the top 4 teams.

Bocce Said She Was 18 - They have a sharpshooter on this team.  And ended the season on a healthy 5-1 run.    Early inconsistencies seem to have been erased.  Sleeper team coming into the postseason.  Pros:  They have the momentum going into the playoffs.  Cons: They suffered an early season defeat at the hands of the Segals, their first round match.

Swim, Bike, Bocce - For the second season in a row they make the playoffs, though this year, was a little bit harder than last.  They won most games they should and lost game they shouldn’t.   Putting them in a bad playoff position.  Pros: They’ve been here before, so they know the dance.  Cons: A 21-8 loss against Days of Thunder is not what the doctor ordered for the first round.

What Up Biocce? - After missing the playoffs in the spring, this team said “not again” and pull up an impressive win against the leaderboard L2R in their last game to clinch the last postseason spot.  If they want fame and fortune, they’ll have to repeat that performance in the playoffs.  Pros:  They’ve done it once.  Cons: Can they do it again?

Update for October 19 Games:

Dear Capi & Consiglieri –

Due to the major rains that are heading our way (NOAA says it’s a 100% chance), Wednesday’s Nocabulabet Bocce League playoff games have been postponed until Monday, October 24.

The specific times for Monday’s games will be e-mailed out over the next couple of days. In the meantime, for those who aren’t aware, the final standings for the eight teams to make the playoffs are:

1) License to Roll
2) Days of Thunder
3) Segals
4) That’s How We Roll
5) Bocce Bartokomous
6) Bocce Said She Was 18
7) Swim, Bike, Bocce
8) What Up, Biocce?
More soon.

The Commishes

Week 9: Night of opportunities.

With 7 teams vying for the last 4 spot, there were plenty of things to be decided.

On the first round of games: Cojones Locos kept their dream alive by winning their match 21-10 over Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow.  Joy and the Pussycats won by default against Revenge of WAH who decided to call it a night off by not showing up.  The Segals etched their name in stone for third place by doubling up 16-8 Bocce Bartokomous and forcing the Bartokomous to win their last game of the season if they wanted a shot at defending their title.

The current champs took care of business by quickly dismantling Mumbling Skulls 21-0.  Swim, Bike, Bocce also wanted another shot at the title and by winning their only game of the night versus Bocce Said She was 18 14-12 they wrote their ticket to the playoffs.  And with two remaining spots open, What Up Biocce? claimed one of them by handing out a loss to License to Roll .

Bocce Said She Was 18 would still get one last chance at a playoff spot if they won their last game of the season against Joey and The Pussycats.  They accomplish that by edging out the cats 17-13, a game that was a lot closer than the final score shows.

With all playoff spots taken, That’s How We Roll gave a mercy kill to Mumbling Skulls who in their one bright spot of the night (season?) was able to score a BOCCE in their last game of the season still losing 19-10 to the former.  Finishing a perfect winless season.

On a game of former champs and nothing on the line but bragging rights Ball Bustahs defeated Team Schweddy 14-11.  A hard fought battle of two teams in rebuilding years.

Last but not least the ladies of Meatballs gave it their best, but still came up short against Days of Thunder who are playoff-bound and with a good taste in their mouth by winning 20-10.

Here it is the final standings of this Fall 2011 season:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2011
STANDINGS after week: 9
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against
1	License to Roll	10	2	0.833	194	118	76	16.17	9.83
2	Days of Thunder	10	2	0.833	203	130	73	16.92	10.83
3	Segals	8	4	0.667	149	132	17	12.42	11.00
4	That’s How We Roll	8	4	0.667	178	170	8	14.83	14.17
5	Bocce Bartokomous	7	5	0.583	187	128	59	15.58	10.67
6	Bocce Said She Was 18	7	5	0.583	181	150	31	15.08	12.50
7	Swim, Bike, Bocce	7	5	0.583	165	151	14	13.75	12.58
8	What Up, Biocce?	7	5	0.583	181	170	11	15.08	14.17
9	Ball Bustahs	6	6	0.500	177	156	21	14.75	13.00
10	Cojones Loco	6	6	0.500	180	167	13	15.00	13.92
11	Team Schweddy	5	7	0.417	163	175	-12	13.58	14.58
12	Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow	4	8	0.333	145	193	-48	12.08	16.08
13	Joey & The Pussycats	4	8	0.333	146	174	-28	12.17	14.50
14	Revenge of WAH	4	8	0.333	125	181	-56	10.42	15.08
15	Meatballs	3	9	0.250	125	184	-59	10.42	15.33
16	Mumbling Skulls	0	12	0.000	108	223	-115	9.00	18.58

Tumbles and Knock Downs….

Week 8 is now in the books.  Segals didn’t fly high, Team Schweddy was average again, and Mumbling Skulls is consistent if nothing else.

4 Spots in the playoff are guaranteed coming into our last week of the season.  7 wins is the lucky number to clinch a playoff spot.  7 teams vying for the last 4 spots.   Things are just getting started, so there’s plenty to play for in this coming last Wednesday of the regular season.   Here’s the breakdown.

License to Roll – As a former Red Sox GM would say: “More days in first place.”  The team that had the night off cemented their place and are now sitting pretty atop the league and with 1 game left, they are now guaranteed first place, even if they lose their last game,  since they won the head-to-head against….

Days of Thunder – won a pair of games in the night and wrote their name in second place in the standings.   Quickly dismantling the Mumbling Skulls 21-4 and climbing to second place by defeating in a 11-10 nail biter the….

Segals - had a crushing night by going 0-for-3 in their matches.   Their night started in the wrong foot by losing 14-10 against Team Schweddy.  And things didn’t look up from there thanks to the Thunder defeat and capping the night by adding salt to the wound in the 19-6 defeat vs Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow.  Currently in third place, with a defeat in their last game they can fall all the way to 7th place or with a win keep their current position since they have the point differential against….

That’s How We Roll - Second team of the night with a bye.  If they win their last match, they have the fourth spot all to themselves.   If they lose…they can tumble down to 7th.  Is all in their hands, since…

Bocce Said She was 18 - Has a lot to decide for themselves.  2 games left, 1 win away from clinching a playoff spot, 2 losses and only point differentials will determine how low they could go.  While defeating Team Schweddy 21-9 was a step in the right direction, there’s still plenty to be decided.  Same can be said of…

Bocce Bartokomous – who did their part by defeating the Ball Bustahs 14-11.  Another team that one more win in their last two games will send them into the postseason and defend their title.   Specially if they can win their head-to-head match vs…

Swim, Bike, Bocce – Will need to fight tooth and nail in their last game vs Bocce Said /18 in order to keep their place in the playoff race if they want another shot at the title game.   In their only game of the night they won 19-13 vs….

What Up Biocce? – Currently in the playoffs, but holding on by a very small margin.  They hold their future in their hands.  A win against License to Roll in their final game will keep them alive and flying high.  A loss and they put their fate in the hands of….

Ball Bustahs – who with their loss, back themselves into a corner and depend in the head-to-head matches (too hard to figure out yet) to see if they can go to the playoffs.  Head-to-Head games are hard to determine so far, but at least they can end ahead of…

Cojones Loco - won their match 21-9 versus Mumbling Skulls.   They do have their odds against them, since their Point Differential is so small (+2 as of this writing) and Bustahs held the head-to-head upperhand and they never cross path with…

Team Schweddy - another former champ in look of the kindness of strangers to make it into the playoffs after splitting their night.   A team that could never find a rhythm for the second season in a row, needs to support…

Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow - Won their pair of games, by defeating the Segals and finishing up Joy & The Pussycats  13-10.   They might want to play up the part of spoilers in their last match win against the Cojones.   So they can end in a nice 3 win streak and ahead of…

Revenge of WAH - were idle this week, but now can hear the footsteps of…

Joey & The Pussycats – won their early game 17-9 against the Meatballs, and with two game left, one versus Revenge for at least 13th place (small steps right?) and spoilers if they can pull a win in their final game against Bocce Said She was 18.  With their latest win they save themselves from a penultimate finish, a place currently held by…

Meatballs - who seem to have gone a vegetarian route this season, and lacking some punch in their throws.  They still can go with their heads held high if they can pull a win against Days of Thunder in their last match.  No matter the outcome they are secure in their place in the standings since…

Mumbling Skulls - Has there ever been a team in last place with  so much to play for in the last week of the season?  They have 2 chances to win a game and end their season-long losing streak.  Their two opponents are in the thick of the playoff race. Bartokomous is fighting for life and position, and the Skulls can send That’s How We Roll with a bad taste in their mouth into the playoffs.

Bottom line: 7 – 5 record gets you in the playoffs.  A 6-6 record and there’s a whole slew of scenarios to play out.  So let’s play, have fun and do your best for the last regular season game of this year.

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2011
STANDINGS after week: 8
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against
1	License to Roll	10	1	0.909	185	98	87	16.82	8.91
2	Days of Thunder	9	2	0.818	183	120	63	16.64	10.91
3	Segals	7	4	0.636	133	124	9	12.09	11.27
4	That’s How We Roll	7	4	0.636	159	160	-1	14.45	14.55
5	Bocce Said She Was 18	6	4	0.600	152	123	29	15.20	12.30
6	Bocce Bartokomous	6	4	0.600	158	112	46	15.80	11.20
7	Swim, Bike, Bocce	6	5	0.545	151	139	12	13.73	12.64
8	What Up, Biocce?	6	5	0.545	161	161	0	14.64	14.64
9	Ball Bustahs	5	6	0.455	163	145	18	14.82	13.18
10	Cojones Loco	5	6	0.455	159	157	2	14.45	14.27
11	Team Schweddy	5	6	0.455	152	161	-9	13.82	14.64
12	Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow	4	7	0.364	135	172	-37	12.27	15.64
13	Revenge of WAH	4	7	0.364	125	171	-46	11.36	15.55
14	Joey & The Pussycats	3	7	0.300	123	157	-34	12.30	15.70
15	Meatballs	3	8	0.273	115	164	-49	10.45	14.91
16	Mumbling Skulls	0	10	0.000	98	183	-85	9.80	18.30

Week 7: Head to Head matters and you know what they say about big feet….

With 2 weeks left to go: Bad news for some teams as they’ll have to wait til spring time for a reverse of fortunes.    But by no means, it means things are settled, if anything they are just getting even more interesting, because there’s still plenty of bocce to be decided.

The leaders of the pack License to Roll won both of their games, by finishing 2 teams with winning streaks,  first showing their might against the short-handed Meatballs 21-3, and later on by breaking the hot streak of That’s How We Roll 19-10.  License to Roll is in such a groove that they are guaranteed at worst second place in the postseason.

That’s How We Roll  won their match against Bocce Bartokomous 19-15 on the off-ramp, a game of back and forth that wasn’t decided til the last frame.   The Bartokomous won their earlier bout against What Up Biocce? 20-7 and with the win, position themselves behind Bocce Said She was 18 in the standings, even though both team have same record, the latter has the head-to-head win to hold on to… Due to the fact that they split their night by winning their first game 20-13 against Mumbling Skulls but not able to hold on momentum and suffer a defeat at the hands of Revenge of Wah in a nail bitter 15-14.   The Skulls  are in such a rot you have to look all the way back to June 8th to find their last win and are currently the only team officially out of the playoffs.

Talking about teams in decline, Team Schweddy who started 4-1, have now lost 4 games in a row, their latest one against the Meatballs who borrowed a player from the Skulls to pull a win at the last second 11-10.

Cojones Loco in a seesaw night, split their night by winning their encounter with Revenge of Wah 18-8.   Loco also needed clarification in the rulebook.   When you throw from the white line you can go as forward as you can, as long as your heel (not your toe) is touching the white line.

The Ball Bustahs  decided to throw their names into the playoff hat by winning both of their games, first disposing of Joey and The Pussycats 21-5 and putting another “21″ against the Cojones Loco 21-14.  The team that started 1-4, reversed that by going 4-1.  Even out their win-loss record and shadowing the idle Swim, Bike, Bocce for eight place.   Swim, Bike, Bocce holds the head-to-head tie breaker in that match.

Without further ado, your standings after 7 weeks:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2011
STANDINGS after week: 7
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against
1	License to Roll	10	1	0.909	185	98	87	16.82	8.91
2	Segals	7	1	0.875	107	80	27	13.38	10.00
3	Days of Thunder	7	2	0.778	151	106	45	16.78	11.78
4	That’s How We Roll	7	4	0.636	159	160	-1	14.45	14.55
5	What Up, Biocce?	6	4	0.600	148	142	6	14.80	14.20
6	Bocce Said She Was 18	5	4	0.556	131	114	17	14.56	12.67
7	Bocce Bartokomous	5	4	0.556	144	101	43	16.00	11.22
8	Swim, Bike, Bocce	5	5	0.500	132	126	6	13.20	12.60
9	Ball Bustahs	5	5	0.500	152	131	21	15.20	13.10
10	Team Schweddy	4	5	0.444	129	130	-1	14.33	14.44
11	Cojones Loco	4	6	0.400	138	148	-10	13.80	14.80
12	Revenge of WAH	4	7	0.364	125	171	-46	11.36	15.55
13	Meatballs	3	7	0.300	106	147	-41	10.60	14.70
14	Joey & The Pussycats	2	6	0.250	96	135	-39	12.00	16.88
15	Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow	2	7	0.222	101	156	-55	11.22	17.33
16	Mumbling Skulls	0	8	0.000	85	141	-56	10.63	17.63

Week 6: Top and Bottom movements

With 6 weeks on the books and 3 more to go: the playoff picture is starting to take some misshapen being, but things are not defined by any means….except we have our first Playoff bound team.

Going into the night 3 teams had identical records for first place, License to Roll kept their dominating ways by defeating Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow  17-9 and keep it rolling (no pun intended) against the Mumbling Skulls 21-3.     Segals did their part to keep up by defeating the Ball Bustahs 11-8 on their only game of the night.  With their 2 wins License to Roll becomes the first team of the season to clinch a playoff berth.

Days of Thunder fell back a step by losing to Revenge of Wah16-15, but right their ship immediately by defeating Swim, Bike, Bocce 21-8.   The latter also made a statement that they are not going to give in that easily by taking the game versus That’s How We Roll 18-7.

Team Schweddy can’t seem to find their winning ways by losing 19-11 against That’s How We Roll, and another bad performance against Joey & The Pussycats who won their second game of the season 19-12 with help of Oscar the dachshund.

The girls from Meatballs show why they are not in last place any longer and not  going down without a fight by defeating Revenge of Wah 15-7 and showing it was no fluke versus Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow 20-8.   Bocce Said She Was 18 tripled their opponents score 21-7  behind some sharp-shooting rolls versus What Up Biocce? 

What Up Biocce? was able to split the night by winning against the last place and winless Mumbling Skulls 18-13.

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2011
STANDINGS after week: 6
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against
1	License to Roll	8	1	0.889	149	85	64	16.56	9.44
2	Segals	7	1	0.875	107	80	27	13.38	10.00
3	Days of Thunder	7	2	0.778	151	106	45	16.78	11.78
4	What Up, Biocce?	6	3	0.667	141	122	19	15.67	13.56
5	That’s How We Roll	6	3	0.667	130	126	4	14.44	14.00
6	Bocce Bartokomous	4	3	0.571	109	79	30	15.57	11.29
7	Bocce Said She Was 18	4	3	0.571	97	86	11	13.86	12.29
8	Swim, Bike, Bocce	5	5	0.500	132	126	6	13.20	12.60
9	Team Schweddy	4	4	0.500	119	119	0	14.88	14.88
10	Ball Bustahs	3	5	0.375	110	112	-2	13.75	14.00
11	Cojones Loco	3	5	0.375	106	119	-13	13.25	14.88
12	Revenge of WAH	3	6	0.333	102	139	-37	11.33	15.44
13	Joey & The Pussycats	2	5	0.286	91	114	-23	13.00	16.29
14	Meatballs	2	6	0.250	92	120	-28	11.50	15.00
15	Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow	2	7	0.222	101	156	-55	11.22	17.33
16	Mumbling Skulls	0	7	0.000	72	121	-49	10.29	17.29

Week 5: First place is tight

With 3 teams vying for the top spot.   Here are the current standings before tonight’s games:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2011
STANDINGS after week: 5
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against
1	License to Roll	6	1	0.857	111	73	38	15.86	10.43
2	Days of Thunder	6	1	0.857	115	82	33	16.43	11.71
3	Segals	6	1	0.857	96	72	24	13.71	10.29
4	What Up, Biocce?	5	2	0.714	116	88	28	16.57	12.57
5	That’s How We Roll	5	2	0.714	104	97	7	14.86	13.86
6	Team Schweddy	4	2	0.667	96	81	15	16.00	13.50
7	Bocce Bartokomous	4	3	0.571	109	79	30	15.57	11.29
8	Swim, Bike, Bocce	4	4	0.500	106	98	8	13.25	12.25
9	Bocce Said She Was 18	3	3	0.500	76	79	-3	12.67	13.17
10	Ball Bustahs	3	4	0.429	102	101	1	14.57	14.43
11	Cojones Loco	3	5	0.375	106	119	-13	13.25	14.88
12	Revenge of WAH	2	5	0.286	86	109	-23	12.29	15.57
13	Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow	2	5	0.286	77	119	-42	11.00	17.00
14	Joey & The Pussycats	1	5	0.167	72	102	-30	12.00	17.00
15	Mumbling Skulls	0	5	0.000	56	82	-26	11.20	16.40
16	Meatballs	0	6	0.000	57	105	-48	9.50	17.50

Fall Week 4: Rollin’ in the Rain

One more week of summer Bocce, certainly didn’t feel very “summer” last night as teams deal this time with rain.   Lucky times for What Up, Biocce? and Joey and the Pussycats  for a bye week.

The rest of the teams fought rain for the first game and then winding down to a drizzle to finally some relief from rain, but when it finally stop, the cold front came.   Revenge of WAH  won their only game of the night 15-14 against Mumbling Skulls.   While Swim, Bike, Bocce, in their first of 3 games of the night, trample over Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow 20-3.

Days of Thunder roll perfect every time and beat Team Schweddy 21-13 who couldn’t build a late innings rally. While the Segals are the last remaining undefeated team by taking down License to Roll, and claiming sole first place with a  12-7 victory.   On the Off-ramp court Cojones Loco edge out Swim, Bike, Bocce 13-12 for their first win of the season.  And quickly won their second game by defeating the Meatballs 18-9. Before losing 16-15 to That’s How We Roll, who went flawless by winning their second match of the evening 12-10 against the winless Meatballs.

Ball Bustahs split their night by winning 16-13, over Bocce Said She Was 18, and losing in heart break 17-15 to Swim, Bike, Bocce, who won the game after trailing 10-15 with 2 frames to go.   Bocce Said She Was 18 added excitement to the last game of the night by going an extra frame to defeat Bocce Bartokomous 13-12

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2011
STANDINGS after week: 4
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against
1	Segals	5	0	1.000	71	42	29	14.20	8.40
2	License to Roll	5	1	0.833	92	62	30	15.33	10.33
3	Bocce Bartokomous	4	1	0.800	87	45	42	17.40	9.00
4	Days of Thunder	4	1	0.800	86	61	25	17.20	12.20
5	That’s How We Roll	4	1	0.800	82	72	10	16.40	14.40
6	Team Schweddy	4	2	0.667	96	81	15	16.00	13.50
7	What Up, Biocce?	3	2	0.600	85	64	21	17.00	12.80
8	Bocce Said She Was 18	3	2	0.600	65	67	-2	13.00	13.40
9	Swim, Bike, Bocce	3	4	0.429	92	86	6	13.14	12.29
10	Bocce-Ka-Bow-Wow	2	3	0.400	52	92	-40	10.40	18.40
11	Revenge of WAH	2	4	0.333	73	95	-22	12.17	15.83
12	Cojones Loco	2	5	0.286	86	103	-17	12.29	14.71
13	Joey & The Pussycats	1	3	0.250	44	68	-24	11.00	17.00
14	Ball Bustahs	1	4	0.200	68	86	-18	13.60	17.20
15	Mumbling Skulls	0	5	0.000	56	82	-26	11.20	16.40
16	Meatballs	0	5	0.000	54	84	-30	10.80	16.80

And then there were eight

After 9 weeks, 96 games, approximately 292.95 pounds of recyclables (I actually weighed it one week), more than 1500 frames, and 2541 points, the spring 2011 playoff picture has finally come into focus.

Here’s the breakdown of the playoff contenders:

1. License to Roll: After their stunning, hard-fought ”victory” over Bocce Said She Was 18 (really, guys…you’re going to actually accept this as a “win”?), L2R claimed the top berth in the playoffs.  While they don’t always score a lot of points (their 13.25 points per game is ninth in the league), they’ve found a way to keep their opponents from racking them up as well (holding their opponents to a second-best 10.08 ppg).  For the nucleus of the team – Seth O., Johnny Lund, and “Rollin’ Ronn” Erik –  this is a chance to make it to the finals for the third time in a row.  Will this be the charm-filled season?
2. Bocce Bartokomous: It’s not really the way they wanted to head into the playoffs — going into Week 9 playing for the top seed in the post-season, only to end up with a 6-point loss in a lackluster performance against the 13th-place team.  At least the jams that Sister Nagle was spinning were hot.  The Bartokomi still have some good things going for them heading into the play-offs: a league-leading 17 ppg (with a per game differential of +6.33)…and Capo K-Nagle is back, fresh off his rehab stint in Pawtucket (or maybe he’s just on hiatus from his Ultimate season).
3. Days of Thunder: These guys aren’t really storming into the play-offs, either.  Riding a four-game winning streak, they sputtered during an inconsistent performance in their Week 9 loss to Joey & The Pussycats (who were scratching and clawing for their playoff lives).  Did they hit their peak too early…or was it just a matter of Capo C-Fie still hungover from his week-long binge on Tennessee moonshine at Bonaroo?
4. The Segals: The Kumbaya Kids came off their bye week with a vengeance, dismantling the Ball Bustahs with laser-like rolls that consistently had them right on the point to start just about every frame.  Quite a difference from the last two weeks before their bye, going 2-2, with sporadic performances their only consistency.  This team may have finally found their identity on their recent retreat.  They’re feeling it…and hungry for NBL championship #3.
5. Bocce Said She Was 18: Now, it’s hard to say that these guys totally blew off Week 9 (forfeiting to License to Roll)…but their excuse of having only one player available (oh, ya…and perhaps one more) seemed a little flimsy, given that their response to a Commissioner offer to surface alternates for them was that they felt they were “good” and would “rather have the actual team” play “this close to the playoffs.”  Weak, very weak.  I’m sure their absence had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that (a) they had already clinched a playoff berth and (b) the Bruins were playing Game 7 for Lord Stanley’s cup.  Hopefully, they’ll be able to make their first-round playoff against the Segals…I mean, the 8th European Universities Badminton Championship tournament is taking place in Thessaloniki, Greece next week (really, it is).  The boys might just need to stay home once again because they just gotta to catch that action (live on the Ocho!), too.
6. Swim, Bike, Bocce: Time for a history lesson, people.  It’s been a while since these folks have seen any playoff action, well before their two precursors — Generic Bocce Team (who were last in the playoffs in Fall 2009) and Black Magic Crew/Campbell’s Crew (who made the playoffs only in their inaugural seasson of Fall 2008) — merged to become Generic Crew (before finally taking on the S,B,B moniker last fall).  These folks (on the heels of their nifty little 4-game winning streak to close the season) are very happy to be in the playoffs once again — with a little momentum, to boot.
7. Ball Bustahs: Well, once again, these gals and fellahs have backed into the post-season after a final-week loss for the third straight year.  This time they needed the Bocce Babes to defeat Joey & The Pussycats (after the text-book ass-kicking the ‘Bustahs received from the Segals earlier in the night) in order to squeak in.  Can the defending champs pull a three-peat?  Doubtful, given the 2-5 skid they’ve been on after going undefeated through Week 4.  Vegas says put your money someplace else this season.
8. Deboccery: Well, inconsistency does count for something…when you pull it together often enough to go 7-5 on the season.  So, they’re in.  But which Deboccery will show up on Wednesday?  Even if it is the good one for their opening-round game against L2R, it’s likely that they’ll just get blown out later in the night when the bad one will undoubtedly return.

Kate points toward victory -- the Swim, Bike, Bocce rookie shows her last-frame roll that gave her team a one-point win...and clinched their spot in the playoffs.

So, the play-off games will take place this coming Wednesday, June 22.  The quarter-final match-ups are:

7:00 p.m.
#3 Days of Thunder vs. #6 Swim, Bike, Bocce (Ball Bustahs)
#4 Segals vs. #5 Bocce Said She Was 18 (Deboccery)

8:00 p.m.
#1 License to Roll vs. #8 Deboccery (Swim, Bike, Bocce)
#2 Bocce Bartokomous vs. #7 Ball Bustahs (Bocce Said She Was 18)

9:00 p.m.
Semi-Finals – winners from 1st Round games
Defeated teams from 8:00 p.m. games officiating
___________________________

As for the remaing eight teams, some words of praise…and a few predictions:

• #9 Joey & The Pussycats: So close, so close…and such fun people, to top it off.  They would have added that certain something and a stylish flare to the post-season.  Darn it!  Maybe they’ll stop by for the play-offs for a free beverage or two…to cheer on their favorites.  Next season is only a couple months away…
• #10 Team Schweddy: These folks never hit their groove this season…perhaps it was the balancing of the new styles and personalities…or maybe Feeser just didn’t drink enough before the games.  Whatever it is, I’m sure they’ll have a good time drowning their sorrows in the off season, to emerge redeemed and refreshed for the fall.
• #11 What Up, Biocce?: Another quality team that flailed.  But there 3-0 run to end the season (albeit against teams that finished behind them) could provide the momentum to return to their former glory next season.  Prediction: they’ll finish among the top six five teams in the fall season, ready to make a championship run.
• #12 Bocce Babes: After a much-too-long hiatus, it was great to have the Babes gracing the Spruce Street courts with their loveliness once again.  They were much better than their 4-8 record would show.  Prediction: they’ll be in the playoffs at least once in the next two seasons they play.
• #13 Meatballs: Another bevy of beauties (that goes for the guys, too)…one of these seasons they won’t have a night when they have a double-forfeit to muck up their chances.  Another team that is better than the standings reflect.  Prediction: See below.
• #14 Revenge of WAH: Well…they were undefeated after Week 1…and it took them only eight more until they recorded their second win.  Tough luck…and an uncanny ability to keep it tight through the first 20 minutes or so of a match, only to give up back-to-back four-spots or the like.  But their seemingly limitless good humor make them a welcome sight any week in the NBL.  So, here’s the (stunning?) prediction: RoW are on the comeback trail…they’ll win at least five games next season…and at least one of the following teams will be in the play-offs in the fall: RoW, the Meatballs, and/or Bocce Babes.  You heard it here first.
• #15 Cojones Loco: These might be the nicest people in the league…good spirits, all.  But they just haven’t been able to harness their Cojo-mojo.  Perhaps in the fall?  Perhaps next spring?  It’s out there somewhere, someday.  Prediction: They’ll grab their cojones and at least double their number of wins next season.
• #16 Mumbling Skulls: These were the new-look Skulls, taking some time to find their collective vibe.  But once they did, they started to gel…with a second half of the season that was certainly better than the first.  Prediction: the Skulls will NOT finish last next season…and will actually finish no lower than 12th place.

Well, that’s the take on things for now.  And the final regular season standings for the Spring 2011 Nocabulabet Bocce League are:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Spring 2011 STANDINGS (Final Regular Season)
		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against	Game Dif.
1	License to Roll	10	2	0.833	159	121	38	13.25	10.08	3.17
2	Bocce Bartokomous	9	3	0.750	204	128	76	17.00	10.67	6.33
3	Days of Thunder	9	3	0.750	189	132	57	15.75	11.00	4.75
4	Segals	8	4	0.667	166	120	46	13.83	10.00	3.83
5	Bocce Said She Was 18	8	4	0.667	180	151	29	15.00	12.58	2.42
6	Swim, Bike, Bocce	8	4	0.667	154	155	-1	12.83	12.92	-0.08
7	Ball Bustahs	7	5	0.583	160	131	29	13.33	10.92	2.42
8	Deboccery	7	5	0.583	170	171	-1	14.17	14.25	-0.08
9	Joey & The Pussycats	6	6	0.500	163	157	6	13.58	13.08	0.50
10	Team Schweddy	6	6	0.500	159	160	-1	13.25	13.33	-0.08
11	What Up, Biocce?	5	7	0.417	158	176	-18	13.17	14.67	-1.50
12	Bocce Babes	4	8	0.333	166	177	-11	13.83	14.75	-0.92
13	Meatballs	3	9	0.250	112	179	-67	9.33	14.92	-5.58
14	Revenge of WAH	2	10	0.167	136	197	-61	11.33	16.42	-5.08
15	Cojones Loco	2	10	0.167	143	180	-37	11.92	15.00	-3.08
16	Mumbling Skulls	2	10	0.167	122	206	-84	10.17	17.17	-7.00

A little clarity, revenge, and a hairball

Week 8 in the Nocabulabet Bocce League, the penultimate week of the regular season…and the playoff picture is a little bit clearer.  Four teams have clinched playoff spots, five others are fighting for the four remaining slots…and seven are planning their off-season acquisitions, summer conditioning regimens, and what dishes and beverages they’ll bring to the Championship BBQ & Block Party on June 29th.

But let’s look a little closer at those seven teams.  They might be out, but they certainly aren’t down.  Five of those teams won games in Week 8 — the Bocce Babes, Meatballs, Mumbling Skulls, Team Schweddy, and What Up, Biocce? (who actually won two games, prompting the question, “Where have you been, Biocce?”).  A little sweet revenge in a season that has held enough frustration.  And they’ll be back next week, along with Cojones Loco and Revenge of WAH, seeking a little more bocce redemption.

As for the playoffs, Bocce Bartokomous were the first to clinch a playoff spot, moving to 9-2 and still with the inside track to clinch the top seed in the playoffs.  Days of Thunder and License to Roll also clinched with wins later in the evening…and so did an idle Bocce Said She Was 18.  All that remains for this quarter is to figure out who they’ll be taking on in the first week of the playoffs.  In celebration of being the first to clinch, the Bartokomi’s DJ Jazzy Kate announced that next week she is loading up her iPod, hauling her sweet Bose system to the courts, and “drop it like it’s hot.”  You heard it here first, folks.

As for sounds…what was that loud, echoing cough just before 9:00 p.m. last night?  Was that Joey & The Pussycats hucking up a hairball?  Or choking on their playoff chances with a loss to the previously 1-9 Meatballs?  It comes down to this for the finicky felines if they want to make the playoffs — win their Week 9 games against Bocce Babes and (2nd place) Days of Thunder…and hope for a Bull Bustahs’ loss…or a Segals loss and a 26-point swing in point differential.

Or if J&P loses one of its games, it makes things a little easier to decipher — as the Ball Bustahs, Deboccery, Segals, and Swim, Bike, Bocce will automatically be in the playoffs.

Either way, the commissioners will be decyphering a tangle of head-to-head outcomes and point differentials to figure out the match-ups for the June 22 playoffs.

So, the league standings after Week 8 (with one week left in the regular season) are:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Spring 2011
		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game
1	Bocce Bartokomous*	9	2	0.818	195	113	82	17.73
2	Days of Thunder*	9	2	0.818	177	117	60	16.09
3	License to Roll*	8	2	0.800	133	111	22	13.30
4	Bocce Said She Was 18*	8	3	0.727	180	141	39	16.36
5	Ball Bustahs	7	4	0.636	155	110	45	14.09
6	Segals	7	4	0.636	145	115	30	13.18
7	Swim, Bike, Bocce	7	4	0.636	137	139	-2	12.45
8	Deboccery	7	5	0.583	170	171	-1	14.17
9	Joey & The Pussycats	5	5	0.500	133	128	5	13.30
10	Team Schweddy	5	6	0.455	141	150	-9	12.82
11	What Up, Biocce?	4	7	0.364	137	167	-30	12.45
12	Bocce Babes	3	7	0.300	133	145	-12	13.30
13	Cojones Loco	2	9	0.182	128	164	-36	11.64
14	Mumbling Skulls	2	9	0.182	113	185	-72	10.27
15	Meatballs	2	9	0.182	97	170	-73	8.82
16	Revenge of WAH	1	8	0.111	100	148	-48	11.11

* clinched playoff spot

It’s a beautiful thing

It’s beautiful, this thing of ours.  Not only the glow of an early June evening, but the poetry and rhythm of a toss and the spock, of arms waving, of rolling and motion.  Not only the laughter and banter wafting on a warm breeze, but the simple joy of a beautiful night on the Hill.

It’s a beautiful thing, too, when teams that are already eliminated from the playoffs show up and continue to give it their best, like the passion of the Meatballs in their matches…and the tenacity of Revenge of WAH and Mumbling Skulls nearly knocking off the defending champs and the new league leaders, respectively, with the latter two needing to pull off victory with last-frame rolls. Bocce. This thing of ours. Beautiful, indeed.

And then there was those in action aspiring to the playoffs, hoping to snag one of the 8 spots that will keep hope alive…the next step for that one team of destiny.  Some highlights from Week 7:

• There’s a new sheriff in town, folks.  After their two-win night (squeakers against the Bocce Babes and Mumblings Skulls), Bocce Bartokomous moved into first place (their early season win over Days of Thunder giving them the tie-breaking advantage), making them the fourth different first place team over the past four weeks.  DoT dropped to second…without even playing a game this week.  The Bartokomi seem to have the inside track on securing the top spot in the playoffs, with their next two games against two more Bottom Six teams, while Days of Thunder face off against playoff-contending Ball Bustahs and Joey & The Pussycats to end the season. But with Bocce Bartokomous barely making it by two teams who have totaled three wins on the season, they’ll need to find their earlier-season form to get their second wind for the post-season.
• Winners License to Roll, Ball Bustahs, and Bocce Said She Was 18 (who scored two impressive wins) and those that split — both Deboccery (with their schizophrenic consistency — a 10-point win followed by a 16-point loss) and the Segals — all either advanced or maintained their place in the standings and clearly control their own destinies going into the playoffs.
• Double-winners Swim, Bike, Bocce improved to 7-4 and took over 8th place, the first time they’ve been in serious playoff contention in a while.  The space opened up because Joey & The Pussycats (who started the night in third place and just a half-game behind Bartokomous) had two 6-point losses which dropped them to ninth place and (currently) out of the post-season.
• No team has yet clinched a play-off spot, and there are 11 teams still in alive in the playoff hunt.  The Bocce Babes are mathematically alive until either their own loss or a License to Roll win…so in all reality, there are only two teams trying to claw their way back into the top eight: Joey & the Pussycats and the idle Team Schweddy (which will certainly need some help to have a shot of making it), dreams of reprising their Fall 2010 championship still in their heads.

The standings after Week 7 are:

		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game
1	Bocce Bartokomous	8	2	0.800	174	109	65	17.40
2	Days of Thunder	8	2	0.800	163	105	58	16.30
3	License to Roll	6	2	0.750	100	89	11	12.50
4	Bocce Said She Was 18	8	3	0.727	180	141	39	16.36
5	Ball Bustahs	7	3	0.700	143	96	47	14.30
6	Segals	7	4	0.636	145	115	30	13.18
7	Deboccery	7	4	0.636	157	151	6	14.27
8	Swim, Bike, Bocce	7	4	0.636	137	139	-2	12.45
9	Joey & The Pussycats	5	4	0.556	121	111	10	13.44
10	Team Schweddy	4	5	0.444	116	124	-8	12.89
11	Bocce Babes	2	6	0.250	101	115	-14	12.63
12	Cojones Loco	2	7	0.222	104	135	-31	11.56
13	What Up, Biocce?	2	7	0.222	99	151	-52	11.00
14	Revenge of WAH	1	7	0.125	96	127	-31	12.00
15	Meatballs	1	8	0.111	76	137	-61	8.44
16	Mumbling Skulls	1	8	0.111	87	154	-67	9.67

Splitsville U.S.A.

A number of teams took a page from the Deboccery playbook for this week’s games, that being to stink up the courts one game and come back for a victory the next (or vice versa).  No fewer than seven teams went 1-1 for the night, sometimes with great contrast.

• Team Schweddy might be the best example with their perfect symmetry of a 21-4 win at 6:45 p.m. followed by a 4-21 loss at 7:30, a performance that kept them under .500 and still in 10^th place.
• For five of the teams that had ho-hum performances, there was little consequence, having them drop one spot in the standings, at most, and making no changes to the play-off picture, including: Ball Bustahs (who staunched the bleeding after three straight losses);  Bocce Said She Was 18 (whose loss might have had something to do with emptying their cooler which, incidentally, they forgot at the end of the night);  the Segals (who recorded both an ugly loss…and an equally ugly win);  the night’s poster children, Deboccery, and; Swim, Bike, Bocce (who, even with their .571 winning percentage, still couldn’t move into the Top 8).
• Those of the Middling Performance who fared the worst on Wednesday were License to Roll.  Their split (including a 17-4 loss to the Ball Bustahs, in a reprise of last year’s championship match)  dropped them from first to fourth…and it could have been even worse, were it not for a final-frame gift in their game against the Segals.  A loss to the national service nuts would have meant a fall all the way to eighth place.  With Capo Seth O’Connor out for the season on injured reserve and a number of new faces – including former Ball Bustah stalwart Jeff Gale and Alex “Pitbull” Molina – founding L2R members Ronn Erik and John Lund have three weeks to whip the crew into shape over the next three weeks to have the newbies properly credentialed as post-season bad-asses.

Not all performances were dubious this week, as some squads were clearly in HITSVILLE:

• Bocce Bartokomous, despite what was clearly an off night for them (were they missing the centering presence of Capo K-Dog?) ground out a win over Cojones Loco, enough to continue their march upward, with them now sitting in 2^nd place.
• The Bocce Babes made it clear that they are still alive in the playoff hunt with their late-game win.  But they’ll need to keep the victory dance bumpin’ over their next five games to have any shot.
• The big movers of the night were Joey & The Pussycats, with their plodding 2-point win over the Ball Bustahs moving these style-conscious ballers (complete with their hip-ass ringer tees) up an impressive FIVE spots in the standings to take over sole possession of 3^rd place.  These folks look like they’re going places their predecessor Sons of a Bocce / Just Jeffersons never did.
• But the biggest winners of the night were Days of Thunder.  While they had to hold off Bocce Said for a 2-point victory, their crumbling of Team Schweddy like a dusty muffin was not only impressive, it moved them into 1^st place, two games ahead of Bocce Bartokomous in the win column.  However, the thunder gods’ bye next week might be costly; if the Bartokomi beat the 11^th-place Bocce Babes and 15^th-place Mumbling Skulls in Week 7, they will take over the top spot in the standings (by virtue of their 20-7 drubbing of DoT earlier in the season).

And, of course, there were teams this week who moved even deeper into SHITSV…, er…um…PITSVILLE:

• Finally bested at the end in their 1-point loss to Bocce Bartokomous, the ever-pleasant, ever-colorful (just check out Sixten’s beard) Cojones Loco fell to 2-7.  They’re joined there by What Up, Biocce?, who dropped two games (including their own single-point loss to The Segals) are still trying to figure out what went wrong this season.
• Despite their own fashion flare, the Meatballs dropped two games of their own, falling to 1-7 (and into the cellar of the NBL).  The bad news: like the Loco ones and What Up, B?, the Meatballs are only mathematically alive in the playoff picture until either their next loss or L2R’s and Joey’s felines’ next victories.  The good news: if Mumbling Skulls drop both of their games in Week 7, the Meatballs will at least have someone to be tied with them at the bottom of the standings.  Ah, hope springs eternal.
  

  In last place, maybe...but the Meatballs can ALWAYS be counted on for fashion-forward footwear.

The standings after Week 6:

		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game
1	Days of Thunder	8	2	0.800	163	105	58	16.30
2	Bocce Bartokomous	6	2	0.750	146	85	61	18.25
3	Joey & The Pussycats	5	2	0.714	98	76	22	14.00
4	License to Roll	5	2	0.714	84	79	5	12.00
5	Ball Bustahs	6	3	0.667	128	85	43	14.22
6	Bocce Said She Was 18	6	3	0.667	145	118	27	16.11
7	Segals	6	3	0.667	109	93	16	12.11
8	Deboccery	6	3	0.667	131	119	12	14.56
9	Swim, Bike, Bocce	5	4	0.556	103	121	-18	11.44
10	Team Schweddy	4	5	0.444	116	124	-8	12.89
11	Bocce Babes	2	5	0.286	88	100	-12	12.57
12	Cojones Loco	2	7	0.222	104	135	-31	11.56
13	What Up, Biocce?	2	7	0.222	99	151	-52	11.00
14	Revenge of WAH	1	5	0.167	77	94	-17	12.83
15	Mumbling Skulls	1	6	0.143	71	126	-55	10.14
16	Meatballs	1	7	0.125	65	116	-51	8.13

Where things stand

Well, it took a few days (and still dodging some rain drops) to finally get the Week 5 games in…and now we’re past the halfway point.  Here are some thoughts on what’s the what with the NBL at mid-season…and what might happen in the coming weeks.

• License to Roll moved up three spots to take over first place…without playing a single game this week!  Before the start of the season, smart money in Vegas was riding on these guys taking it all, and it looks like it can happen.  But will their current 12.8 points per game be enough to keep them atop the league as they play seven games over the next four weeks (the most remaining for any team in the league)?
• On a crusade to unite the championship belts of two of Providence’s bocce leagues (as they currently hold the DownCity league title), Days of Thunder moved up four spots this week to take sole possession of second place.   But, to date, only one of their six victories have been over a team with a winning record.  We’ll see if they are for real as their competition gets tougher in the coming weeks.
• Bocce Bartokomous have come to play this season, folks.  Their 18 and 1/2 points leads the league…and their two losses were only by a total of five points.  Are they on a championship pace…or have Nagle, Fry, Nagle & Associates peaked too early?
• A 5-2 record seems to be all the fashion this spring, with four other teams knotted at that mark, from the Ball Bustahs (who are licking their wounds after two short-handed losses on Monday dropped them from first to fourth) to Deboccery (whose +6 point differential might be a slight sign of inconsistency…and perhaps vulnerability).  Bocce Said She Was 18 have been impressive, racking up the second highest points-per-game average while trying to stave off a meltdown like they experienced last season.  The new-look Segals are sporting what might appear to be a measly 12.3 points per game, until you consider that they’ve held their opponents to the fewest points per game in the league.  Yet, they still have the feel of a team trying to forge a new identity…while still holding visions of a third NBL championship.
• Joey & The Pussycats have shown flashes of greatness on their way to securing the coveted eighth spot in the standings, brandishing their own brand of hipster chic all the while.  They’ll have to hold off a Swim, Bike, Bocce squad who are definitely showing flashes of their Generic/Crew glory days.
• Two teams that have been struggling — and who are definitely on the proverbial bubble, despite their perennial play-off pedigree — are Team Schweddy and What Up, Biocce? (despite the latter’s win over the Ball Bustahs this past week).  Given that a 7-5 record is what it will probably take to secure a post-season berth (and that might not even cut it for those with weak point differentials), Schweddy has little margin for error the remainder of the season (maybe Feeser just needs to come to the games more “primed”?) – and What Up, B? faces must-wins the rest of the way.
• There are five more teams that also have to win out if they even want to sniff a chance of making the play-offs.  For Cojones Loco it might be too late already, with their six losses.  Revenge of WAH (who had such a promising start to the season) and the Meatballs might need to wait until the fall to make their first-ever post-season appearances.  And the Bocce Babes and Mumbling Skulls might be haunted by the specter of their former glory, as both have finished as league runners-up in seasons past.

Given all this, here are the NBL standings, following the Week 5 games: 

		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game
1	License to Roll	4	1	0.800	64	50	14	12.80
2	Days of Thunder	6	2	0.750	126	87	39	15.75
3	Bocce Bartokomous	5	2	0.714	130	70	60	18.57
4	Ball Bustahs	5	2	0.714	103	71	32	14.71
5	Bocce Said She Was 18	5	2	0.714	112	93	19	16.00
6	Segals	5	2	0.714	86	67	19	12.29
7	Deboccery	5	2	0.714	100	94	6	14.29
8	Joey & The Pussycats	4	2	0.667	88	68	20	14.67
9	Swim, Bike, Bocce	4	3	0.571	82	89	-7	11.71
10	Team Schweddy	3	4	0.429	91	99	-8	13.00
11	What Up, Biocce?	2	5	0.286	81	120	-39	11.57
12	Cojones Loco	2	6	0.250	89	119	-30	11.13
13	Revenge of WAH	1	5	0.167	77	94	-17	12.83
14	Bocce Babes	1	5	0.167	70	88	-18	11.67
15	Meatballs	1	5	0.167	44	79	-35	7.33
16	Mumbling Skulls	1	6	0.143	71	126	-55	10.14

Approaching the half-way point…

Hey, folks…hard to believe we’re approaching the half-way point in the regular season.  Commentary coming up soon.  In the meantime, here’s the standings after Week 4:

		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game
1	Ball Bustahs	5	0	1.000	83	42	41	16.60
2	Bocce Bartokomous	4	1	0.800	94	41	53	18.80
3	Bocce Said She Was 18	4	1	0.800	85	70	15	17.00
4	License to Roll	4	1	0.800	64	50	14	12.80
5	Deboccery	4	1	0.800	72	62	10	14.40
6	Days of Thunder	5	2	0.714	115	78	37	16.43
7	Segals	4	2	0.667	72	58	14	12.00
8	Joey & The Pussycats	3	2	0.600	67	62	5	13.40
9	Swim, Bike, Bocce	3	3	0.500	67	79	-12	11.17
10	Team Schweddy	2	3	0.400	72	68	4	14.40
11	Bocce Babes	1	3	0.250	48	63	-15	12.00
12	Revenge of WAH	1	4	0.200	68	80	-12	13.60
13	What Up, Biocce?	1	4	0.200	55	86	-31	11.00
14	Cojones Loco	1	5	0.167	65	97	-32	10.83
15	Meatballs	1	5	0.167	44	79	-35	7.33
16	Mumbling Skulls	0	6	0.000	57	113	-56	9.50

It’s that time of year…

…when the clocks have been adjusted, the hint of spring is in the air, and the thoughts of the young (and comfortably middle-aged) turn toward BOCCE!

So, the Nocabulabet Bocce League Commissioners met in a smoke-filled room this past weekend to draw up the details for the Spring 2011 season…and here are the main details.

To SECURE A SPOT for your team for this season, BY 7:00 p.m. on MONDAY, MARCH 28 you must submit via e-mail to paddyb47@yahoo.com the following items:

     * team name;
     * contact information for the team capo and consigliere;
     * team roster (with a minimum of 6 players).

FIRST PRIORITY will be given to teams which played in the Fall 2010 season.

If there are REMAINING SLOTS, they will be filled in the following order (first-come, first-served):

     * teams from previous seasons that did not play in Fall 2010;
     * spin-off teams from current or past teams;
     * teams with all new players.

There will be 16 teams again this season with games being played on Wednesday evenings, with the first games each week beginning at 6:45 p.m.  The season will begin on Wednesday, April 20, with the play-offs on Wednesday, June 22 and the Championship BBQ and Block Party on Wednesday, June 29.

The fees for this season will again be at least $50 per team; this might be increased, depending upon costs which may be associated with the getting the lights back up and running, etc.  More information on this will be forthcoming.

The pre-season meeting and official registration night will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6 at THE WILD COLONIAL TAVERN (250 S. Water Street, Providence || www.wildcolonial.com).

It’s gonna be a great season…so get those rosters together, folks.  Don’t hesitate to e-mail paddyb47@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

The Commissioners

Crunch time

Going into the last week of the regular season, five play-off spots are already secured, with six teams fighting for the last three spots.  Here’s a snapshot of the post-season hopes for the league.

One – two punch
#1 Segals and #2 License to Roll have clearly been the best teams throughout the season.  Despite one major hiccup each, they have been the class of the league, securing play-off spots a few weeks ago.  But the Segals hold the key tie-breaker, having defeated L2R earlier in the season.  These teams are assured of finishing no lower than third place going into the playoffs.

Locked and loaded
Fresh off a nail-biting win over Deboccery (thanks, in large part, to a major tactical error that led to a 4-spot late in the game), #3 Team Schweddy are in great shape for the playoffs, and even have a chance to finish as league runners-up at the end of the regular season.  Following a disastrous Week 6, #4 Bocce Bartokomous are back to their winning ways and looking to finish as high as third place going into the playoffs.  #5 Deboccery have been on a slow decline, with a 2-4 record the middle of Week 3.  But their 5-0 start means that even if they lose their last two games of the season, they’ll have a play-off berth.

Win and they’re in
That’s if they each win both of their games in the final week of the regular season.  #6 Ball Bustahs (ahead because of their head-to-head win earlier in the season) and #7 What Up, Biocce? are assured play-off spots if they have two-win weeks. If they only win one of their games, they enter into a messy world of head-to-head records and point differentials.  If they drop both of their games, all bets are off.

On the hairy edge
#8 Tonsil Bocce and #9 Cojones Loco: even if they both win out in the final week, there might be room for only one of them.  But if they lose, there might be room for neither of them.  It’s clear though that they both teams – including Tonsil Bocce who were this year’s champions in the Providence DownCity Bocce League – need help if they want to make the play-offs in THE Providence bocce league.

Mathematically alive…but….
#10 Sons of a Bocce, thanks to their 3-loss performance in Week 6 (the third team to accomplish this feat this season) , and #11 Bocce Said She Was 18 (who dropped two out of three this past Wednesday) find themselves at the mercy of the bocce gods for a spot in the playoffs.   But the crazily divine series of events that would need to happen – like teams #5-9 would need losing all of their games, and the point differentials then miraculously working out, and the commissioners actually taking the time to see who beat who in the regular season – that these folks, in all reality, should be lumped with the group below.

Playing for pride
The play-off dreams for some of these teams dried up weeks ago…but they keep coming back each week to defend their honor…and for the love of the game, darn it. #12 Bevo Bowlers, with just a few inches difference in the final frame of three of their games (including against Ball Bustahs last week), could realistically be 7-5 and on the verge of the play-offs right now.  The #13 Meatballs were in a hole from the very beginning, with their double forfeit in Week 1, and their play in weeks 4-6 had them on the verge of a phoenix-like comeback which fell back into the dust with two losses this past week.  #14 Swim, Bike, Bocce’s season held some flashes of the glory days of Generic Bocce and Campbell’s Crew from seasons past, but they came far too infrequently to make them the threat they definitely could be. After just missing the play-offs in Spring 2009, the #15 Revenge of WAH have had the worst luck, it seems, because they really are a much better team than their perennial near-the-bottom finishes would indicate.  And their good spirits make them a league mainstay – what would the NBL be without them?  And finally, #16 Mumbling Skulls have weathered defections, roster turmoil, and injury – and are still the first team at the bocce pitch week in and week out, a living definition of the bocce spirit.

OK, folks…the standings going into the final week of the regular season are:

		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff
1	Segals	10	2	0.833	207	133	74
2	License to Roll	10	2	0.833	212	131	81
3	Team Schweddy	8	3	0.727	166	128	38
4	Bocce Bartokomous	8	4	0.667	156	140	16
5	Deboccery	7	4	0.636	172	146	26
6	Ball Bustahs	6	5	0.545	155	153	2
7	What Up, Biocce?	6	5	0.545	179	147	32
8	Tonsil Bocce	6	6	0.500	160	144	16
9	Cojones Loco	5	6	0.455	140	157	-17
10	Sons of a Bocce	5	7	0.417	150	163	-13
11	Bocce Said She Was 18	4	7	0.364	134	161	-27
12	Bevo Bowlers	4	8	0.333	177	192	-15
13	Meatballs	4	8	0.333	111	171	-60
14	Swim, Bike, Bocce	3	8	0.273	145	156	-11
15	Revenge of WAH	3	8	0.273	106	165	-59
16	Mumbling Skulls	3	9	0.250	121	204	-83

Segals, Schweddy and Bocce Said soar…the rest of us bore

That was pretty much the story in Week 6…as the play-off picture largely remained the same.

While the Segals went on a 3-0 terror on Wednesday (averaging 19 ppg in the process) and Team Schweddy (after crumbling like a dusty muffin to the aforementioned Segals) and Bocce Said She Was 18 (after their own drubbing by the Segals) both won easily in their other two games of the night, everyone else seemed to mail in faltering or underwhelming performances. 

Certainly, there were some other highlights…but these were mixed among many, many lowlights.  Examples:

• While Swim, Bike, Bocce  recaptured their laser-like form of seasons of yore in their 21-3 systematic dismantling of Bocce Bartokomous, they returned to their more recent habit of ho-hum performances in their 8-point loss to Team Schweddy, one that dropped them to 3-7 on the year…and likely out of the play-off picture.
• Bocce Bartokomous themselves had to depend upon a forfeit from Revenge of WAH to keep themselves from being placed on a suicide watch after the drubbing by SBB and crumbling 16-15 to Ball Bustahs by blowing a 7-point lead with only two frames remaining in the match.
• Ball Bustahs, continuing their march of mediocrity (5-5; 8th place; tied for 7th in ppg; a +1 point differentail for the season…you get the picture), followed up their comeback win against the Bartokomi with a yawn-inspiring performance in a 16-8 smackdown by Team Schweddy.  Will the defending champions be able to limp into the playoffs again this season?
• Revenge of WAH erased a 9-point deficit in the last three frames of their match against their progeny, Bevo Bowlers,  to score a stunning 18-7 comeback victory…only to have to forfeit their second game of the night when two fellow WAHsters bailed after the first game, WAHster Dan called in to say he didn’t feel like getting out of bed after his early-evening nap, and Capo Barb somehow thought it more important to spend a few days at a beautiful lakefront home in Maine than to come back for an evening of NBL action.  Can you imagine?  Thanks, though, to Angela for not only heading out to DePasquale Square to (unsuccessfully) find folks who might want to serve as alternates, but for coming back to referee a 9:00 p.m. game, sans teammates.
• OK, so Cojones Loco did win their only game (an important potentially tie-breaking 14-point win over the Meatballs, both now 4-6), but the fact that they’ll need to go 3-0 over the last two weeks makes Wednesday’s win only mildly newsworthy, especially for a team that has mustered back-to-back wins only once this year.
• While Bevo Bowlers’ loss to Revenge of WAH likely knocked them out of play-off contention this season, they did muster a hard-fought 20-18, victory against Mumbling Skulls, knocking the Skulls back into last place and a 2-9 record.
• We’re not sure if it was the pre-game dinner and drinks they were spotted having at a Federal Hill hot spot.  Perhaps it could have been a karmic wind blowing bravado and the stench of their cheap cigars back into their faces.  Or maybe it is the inevitable fall for a team that has been so hot for so long (their 8-0 run this season ties 3 Guys, 4 Balls’ league record set in Spring 2008).  Whatever the cause, License to Roll looked like they left both the license and their intimidation factor at home on Wednesday night, losing to Bocce Said She Was 18, 16-11.  Can the boys reclaim their style over the next couple of weeks?  Or are they beginning their descent toward an early-round departure in the play-offs?

The league standings going into Week 7 are:

		Wins	Losses	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff
1	License to Roll	9	2	0.818	192	120	72
2	Segals	9	2	0.818	186	128	58
3	Team Schweddy	6	3	0.667	135	103	32
4	Deboccery	6	3	0.667	139	120	19
5	Bocce Bartokomous	7	4	0.636	142	132	10
6	What Up, Biocce?	6	4	0.600	166	126	40
7	Sons of Bocce	5	4	0.556	118	114	4
8	Ball Bustahs	5	5	0.500	140	139	1
9	Tonsil Bocce	5	6	0.455	139	131	8
10	Cojones Loco	4	6	0.400	125	144	-19
11	Meatballs	4	6	0.400	89	137	-48
12	Bocce Said She Was 18	3	5	0.375	93	114	-21
13	Swim, Bike, Bocce	3	7	0.300	137	135	2
14	Bevo Bowlers	3	7	0.300	142	167	-25
15	Revenge of WAH	3	7	0.300	101	144	-43
16	Mumbling Skulls	2	9	0.182	102	192	-90