Never before has Sunset Forever been so close to claiming a bowling championship. And never before has a near miss hurt so bad.

The stars were aligned for Game 01 of The Final Four as Sunset Forever opened Week 06 against the second most feared team in the Tuesday 7pm League: The 3F Bowlers. No one knows what their moniker stands for but what everyone does know is that they averaged a whopping 156.52 pin count during the season. Gadzooks!

No matter the staggering odds, Sunset Forever turned the tables on their menacing foe, upset the bowling giants, and posted their greatest team score ever in the process, a 665, which equates to a 166.25 team average. Yes!

Highlights from the match were many…

Beardless for the first time in nearly 90 days, Muoio stunned the 3F Bowlers with a game high 190, his second 190 in so many weeks.

Joohee, substituting a Burger King fish sandwich for the absentee pork tacos, was likewise devastating with a 162.

And then there was Rachel. Arriving an hour early to secure her beloved maroon ball with adequate finger holes, Rachel emerged from the bar with ball in hand and unleashed a furious 159, her best effort since her mid-season all-time 181 high.

Johnson rounded out the scorers sealing the deal with a 154 and setting the table for a rematch with last year’s league champions, Balls of Fury.

In a back and forth contest that came down to the final frame, Balls of Fury upended Sunset Forever by a mere ten pins. The result was heart breaking, devastating, and proved another catastrophic near championship missed through the grasp of perennial brides maids, Sunset Forever.

What more can be said about the most loved, the most celebrated, and now, unquestionably one of the best bowling squads in the land? I suppose there is but one thing: there’s always next year.

I’ll drink to that.