Championship Night

On Tuesday night, March 31st, The Uncle Brewski's 501 Dart League played there semi finals and final matches after a 19 week long season.

In the A/B Division side the semi finals, top seeded Mulligan's (Pub, Monee) Misfits playing #5 seed Peotone Bowling Alley #1. In a tight match that could have gone either way, Mulligan's advanced to the finals by winning 7-3. The other match was the #2 seed and B Division champs The Pub @ Midtown (Manteno) #2 vs Sky's Lanes & Lounge (Manteno) #1. This match went to a tiebreaker round after being tied at 6 at the end of the normal 12 games. In the 13th game, Sky's Lanes & Lounge pulled out a victory, winning by a final score of 7-6 to advance to the finals.

In the C/D Division bracket the first match had C Division champs Anthony's (Manteno) #2 playing last years C/D Divison league champions Brian's Place (Monee). Anthony's advanced to the finals with a 7-5 victory. The second match had D Division champs The Pub @ Midtown #3 vs Country Place (Peotone) #1. The Pub won by a score of 7-2 and advanced to the finals.

The highlight from this round of the playoffs belonged to Lisa Morrison of the Peotone Bowling Alley. She threw her first hat trick of the season in clutch fashion to win game #9 in their match with Mulligan's Misfits. Other top darters from this round were Cliff Bednarczyk of the Peotone Bowling Alley with 18 bullseyes and one hat trick in 3 games, Tom Deery of Mulligan's Misfits with 16 bullseyes and two hat tricks in 3 games, Jim Houchins of Mulligan's Misfits with 16 bullseyes in 3 games and Todd Toepper of Sky's Lanes & Lounge with 19 bullseyes in 5 games.

In the A/B Division finals, Mulligan's Misfits was going for their 5th consecutive championship. The match started with Mulligan's winning the first 4 games before Sky's Lanes & Lounge put on a charge, winning the next 4 games. Then Mulligan's won the next 3 games for the championship victory, winning by a final score of 7-4. The Team members from Mulligan's are Captain Brian Gain, Jim Houchins, Tom Deery, Shannon Artman, Robert Nore and Katie Artman.

In the C/D Division finals, Anthony's #2 played The Pub @ Midtown #3. The match went quick, with Anthony's #2 winning their first championship by a final score of 7-2. Anthony's Team is made up of Captain Dan Corbett, Chaz Ziesmer, Joe Aklinski, Gerard Christensen, Bill Read, Dean Grierson, Kevin Wojcik and Kim Ziesmer.

Highlights from the final round matches were Jim Houchins with 20 bullseyes and two hat tricks in 4 games, Tom Deery with 18 bullseyes and three hat tricks in 3 games. Leading the way for Sky's Lanes & Lounge was Randy Johnson with 13 bullseyes and one hat trick in 4 games. Anthony's #2's top player was Kevin Wojcik with 13 bullseyes in 3 games and for The Pub @ Midtown #3 it was Sue Jacobson with 11 bullseyes in 3 games.

The league has its annual banquet Saturday April 18th where the two winning teams will be presented with the leagues traveling trophies.

Mulligan's Misfits: A/B Champs

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Anthony's #2: C/D Champs

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Brian Gain

Playoff Update

The Semi finals for both Divisions are set and will take place at the American Legion hall in Peotone this coming Tuesday. We would like all the teams still in the running for a championship to be there and ready to throw by 7pm if possible. The updated bracket is attached to this email. The matches are as follows:

In the A/B Division:
#1 seed and defending champions Mulligan's Misfits are playing the #5 seed Peotone Bowling Alley #1
#2 seed and this seasons B Division regular season Champs The Pub @ Midtown #2 are taking on #3 seed Sky's Lanes & Lounge #1

In the C/D Division:
#1 seed and this seasons C Division regular season Champs Anthony's #2 will be matched up against the #5 seed Brian's Place
On the other side of the bracket the #2 seed and D Division regular season Champs The Pub @ Midtown #3 will throw against the #3 seeded Country Place #1

In the C/D Division this season there will be a new champion as last years champions American Legion #2 switched bars to Throwbacks (#2) and were moved up to the B Division and have already been eliminated from this seasons playoffs.

In the A/B Division, Mulligan's Misfits are playing for their 5th consecutive title.

I want to wish all the teams good luck the rest of the way.

As it sits right now, there will be a vote that takes place at the season ending banquet for next seasons President. There are three league members that have told me they want on the ballot. These players are Don Sorenson from Country Place #1, John Smith from Throwback's #2 and Mike Tierney of Sky's Lanes & Lounge #1. Don Sorenson has been in the league since its inception back in the early 90's and has been league champion before. John Smith and Mike Teirney have not been in the league that long but are both qualified people, John winning the C/D Divisions league championship last season and Mike being a 5 year league member.

Two other members have showed interest but are at this point undecided. Dave Huffman from Mulligan's Plastered Bastards and Joe Quigley from Sky's Lanes & Lounge #2 have both expressed interest. While Joe has only been in the league for the last 3 years, Dave has been a long time member, since the late 90's, something like 12 years if my memory serves me correctly.

While Dan Corbett and I have tried to take steps back away from the league operation in the last few seasons it has never seemed to work. Dan has been in this league since the very beginning and has paid his dues. I have been in this league since the 95-96 season and have poured everything I had into making this league bigger & better than any league I have ever been in. I have always taken alot of pride in how this league has been operated over the years and what it has become. But it is with that statement, the same reason I can not continue on running the league. I can not put the effort this league that it's members deserve. I'm sure you all have had it happen to you at least once in the last few years when you have to play my team, me, walking in the bar at 7:45 or later, not starting until 8 or sometimes a few minutes after. That is what is not fair to all of you. Next season I will not even be my teams captain.

Many of you have told me several times they don't want anyone to take over and that makes me feel good. I have also heard a few people say things like "if (that guy) runs the league I won't be playing" and this is what I am afraid of. I don't want to see the league go backwards after all these years but I have confidence in all the above mentioned members who have taken an interest in the league operation for the upcoming 2009/2010 season.I will be around to help with direction for the new president and board members.

Thank you for all your support in the last 13/14 years.
Brian Gain

Playoffs are here!

Hello everyone. Due to an oversight on my part the playoff schedule will be a bit different in years past. To get the season done and not have conflicts with the final matches or the league banquet the playoff schedule has been changed in the following way, there will be NO BYE WEEK. Attached to this message is a bracket that has your team and it's location for this weeks games. There are as always play in matches. These matches are as follows:

A/B Division Playoffs

7th seed Mulligan's Plastered Bastards v/s 8th seed Throwback's #2
9th seed Anthony's #1 v/s 10th seed The Pub @ Midtown #1

C/D Division Playoffs

8th seed Gallagher's Pub v/s 9th seed Bit O'Blarney Pub

These matches must start by 7pm sharp. They are a race to 7 wins. Please keep your stats. When these matches are done, they will then start the next match with the team in there bracket. The teams that will be waiting for the play in matches to finish will be:

A/B Division

Mulligan's Misfits waiting for Anthony's #1/The Pub #1 winner
The Pub #2 waiting for Mulligan's Plastered Bastards/Throwbacks #2 winner

C/D Division

Anthony's #2 waiting for Gallagher's/Bit O'Blarney winner

Please see the bracket attached. The bracket is also displayed below on the website.

I am sorry about any inconvience this has caused. Good Luck to everyone in the playoffs.

Thank you,
Brian Gain