Roll'em had another tough night last night moving to 0-4 and struggling to find out what is wrong.
In the first game against a Muddy Rollers team without a couple players Roll'em got out to a fast start and slowly built up a 7-1 lead.  Muddy was down to their last throw and we had three left Jerry had a game saver throw to get a point.  Muddy slowly worked their way into the game before we could stem the tide and make it 8-6.  We then picked a bad time to not have anything real close and they got a three banger and the win.
In the second game against Boccilism it was a close back and forth match all the way.  It was an exciting game to both watch and play.  They got a point to get to 8-7.  We were then able to put our ball right on the pallino with three balls left.  In what seemed like the theme of the night with their last ball and nothing close Mike stacked his ball right behind ours and we were unable to close it out making it 8-8.  Their first throw was decent and we were unable to get inside it closing out a frustrating night.
While we're 0-4 we were are only 1-2 throws each game from being 4-0 but we just can't close games out anymore.

I think I enjoyed the Olympics this year more than any other since I was a kid and we had one TV that got five or six stations.  Track and Field is still my favorite but they don't show very much of the field events.  Wrestling is probably my second favorite but there wasn't much of it on.  I watched the sports that I only watch during the Olympics such as swimming and gymnastics which I enjoyed more than normal.  I really enjoyed rugby although I don't understand it.  Some others I like that I don't normally watch:  team badminton, water polo and team handball.  Oddly I watched very little golf and almost no basketball.
Last Friday my daughter talked us into taking them to the Flame in Carbondale.  I'd been wanting to try it so we went over and all of us ordered the ribeyes.  It was real good but it was very expensive.
Saturday we were thinking about going back to Mase's Place when our nephew and his family stopped by for a "quick" visit.  They were also going somewhere to eat and we mentioned how much we like Gabby's in Ava so they talked us into going there.  Always a good experience and this didn't disappoint.  We order three appetizers and I went with my stand by chicken fried steak.  One of the appetizers was fried chicken livers which I was talked into trying, they're not bad if they're small with a lot of breading but if not they taste like liver.  To top it off Ethan wanted to go home with us so he got in our car and we went for a drive while his parents shopped.  We stopped by the spillway and he got to throw rocks in the water.  While we were standing there the Glue reached down and picked up a pop-top, it's been a long time since I've seen one of those.  We cut short the ride because E wanted to get to our house and play with his best friend Otis.
On Sunday we went to Mase's place in part because we were running out of their BBQ sauce which both of us really like.  The Glue got the BBQ sampler and I wanted the mesquite grilled chicken breast but they were out so I settled for the white fish.  I was surprised at the ribs, brisket and pork, all were better than I expected.
After that we went on a ride down around pine hills and ended up at Abbey Ridge for one that turned into two.  I really enjoyed the ride as we sometimes take for granted what we have just a few minutes away from us.

Roll'em took the courts Wednesday to begin their fall league season.  Sadly kids had got on the courts and messed them up so we had to roll on a slow court.
In the first game we played Mission: Imbocceball and they played extremely well.  Even though The Glue and Herbster threw real well they were able to counter every move.  I couldn't seem to throw the ball hard enough to get to the pallino and we lost 9-6.
In the second game we played Holy Ballz Batman and it was a back and forth battle for most of the game with us having an early lead and then the Holys catching up.  With the score 5-4 me and Herbster had an chance to end it but unfortunately we hit one of their ball and only got one point.  The Holys had a better chance to win it too with a four pointer but they too couldn't capitalize and ended up with three points.  That was enough to put them up 8-6 and they ended it when we couldn't get inside of them.
I think this is the first time we've started out 0-2.  Things don't get any easier next week when we start off with Muddy Rollers and then have Boccilism.

A couple weeks ago I purchased a Char Griller Akorn smoker.  After an initial test of a pork loin I gave it a real test by doing a brisket.  I was impressed with how the smoker performed.  The brisket came out a little dry in parts and the burnt ends needed a little more time but overall but were real good for a first attempt.
The MBC had a team back out yesterday for the fall league so me and the Glue teamed up with her brother and sister-in-law to play so that there wouldn't be a forfeit.  
In the first game we played the Bocce Buzzards which also plays as the Bocce Bandits.  All four of us played pretty decent and we won handily by a 9-3 score.
In the second game we played the Pacemakers and again played well and won it easily too.
My idea for the team that canceled is to get a different set of players each week to play in their spot to avoid a forfeit.  I was surprised that there was some opposition to this idea and that some people would rather take a 9-0 forfeit however the majority of the Tuesday teams wanted to play so it passed.
Ideally another team would step up and take the spot and we are musing potentially taking one for the league and forming a team.  Not sure I really want to play twice a week but a lot of players do it.

The Glue and I went down to the Cape to go to Academy Sports and eat a little Cajun at Broussards.  The Academy part was to check for golf gloves and check out their grills and smokers but turned into a $100+ expense when The Glue found some clothes she really liked.
We then went to Broussards for a couple beers and some good food.  We decided to branch out a little and ordered the Cajun stir fry which neither of us really cared for.  Luckily we'd also ordered our stand by sampler platter with crawfish etouffee, gumbo and shirmp creole which was outstanding as always.  Both of us really liked the new place a lot better than the old place which is kind of unusual for me.
After that we decided to have a beer at Katy O'Ferrells which may be my favorite Cape bar plus I really like their house Irish red which I believe is brewed at O'fallon brewery.  After asking the bar tender about other places we decided to stop in a Minglewood brewery for a beer.  I had their Abbey and ironically The Glue had Common Sense (no comment). 
We then decided to go to Ragsdales which is a part of the Buckner's brewery.  The Glue decided to go light with an Ultra and I had their honey wheat which was really good.  They also had a enticing menu so we may be eating there on our next trip down.
We were trying to go to some different places so we asked the bar maid and she suggested Port Cape which we'd been to but not in a while. 
As soon as we walked in we could tell it was not non-smoking so we moved on to The Bar.  We lucked out and they had $2 beers and half priced appetizers.  We both ordered the Pecan Brown from Lazy Magnolia.  We decided to get an appetizer and after consulting a lady at the bar and the bar tenders we went with the sweet chili wings which were tasty.  It was by far the friendliest bar tenders and patrons we decided to have another and since there was only four other people in the place I decided to by a round for the house. 
At that point we decided to head home and hope Otis wasn't too would up.  After listening to some old music on the way home we decided we'd take Otis for a ride.  Luckily he wasn't really wound up at all and so we did a little ride to wear him out more.
We couldn't have asked for much better for him as he was tired and went to sleep quick.  Now my belt he ate today is a different matter.

Sporting new uniforms courtesy of the Herbster, Roll'em If Ya Got'em played in the summer tournament on Saturday with hopes of reversing a disappointing season. 
In our first game against Monday nights Deboccery who were playing without Mr. Livin' but who are still a quality team.  Roll'em got going early for a change and played on of our better games of the season, cruising to a surprisingly easy 9-4 win.
After a 2.5 hour first round our next opponent was another monday night team, The VFW.  Roll'em played good but not as good as the first game.  Even with us throwing good the girls from the VFW countered every throw and were able to walk away with the win 9-5.
At this point we need either to beat the Ringers in our final game or to have Deboccery to win against VFW to get into a roll off and a chance to advance. 
Our last game in pool play was against the Ringers who we haven't had much success against lately.  The Glue and Clutch got us off to a good start with a three point frame.  We built that up to 6-0 when the Ringers came back with a four point frame and brought thoughts of them overcoming a 7-0 deficit against VFW in the first round.  It wasn't to be though as we fought them off, winning 9-5. 
We now had a chance to advance which surprisingly turned into winning the pool as Decoccery had beat VFW and we had tie breaker on the Ringers.
In our first round of the single elimination part of the tournament we met long time rival and nemesis Squatchy Bocce.  We didn't play near as well as we had and weren't able to quite keep pace with the Squatches, losing 9-4 and ending our tournament run.
Both the Ringers and the Squatches won their next game and advanced to the title with the Ringers winning.
Overall Roll'em If Ya Got'em got a little redemption on our substandard season which was a good way to close out the summer season.