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.