They say bad things come in threes.  I don't know who "they" are, yet they probably like it that way and we might find ourselves in concrete sneakers and sleeping with the fishes if we named names and pointed fingers and shed light into the darkest of back alleys where they work their nefarious workings and control all outcomes of the world, Olmec results aside, as no one can contain or control the machinations of Ol' Stone Face!  Here at the BUM Report, we also believe good things come in threes, like top 3 Blowouts and Upsets of the Week!  Surely we and 'they' can both be right, yes?  Of course!  The BUM Report loves to include all and exclude no one who merits a mention in our madcap magazine of Olmec's digital emanations!

Quick league recap: There are no undefeated teams remaining, with everyone previously unbeaten having now picked up their first loss(es) of the season in session 2.  There are also no indefeated (i.e. winless) teams, with all previously totally-beaten teams having now picked up their first win(s) of the season in session 2.  So how do we know who are the teams to T7 and the teams to play the freshman against?  Let's start by looking at the streakers!  Roger and the Pod People currently have a 5-match win streak going on, best of the season so far, and their 5-1 record ties for best in the league.  That mark is also held by Vick and Crusty (Crustacean) Crew, who hold their own prior 3-match win streak from the opening session.  Coming in the middle, we had a 4-match win streak by Jason and the Camera Shy Company, sandwiched between an opening match loss and a match 6 loss, 2nd-highest of our season so far, and leaving Spokane tied with 9 others teams for a 4-2 mark.  If playing those teams, we highly recommend bringing the A-squad.  They appreciate the respect and firm competition, scorning mismatches and walk overs.  Such fine and upstanding sportsmen they are!  I'm going to include the Psycho Solanum Lycopersicum from Columbia in here as well, due to Steve's top T7 mark at 90.6, a full point and a half better than the closest contenders.  As a side note, Roger and Pekin also lead the league in RP currently, at 2834, and somehow in CP as well (71), so he's pretty much leading everything and will probably be leading in the recruiting rankings and closing the T7 gap shortly as well.  He's starting to make it hard to like him, when he's just plain selfish about taking all the #1's like that.  Maybe Olmec will give him a time out so he thinks about sharing more with the rest of us.  Could be our only chance before the Pod People claim us all.

It's a wide open conference competition so far, with just three teams at a perfect 4-0 conference mark (defending PAC 8 champ Carlsbad, Big East contender Burlington, and SEC upstart Baton Rouge, the once and future kings). The BIG 8 is a dogfight right now, and it's no surprise that the Pound Puppies (as the only actual canines) are sitting atop the standings at 3-1, along with the aforementioned Legume Legion and five of the other six teams right behind them at 2-2.  Only two teams have yet to win a conference match, and those two are a perfect 2-0 in WGM play as they focus on home court for the trophy-seeking sessions to come, namely Santa Clara's Diminuative Doggies and the GourdHeads of St. Charles.

Moving along to our top Blowouts of the Week!  We'll start with a dishonourable mention, match 5, conference play with Teutopolis @ New Orleans.  C-Ball brought the Dust Devils with a 53-rated lineup, tied for the lowest away rating of the session and tied for 3rd-lowest on the season.  Such disrespect for the Rats, deemed unworthy of competing against!  Clearly lesser fare and the actual Twisters couldn't be bothered to dress out for the match! Oh, the insult! Oh, the Rodentity of it all! Meanwhile, N'Orleans was the model of sportsmanship and played their top line out of admiration for C-Ball and accordingly for this long-standing conference rivalry. The home team was rated 89, tied for highest of the season so far. The resulting +36 ratings marks the highest difference of the season so far. The end result wsa a 3-set sweep by the Rats, though only at 13-25, 14-25, 13-25, and a final +35 that was only good enough for the 4th-highest blowout of the week. Nothing to squeak about. We just couldn't get fired up enough to give them a profound beat down. And so the Rats slunk back to their nest in The Swamp and consoled themselves on pepperjack cheese and crackers. At least the cheese was a little spicy, unlike the match.

Match 4, conference play in the Big East, with the Arboreal Rodents doing some cliff climbing and scaling the heights of the The Aerie to take on the Screaming Meemies of Alton. We had some questionable pre-match commentary, with needed assurances that one side would refrain from eating the other, at least during the match. The mere threat of it was apparently enough for Brian to send out the Pups to play where Eagles soar. Schenectady brought a 59. Alton played an 88, 2nd-highest home rating of the season (tied). Between 16-25 and 12-25 sets, Alton held the bushy-tailed boys single digits in a 9-25 set of cargnage on the way to a final +38 tally and our #3 Blowout of the Week!  Congrats, James!

Back to Match 5, conference play in the BIG 8, where we saw a reversal of last season's fortunes. Normally, the Flanneled Fellsman would be expected to fare well against vegetative matter. Then again, the Pod People are not your normal flora. Roger was ready for this one, 88 at home (tied 2nd-highest of season). Antoine was instead focused back in match 4 against table-topping Dallas, leaving the Little 'Jacks, aka the Hatchetmen, or perhaps even Team Penknife for this one, with a 53-rated road team, tied for 3rd-lowest of the season. +35 ratings marks the 2nd-biggest gap of the season, behind only the above-mentioned tear-inducing and personally-afronting lack-of-endeavor from C-Ball. In set results matching our 3-theme for the week, we find Pekin winning sets 1 & 3 at 12-25 (3x4, or 1+2=3, take your pick), with a 2nd set sandwiched in at 3-squared-to-25.  The resulting tally? +42 points, our #2 Blowout of the Week and #2 on the season-to-date!  Congrats, Roger!

And topping our weekly threesome of dominance, we stay in match 5, moving westward in conference play to the PAC 8, where the upstart Meese (last season's tourney champs & Natty Runners-Up) have returned to their more laid-back ways and trotted to the southern climes of San Jose for an afternoon scrimmage and friendly against Vick's Crusty Crew. The Ten-Legged Terrors had other ideas, playing an 85-home rating against the Docile Deer's 59. It was ugly from the start (the match, not the managers, lovely people they are). As Vick noted in the match comments, San Jose put on an opening clinic with an amazing run out to 0-14 before letting Mat-Su score a point! Set 1 ended 8-25, our new mark for lowest-scoring set of the season! Set 2 was only slightly better for the Antlered Army, ending 9-25. Vick, ever the compassionate one, allowed the denizens of the Matanuska-Susitna Valleys to hit double-digits, ending 11-25 and giving us a final +47 Blowout of the Week, #1 Blowout of Season 16 thus far, and only two points off the #3 Blowout of All-TMVL-Time!  Congrats, Vick!

Having noted some high & lows ratings already, here are some notes for from session 2: T-Town & Portland tied the #3 lowest away rating for the season at 53, both in match 5. On the other extreme, our top away lines have jumped 8 points in one session! New highs are 81 (Dallas & Sheboygan), 84 (Alton & New Orleans) and 88 (Pekin)! Roger's away 88 in match 4 is higher than 28 teams have managed in their home matches! Our highest home ratings are now 87 (Mat-Su, Portland & Quincy), 88 (Alton & Pekin) & 89 (Cinci & N'Orleans). On the "We Left the Gates Open for the Barbarians to Plunder as They Please" Front, we have Arlington adding to the lowest home ratings, with a 61 in match 4, now the 2nd-lowest home mark of the season, yet still good enough to topple the Mules in 5 sets! On neutral court, Phil claims the 3rd-lowest rating at 52 for his match 6 effort against Alton, and we saw all our highest marks climb, now set at 81 (San Jose), 82 (Mat-Su, Nashville & St. Charles), and 83 (Portland, Quincy).

Oh the rapture at BUM HQ when there are Upsets aplenty! This session gave us four upsets at -3, and while that's not good enough for a top 3 season mark, it is good enough when there are Upset Sweeps!  Match 4, conference play with Red Stick traveling to The Deeps to take on the Devil Fish. The Fightin' Fern Fruit were -3 rated (76 v 79) to Antioch, yet those kind of numbers are just abstractions when this rivalry takes place. The first set went out to 29-27 in extra points before the Banaramamen finally took the set, and then eked out 25-23 sets in 2 & 3 to claim the narrowest of Upset Sweeps!  Simiarly, yet the opposite, we also had a match 4 conference play upset between Vegetables-Yet-Not-Really-Vegetables as the Crazy Tomatoes (80-rated and actually fruit) traveled to Artichoke Land (77-rated and actually edible thistles). The Round Red Regiment came out flat, not quite squished, yet more like ketchup left out on a plate in the sun for a few hours where it gets that tacky gel-like surface on it that you don't want on your fries (or chips, across the Pond) because it's like eating sweetened glue. Or maybe you're one of those who ate glue in elementary school, and if so, the opening sets were perfect for your taste! 19-25 and 18-25 and Columbia was showing signs of collapse. They rallied in set 3 far better, taking it to extra points as Ames had to reach 24-26 to take the third frame and pull off the -3 Upset Sweep, tied with the aforementioned (and ever-hated) Bananas for the #2 Upset Sweep of the Season!  Congrats to Mike & Colin!

For our regular-type upsets, we start in match 5, conference play with the Very Hairy Men of Spokane traveling to Manitowoc to take on the (hairless) Gargoyles. Jason's Camera Shy Crew took the opening set despite a poorer rating (71 v 76), and then the match started playing out as expected. Derek's Igneous Walltoppers took set 2 by 5 points, and then doubled that win a 10-point margin of victory in set 3. It appeared Manitowoc was well on their way to their second conference victory, and then Spokane flexed their abnormally long arms. 25-21 in set 4, and then a tight set 5 with the narrow 15-13 final score and Spokane pulls out the -5 Upset, good for our #3 Upset of the Week and the #3 Reverse Blowout as the 'Squatch won despite being outscored by 7 points combined! Congrats, Jason!

Tying that mark at -5, we go to match 6, WGM group play with T-Town v Arlington. The Vermilingua are a regular in this column, and anything within grasp of their ridiculously long tongue is fair game for a win, with few teams pulling more upsets in the past five seasons than David's Anteaters. This match was no different, though the Twisters didn't go down without a fight! 78 v 73 on the ratings, and yet the 'lesser' took the opening set to set the stage for a stellar upset. The Twisters rallied for set 2 and won by 8, then faltered in set 3 and lost by 6. Set 4 was a back-and-forth affair going to 26-24 for C-Ball's Blustery Battalion to keep the match alive.  Depsite a respectable hitting rate in set 5 for T-Town, .412, 9 kills and 2 errors on 17 attempts, the Termite Lovers upped their game to their best set of the match, hitting .733 with 11 kills on 15 attempts and no errors, pulling off the 13-15 upset where even one hitting error could have cost them the match, and David pulls out the -5 Upset, tied for #3 on the week! Congrats on the win and for now being 3-0 in 5-set matches on the season!

Staying in match 5, conference play in the Land of Upsets, the Wild, Wild West that is the PAC 8. Team Xithos from the realm of Dora's cousin, Diego, headed inland to The Dumpster where the Trash Pandas were set for a fish fry.  Swordfish 70 v Raccoons 78. Set 1 went to the home team, 22-25, only to see the road warriors swish and slash their way to an extra points victory in set 2, 27-25! Set 3 also went to the 'Fish, before the 'Coons showed off their skill with a 12-pt win in set 4, 13-25. Having dominated in set 4, you would imagine all the momentum was with the home team and the crowd was almost as rabid as the players (though a far cry from being as rabid as the Rabbids, er, the Mules are on a daily basis). Points flew and runs came and ended and neither team was content to settle with a win at 15!  Ten points later, we finally had a victor, as the final whistle blew to end set 5 at 21-19, and Matt W. pulled off the #2 Upset of the Week, which also ties our #2 Upset of the Season at -8, while simultaneously winning our new highest-scoring set 5 for the season and setting the season mark for most points scored in a match at 225, and also landing the upset despite getting outscored by 9 total points, good for #2 on the season for a Reverse Blowout!

And topping our table at Upset of the Week, "But we scored more points!"  Yes, yes you did, Steve. In fact you scored 13 more points, making this our highest Reverse Blowout of the Season, and tying the mark for second-highest of all-TMVL-time!  Match 6, WGM group play and Kentucky sent the Kittens (62) to try to scratch out an extra set for some XP against the Reality-Challenged Salad Toppers of Columbia (72). And, of course, Olmec promptly gave the opening set to Matt's Kitties, 25-21. Set loss hurting their chances of a higher WGM seeding aside, Columbia got right back to winning ways, drubbing the Felines 12-25 and 16-25 in sets 2 & 3. Victory was theirs! Until it wasn't. Set 4 and they couldn't finish off the Cats, 25-22 to the upstarts. And then set 5 rolled on. It started with a flurry, 3 digs on the opening point, and staying close as they swapped points. The largest lead of the match came at Kentucky 9-Columbia 6, and then 10-7 before Columbia closed it to a point. Serving to tie it up, MB Wheeler, Srv 18, hit it out, his 2nd service error on the set! Kentucky promptly gave it back, hitting two-straight service errors of their own to let Columbia back in it at 12-12, and then taking the lead at 12-13 on a Mata block! A hitting error gave the Kittens the serve at 13-13, and they served an ace to hit match point #1! Despite a lousy set, Mata got a tool kill to keep Columbia alive at 14-14, and after a Kitten kill to reach 15-14 and match point #2, the Cats got a huge dig by L Knauer followed by the Heine kill to take the set 16-14 and pull off the -10 Upset of the Week and tying the #1 Upset of the Season. Congrats to Matt F and the Panthers!  This upset was fueled by poor setting all around as the backups played (KEN setter's SET of 9 & Columbia's SET at 8), with the hitters not getting quality looks and Kentucky hitting a collective .075 (41 kills, 31 errors) to Columbia's .195 (55 kills, 30 errors) and featuring digs (103 combined!) and blocks (67 combined) as the sets were off-mark. No doubt both setters will improve with time as they're both freshman, yet this will be a match they hope nobody remembers in coming seasons.  Raise the Freshman Fit and Set, or ever fear the Top Upset!

In other high-scoring affairs, we had Match 5, Merritt Island @ Baton Rouge, where set 1 went to 29-31, tying our #2 mark of the season.  That was matched in match, Burlington @ Schenectady, in set 2. Both of which were topped by Match 5, Tucson @ Denali, where 2 of the 3 sets went to extra points, and set 1 hit 34-36, tying our #1 for the season!

Our most competitive matches of the season thus far are currently Home/Away: Match 4, conference play, Pekin (88) @ St. Charles (85), combined 173 rating, which went out to a fitting 5 sets before Pekin claimed the road win.  Neutral court: Match 6, Antioch (79) v St. Charles (82), combined 161 rating.  Looks like Max came to play in session 2, topping both categories!  For those who read our sesson 1 recap, you were appropriately warned to fear them. See! The BUM Report does occasionally know of what it speaks!

Looking ahead to session 3, we have some key matches in conference play and WGM Group seeding!  In the PAC 8, #1 Carlsbad will host tied #2 San Diego in match 8.  In the BIG 8, Match 7, #1 Dallas hosts #2 Pekin for a massive matchup to determine the conference pecking order.  In the Big East, #1 Burlington travels to #2 Spokane to try to keep their perfect conference mark in match 8.  And in the SEC, we have another table-topping match 8, with #2 Kentucky headed to #1 Baton Rouge!  All the top 2 in each conference (except for San Jose, tied #2 in PAC 8) are playing this session!  And in the WGM group play, match 9, we have two matches of unbeatens vying for top seeds!  Group A: Denali and Pekin, and Group C: Quincy and Santa Clara. Looking forward to the top lines and post-match robbery remarks!

Our faithful editorial staff at the Upsets Desk are already giddy with delight, or perhaps just jittery from snorting pixie sticks to stay awake and meet this week's BUM Report deadline, and we look forward to bringing you another three-packs of Blowouts, Upsets and More! for session 3.  Until then, keep your frenemies in your sights and don't sleep on the early season lurkers at the bottom of the tables.  Several of those teams are now set on Fit and ready to play the T7's, and for the others, that is where Upsets are born!  Happy Olmecing!