On a day that went from a beautiful 70's and sunny to a yucky rainy and 50's Roll'em played their 11th and 12th games in desperate need of two victories.
Playing our first game on the new Silkworm court we sought revenge against the Late Bloomers who beat us badly in the first game of the year.  The court was brutally slow and inconsistent movements were the norm.  Additionally the boards had a lot more bounce than our other two courts.  The Bloomers are notorious wall throwers so jumping on them early and getting control of the pallino was important.  We were able to this and rolled to a 7-0 lead when the tide turned.  The Bloomers got a two pointer and followed this up with a three pointer making the score 7-5.  They than got another two pointer which tied the score.  They put the ball on the wall and after a very short throw The Glue put a nice ball about 6" away from the pallino.  On the Bloomers next three throws they were unable to get anything very close but had a lot of balls that served as blockers however Clutch Cargo was able to thread the maze and get the game winning point.
The next game was against Feeder of the Pack minus my old grumpy buddy Everett.  In the first frame the Feeders were down to their last ball when they pushed the pallino back and get a 1-0 lead.  The next frame was another where the Feeders had another close shot and we fell behind 2-0 and it was looking grim but it was all Roll'em after this and we adjusted to the faster court and ran away to a 9-2 win and a much needed sweep.
In spite of the inconsistencies of the new court it was great to get done at 7:30 instead of 9 especially on a chilly rainy night. 
Bring on the NFL draft! 

It's a sad day in the Melvin house as we are drinking our last Signature.  Busch Signature Copper Lager has gone the way of Falls City, Drummond Brothers and Schaffer and is no longer being produced.  No advertising and limited availability doesn't seem like a good marketing strategy, way to go Inbev.  For the past three or four years Busch Signature has been the go to beer for both of us, great taste and reasonable price so it'll be tough to replace but I'm sure we'll find something :-)

Last fall we had Jay and Melba from the Muddy Rollers and Pop's Shop put our Roll'em If Ya Got'em logo on our can/bottle holder.

Jay didn't have high expectations for the logo lasting and sure enough it wore off in places.  He told me he would take care of it.  Him and Melba went beyond our expectations in making sure we were satisfied.  After several attempts at finding something they found a design that everyone is happy with and they even personalized it.  Great job Pop's Shop and thanks for your time and effort.

The Glue, Clutch, Herbster and of course Dusty took the courts last night in need of a pair of victories as we are outside the cut line for the league tournament.  We faced #thankusforyourwin in a doubleheader.
In the first game Roll'em got off to our traditional slow start as the Pound Signs had four consecutive one point frames to build a 4-0 lead.  We recovered and started closing the gap until we got it to 7-7 and the boys throwing.  We were lucky to escape with only giving up one point and put the pressure on the girls.  Alas they were stymied by a good throw by the #'s and we went down to defeat 9-7.  Failure to take advantage of opportunities again with the culprit as we had a chance for a 3 or 4 point frame and only got two.  One the next frame we had a chance for 2 or 3 but only got one.  Give credit where's it due though as the #'s made a lot of really good throws.
As soon as the first game was over it was time to get back at it, same court and same opponent.  This game was totally different as we got out to a big lead and never slowed up winning 9-1.  We capitalized on our opportunities this time and the Pound Signs didn't make the throws they had in the first game.
Overall a disappointing night but a split is better than losing two.  The Captain is still not throwing well and it's directional not speed.  I guess I'll just keep plugging and hope that it comes together before it's too late.
To make matters worse this morning was semi-annual skin doctor appointment and I had a lot of things frozen off me.  Yuck.

Thanks to Captain Curmudgeon throwing awful and taking away points the Roll'em crew went down to defeat last night in both games.
The first game against ex-super sub Fred and the Holy Ballz Batman started off by me hitting us out of a point when we should have had at least two and maybe three.  The Batmen returned the favor by hitting one of our balls into a point to make it 1-1.  It was back and forth for a while until Holly Ballz pulled away to win 9-5.
The second game against Muddy Rollers started off with a good throw from Herbster which we were able to turn into a three point opening frame.  Bad luck followed as the Muddies were able to come back with a four banger of their own making it 4-3.  I think it was at this point that on our last throw I hit there ball forward and took us out of 2 points and all momentum was lost as they pulled away and won 9-3.
Not the kind of night we were hoping for mainly because of my errant throws. 

The good news is that Brinley and Greyson got to stay at Grandpapa and Grandmama's house today and they got to go on a short stroll.

Roll'em If Ya Got'em had the 8 and 8:30 games last night which meant falling temps, high winds and misty rain.  The wind was blowing so hard that players on the end toward Riverside Park were getting wet.
In the first game we played Here for the Beer who we'd never played before.  They got the first points of the game but then it was all Roll'em as we cruised to a 9-3 victory.  The Glue and Clutch led the way again with Herbster making some good throws too however the captain isn't throwing well and struggled.
The second game was much more eventful as we played Kiwanis.  They got two points to start the game against the boys and then followed with two more against the girls to take a 4-0 lead.  They built the lead to 5-0 before The Glue and Clutch came through with a two point frame.  Kiwanis then got another point against Herbster and me to move it to 6-2 then came the turning point.  Kiwanis had the point and two balls left while all our balls were bunched in front of the pallino they too a risk and tried to blast us out of the way.  The result was that we now had the point and probably two and possibly three.  Their next attempt to blow things up ended up with us definitely having three and instead of 7-2 it was 6-5.  Herbster went long and close to the wall with the pallino and laid in a good shot to start us off.  On their second throw Kiwanis moved the pallino back and they were laying two.  We went for the knock and ended up with us on the all but having point.  Their next two throws were off then Herbster laid another in and my throw managed to get just inside theirs for another three banger and a 8-6 lead.  With Kiwanis having the point and two balls left Clutch Cargo came through again with a little friendly bounce.  Their next two throws were off and we walked away with a very fortunate 9-6 win.
We're sitting 5-1 but have a tough week next week with Holy Ballz and Muddy Rollers.

This past Friday our daughter gave birth to twins a little earlier than we expected.  Brinley Marie arrived first followed shortly by Greyson William.  Brinley weighed in at 7 pounds 1 ounce and Greyson at 6 pounds 3 ounces.  Mother and the two babies came through with flying colors and were able to come home yesterday.  Needless to say last Friday was very hectic since it was only supposed to be a check up at 10am.  Things progressed quickly and by late afternoon we had us some grandbabies.   Also needless to say is that the Glue and I are very happy and proud grandparents.