Season 14 – Week 6 Picks
Greetings high rollers!
Week 5 proved to be a strong one for many teams as I count eight that rolled their skeeson high total, led by an 1154 from Magically Skeelicious. Jan, Ryan, and Wes are just one of two teams to improve their score each week they’ve rolled so far this skeeson (Run DMSkee is the other – kudos to Justin, Kaitlyn, and Kevin). Ryan went big with a 439 last week after failing to crack 350 in any other week, while Jan threatened the 400 mark and Wes rolled a skeeson high 323. Justin also posted a big number for DMSkee with a 427 after not topping 375 in prior weeks.
Just two points behind Skeelicious last week was Ain’t Easy Being Skeezy with their first week above 1100 since week 1, propelling them to the top spot in the league with three weeks left. With just about 100 points between Skeezy and #2 Trickskee Little Hobbits, #3 Han Rolo lurking less than 250 points back, and a few DNRs to be made up (see: FKA Daddy, Plumbers, etc.) I’m not ready to hand the title to Eric, Lindsay, and Ray quite yet, but they are looking good coming down the home stretch. [Editor’s Note: Nice Jinx!]
Congrats to the other teams that rolled their best of the skeeson in week 5 – Brewskees, Frame of Thrones, Wonderbread & Orange Chicken, Bad as I Wanna Skee, and Han Rolo!
Speaking of continuous improvement, last’s week’s high roller – Devin McDonald (Frame of Thrones) – has been doing just that this skeeson. His 454 was two points better than Steph Burgess (All the Single Ladieskees) and four points better than Steve “Pinball” Robinson (Han Rolo). Devin started with a 382 in week 1, and cracked 400 in weeks 3 and 4 before his high score last week. Three other players that have also improved each week were discussed earlier – Ryan and Wes of Magically Skeelicious and Justin of Run DMSkee.
In this week’s skeemaill, Duke highlighted the battle for the MVSkee between Pat Bassett (Trickskee Little Hobbits) and Chris Martin (Conspiraskee Theorists) as they have separated themselves from the pack averaging 437.8 and 436.4, respectively. There is a logjam with the next five rollers, however, separated by just 11 points. It will be interesting to see how the top ten shake out, especially with a lot of DNRs among the top 10-15 rollers…three of them from the Jenn “The Shed” Foxon begging the question: will we see Shed and team again this skeeson?!?
While we’re talking about individual rollers, what the hell was Ida Taylor (Skeese Pizza) drinking last week? After averaging less than 200 in the first four weeks, she popped off with a 301 in week 5, her best night since a 309 in week 8 last skeeson. Maybe she read the Guide to Being a High Roller?!? [Editor’s Note: Told you that guide works!]
Unfortunately Duke’s spreads have gotten the better of me the last two weeks [Editor’s Note: you are the sucker I thought you were]. It’s been back-to-back 1-3 weeks which dropped me two games below .500 for the skeeson with three weeks left to go. Time to get back on track.
6:30: Charlie Doesn’t Skee vs. How Stella Got Her Skee Back (-75) – The gents of Charlie have generally been trending higher this skeeson and will be looking to crack 740 for the first time. Since an opening 887 in week one, Stella has been trending in the opposite direction. Even if Charlie can break the 740 barrier this week, however, I think Stella is due for a rebound on lane 3 and could win by more than 100. [Editor’s Note: not so fast my friend!]
7:30: Beer! (-25) vs. Skeese Pizza – In another matchup of teams trending in opposite directions, Skeese fired off their best two scores of the skeeson in the past two weeks, due in large part to Ida’s 300 last week. Beer! started strong in week 2 but has struggled a bit in the past two weeks. I suspect these teams will meet somewhere in the middle, so I’ll take the Skeese ladies getting the points. [Editor’s Note: 0-2… not a great start]
8:30: Duke I am Your Father vs. Han Rolo (-75) – Three of the top six teams in the league meet in a potential playoff matchup of Star Wars themed team names (am I the only one that hasn’t seen the new Star Wars?) [Editor’s Note: I haven’t seen it either. And won’t. EVER.]. Team Duke leans on returning vet Jenn and also Neil who would be Rookskee of the Year if the skeeson ended today. Han Rolo is backed by Cory (fresh off a Chalice last skeeson) and veteran Nate. Oh yeah, there’s also Everett “The Baker” Phillips and Steve “Pinball” Robinson on the respective teams. I see another close matchup here, so I’ll lean with Team Duke in this one. Right, Duke? [Editor’s Note: Hook, line and sinker.]
9:30: Magically Skeelicious (-45) vs. All the Single Ladieskees – Scoring between these teams is nearly identical, as they are separated by just 30 total points on the skeeson. It will be interesting to see if Magic the Gathering can continue their hot hand, but the “Lane of Broken Dreams” will no doubt put an end to their scores improving each week. This was the same lane that crushed Steph, Liz, and Jen in week 4….Steph rolled over 400 in the other four weeks, but just 297 in week 4. In what’s becoming a common theme this week, I’ll go with the Single Ladieskees getting the points. [Editor’s Note: you will need more than 45 on Lane 1. Hi Stephanie!]
10:30: The 3 Buttskeeteers vs. Frame of Thrones (-45) – The Buttskeeteers have been relatively consistent this skeeson rolling in the mid-to-high 800s with the exception of week 4. FoT has been trending higher with a skeeson high 1011 last week. I’ll lean on FoT on the back of Devin’s hot hand from last week, but wouldn’t be surprised to see Deidre, Lauren, and Max pull one out of their butts this week as anything can happen on lane 1. [Editor’s Note: Toss a coin, I have no clue what’s going to happen here.]
Week 5: 1-3
Skeeson 14 to date: 9-11
Skee you on the lanes!!