Season 13 – Week 2 Picks
[Editor’s Note: The ghost writer did pretty well last week. I figured I would give them a free week to pad their record before I tossed some spreads in the mix. Enjoy the Week 2 picks!]
Not a bad week 1 overall. It was tough deciding on some of the matchups given new teams, returning rollers from a summer off, teams that no-showed, etc. Not to mention some of the crazy rolling that took place in week 1 – Pat Bassett rolling a perfect 900, Scottie too Hottie with a 413 up the middle (no hundos, just the 3rd time in SkeeBOSTON history) including six pins, and seven rollers over 400, including “Everything is Dawson” for the first time. Last week saw as many 50 Streaks as 40 Streaks, and almost double the amount of combos as 40/50 Streaks combined. Teams and players were rolling like it was week 8 or the playoffs…let’s keep those high scores coming! Suffice it to say among all the madness I was pretty happy going 8-7 with my picks last week.
I was quickly looking ahead to this week’s matchups on Monday night thinking it would be a relatively easy week to pick head-to-head, and then Duke’s email arrived: “Mixing things up this week… picking against the spread!”
For those of you that are not degenerate gamblers (cough, Duke, cough) [Editor’s Note:excuse you], the spread is used by Vegas to try and balance betting action on the books to encourage equal betting on each side. So if you look at the matches below, the team with a (-number) next to its name is favored this week by that many points. Taking the first matchup of the night, for example, Roofskeed is a 125 point favorite over Evil Skaneeval. So if I choose Roofskeed, I need them to win by 125 points or more; if I choose Skaneeval, I need them to win outright (not happening) or lose by 125 points or less. This clearly makes it more challenging, but is going to provide for some fun commentary! [Editor’s Note: exactly my plan!]
6:30 Matches
Roofskeed (-125) vs. Evil Skaneeval – A decent spread right out of the gate. Upon review, it appears the line is not high enough as Roofskeed underperformed last week (well, Chris and Courtney underperformed, Polischoke was about as expected [Editor’s Note:SHOTS FIRED!]) and Evil Skaneeval rolled about as well as they could have. It will take a similar effort for Skaneeval to challenge, so I’ll take Roofskeed giving the points.
Skeezy Like Sunday Morning vs. Why So Skeerious (-200) – Just two matches in and I’m already realizing Duke did a really good job setting these lines (as much as it pains me to say it). Nick showed no signs of missing the summer skeeson with a 436 out of the gates, but I don’t think he can carry Jeff and Lukas enough to cover 200 points. I love the name change for Skeezy, so I’ll roll with that positive vibe and take them to cover. [Editor’s Note: Interesting pick. Depends if Brady 2 shows up.]
No Mike in the Plumber’s Shed (-400) vs. Skeetastic – Any questions about whether marriage and taking skeeson 12 off would have an impact (okay, maybe I was the only one that had questions…) were put to rest last week by Plumbers with a week high 1148 and a massive 459 from the Plumber himself. This is easily the biggest spread of the night, and I think Plumbers come back down to earth a little on lane 3, so give me Skeetastic…400 points is just too much to give away.
7:30 Matches
Skeese Pizza (-65) vs. Skeejects – Similar to last week, a lot of the all-estrogen matchups are finding their way to lane 1 again this week. As the vets will tell you rookskees, lane 1 is the ultimate equalizer in SkeeBOSTON. I’ll take the Skeejects and the points in this one as the lane frustrates even these veteran ladies.
Smooth vs. Skeeing Your Pants is the Coolest (-190) – The ladies of Smooth held their own last week with a consistent effort – Katelyn, Jodi, and Michelle were within 12 points of each other – while SYPITC pulled the early upset of the season over the defending champs, Who’s Your Daddy, by just two points. I suspect the ladies have another good week and cover getting the 190 points.
The Night is Dark & Full of Skeeballs (-55) vs. Brewskees – Fresh off joining the 400 club, Dawson will attempt to keep the hot hand going on lane 3 with Christina and Kyle. The ladies of Brewskees had a good week themselves last week with a 937, led by Kori’s 360. I like Kori, Kim, and Jess in this one. Give me the points over The Night is Dark.
8:30 Matches
Trickskee Little Hobbits (-65) vs. All the single ladieskees – An intriguing matchup of skee friends, but this will be intense from the first frame. Pat is coming off his second 500 string (just the 3rd in SkeeBoston history), and Steph also cracked 400 last week. Those two will get theirs, but this will be decided by Bobby/Dionne and Liz/Jenn. I’ll take Trickskee to cover but don’t feel great about it.
Thirskee Thursday (-100) vs. Fettskee Wap – This is a tough one with two teams coming off a bye last week and Everett still on his honeymoon drinking his way around Spain & Portugal. In a tough one to call straight up, I’ll take my chances with Fettskee Wap and the points.
Big Leballskee vs. Scrubskees (-130) – The team formerly known as the Whiskee Dicks (now the Big Leballskee) will improve on a tough week 1. However, you can’t rule out this Scrubskees team (I get this team reference without even having to ask….I’m wicked smaht like that), formerly the Bad News Bearskees. I think the spread is too low here based on a little underperformance from Alison, Robyn, and sub last week. I’ll take Scrubskees giving the points.
9:30 Matches
Hundos for Marnskee (-180) vs. Clearly We’re Not Golfers – By the end of the season I’ll figure out what some of these other team names mean. Like Hundos for Marnskee. Or Clearly We’re Not Golfers. No effing clue on these two. Who is Marnskee? [Editor’s Note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljm4Uv0KCSQ] What does golf have to do with skeeball? I know the story behind Boccskee. Give me the golfers +180.
Snakes on a Lane (-175) vs. Skee Cows – How did I miss the Pinball and Coozie reunion last week? Does Tim know what he got himself into?!? Did Coozie cry yet (if not, can we set an over/under)? Apparently it all jived for Snakes last week, but it was a bit of a tough start for the Skee Cows. Has anyone seen JP and his 265?!? I’m expecting a bounce back week from JP, Olivia, and Brittany…I’ll take Skee Cows and the points.
Skeeing is Believing (-65) vs. I Skee Drunk People – So much for Tom’s “triumphant” return to the league. 250?!? Ouch, babe. Good thing you already have a chalice, gonna have to pick it up if you want another one this skeeson. This line looks low to me, so I’ll take Skeeing giving the 65 points.
10:30 Matches
Boccskee vs. Beer (PK) – Here we have another matchup of two teams coming off byes and not much to go on. I like the Boccskee story. And I like beer. So I’m going to flip a coin. Heads for Boccskee, tails for Beer….heads it is, give me Boccskee.
Can’t Skee Straight vs. Magically Skeelicious (-200) – Another big spread in one of the last matchups of the night. Sidenote: If you’re a big underdog according to Duke, I hope you take it up separately with him. Once you do that, find your forty, find your hundo, and kick some ass. #endrant. I wonder if Can’t Skee Straight will live up to their name (do they bank?) this week, so I’ll take Magically Skeelicious and their lucky charms to cover the 200 but it will be close.
It Ain’t Easy Being Skeezy vs. Who’s Your Daddy (-45) – Last match of the night and I can finally say the line is too high in my opinion…first match of the night where the underdog might be the favorite straight up. Former Chalice finalists Skeezy did not have their best showing in week 1, but this team can hang with the best of ‘em. Defending champs Who’s Your Daddy will be looking for a little revenge of their own from the week 1 upset, but Jobu has nothing on Eric, Lindsay, and Ray (3 combos last week), so I’ll take Skeezy and won’t be surprised if they will outright. [Editor’s Note: I knew I would trick you into this pick!]
51 days to Super Saturday XIV and counting….
Week 1: 8-7
Skeeson 13 Overall: 8-7