Marshall Sutherland

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 18:48:29 -0400

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

The team tournament brackets just came out. I did not expect this, but it makes sense. Recognizing the top 2 teams are untouchable, they are matched up alone in the top tournament and the other 7 teams are in the Bottoms Up tournament, where the Mo-skeetos will be the #1 seed where we will get a bye in the first round.

#skeeball

skeeball

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Sat, 19 Aug 2023 19:07:08 -0400

Jason Cook

jason@hub.inktada.com

Soo.. if I understand, does mean this season is done for your team?

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 19:38:36 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

The regular season ended last Monday. This Monday, we get to skip the first round and play in the final 4 of the Bottoms-Up tournament. If we win that, the following week, we will play in the Bottoms Up final. Teams 1 and 2 will have their top tournament face-off that night, too. So, if all l goes well, we still have 2 weeks of tournament play.

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 19:58:33 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 20:02:23 -0400

Jason Cook

jason@hub.inktada.com

Thanks for diagram

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 20:03:59 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

and, for completeness, in the top bracket:
#1 THUNDO CATS vs #2 Skeemotional Damage

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 20:07:11 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

games 1 through 5 happen next week. 6 and the top match are the following week.

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 12:46:47 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

If anyone will be following along, round 1 isn't scheduled to start until 8 and round 2 after it is complete (estimated for 9:15).

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 00:10:01 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Probably our closest game of the season, but we won and will be in the Bottoms Up finals next week! It is past my bedtime, so that's it for tonight.

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 06:57:40 -0400

Jason Cook

jason@hub.inktada.com

Nice!

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 08:04:20 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Updated Bottoms Up bracket

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 13:06:36 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Before things got started, my practice rolls were going real well, so my confidence was up. Then I watched the first round where our opponent-to-be was crushing it with a score 963. Yikes! We only beat that once this season. The good news is that the lane they were on in round 1 would be excluded from the random lane choice for round 2. The lanes are all a little bit different, so what works for you on one might not work so well on another. Also, we had the advantage of not having just rolled a full game (It's not a bowling ball, but you can still tire).

They got off to a better start than us, but on frame 3 we pulled ahead and managed to stay ahead (usually by less than 20 points) until we won by 61 points, 873-812. I didn't actually realize we had stayed ahead until now. Since we alternate players and they rolled first, at any time I might look at at the mid-frame score, they could be ahead based on which players had rolled so far that frame.

I scored 263, which is halfway between my average and best games. Barskeep had a 281 and Skehole had 329.

Even though it was late, we did some practicing afterwards. Skeehole was encouraging me to try for hundos, so I tried some and had one of these funky ricochet off the side into the 50 cup. I've seen people do that on purpose. It just seems so unintuitive that it should be easier than just rolling direct for the cup, yet people do it. So, this was an opportunity to actually try it. HOLY ROLLY! I couldn't believe it. I can't explain how it can be easier, but it is! I got my first (unofficial) "full circle" (9x 40s) doing that. I tried on 3 different lanes to make sure it wasn't just a particular lane. I think I broke 300 half the time. I could have a 300 game doing this! I'm going to give it a shot next week in the finals. I also rolled much better straight up the middle in practice than I did in the match, so we shall see if I can make this work when it counts.

Sun, 27 Aug 2023 19:26:09 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I played 3 practice games tonight to prepare for the final match tomorrow night. Whatever mojo I had with the bank shot last Monday night was not there. I rolled 2 full games like that and scored 253 and 242, both below my average. In better news, I rolled a rolled a normal up-the-middle game of 284, which was better than any official game to date. So, apparently, the bank shot was too good to be true.

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 23:21:30 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

We lost 798-899. We had a below average night and they had an above average one. Personally, I was very close to my average. When the lowest scoring person on the team is the leading scorer for much of the game, it is a very bad sign.

But, it didn't end there. After the final matches, there was the Hundo Challenge. Each participant rolls a frame on each of the 4 lanes, counting the number of 100's they get. Last year, I score a 4, so I was goingto be thrilled if I got an 8. I got a freaking 13!!! I was one of the 5 people who qualified for the finals! For the finals, we rolled 1 frame on 1 lane. I only got 2 and there was a 3-way tie with 3 and the season hundo champ got 1. The 3 in the tie moved to the next lane and rolled 1 frame and the that was all it took to have a winner (she rolled 5).

Next week is the individual tournament.

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 06:22:35 -0400

Jason Cook

jason@hub.inktada.com

13!!! That is crazy good (based off of your history). Well done.

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 08:00:28 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Trust me, no one was no more shocked than I was when I finished rolling, everyone was cheering, and they told that I was (at that point) tied for 1st place. By the time that first round was over, there was a 15, two 13's and two 11's who made it to the final rounds.

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 12:48:19 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

The Mo-skeetos: Dwatskee, SkeeHole, Barskeep

The Bottoms-Up tournament bracket:

The Hundo Challenge scoreboard:

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 14:32:32 -0400

Jason Cook

jason@hub.inktada.com

I don't know what is happening at the end of that tree, but it looks like a huge mushroom is involved.

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 17:14:16 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I went to go take a picture and had to wait 15 minutes while they made art out of their name. Then I humored them when they posed for a picture in front of it, LOL. They are also the team that beat my wife's team in round 2.

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 20:53:47 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

The individual tournament is next Monday and we will be out of town until then (and might not make it back in time). There is no online scoring for it. Here is how it works (assuming no change since last season): There is a single elimination bracket. Each pairing plays 3 single-frame games. Whoever wins the most games wins the match and advances. The lower-ranked player goes first in games 1 and 3 and last in game 2. Going last is an advantage because you know what score you are trying to beat. Once they get down to the final 4 (I think), they will play 5 single-frame games (again, alternating who goes first, giving advantage to the higher-ranked player).

Strategy has to change compared to a 10-frame game, as I was late to realize last season. Average across individual frames means nothing. A frame is lost or won on its own. If you go second, the strategy is simple. based on your skills, you do whatever will be most likely to surpass your opponent's score. If that number is low, maybe that means playing it safe. If it is high, it may mean swinging for the fences. If you go first, it is a tougher call. Do you go for a safer route to definitely get a middling score? Or so you take a chance and go for a high score that will be harder to beat, risking the possibility of a low score that will be easier to beat? I guess maybe it depends on what you think your opponent can do vs what you can do. As a lower-scoring player like me, it is certainly a tougher choice. It may also depend on the score at that point. Would losing this point lose the match?

I'm sure many don't think about it and just do what they normally do, hoping it will be good enough (basically what I did last season).

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 22:44:11 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I was the #12 seed and got matched up against #7. I won the first game with a 49 (a new personal best in an actual game) and then rolled crappy to lose in games 2 and 3. In that first game, I was rolling for hundos and after getting 3, I started rolling up the middle. In games 2 and 3, I didn't get more than 1, but I kept trying, because I needed to roll for the fences to beat this guy. He went on to lose against my teammate Skeehole who lost in the final 4 against the #1 seed and eventual winner.