2009 - 2010 Brew Crew Season Review

The regular season for the Brew Crew has come to a close this past Thursday as they clinched the 2nd seed in the post-season tournament. It has been an amazing season for the Crew as they have were able to get back in striking position to become league champions. Most importantly, the story of how they got where they are today must be told.

Quarter 1

After finishing 2nd place (3 pins shy of league champions) in the 2008-2009 season, the Brew Crew had a chip on their shoulder to recapture what might have been. Andy Rathje, Jeff Doruff, and Paul Lauricella had some separation from Wood Dale Bowl as they bowled in a summer trio league at Lake Side Bowl. All three bowlers averaged over the 200 pin mark, and Jeff Doruff finished with the summer season team high 755 series. Going into the first quarter of the Chuck Hall Classic, there was reason to believe that the Brew Crew were ready to start the season on a positive note. However, things did not go as smoothly as anticipated for the Crew as they struggled throughout the first month. This struggle was beyond understandable and the team even failed to finish in the top half (12th place). With only receiving 12 points in this quarter, the bowlers on the Brew Crew faced an uphill battle if they wanted get a second shot at the league championship by getting any one of the top 8 seeds.

Quarter 2

After the fallout of the putrid performance of Quarter 1, the Brew Crew needed to find an answer to their problems, rapidly. It didn't take long for the solution to crawl out of the woodwork, as they began to bowl with a sense of motivation. By the end of the quarter, they found themselves on top of the leader boards at the end of quarter 2, winning all 22 points. Taking this quarter was the only option for the Brew Crew if they wanted to make up for the damage they inflicted on themselves in the first quarter.

Quarter 3

This quarter was more of a mixture of the first half of this season. It was all or nothing. Each bowler would show complete dominance on the lanes one week and would be incapable of converting single pin spares or even putting together a string of strikes. Despite their inconsistencies in this quarter, they pulled evertyhing together after they lost all 7 points with only two more weeks left in the quarter. Crew bowler Andy Rathje decided that enough was enough and went mad, bowling nothing lower than a 680 for the next month with an impressive 277, 279, and a 280 over that span. The Brew Crew would sweep their next two opponents going 14-0 saving themselves with a 4th place finish and receiving 19 points.

Quarter 4

Building on the last two weeks, the Brew Crew went mad. They went on to sweep the first four teams in this quarter going 28-0 in a month. Combinging the 14-0 third quarter finish, the Brew Crew would go on winning 19 games in a row, only to loose their would be 20th in the fifth week of quarter 4. This winning streak would earn the Crew their second first place quarter finish this year. Despite the awful first quarter, they were able to fight all the way back and earn a second seed in the post-season tournament.

With the playoffs starting this Thursday, the Brew Crew are in position to do what all teams aim to achieve. It is up to each Crew Bowler to finish what they started.

The top 8 post-season bracket will be posted later this week, along with the Brew Crew's round one match up.