And then there were eight…

We’ve completed Regular Season #10 of the NBL…and here’s where things ended up with the final standings…and the playoff seedings.

#1) Bocce Bartokomous (11-0)
Last season’s champions accomplished a first for the NBL — an undefeated regular season!  And they’re hoping to become the third back-to-back champions (matching the previous feat of the Segals and Ball Bustahs)…and the first three-time champions in league history.

#2) Days of Thunder (8-3)
These past champions are looking to return to the NBL Promised Land after clearly securing the second seed through the playoffs.

#3) What Up, Biocce? (7-4)
They’ve been to the championship before…but it has been three long years.  With a strong late-season surge, they are well-placed to make a run for it again.

So…those were the easy one’s to figure out.  There were six teams who finished at 5-6…but there are only room for five of these teams in the playoffs.  What to do?  We used the first tie-breaker (head-to-head competition) to figure out the next couple of slots:

#4) Cojones Loco (5-6)
Since their five wins were against the other 5-6 teams, it made it easy to determine they were the fourth seed.  They were runners-up last season…can they take it all the way this time around?

#5) Segals (5-6)
Well, since they beat the four remaining 5-6 teams, it was a no-brainer that they were next in line.  Losing both of their games in Week 8, though, was not the way they wanted to go into the playoffs.  Can they regain their championship karma of bygone days?

The next four 5-6 teams didn’t make it easy.  Because each had at least one loss against one of the other teams, the head-to-head tiebreaker didn’t work.  So…we went to tiebreaker #2 — point differential.  And this is how things shook out:

#6 Bocce Slayers (5-6, with an even point differential)

#7 Remnants (5-6, with a -28 point differential)

#8 Meatballs (5-6, with a -32 point differential)

 

So, that rounds out the playoff seeding…leaving one team that finished 5-6 on the outside looking in:

#9 The Big Lebocce (5-6, with a -35 point differential)

The rest of the standings ended up as follows:

#10 Boccelism (4-7)

#11 Cancel My Appointments & Hold All My Balls (3-8)

#12 That’s How We Roll (3-8, due to their head-to-head loss to Cancel/Hold)
More information coming about the playoffs.  The final statistics for the season are:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2012
FINAL STANDINGS
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against	Game Dif.
1	Bocce Bartokomous	11	0	1.000	185	88	97	16.82	8.00	8.82
2	Days of Thunder	8	3	0.727	158	124	34	14.36	11.27	3.09
3	What Up, Biocce?	7	4	0.636	161	132	29	14.64	12.00	2.64
4	Cojones Loco	5	6	0.455	137	148	-11	12.45	13.45	-1.00
5	Segals	5	6	0.455	143	142	1	13.00	12.91	0.09
6	Bocce Slayers	5	6	0.455	162	162	0	14.73	14.73	0.00
7	Remnants	5	6	0.455	138	166	-28	12.55	15.09	-2.55
8	Meatballs	5	6	0.455	139	171	-32	12.64	15.55	-2.91
9	The Big Lebocce	5	6	0.455	135	170	-35	12.27	15.45	-3.18
10	Boccelism	4	7	0.364	144	157	-13	13.09	14.27	-1.18
11	Cancel /Hold All My Balls	3	8	0.273	133	182	-49	12.09	16.55	-4.45
12	That’s How We Roll	3	8	0.273	161	154	7	14.64	14.00	0.64

 

Lots of Shades of Gray

So, we find ourselves going into the final week of the season with just a few certainties…and a whole lot of gray area.  What do we know?

• Bocce Bartokomous (10-0) has (long ago) sealed up first place and will be the top seed for as long as they remain in this year’s playoffs.  They are also hoping to cap off the first undefeated NBL season with a victory over That’s How We Roll (3-5) tonight.
• Days of Thunder (8-3), enjoying another bye week due to a scheduling snafu, had a slightly diminished roar for their season finale, falling prey to the Bocce Slayers (5-5) last week.  However, DoT have sewn up the second seed in the playoffs.
• Seven teams hovering around mediocrity  going into the final season, with either 4 or 5 wins.  Six wins will assure teams of a post-season berth; the Segals and What Up, Biocce? (both 5-4) can find themselves here, even if they each split their two games during the final week. Five wins will likely to secure a date in the playoffs, as well.  Those that end the season with four winds are just tempting fate.
• Even though they are only 3-5 going into the final week, That’s How We Roll still have a realistic chance of securing a playoff spot.  And despite gong 1-4 in their last five contests, there’s a good chance that The Big Lebocce (5-5) will find themselves in the post season, even if they drop their game in the final week.
• Boccelism (3-7) are still mathematically alive, that is until they lose to the Segals or the 4-win teams — Cojones Loco, Meatballs, or the Remnants (all 4-6) — start securing victories tonight.
• League newbies, Cancel All My Appointments, and Hold All My Balls (2-7), currently find themselves in last place.  But if they can muster another performance like last week’s strong showing (which included an impressive 1-point loss to the league-leading Bartokomi) they might not end the season in the basement.

Following Week 7 competition, here are the league standings:

		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against	Game Dif.
1	Bocce Bartokomous	10	0	1.000	172	79	93	17.20	7.90	9.30
2	Days of Thunder	8	3	0.727	158	124	34	14.36	11.27	3.09
3	Segals	5	4	0.556	127	107	20	14.11	11.89	2.22
4	What Up, Biocce?	5	4	0.556	121	101	20	13.44	11.22	2.22
5	Bocce Slayers	5	5	0.500	145	141	4	14.50	14.10	0.40
6	The Big Lebocce	5	5	0.500	121	154	-33	12.10	15.40	-3.30
7	Cojones Loco	4	6	0.400	122	140	-18	12.20	14.00	-1.80
8	Remnants	4	6	0.400	122	152	-30	12.20	15.20	-3.00
9	Meatballs	4	6	0.400	124	157	-33	12.40	15.70	-3.30
10	That’s How We Roll	3	5	0.375	125	110	15	15.63	13.75	1.88
11	Boccelism	3	7	0.300	124	149	-25	12.40	14.90	-2.50
12	Cancel /Hold All My Balls	2	7	0.222	103	150	-47	11.44	16.67	-5.22

Down to the wire…

We’re down to the last two weeks of the regular season…and the playoff picture is becoming a little clearer.  The top 8 teams will make it to the post-season, which will kick off on Wednesday, October 24; the championship will be on Monday, October 29.

The current standings are:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall 2012
STANDINGS (After Week 6)
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff	Pts./Game	Against	Game Dif.
1	Bocce Bartokomous	9	0	1.000	159	67	92	17.67	7.44	10.22
2	Days of Thunder	7	2	0.778	134	98	36	14.89	10.89	4.00
3	What Up, Biocce?	5	4	0.556	121	101	20	13.44	11.22	2.22
4	The Big Lebocce	5	4	0.556	113	133	-20	12.56	14.78	-2.22
5	Bocce Slayers	4	4	0.500	118	117	1	14.75	14.63	0.13
6	Meatballs	4	5	0.444	116	136	-20	12.89	15.11	-2.22
7	Segals	3	4	0.429	93	88	5	13.29	12.57	0.71
8	That’s How We Roll	3	5	0.375	125	110	15	15.63	13.75	1.88
9	Cojones Loco	3	5	0.375	96	113	-17	12.00	14.13	-2.13
10	Remnants	3	5	0.375	87	128	-41	10.88	16.00	-5.13
11	Boccelism	3	6	0.333	110	131	-21	12.22	14.56	-2.33
12	Cancel /Hold All My Balls	1	6	0.143	73	123	-50	10.43	17.57	-7.14

Games are ON for tonight, September 5

The thunderstorms have subsided, the radar is showing clearing skies, Weather.com is calling for only a 10% chance of  showers for the rest of the night, and the courts are drying out.  So while we  might need to dodge a raindrop or two yet, we are definitely ON for tonight.

NBL begins its 10th season

Last Wednesday marked the beginning of the league’s 10th season…capping off the fifth year of the Nocabulabet Bocce League.  While there are only twelve teams playing this season, the beauty is that there will be no need for the Off-Ramp Court this season!!

The current standings are:

NOCABULABET BOCCE LEAGUE — Fall   2012
STANDINGS (After Week 1)
		W	L	Pct.	PF	PA	Diff
1	Bocce Bartokomous	2	0	1.000	39	15	24
2	Days of Thunder	1	0	1.000	21	7	14
3	Segals	1	0	1.000	21	8	13
4	What Up, Biocce?	1	0	1.000	17	11	6
5	Cancel /Hold All My   Balls	1	0	1.000	15	12	3
6	Bocce Slayers	1	1	0.500	34	25	9
7	The Big Lebocce	1	1	0.500	24	33	-9
8	Cojones Loco	0	1	0.000	12	15	-3
9	That’s How We Roll	0	1	0.000	11	17	-6
10	Remnants	0	1	0.000	8	21	-13
11	Meatballs	0	1	0.000	7	21	-14
12	Boccelism	0	2	0.000	16	40	-24

Quarters and Semis….

Sorry for the late post people, new job and responsibilities, leaves little time for musings.

In a season that saw the closest group of teams head into the playoffs it would had been almost impossible to determine who would win.

In the playoffs everybody starts 0-0.   But we do play the regular season for a reason.

In the Quarter Finals we had

#3 License to Roll vs. #6 Bocce Said She was 18

License to Roll was able to dispatch of Bocce Said/18 in easy fashion.   Hard as they might, Bocce Said, wasn’t able to put a consistant attack against the  License to Roll, who was able to punch their ticket to the next round for the first time in the last four seasons.

License to Roll 21, Bocce Said She was 18 10

#4  Cojones Loco vs. #5 Meatballs

A game that started close, didn’t stay that way for too long.  The Cojones took a large lead, winning by over 10 points over the Meatballs.   The Meatballs would try a last ditch attempt at glory by scoring 6 unanswered points before the Cojones Loco was able to put the final touch.  Demonstrating that no lead is ever comfortable in the playoffs, something that would come out later on.

Cojones Loco 21, Meatballs 13.

#2 Bocce Bartokomous vs. The Big Lebocce

The Big Lebocce started the game in good fashion and keeping the Bartokomous within striking distance.  However, experience and determination build a lead that was too much to overcome.

Bocce Bartokomous 21, Big Lebocce 13.

#1 Days of Thunder vs. #8 Team Schweddy

Having all the favorites won so far, the reigning champs wouldn’t be stopped by a lower seed.   They build a lead and never looked back.  The Schweddy’s never had a rhythm.  They pay mighty for it.

Days of Thunder 21, Team Schweddy 11

Semi Finals were a little more nail biting with all FOUR teams winning 8-4 during the regular season.   Four headed beast headed for collision.

On the Caserta court: Bocce Bartokomous vs. License to Roll

If you were to toss a coin 100 times, odds say that it will be heads 50% of the times.  And if you were to match up theses two teams, you would have a 50% chance of determining who wins.   But this one game would be the 101 toss of the coin and the one that mattered.  And neither one of these teams was going to give up easily.  In a game of back and forth, the biggest lead would be 3, before they would tie again.  Every roll, every frame, was a toss of the coin.  That was until the 15th point.  License to Roll losing by one, was able to hit the pallino and kiss it.  Bocce Bartokomous would NOT be denied such a point and was able to roll it to the exact same spot and kiss the pallino on the other cheek.  It was totally trapped between these two balls.  A dollar couldn’t go in between the gap, as there was no gap!  In such a tie, point goes to the team that kiss the pallino first.  Game tie at 15-15.  This must have bother the Bartokomous way more than they let on.  Because they would not allow another point to License to Roll for the rest of the match.

Bocce Bartokomous 21, License to Roll 15

On the Tuscan court: Days of Thunder vs. Cojones Loco

In a game that moved quickly and with precision.  It look lopsided at first, with Days of Thunder well on their way to a second finals appearance in a row.  They were winning 16-8, and in total control of the match.  Finals lights shining bright on them.  They couldn’t do no wrong….until they did.  And Cojones Loco never give up attitude, they started creeping into the lead, and scoring in bunches.  In just a matter of three frames.  They tied the game!! And kept going to take the lead.   In one of the biggest upset in playoff history, being down 8 points, Cojones Loco, brought their cojones and squeeze tight and steady.

Cojones Loco 21, Days of Thunder 17.

 

Finals match on June 27, 2010:

Cojones Loco vs. Bocce Bartokomous

Come join us in the finals, 6:45pm, winner 2 out of 3, will be crowned Nocabulabet Spring 2012 Champion.

Side note: This year we won’t have our normal BBQ during the finals.  We are planning for a bigger party at Lola’s in mid/late July to celebrate in big style our champions.

 

 

 

Spring Playoffs Schedule

Ok Boys and Girls

Playoffs season is upon us, where we decided who has the best positioned balls.   Rules for the playoffs, are basically the same as with regular season, the only differences are:

• No time limit.  Winner needs to reach at least 21.

•  Winner needs to win by at least 2, so if score is 21-20, we keep going til one of the team gets a 2 point advantage.

•  For the 6:45 game, License to Roll as being the highest seed playing at that time, will get to choose the court of their preference.

•  For the 7:45 game, Days of Thunder, will choose the court of their choice.

•  For the 8:45 game, highest remaining seed chooses court of their choice.

•  Will reseed after the first round.  Example: if after the first round, the highest seed is #2, it would then face the  lowest seeded of the remaining teams.

The start times are as follows:

6:45 P.M.

#3 License to Roll vs. #6 Bocce Said She Was 18  (#7 The Big Lebocce)

#4 Cojones Loco  vs. #5 Meatballs (#8 Team Schweddy)

7:45 P.M.

#1 Days of Thunder vs. #8 Team Schweddy (#6 Bocce Said She Was 18)

#2 Bocce Bartokomous vs. #7 The Big Lebocce (#5 Meatballs)

8:45 P.M.

Semi-Finals – winners from 1st round games

Defeated teams from 8:00 p.m. games officiating

Little history on our playoff contenders:

#1 Days of Thunder defeated 6 out of the other 7 teams in the playoffs during the regular season. Clearly the favorites in the tournament. Their last win against…..

#2  Bocce Bartokomous has already defeated their first round challengers 14-9 back in week 6. They hope to build on that performance. They are hoping for good things in the playoffs as is…

#3 License to Roll first time in the last 3 seasons they don’t come in as the #1 seed. Having never won a playoff game this might be their chance as they defeated the #6 seed on Week 5 16-11. Good thing they edge out…

#4 Cojones Loco didn’t beat anybody of the higher seeds, so are they build for real or an illusion? They’ll answer that on Wednesday night. And what about…

#5 Meatballs didn’t face Cojones Loco in the regular season, so it will be a battle without any record. Will they fold or can they reclaim some of that early season magic? Because late in the season…

#6 Bocce Said She was 18 was very inconsistent, but they are in, and they are the only team in the playoffs to defeat Days of Thunder. They want another chance at them, so is…

#7 The Big Lebocce making their post season debut. Facing a steep task in defeating the Bartokomous, something they failed earlier in the season to do, but not as bad as a task as…

#8 Team Schweddy is facing. What you get for stumbling into the playoffs? A date with the #1 seed that defeat you 21-9 earlier in the season. They need to bring their A+ game if they want glory.

Good luck Ballers!!!!!!