Post Season Preview

Eight months ago, the Brew Crew initiated their campaign to defend their championship title in conjunction with high hopes and a clear vision of their goal. Two months into the season, the championship hangover manifested itself within the mind of each bowler on the Brew Crew. The Brew Crew found themselves towards the bottom of the league standings. The silver lining of their awful start was that Jeff Doruff was the only bowler above average at this time. This highlights how critical it is that every bowler on the Brew Crew is to the success of their team. Only one bowler performing never gets the job done.

Four and a half months ago, Andy Rathje decided it was his time to step up. For a month stretch, Rathje went on a bowling pin punishing crusade with a 713 series, his season high at this point in the season, putting would be fear, if the pins had feelings. Concurrently, however, Jeff Doruff was having difficulty dealing with aging equipment and learning a new bowling ball that did not provide the unique combination of his style and the lane conditions during league play. He struggled for roughly 5 weeks, with his last series in his slump bottoming out with a season low 495 series.

At the same time, Paul Lauricella had a couple of weeks where he bowled well, picking up a 'low' 700 series or two, however, he seemed to have difficult doing what he has easily done in the past. Fortunately, the week after Doruff's season low, he responded with a 679 series, feeding off of the success of teammate Andy Rathje. From that point on, Doruff has been bowling as well as anyone, shooting a season high 725 series and carying a 210 average since his 'rebirth'.

Yet again, the Brew Crew were still was still fighting the laging hangover symptoms of last season. Andy Rathje accompanied Paul Lauricella's struggles, trying to find their stride. Over all, the Brew Crew at this time was starting to win some games, and at times, showed signs of the flash they had last year. Unfortunately, they weren't consistent enough to guarantee themselves a top eight seed.

One month ago, Tony Rogus and Steve Block began to provide a consistent level of solid bowling, which has been astronomically big for the Brew Crew's machine. At the same time, Andy Rathje found some momentum, feeding off his recent solo success in a couple of tournaments. Yet, only four members of the team were performing at a level, with their anchor, Paul Lauricella, still battling both his mental and physical game. Things were starting to look good for the Brew Crew, but with out all five bowlers contributing to their campaign, winning would be almost impossible.

Two weeks ago, Paul Lauricella had the moment the Brew Crew needed, providing the rest of the team the last piece of the puzzle only he possessed. Both Lauricella and Doruff made investments in new bowling equipment (second time this season for Doruff) which has immensely paid off, combined with the extra nights spent practicing.

These recent developments have the Brew Crew firing on all cylinders. Going into last Thursday, the Brew Crew was in a three way tie for first place in the 4th quarter of the season. Sure enough, they had the opportunity to bowl against on of the teams they were tied with (Allstate, one of the best and most talented teams in the league).

Going into this match-up, the Brew Crew were concurrently tied for the 7th seed playoff birth. Knowing of the standards each Brew Crew Bowler enforce upon themselves as a team, there was no other option besides winning. At the end of the night, they did nothing else.

It all began with Lauricella's artistic like articulation of the lanes, starting out with a 279. Yet, that wasn't enough for him, as he followed up with a 289, finishing with a season high 773 series. Game two of this series, the Brew Crew bowled their highest game ever as a team, with a score of 1,308 pins. These are numbers the Brew Crew of last year could never have accomplished. This goes to show you how beneficial struggling can be as it serves as a very potent reality check.

At the end of the night, the Brew Crew took all 7 points, putting themselves in position to take first place in the 4th quarter, further improving their playoff seeding.
They have consistently put themselves in this position several times in the past 4 years, and the situation tonight will be no different. They are already in the eight eight, and this week provides the Brew Crew an opportunity in which they thrive on, a chance to improve their standing entering the playoffs with authority.