National Senior League (NSL) 2011 Season Open for Registration

Registration for the 2011 National Senior League Wii Bowl Championships is now open to registration. Go to www.nslgames.com to register and view details. The Spring League begins play the week of Feb 14th. and runs for 7 weeks followed by 3 weeks of playoffs. The NSL defines seniors as 55 and over. Our teams come from senior living communities, assisted living communities, nursing homes, senior centers, affordable housing communities, rehab centers and home based teams made of family and friends. We are set up as a web based league which means teams from all over the world can compete. Wii Bowl in your own home or community and post scores on line. We provide the schedule and keep all records and statistics. Register now for the spring league.

Getting Ready for the New Wii Bowling Season

We Are Getting Ready for the Fall Season!!!!
Happy to report that we have updated much of the information on the website as it pertains to the next Wii Bowling competition. All information concerning dates and cost has been updated and is now accurate. Presently we are working on the statistical engine that runs the competition/season. With the changes being made the NSL anticipates an easier experience for coaches, players, friends, families, and fans to navigate the site, find information and follow the action once the season begins.
Community Registration is set to begin on June 8th. If you are interested in having 1 or more teams of 6 -8 bowlers from your community, mark your calender to sign up. The cost for 1 team will be $300, 2 teams will only be $400, and 3 teams will cost $600. If you have more than 3 teams from 1 community please contact League Commissioner Jeff Nystrom at jeff@nslgames.com to discuss a package deal.
In the next week or 2 you may experience a little dust on the site as we continue to update and work on some of the features. Feel free to take a visit and look around at www.nslgames.com

The Silver Sliders claim the AALC!

In what proved to be an exciting fun filled 2 days in Springfield, IL, the Silver Sliders of Cambridge House Maryville took the highly coveted inaugural AALC Illinois State Wii Bowling Championship over the Eagle Ridge Eagles. The atmosphere at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel was competitive down to the final frame, but even during the most fierce moments of competition, sportsmanship and camaraderie were ever present.

The championship round was followed by a luncheon celebrating the four finalist's accomplishment of making it to the Finals, as well as the overall success of the AALC "Missing Piece" Week. Trophies were passed out, speeches were made, and even a birthday was celebrated!

A special thanks goes out to Wayne Smallwood for organizing the AALC Wii bowling tournament and putting all of the pieces in place in order to host such an amusing and amazing 2 days.

Our Champions: The SAS Strikers
Congratulations to the SAS Strikers for a successful defense of their title as National Champions of the National Senior League. Over the course of 7 weeks these folks kept themselves in the hunt and qualified as one of the top 64 teams out of 144 for the playoffs. It was here that their experience as the title holders began to pay off. As the field narrowed down after each round the Strikers continued to advance and most importantly, IMPROVE. Coming into the final 4 they faced the improbable task of defeating the highest scoring team in the league, the Cedar Creek Crushers. NOT PHASED EVEN A LITTLE they came out on top. Next task, beat the team that finished ahead of them in their conference. "BRING THEM ON!" was heard coming from the Boca Raton area.
The Strikers took a quick and sizable lead over the Wood Choppers in game 1 behind the perfect game of Ace bowler Joe Riccobene. After 1 game they lead 1009 to 886 as some early game jitters hit the rookie playoff team from Lakeland. Coach Oris Martin let the Strikers know that victory was in their grasp. A little further north coach Jerry Schmidt let the Wood Choppers know they no longer had any pressure left on them as the game was not so much theirs to win now as it was the Strikers to lose. What a brilliant strategy on his part as the Wood Choppers put up an impressive 1000 points to 926 for the Strikers.
We had a split match at this point with the Strikers taking game 1 and getting 2 points and the Wood Choppers taking game 2 and getting 2 points. Do the math and the Strikers get 1 more NSL point for having a 1935 total for the match to 1886 for the Wood Choppers. This gave them 3 NSL points and the victory.

Thank you so much to everyone who bowled, cheered, organized, and reported. We hope you had fun and will be back in August when we do it all again.

LETS GET READY TO RRRRRRUMBLE!!!!!
After 7 weeks of competition and 5 rounds of playoffs we have come down to the Wood Choppers of the Estates at Carpenter in Lakeland, FL taking on the SAS Strikers of the Saint Andrews Estates South in Boca Raton, Fl for the title of best in the nation. It's going to be an all Florida battle.
Both teams were odds-on underdogs in their final four match. The SAS Strikers had to get by the highest scoring team in the league, the Cedar Crest Crushers, to reach the title game. The Crushers had been doing just that to their opponents all season. Meanwhile the Wood Choppers only had to beat the highest scoring team of the playoffs, the Fairhope Superstars, to advance. The Superstars had been just that also up until this point.
What was needed here was a Knute Rockne like speech and coaches Oris Martin and Jerry Schmidt did exactly that. Both told their teams that as good as they had been up until that point, their next opponent had been better and they were gonna have to go up yet another level in their play. Well the teams answered the call. Do you think they went back to a locker room and sprayed champagne after their matches?
As stated before, these teams are no strangers to each other. The Wood Choppers took the title of conference champion but lost their only match of the season to the Strikers. The Strikers seem to be peaking at the right time as they continue to put up some record breaking or near record breaking scores in each of the last 2 playoff rounds. However, like Rocky Balboa, the Wood Choppers just keep answering the bell after every round. It's gonna be a battle royale for sure so stay tuned. Match time is scheduled for 1pm on Wednesday, April 28th.

Good Luck to both teams in your quest for the title of
"National Champion"

THE BEST OF THE BEST....................ARE ALL THAT'S LEFT!!
Well the competition has been whittled down to the 4 best teams. Not just the 4 best remaining, but the 4 highest scoring teams from the regular season also. For the vanquished that may mean something but not to these folks. The Crushers led the league in scoring during the regular season with 14,645 points but have actually been outscored 8440 to 8367 by their next opponent the SAS Strikers in the playoffs so far. The Wood Choppers were the second highest scoring team during the regular season with 14,206 points but they too have been outscored by their next opponent the Superstars 8583 to 7860 during the playoffs.
Now for a history lesson. The Strikers are the returning champions from last winter and the Superstars (then known as the Steelers) were an Elite 8 round team. The Crushers and the Wood Choppers are both new entries to the league and WOW did they make their presence known. So we have 2 cases of Old vs New or Experience vs Upstart, however you want to look at it.
Now lets throw another twist in there. The Strikers didn't even finish 1st in their conference. They came in second to the Wood Choppers BUT they won their match against them. Both were part of conference 12 which was the toughest conference to be a part of. In large part because of these 2 battlers. I'm not sure which one will have a bigger chip on their shoulder should they both advance to the final.
The Crushers and Superstars have other ideas though. Their numbers have been impressive as they dominated their competition in the regular season and the playoffs. Both are forces that need to be reckoned with.
Who will come out on top and advance to the championship? Stay Tuned..................
Best of Luck to all 4 teams.

THEN THERE WERE 8
1 point victories, down by 25 and come from behind, and perfect games. They were all a part of the competition as the field was whittled down this past week from 32 to 16 and then to the "Elite 8" of the league. Each of these remaining 8 teams, however, have been dominating their competition as they prove that they are indeed the Aces of the Alley. In this blogger's opinion, predictions = jinx so there will be none of that. Lets just say we have some very interesting matches coming up.
Top ranked Cedar Crest Crushers from Pompton Plains NJ go up against the Riverside Silver of Charleroi, PA. The Crushers are new to the league while the Silver have experience on their side (and some might say an Axe to grind) as a finalist last season.
The 300 Club of Lansdale, PA comes in a very slight underdog against last season's champion SAS Strikers of Boca Raton, FL. This match will also determine who gets bragging rights as the best Wii bowling team in the ACTS Life communities. What will the company memo say?
In the "They Look Familiar" department the Fairhope Superstars of Belle Vernon, PA take on The Active Life of LaGrange, GA. Both these teams changed their names after last season and it has worked so far as their performance has improved dramatically.
In the 4th matchup, coming out of Springfield, IL and fighting their way back to the final 4 we have the CRV Bullets rolling with newcomers and second ranked Wood Choppers from Lakeland FL.
All these matches should prove interesting to watch. These bowlers are so good that should a team slip below 2000 points for a match they are in danger of being sent to the showers. That means bowlers have to put together two 250 point games. That's quite a feat. Stay tuned as the next update will come out on Tuesday morning.