Families in sports have produced plenty of great stories over the years.

Peyton Manning vs. Eli Manning, two brothers quarterbacking against each other in the NFL, immediately comes to mind.

Then there's the three Staal brothers in hockey, or how about Serena Williams facing her sister Venus at Wimbledon?

Hockey legend Gordie Howe skated alongside sons Mark and Marty in a professional game, Ken Griffey and son Ken Griffey Jr. homered in the same game as teammates with the Seattle Mariners, and Cal Ripken Sr. was able to manage and coach sons Cal Jr. and Billy with the Baltimore Orioles.

All very nice stories, to be sure.

But the ultimate sports family clash took place Thursday night in Mount Lebanon.

It pitted husband against wife, brother against brother, boyfriend against girlfriend, brother against sister, mother against daughter, sister-in-law against sister-in-law, uncle against niece in a showdown of epic proportion.

That's right. First place was on the line in the Fractured Pins Bowling League.

It was the bad guys against the good guys.

The bad guys — the team consisting of my niece, brother and wife — began this season by winning every game they played for nearly a month.

Indeed, they threatened to leave the rest of the league in the dust.

One league bowler, part of the drinking portion of the circuit, even threatened not to drink on the night his team faced this red-hot squad because he felt that team "needs to be knocked down a few pegs."

You can garb this group with black hats, to be sure.

Then there's the good guys — the team consisting of my brother's girlfriend, my sister and myself. We started off the season horribly, losing 10 of our first 12 games while my sister was on the sidelines recuperating from surgery.

She came back and we caught fire shortly thereafter, surging from last place to second, habitually knocking off then second-place teams along the way to the gleeful delight of my niece.

She doesn't want just to win the league, you see. She wants to win the league by a record margin. (Cue the boos and hisses.)

So we arrived to last Thursday night, my team pulling within three points of first place, trying to take down the bad guys.

Compelling theater, isn't it?

We wound up winning two games and total pins, pulling into a tie for first place with a few weeks remaining on the schedule.

Ahh, the drama continues — especially when the team we face this week is captained by my younger brother with my mother as his teammate.

You might wonder why my wife and I choose to drive an hour and back each Thursday, given the price of gas today and the unpredictable winter weather.

It would be easier and less expensive to bowl in a local league.

But the chance to bowl with and against family each week, in a competitive, yet light-hearted and fun atmosphere?

Priceless. Simply priceless.