Drums of War

By Paul Lauricella, an op-ed writer for TheMarchingIdes.com

The drums of war could be heard throughout Wood Dale Bowl. Last evening, the Brew Crew continued their dominance over opponent's seemingly feeble attempts to snatch victory away from them. Facing the Brew Crew was the ever dangerous Glue Factory, a team with considerable talent and experience. Casting a long shadow over the match was the reality that both teams would have to master lanes 17 and 18, a pair widely regarded as the most difficult to attain high scores. The results however, would stand in contrast these preconceptions.

Game one witnessed a close match between these two heavy weight prize fighters. Thundering strikes and mental collapses by both teams led to the game being deadlocked throughout. Andy Rathje, undoubtedly the hottest bowler on the Brew Crew as of late, posted a rare pedestrian score of 182. Making up for him was Crew bowler Steve Block, who tallied an impressive 215, a score significantly above his standard average. Yet the Brew Crew still faced pressure not seen since the opening of the second half of the season. Much needed momentum was provided by Brew Crew Bowler Jeff Doruff, who concluded his game with three consecutive strikes. Tensions remained high as veteran Glue Factory anchor Don Holms ended with a 257, giving his team a 10 pin advantage. Facing the possibility of the Brew Crew's extraordinary winning streak coming to an end, swashbuckling Crew anchor Paul Lauricella delivered three emphatic strikes to claim victory for his team, and extend the now 37 consecutive point run. Game two was a return to familiar territory, with Brew Crew claiming victory by over 75 pins. Rathje rebounded by chalking up an impressive 279. Also integral in this victory was a 216 by Doruff, once again finishing with three consecutive strikes, and a tactful 246 by Lauricella. Fueled by this performance, the Brew Crew obliterated the Glue Factory in the third game of the set. Led by a 257 and 256 by Doruff and Rathje respectively, the Crew amassed a victory by a colossal 253 pins. This game also saw the Brew Crew team member Tony Rogus breaking from his enigmatic consistency of scoring in the 180's and 190's, to shoot a game well above the 200 mark. The Crew finished the evening with for of five bowlers averaging over 200 for three games. The scores, coupled with the extension of the streak to 42 consecutive points marked the evening as one of the most memorable achievements of the Brew Crew.

The performance of the Brew Crew thus far has been nothing short of remarkable. It is said that winning is a habit. This is a habit that the Brew Crew does not wish to break. They have shown the capability to win high scoring shootouts and the determination needed to muster through tight matches. With the league championship filling the minds of all bowlers, the Crew must retain focused on taking each week game by game, and shot by shot. This third rendition of the team is firing on all cylinders; will there be enough fuel for them to finish the race in first? The race continues...

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Why it's Not Over for Purdue

Below is an article that I was not able to finish before the NCAA tournament began on the 18th. That being said, this past weekend made it appear that I knew what I was talking about when I wrote this article (Note: the article was not completed):

I don't know if I have been drinking too much of the kool-aid or if I'm just plane naive, but the Purdue Men's basketball team can still do some damage in this year's NCAA tournament (despite ESPN's favorite injury).

How is this possible? Well, it's right in front of our faces and most people don't even think about it anymore, that this now post-season basketball. Any talking head that said Purdue is a wounded animal or lost their intensity is in desperate needs to extract their head from their hindquarters. I have watched E'Twan Moore, JaJuan Johnson, Chris Kramer, and Keaton Grant over the past 3 plus years and I have witnessed with my own eyes that they're not the type of players that will quit, or won't come in unmotivated, especially with the position they're in right now. These are players that train hard work hard during the off season and emit unrelenting hustle during the regular season just to get into this tournament.

Here are just a couple examples of what I'm writing about:

Chris Kramer doesn't need his legs to play defense.

Smooge catches West Virginia sleeping

I don't think the above clips have anything to do with me drinking the Purdue kool-aid. Also, observe that both clips are from games against big time opponents where, yes, Purdue won.

Another reason they can deliver is their level of NCAA tournament experience. This will be the fourth tournament appearance for both Kramer and Grant and the third for Johnson and Moore. That being said, there is no question that this team understands the demands and increased level of play that happens in this tournament.

Sweeping Brewty

The Brew Crew continues with what appears to be a special season. For the 4th week in a row, the Brew Crew takes all 7 points (28-0 for the month) leaving their opponent with a very clean floor. For the past month, nothing but perfection was exhibited against both low and high handicapped teams tightening their grip on the number 1 seed in the league and standing Andy Rathje tall at 120-62. It’s hard to believe that the Brew Crew were 92-62 just one month ago. That being said, anything can happen between now and the remaining four weeks before the playoffs begin. Though, after the past month, the formula for success has never been as clear as it is now.

Week 27 Recap:

It was made quite clear to the Brew Crew when week 27 started that they were going to have their hands full bowling against a team with a large handicap. It is never easy beginning each game down 130 pins. The demand to perform was high and team anchor Paul Lauricella is no stranger to this dangerous zone.

Just like the past month, Andy Rathje started out with a barrage of strikes. However, it was Paul Lauricella that realized that this week was different. With the exception of two missed 10 pins, Paul was able to recalibrated his positioning and put on a Beethoven type performance. Paul played the lane the way Beethoven conducted his symphony. He articulated to immense proportions as his bowling ball journeyed through perfect coordinates where the optimal blend of surface oil gave him the ideal entry angle into the pocket. Paul's shots connected with the pins the same way the world’s largest wrecking ball would destroy a small wooden mailbox.

At the end of the night, Paul would finish with a 722 series. Paul’s performances lifted the pressure of the opposing team’s handicap of his teammate’s shoulders and paved the way for the other bowlers to follow his lead. When asked about his performance, the minimalist side of Paul had nothing more to say than, “Solid.”.

It is this reserved attitude found on the Brew Crew, with the exception of stomping Tony, which has been the underlying factor in the Brew Crew’s success. Bowler Jeff Doruff has been working hard to improve his mental game, especially when things don’t go as desired. This has been paying unforeseen dividends as not only improved his overall performance on the lanes, but also changed the dynamics of the Brew Crew’s chemistry by spreading like the Swine flu did several months ago.

Week 28 Preview:

This Thursday, The number 1 ranked Brew Crew will bowl against the defending league champions number 10 ranked E.K.&A. As it is still clear in the minds of each Brew Crew bowler of what happened in the finals last year (loosing game two by 1 pin), there are no excuses why they should not be fired up for this week. “This week needs to smell the same as the last four.” said Brew Crew bowler Jeff Doruff. “We need to go out there and take care of the little things, nothing more.”

The Brew Crew will be on lanes 17 and 18, toward the more difficult side of the house this week and each bowler knows. Though for Jeff Doruff, he thinks it doesn’t make a difference. “Wood Dale Bowl put up a 300 against us on 21 and 22 and we still took all 7 that week.” said Jeff. “They are more difficult, but in the end, it doesn’t matter what side of the house we’re put on as long as we take care of our own business.”

We were fortunate to have Brew Crew anchor Paul Lauricella perform a deeper analysis regarding the left side of the house with the following statement:

“Many features distinguish Wood Dale Bowl from other local bowling centers, truly making it a unique and special place to experience the game of bowling. Those that frequent the center experience a form of purity of true bowling sport that cannot be found in bowling centers that have since become part of a franchise chain. Franchised centers typically are outfitted with new plastic/synthetic bowling lanes throughout the entirety of the center when a renovation takes place, thereby creating a consistent ball reaction from lane to lane. Though Wood Dale Bowl has plastic/synthetic lanes, this is not the case. The subsequent addition of lanes 17-24 provided bowlers a new set of challenges. Bowlers on these lanes experience “dead zones” and “friction points” not found on the lower numbered lanes. Also contributing to these challenges is the higher roof height over the lanes. This gives the perception that the lanes are longer than they truly are, inexplicably giving the perception of a weaker impact on the pins from the bowling ball. These phenomena contribute to the scoring pace on lanes 17-24 being consistently lower than those from lanes 1-16.”

This is indeed a big week for the Brew Crew. If they continue to abide by the same formula they have used over the past month, this week should not be any different. There are only 28 more points to obtain before the playoffs begin. That does not give a lot of the other teams a whole lot of room for error.

Chuck Hall Classic - Elite Eight

Following week 27 of the Chuck Hall Classic, the time to start thinking about the playoffs begins to enter the minds of each bowler. As the leaders of the back begin to emerge from the pack, the playoff Polaroid is shaking into focus.

Going into Thursday, March 11th, the top 8 seeding of all 22 teams are shown below:

1 Brew Crew 113-62 (Total pins: 82,369)

2 Broasted and Toaste 110-65 (Total pins: 82,796)

3 American Electric 110-65 (Total pins: 82,692)

4 Team 6 107-68 (Total pins: 82,743)

5 Meskan Foundry 106-69 (Total pins: 82,646)

6 The Glue Factory 105-70 (Total pins: 82,595)

7 Wood Dale Bowl 102-73 (Total pins: 83,281)

8 JB's Bar 101-74 (Total pins: 82,119)

--------------------------------Toeing the line -------------------------------

9 Allstate 100-75 (Total pins: 83,257)

10 E.K. & A. 98-77 (Total pins: 82,370)

11 Nu-Way Industries 96-79 (Total pins: 82,554)

"Spring"-ing to the 4th Quarter

As it is finally March, tonight is the first series of the 4th quarter. If the Brew Crew bowled like they did over the past two weeks, they will extend their winning streak to 9 games (21-0 in the points column). After finishing in the top three in the 3rd quarter, and finishing first in the 2nd quarter, the Crew find themselves in a very comfortable position. However, the season is not over and they still need to perform no less than their expectations.

What can we expect for tonight?

After a solid helping of humble pie on Sunday, Jeff Doruff, Andy Rathje, and Paul Lauricella should feel at home when they return to Wood Dale Bowl tonight. There are no excuses why they shouldn't bowl well tonight after this past weekend. The lane conditions they faced on Sunday were nothing short of vexatious. Andy Rathje couldn't have been any more honest about it after saying "I want to go home." following the completion of his third game of the tournament. Every lane they bowled on was different, every game was another slap in the face, and every open frame was the door hitting in the ass on their way out.

Andy feeling homesick

The positive thing was that all three prevailed and learned a thing or two that day. With this experience, Andy Rathje will get his wish to go home, to Wood Dale Bowl.

Brew....CREW!!!