Insane

Wow. Those three letters sum it up pretty nicely. Wednesday night we played our 5th shuffleboard league game of the season at Woodie's Ice House. Woodie's board was insane, and not in a good way. From one end of the table, no matter where you tried to shoot it to, your puck either fell off the left rail (side) or found a tiny little lip and hung on to the left rail at a deep one or better. The only time a puck was anywhere but on the left side was if it was hit by another puck and bumped around. The speed from that end of the board was impossible. All you had to do was barely push your puck and watch it slowly float down the board, curve to the left and fall off. Insane. The other end wasn't much better. There wasn't as drastic as a curve as the other end but there was a curve. Historically, our team hasn't played very well on this board, but we've changed that.

Game 1 - Match Record 0-0

Elaine and Dave got the call for our first game of the night. We started out with 2 handicap points and right off the bat Elaine had the crazy, left turn curve down. She scored in all of her frames except one. Dave gave up 4 points in his first frame but then held his opponent to 1 or less points after that. After 9 frames, we won 19-7.

Game 2 - Match Record 1-0

Bert and John were up next. After giving up one handicap point Bert scored two consecutive 2 while John kept his opponent to 0. Then it was John's turn to score 2 twice in a row. Their opponents started to make a comeback but John and Bert held on to win it 17-14, the first of three games to go to 14-14 before someone scored the winning point.

Game 3 - Match Record 2-0

For game 3 we played Lexie and myself and had to give up 3 points. Lexie scores 4 points in the first frame to give us the lead. My opponent scored 2 on me the next frame and for the next 3 frames neither Lex or I could stop the bleeding. I finally scored a couple of points but it was too little too late and we lost 6-15.

Game 4 - Match Record 2-1

Elaine was back up but this time she was partnered with Margaret. We had to give up 3 handicap points again but Margaret quickly made those back up. This was a bit of a seesaw game with the points being scored on both sides. By the 5th frame we had the lead 11-5 but their opponents rallied to make it 11-12 in the 9th frame. Now it's the 12th frame, the score is 13 to 14 and we have the hammer. Elaine already has a one on the board and shoots her last puck. It falls off the side. 14 to 14. Margaret can't stop her opponent and we go down 14-20.

Game 5 - Match Record 2-2

Let's see if we can repeat our second game. Bert and John are back up together and again have to give up one point. They both started strong, scoring 3 points in each of their frames, but gave up 7 points in the following 3 frames. John started finding his speed and scored a total of 12 points in his next four frames to get us the victory 18-14.

Game 6 - Match Record 3-2

Image by AndiH via Flickr

Elaine and Dave go back up for what we hope is the last game of the night. After some confusion on who they were going to play against, we ended up getting 2 handicap points. Dave started it off and gave up 2 points. For the entire game, Dave never shot the hammer and managed to keep his opponent from scoring more than 2. I don't know if Elaine was ready to go home or what but she was on fire. Her frames were 3 points, 1 point, 7 points and then 5 points. We take the win 18-6 and take the match 4 games to 2.

Our winning streak continues. After losing the first two games of the season we have rallied to win 3 straight. Our next game is at home against the Cozy Corner ClusterPucks and is the first of 3 weeks that we will be playing at our home board. Could we possibly finish this half without losing another match? That would be freakin' sweet!

Quote of the night: "Take a left bitch!" - Elaine (talking to her puck)

Record:

3-2

Next opponent - Cozy Corner ClusterPucks

Go BarFlies!

Three-Peat?

Tomorrow is our 5th shuffleboard game of the season and we are going to try and make it 3 wins in a row. We are playing at Woodie's Ice House which has some controversy swirling around it. Well, I don't know if controversy is the right word but I don't feel like trying to think of a different one.

First off. Their board is not well liked in our league. There are crazy curves and one end can play mean tricks on your pucks. In my opinion (read again - my opinion), that is called home field advantage. Some in our league will argue that the board is "unplayable" but if there are crazy, tricky spots on the board, the other team has to play and learn those spots too. Don't get me wrong, it aggravates the crap out of me when I can't get my shots to go where I want them, but I've seen Woodie's team go through the same thing. There is a certain learning curve that comes along with shuffleboard, especially on tricky boards.

Secondly, Woodie's has had to forfeit two games already this season. In our league, any team that forfeits three matches in any one half-season of play will be dropped from the league that season. I have heard that they have had to forfeit because they couldn't get enough players to their games at 8 o'clock. That sucks, for everyone involved. It not only sucks for their team, but also the team they are scheduled to play. We've joined the league to play shuffleboard, and that's what we want to do. Am I blaming Woodie's or their players? Of course not. Shit happens, stuff comes up, schedules have to be shuffled. But like I said, it's not fair to anyone, so I feel that the forfeit rule is a must.

I guess what I am saying is that I hope Woodie's has enough players tomorrow night. I don't want them to have to be dropped from our league because I want a chance to prove that we can get 3 wins in a row.

Go BarFlies!

Bar Olympics

Image via Wikipedia

My husband Kevin has been putting together a "Bar Olympics" for a few years now and it has become very popular. There are four events - darts, shuffleboard, pool and bean bag toss/washers. It's an all day event (well from 4 to 5 hours) but it's a lot of fun.

We get 20-25 of our closest friends together, pay $20 each, draw cards to see who are our team mates, figure out who's gonna play what and let the games begin!

We had the 8th Bar Olympics this past Saturday and it was a great time! I drew an Ace along with Chris B., Eric, Dave and James... and we kicked ass!

Every team has to play each event three times, once against every other team. In darts, shuffleboard and pool, we won 2 out of the 3. In the bean bag toss we won all three of our games.

I think everyone who played had a good time. So when's the next one Kevin?

A Winning Streak!

Yes! We did it again! The Crowe BarFlies are now 2-2! We had our "rally rooster" and when we needed a little extra voodoo boost... Aline crowed like a rooster for us! I told her that when we play our away games and we need her to crow, I'm going to call her up on speaker phone!

Stafford Ye "Olde" Puckers were a tough opponent. I figured we'd be going to the seventh game. But we did it in six!

To start off, Lex and I actually got out of work early enough to get some practice in. In our league, all games start at 8pm. The home team has 30 minutes to practice from 7 to 7:30 and the visitors get to practice from 7:30 to 8.

Game 1 - Match Record 0-0

First up we have John and Steve who are both 0, but they played two 0 so there were no handicap points. When this happens, a coin is flipped to determine who goes first. If this happens in the first game of the match the winner of the flip decides if they want color or hammer. The hammer is the last shot of the frame. Most people choose the hammer. This game was a little bumpy, Steve couldn't get the speed down and John started getting into his groove about the 6th frame. We lost this one 9-16.

Game 2 - Match Record 0-1

Next up. Bert and me. We had to give up 1 point and no matter if it's one point or six, it sucks having to give up any points. This game was a see-saw. We'd score 2, they'd score 3. We'd score 3, they'd score 2. It wasn't until about the 7th frame that we decided to turn it up. I scored 4, Bert followed that up with a 3 and I ended it with a 3. Final score 17-11. We've tied the match up!

Game 3 - Match Record 1-1

Dave and Lexie are up for the 3rd game and we get 2 handicap points. Dave and Lex were on like crazy. But so were their opponents. But we held on and won 15-12.

Game 4 - Match Record 2-1

For our fourth game, Margaret (Mom) and Roger are up. Roger tied it up in the first frame with a 1 after giving up one handicap point. Mom started the rally in the 6th frame but it was just a little to late and we lost this game 9-15. All tied up again.

Game 5 - Match Record 2-2

John is up again and so is Lexie. After giving up one handicap point, the scoring flurry started. John with a point, Lex with 2, John with 2, Lex with another 2 - all without the hammer. Elvis started playing on the jukebox so we knew that John would be in the zone. But Lexie was the hero of this game. In the last frame we needed five points to end the match. Lexie had the hammer and already had a point on the board. She threw her puck and it slid all the way to a hanger. A hanger is a puck that hangs off the end of the board and it's worth 4 points. She scored 5!! We won 15-9.

Game 6 - Match Record 3-2

It took us forever to figure out who to put up for this game. Everyone had an idea, which is great because I need all the help I can get. Mom and me. Bert and Mom. John and me. Dave and me. Dave and John. There were a bunch of possibilities. We decided as a team that Dave and I would play. My first game I played on the end that I usually do not play on. That was also the side that Dave played on. In most situations, once I've played on a particular side I don't like to switch to the other side. But we were at our bar. I felt comfortable that I could switch ends and play on my usual end. Dave and I were the right choice. We got 2 handicap points and in the first frame, Dave's opponent scored 4 points. That would be the only points they scored. I scored 4 points next, Dave scored 4 points and in the 4th frame of the game, I scored 5 to end the game 15-4.

We are finally starting to click. I guess the first couple of matches were needed to knock the rust off of us. This match proved that it does take the whole team's input to figure out the best options for winning. It would be fantastic if we could keep this winning streak alive. Our next game is at Woodie's Ice house and they have one of the most trickiest boards in the league. Wish us some good luck!

Quote of the night: "Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!" - Aline

Record:

2-2

Next opponent - Woodie's

Go BarFlies!