Redsuns vs X-Men 

Redsuns

If you aren't familiar, this team's moniker was inspired from a popular arcade racing game called Initial D. It has to be because this year's theme prompt was video games and I don't know of any other Initial D video games… What I am deeply familiar with is the classic anime from which this game's essence was conceived. A story about a hero's journey. A meditation on discovering power from within. A dissertation on sharpening steel against steel.

The story of Initial D is of a son(Takumi) who delivers tofu for his fathers tofu shop. He is singularly focused on completing the job as fast as he can so he can get home and relax like any other low wage worker. His dad gives him a nearly full cup of water while he drives and says, “Don't spill. If you do, you’ll fuck up my tofu.”

As he speeds through the curvy mountains in his AE86, he catches the eyes of local street racers who acknowledge his ability. Unbeknownst to him, Takumi has been secretly receiving driving lessons from his dad who is an ex champion racer. Daily trips sliding and curving up and down the familiar mountain lanes sharpen his driving mechanics. He would eventually be challenged to a street race and clarity suddenly hits. “I live my life a quarter mi” uhh… wrong story. Anyway he falls in love with racing, joins a racing team, and continues to develop his hero story via popular anime tropes.

As life often imitates art, team redsuns show uncanny similarities to their namesake. A former BSL champion in Huy assembled a team of lane curving enthusiasts. He called upon his old friend Stephen to form the best bowling team BSL has ever seen. They draft some proteges in Andrew and Tracy as they begin a hero's journey of their own. The mentors demonstrate their prowess week in week out laying waste to rockwood maple and crippling their opponents dreams. They sear in sliding/curving techniques into the minds of their padawans. They sharpen their lines by testing their skills against BSL’s very best. 

As the dust of the season settled, team readsuns stood alone at the top of the standings. Their young protege sandrew took to his mentoring and boisterously claimed the title of 2024’s best. They are hardened. They are battle tested. They are waiting at the top with swords drawn daring any remaining challengers to test their metal. That wait ends tonight as the uncanny X-Men stand between them and eternal glory.

X-Men 

There weren’t too many great x-men video games. I feel like a lot of teams took some liberties with this year’s prompt and just picked TV shows… I do have fond memories of one X-Men game. It was the 6 player arcade unit that kept me digging in couch cushions for more quarters. Maybe I was too young, but that shit was hard and kept emptying my pockets. What was poetic about the game was when it felt the most dire, your friends always seemed to find one more quarter for you to hop back in.

Such is canon in the story of the X-Men. A classic comic series born from the strife of the civil rights and women's suffrage era, X-Men touched on difficult topics about inequality and injustice. The school for the gifted was a sanctuary for mutants started by Magneto and Professor X. As they struggled with discrimination from society, the founders' ideals drifted apart. Magneto believed in the power of mutants and thought it was time to take their place as the dominant species. Professor X believed it was the responsibility of those with power to use that power to protect.

The X-Men were formed to embody Xaviers ideals and demonstrate that real power isn’t when you cut someone down. Real power is when you’re able to defend each other. Time and time again, this ethos is cemented in X-Men lore since its inception some 60 years ago. They often find themselves standing face to face against power overwhelming. A black sheep wall separates their misfit existence from the warmth of society. With an indomitable will to staying alive, the X-Men always breathe deep and operation cwal. Against all odds, they band together and find a way to there is no cow level. 

Here’s another BSL team that oddly manifests the essence of its team handle. BSL’s XMen founders are on their seemingly 60th year playing together. They started the school for the misfits and formed a team X-Men. TP (TagPeto? TagPedo??) seemed to grow frustrated with the lack of respect his misfits are receiving. Professor Isaac continues to push for solidarity through community and attempts to cool tempers with only fans. The founders' ideals drift as TP leaves for a 3 week vacation heading into the playoffs. The XMen, led by Professor Isaac, was able to hold the fort down as they found a way to tame the beast-like weapon-X Tim Bloverine. Steven rounds out the squad in his best colossus impersonation. He’s always providing cover for the team as he withstands the barrage of memes while wearing uncomfortably short underwear. 

Again, the XMen find themselves as the only remaining obstacle in the path of a seemingly unstoppable force. TP rejoins the team just in the nick of time to put forward a unified front. They are challenged once again to cement the ideal that the whole is greater than the sum of parts. Tonight, we’ll witness X-Men’s last stand.

The irresistible force paradox is a classic paradox formulated as “what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?” This conundrum has been reframed and debated a million times over without concrete resolution. My personal favorite variation of this paradox asks, what is stronger? The sword or the shield? Will the blade, forged through the fires of competition, be strong enough to dice up their final obstacle? Will the shield, born from the strength of unity, withstand its toughest test yet? Today, as the top ranked bsl teams embody these weapons of war and clash on the hallowed mission lanes, we add another chapter to this age-old debate and hopefully settle this question once and for all.