LAFAYETTE, La. — Brother against brother.
“I’m Rees Boulanger”
“Joseph Boulanger”
Father versus daughter.
“Tony Savoie”
“Hailie Savoie”
Two coaches joined by blood.
"I am the head coach of David Thibodaux High School."
"I’m the coach of Teurlings Bowling team."
Two players joined by genetics.
"I go to the David Thibodaux STEM Academy."
"Teurlings catholic."
It was a civil war of sorts on the bowling lanes.
Teurlings Catholic High and David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy: The buildings are separated by seven-tenths of a mile. But on Wednesday, February 16th, the bowling lanes were right next to each other; and the competition involved not only athletics, but also DNA.
Before this family-filled match, the coaches were nothing but professional. "A good little rivalry here," said Coach Hailie Savoie of David Thibodaux. "Great," agreed Tony Savoie, coach of Teurlings Catholic, "mainly because of their coach, who happens to be my daughter."
And pregame interviews of the players—both seeded number one on their teams.—were all complimentary and polite. "Who's the better bowler," asked Joseph Boulanger. "Him, him." And for older brother Rees? "I’d say it’s me, but he’s getting better every day. We’ll see where the next couple years takes him."
But---unofficially---- it was war. There was practice smack from one brother to another the day before. "Mostly just him, him talking a little bit," smiled Rees, "and me just kind of sitting back and saying, 'We'll see how it goes'."
And there was a realization of how the results of this match could affect discussions at the dinner table. "Oh, it’s stressful because I know, if I go home and he won, I’ll get crap from him all day," said Joseph.
Both coaches and players were confident. "I think we're gonna pull it off," suggested Tony. "It'll be me, obviously," countered Joseph.
But there wasn’t any sports wagering involved on the outcome when David Thibodaux faced Teurlings. "No, no bets. Just a little bragging rights," said Hailie. "I'm sure there will be a lot of smack toalk when we get home for weeks to come," predicted Rees.
So how did it all end?
Well, individually Rees Boulanger beat his younger brother Joseph 680 to 540; advantage Teurlings.
However, when it came to the teams, daughter Hailie Savoie’s Bulldogs beat father Tony Savoie’s Rebels for the second straight season; advantage Stem Academy
Victories on the lanes mean for great discussions over dinner, right??
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