Monday, August 20, 2012

2012-13 Llama Chaser Season Preview


Tom
What we GOT in 2011-12
Tom had an unbelievable first half of the season. Not only did he welcome his second child into the world, he also had sex in February to make that happen!! You would think the sleepless nights would have led to a rough first half but it was the opposite, Tom had his best half of bowling ever. He topped out at (I believe) an average of 204.  Unfortunately the second half was not so good, as the team struggled so did Tom. He ran is average from a 204 down to a 194 by the end of the year. He was never quite the same after almost getting electrocuted on the skeeball machine with Ryan.

What we EXPECT in 2012-13
Tom has always had the tools to average in the 200 range so that is what the Llama Chasers expect from him this year. Last year Tom was so good in the first half but yet so bad in the second. He simply needs to compose himself a little bit and not let 1 missed 10 pin turn into a night of missed 10 pins.

What we will LIKELY GET in 2012-13
My guess is a similar story to most of Tom’s seasons…a roller coaster. When he’s good, he’s good, when he’s bad, he’s bad. With his baby daughter soon to be 1 he will no longer have to rush home after the game(or at least he better not) and with a few less sleepless nights we should likely get a solid 198 average out of Tom this year.

Kevin
What we GOT in 2011-12
Kevin’s first half was much like most of  his season’s…Steady 175 average or so, show up late or miss a game or two, provide some tasty nuts(Planters of course, not what you are thinking), and buy the team some pizza. Surprisingly Kevin supported Brick’s and Brandon’s hate of the naked men cards, he even sometimes refused to flip the card up so you could see the hot guys “bowling balls”. In the second half of the season Kevin was on fire on the lanes. He had a number of 600 series weeks’ in a row and had his best half of bowling in his 10 years with the Llama Chasers. He also finished with a career high average of 185!!

What we EXPECT in 2012-13
The Llama Chasers need Kevin to continue to build on the great second half of last season. I haven’t run the numbers but I would guess his second half average was in the 190s. I don’t know that we can expect him to continue that hot streak but I don’t think it is too much to ask for Kevin to be in the mid 180’s again. We also expect Kevin to embrace the naked men cards.

What we will LIKELY GET in 2012-13
More nuts, pizza, and continued consistency! Kevin was a mid-170’s bowler that last several years but made that huge leap last year. No reason we can’t count on him to show up late a few weeks, miss a game or two, and end with a 185 average.





Brandon
What we GOT in 2011-12
Brandon’s second season with the Llama Chasers was ridiculously similar to his first season…An unbelievably slow start, about 30 pins below his average after the first 3 weeks, then a steady first half followed by a brilliant second half. His second half even included some Llama Chaser history, he bowled 11 strikes in a row and named it a Bama-Lama-Llama. He was so close to the first 300 game in team history but had to settle with a 299. Brandon also quit playing cards when we used the naked man cards and he did the unthinkable and took off his skirt in the middle of a game because he wasn’t bowling well. Which would have been fine if he bowled in his underwear but he actually put his pants back on?! In the end a solid season out of Brandon as he finished with a 189 average.


What we EXPECT in 2012-13
Much like Tom, Brandon has all the tools to be a 200 bowler. Needs to get off to a good start. The Llama Chasers expect Brandon to accept, if not embrace, the naked men cards. The men are nice to look at and should be enjoyed, not shunned. With Brandon’s skills I would expect a season with an average around the 200 mark.

What we will LIKELY GET in 2012-13
I’m guessing another slow start. Brandon needs to find a groove and that seems to take a month or two before he really gets going. We will likely see some low 500 series in the beginning mixed with some high 600 series late in the first half and into the second half. I’m predicting a 177 average for Brandon after the first 3 weeks but a 195 average on the year.

Ryan
What we GOT in 2011-12
Another solid but not spectacular year out of The Llama Chasers 2011-12 Hot Body Contest winner as voted on by the fans. Ryan keeps doing what he’s gotta do to get what he’s got. A consistent campaign that was decent in the first half and a little better in the second half. Ryan finished with a career high 186 average. I think he led the team in total skirts as well so this season did have its share of bad games. Ryan also recorded the first No-Tap 300 in team history. We also got a gong and a naked men cards from Ryan which are treasured by our team and league!

What we EXPECT in 2012-13
A jump up to the 190’s from Ryan. Although Ryan has been bowling for 10 plus years it wasn’t until last year that he began throwing a hook at spares. So now that he has had some time to work as a “real’ bowler hopefully that will add to more strikes and greater consistency on spares. No reason he can’t add 4 or 5 pins onto his average.

What we will LIKELY GET in 2012-13
Another year with his average in the mid -180’s. Ryan hasn’t shown the ability to throw the huge game or huge series. With career high game of only 256 and never reaching a 700 series Ryan just doesn’t ever have the big numbers to bump up to the 190’s. Needs to get more consistent on his delivery and maybe add a thumb into the thumb hole to make that bump.


Brick
What we GOT in 2011-12
Brick gave the Llama Chasers quite a ride this season. The first half of the season was one like no other. Brick was actually leading the league in average for a few weeks with around a 218. It was amazing to watch as he was getting Llama after Llama after Llama. But in the beginning of the second half it got rough, then a new ball named “Brick” came onto the market. A man named Brick has to buy a ball named after him and unfortunately Brick and Brick struggled and skirts followed. Brick was so angry one week he went temporarily blind and couldn’t see the required pink llama socks he had to wear with the skirt(Recap Week 22 for the full story), even though the socks were right in front of his face. Luckily Ryan was there to save the day. With Brick we saw the greatest half season ever, one which may never be duplicated, followed by a second half collapse, one which no one thought possible. He still finished with an amazing 206 average! He was so good in 2011-12 he even had to wear the skirt once when he bowled a 204. I almost forgot to mention he also received the only Llama Chaser Perfect Attendance Award last year!!

What we EXPECT in 2012-13
More good things from Brick. He has made the commitment back to his original blue ball and will keep little Brick on the sidelines. We know he will show up every week, he will tell us how tired he is, how much his back hurts, and then he will come out and consistently be the best bowler on the team and one of the top 5-10 in the league.

What we will LIKELY GET in 2012-13
I could just copy and paste what I wrote under “EXPECT”. The Llama Chasers expect and likely will get great things from Brick. Last year was just a bad second half, Brick struggled and so did the team. With a new season comes new hope and fresh slate, Brick will likely average around 206 again this year and lead the team in Llamas as he does every year.

The Team
What we GOT in 2011-12
Not much!! Got off to a bad start in the first half but closed strong. Got off to an amazing 19-2 start in the second half but then went a mind numbing 24-67 to finish in dead last in the league. The 5 bowlers could never get on the same page. When one or two bowled well the other sucked. We thought this was the year the Llama Chasers finally would contend for a championship but it will go down as the most disappointing season in team history.

What we EXPECT in 2012-13
Last year Kevin, Ryan, and Brick all had career highs in average and Brandon and Tom weren’t far of theirs. So we can expect stellar individual seasons. The Llama Chaser need figure out how to make it as a team. Maybe some team building exercises should be in the works. Maybe poker night and we can only use the naked men cards, maybe skirt only sleepovers where we just wear the team skirts, maybe a “Brokeback Mountain” Llama Chaser trip, etc. Just some fun, clever ideas to get this train moving in the right direction. So like every season I expect us to contend for a title, there is honestly no reason we can’t.

What we will LIKELY GET in 2012-13
Well the Man-Ass Motivation didn’t work last year, so I often wonder what will. We will likely tease Llama Chaser Nation again. We will put together a few good weeks here and there but ultimately end up in the middle to the back of the pack. I hope I’m wrong but it is how we have performed for the last 10 years so I would be silly to think differently.

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