Welcome to the Midwest Petanque Alliance BLOG. The MPA includes: Zanesfield Petanque Club, Chicago Petanque Club, Minneapolis Petanque Club, Rocket City Petanque Club, and Detroit Petanque Club. The main purpose of this BLOG is the promotion of petanque and petanque related news and photos for the Midwest community. See the links to actual club sites on the right...
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Jennifer Zajac Places 5th at Mackinac Island Marathon
Halloween - TURTLE POWER !
Halloween Sunday's Games were officiated many times by the Turtle. Long May It Reign! The day's games were attended by Don, Dan, Joe, Cyrille, and Jeff. The pointing was quite good, so tight in fact, that Dan (official measurer for "close boules") called for Joe's "Turtle" actually his Obut Keychain Boule Measurer about 700 times! (or something like that) The club has also noticed a very large bee/wasp nest high up in the tree canopy which may or may not need to be removed come the Spring. All in all, it was decent weather, not too cold, and many fun games played. See you all next week!
NOTE: Club Member Ken (Team LaChance) will be in Germany for all or part of this week. What will Team-Z (Joe) do to keep himself at his practiced best?
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Il fait du vent pour Petanque!
Trick or Treat - See you tomorrow!
Halloween Petanque Meet This Sunday
Looking forward to seeing many of you there...
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
There is nothing in the rules against the use of nightvision goggles to play Petanque in the middle of the night...
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Some of our club members will be flying down to their Florida homes for the season, to play Petanque 3 and 4 times a week in 80 degree weather. We wish you many good points. Remember the rest of us, here in the North, scraping ice off our cars, and dreaming of that perfect carreau.
Winter doesn't scare the Michigan Petanque Club
Michel, Jeannette and Camille are off for Florida, to bask in the warmth of 85 degree days, playing Petanque along oceanside pistes, three and four times a week.
While the rest of us scramble for lock de-icers, windshield scrapers, snow shovels, and perhaps a Deus Ex Machina solution for winter-time Petanque... Stay tuned...
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Friday, October 22, 2004
Team Z Obut Accused of Using Night Vision Goggles
Mr. Widen, in the interest of accurate and complete news disclosure, I felt you had to be made aware of the following report which came in from a competing news source.
Team LaChance gave Team Z Obut a sporting chance this week with days of notice that there would be a match on Friday. The time of the match was pre-arranged with plenty of notice. But when Team LaChance promptly reached the piste, where was Team Z Obut? Nowhere to be seen. Monsieur Chance even had to call the tardy Joe Zajac's house, and his wife had to coax him out the door to face his opponent. When he got to the piste - where were the boules? There was chat, re-parking the truck, setting up, drinking half a beer...clearly there was something going on. Time was ticking by, but no play!
Mr. Zajac, of Team Z Obut, in talking about the past week, then revealed his underhanded strategy - he had been practicing after nightfall until such times as 9:30pm...Very clever. Since Mr. Zajac had repeatedly failed to beat his opponent in the light of day, he had devised a way to make use of environmental factors to do the work for him. Someone interviewed at the match speculated as well, "Team Z Obut wants to play after dark because he is worried about people seeing him lose again. After dark, anyone can claim a victory."
The game was spirited until nightfall with Team LaChance leading 8-7. But then perhaps Mr. Zajac's night practicing, but most probably his night vision goggles, took hold, and Z Obut finished the match 13-8. It was so dark that Mr. Chance even was observed mistakenly picking up Mr. Zajac's boules following rounds of throws. Even with such an advantage, Team Z Obut was only scoring 1 point per round of throws. Perhaps Mr. Zajac was sweating under his night vision headset causing it to fog over from time to time. Given the recent series of punishing losses, he can hardly be blamed for his nervousness!
Evidently, Mr. Zajac figured out that the only way to beat the indomitable LaChance is by virtually blindfolding him, with the fall of night. We are not sure whether to include this match as the opener in the latest 9 game series. Mr. Chance commented that he does not mind giving his opponent a handicap, especially after the result in the last two best of nine rounds. This newspaper reminds readers that these ended with 5 games to 3 and 5 games to 2 in favor of Team LaChance Integrale. The Petanque council commented that will need a couple of days to deliberate concerning the validity of last night's match."
Team Z Obut Begrudgingly Gets The Job Done!
Team Z Obut (NYSE: TZO), News Release 10-22-2004
Team Z Obut begrudgingly gets the job done!
ROCHESTER, Michigan, October 22 – The night was dark. Team LeChance was already concerned just upon arrival at such a late time, and Team Z Obut is nowhere in sight. Is Team Z Obut (NYSE: TZO) trying to play against LeChance’s trouble under low-light conditions? We may never know.
But TZO came out with a vengeance never before seen during this increasingly heated rivalry. TZO started the game with a few commanding points, but then faltered due to the guilt of the freshly inflicted wound on the otherwise friendly member team. Team LeChance takes advantage and responds with a few more points to bring the game to a seemingly competitive score.
It was not to be however, Team Z opened the flood gates to be sure the previous week’s rhetoric about tournament play would not be repeated. “Everyone has to learn some lessons sometime, unfortunately for Team LeChance, tonight was the night!” Zajac replied.
In the end, both teams vowed to return to the piste next week to test LeChance’s assumptions once again.
For more information about Team Z Obut, visit the website at www.michiganpetanque.com
SOURCE: Team Z Obut
CONTACT: Joe Zajac, +1-248-601-2002, info@michiganpetanque.com
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Team-Z suggests games were thrown to instill confidence...
The missing pieces of the puzzle:
After the event Zajac commented "I didn't want to have to say this, but you can't kick a good guy when they're down. I'm lucky to be able to play so often and with such a wide variety and great group of players, when he (Ken) gets to play just a couple of games, I feel, as the President of the Michigan Petanque Club, I must instill the feeling of pure confidence in the troops! I had to be the bigger man! Without the support, how can you expect the troops to perform in the piste? Its a fine line I walk every day, but that's what I've been entrusted to do!"
God speed Kenneth Chance!
Innate Skill of Team LaChance Affronts Team-Z
The latest best of nine series in Rochester ended with yet another humiliating defeat, for Team Z Obut. All we in the reporting staff can recommend to the humbled Obut team is "Get some new boules." This evenings round HAD to hurt.
Team LaChance Integrale (Ken Chance) showed up out of form, even delirious, and in no time Team Z Obut (Joe Zajac) had amassed a commanding 12-4 lead. The thronging Petanque crowds seemed to lose interest in the match, and most of them departed to the concessions to get a beer.
But when they returned, Voila!, Team LaChance Integrale had pulled out an unexpected surprise victory coming from far behind to score 12-13.
And we are sorry to report that the evening did not improve for Mr. Zajac. In the seventh, but final, game of the best of nine series, Team Z Obut slinked away with a 13-9 loss. When asked later what had happened, JZ's only comment was, "We need to think about banning Mr. LaChance from the sport! He comes here with no practice, and still insults the teams on the court with these gauche affronts." But of course, one man's gauche is another man's droit! And Mr. LaChance was carried off of the piste on the shoulders of his adoring public....
End of report.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Brrrrrrr Polar Bears vs. Eskimos
After dreaming of hot cups of cocoa, heated boules and hands, and how easy our Florida/California clubs have it weather-wise, we broke up into 2 teams (2/3) and played about 4 or 5 games.
As the day progressed, we all warmed up and our playing was measurably improved.
We had the additional services of Marley, Joe's boule-playing, squirrel chasing dog who ensured warm hands with each pet of his fur coat.
At the end of the day we left for warmer destinations, but determinted to return for next week, which supposedly will be much better weather.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Yet another website for information...
Just Click into: http://www.michiganpetanque.com and you'll have everything...
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Tournament Held - Results Posted
Ten of us were present, and we broke up into four teams, with each playing the others to the result:
1st: Dan, Cyrille, and Jimmy (3 straight wins)
2nd: Michel and Jeff (2 wins + 5 points)
3rd: Joe and Jeannette (1 win + 11 points)
4th: Camille, Thierry, and Don (24 points)
I was fortunate in being teamed with Michel, who "saved the game" numerous times with his excellent pointing and shooting. They are learning experiences quite valuable to my future playing strategy.
Thierry was playing quite a good series of games with his new INOX boules. I'm glad he's able to play and get familiar with the heft of his new 720gram friends. I watched him point and save quite a few ends today.
Of course the toughest match (and ultimately our downfall) came when Michel and I played the Dan, Cyrille & Jimmy trio. They were leading 12 to 5 and it was constantly Michel taking back the point (to keep them from 13) when by chance, the tide turned, and we had the chance at making 4 points from a displaced "enemy" boule. But alas, Jimmy kept a cool head and pointed to 13 to take the match.
Adieu for now, and see you all next week.
Elections Held
After the tournament (details in a following entry) the ten members present submitted votes (along with votes from non-present members) and Joe Zajac has been elected to be President of the Club. Vice-President is Jeff Widen, and Club Secretary is Don Tait.
In the next few weeks, we will be registering the club with the Federation of Petanque, USA and shortly thereafter any members who need FPUSA Membership cards can obtain them by submitting $15 to Joe, Jeff or Don. (The Membership cards are to be renewed annually. The $15 fee paid in 2004 will count for 2005 as well.)
We will soon be presenting drafts of the Club's By-Laws and Constitution (papers, I've been told, that are rarely, if ever, read by anyone). We will all vote as to their details, and after everyone is awakened, we can continue on as a unified Club.
We will also like to discuss times when club meets are most appropriate (for example: perhaps starting at Noon, or 1pm is better for us instead of 2pm). A Club Holiday party seems appropriate to celebrate our comradery. We should discuss where and when.
Let me wholeheartedly welcome our new President, Joe, to his position. I've heard he rules with an Iron Boule.
Saturday, October 09, 2004
Petanque Educational DVD
Besides throwing my boules several hundred times in order to get a decent selection of good carreau and pointing shots, the DVD will also include the basics: from creating the circle - measuring - how the scoring works - and various boules throws.
Saturday served dual purpose of shooting clips for this video as well as getting in some needed practice. Let me tell you right now, if you've seen the Marco Foyot video, then it will be easy to tell the difference! FOYOT I'm not! More like Jacques Tati !
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Tournament des Boules Nouveaux
Ken Chance, our Rochester Correspondent writes:
Well, the best of nine "Tournament des Boules Nouveaux" concluded last night in Rochester.
Played over two weeks in honor of the new Integrale Inox Pointer Boules bought by Ken Chance, the tournment got off to a marvelous start, with a 13-4 victory for the new boules. But the first night ended up with the boules trailing "Team Z Obut" (Joe Zajac) who came back with indomitable shooting in the next two rounds with 13-12 and 13-11 victories.
A week later, the next set of three games saw the tide turn slightly with Team Integrale LaChance scoring 13-8, 13-12 in the first two mathces, but losing the final game 8-13. This left both contestants with 3 victories, a piece. But last night, the long anticipated and much hyped final set of three games brought the best of nine series to a close. Integrale LaChance, pointing brilliantly, handed Team Z a set of punishing defeats 13-6, 13-2, and 13-3. (Statistics keepers will note that Team Z Obut's point total would not total to win a single round.) Leader of Team Z, Joe Zajac, declined comment after the round saying only that Team LaChance should be investigated for performance enhancing Petanque drugs. The Petanque hooligans in the stands went wild....
Monday, October 04, 2004
Sunday, October 03, 2004
A Cool Day for Some Hot Petanque Playing
The tournament opened with twelve players: Dan, Gerard, Marcel, and Roland forming Pool-1; Michel, Jeannette, Cyrille, and Joe forming Pool-2; and Camille, Gregory, Jeff, and Don in Pool-3.
For me, my best game was against Don, which had us neck and neck (12/12) to the last end where Don took the 13. Taking a loss isn't exactly considered a "best game" - but the competition was thrilling.
From the first pool, Marcel took 1st place with a clean sweep - 3 victories. Next was Roland, getting 1 victory (plus 17 points) - just squeezing by Dan who also had 1 victory but 13 points.
The second pool had Cyrille with 2 victories (plus 10 points) as lead, with his father, Michel coming second with 2 victories (plus 5 points).
The Third Pool (with yours truly ranking lowest) had Gregory first with 2 victories (plus 8) and Don with 2 victories (plus 7)
With Marcel, Roland, Michel, Cyrille, Gregory, and Don off to further conquests, the "losers" played against the losers to see who was the "ultimate losers"
We divided into two teams of four and three (Eric arrived to play) - so eight boules per team
were tossed (16 boules on the terrain, quite a sight). As it turned out, I was among the losers of the losers, with three games played (and three games LOST!)
The final was played among the champions, the rankings were as follows:
1st Place: Michel (4 victories + 12 points)
2nd Place: Roland (4 victories + 6 points)
3rd Place: Marcel (3 victories + 9 points)
4th Place: Cyrille (2 victories + 33 points)
5th Place: Gregory (2 victories + 26 points)
6th Place: Don (29 points)
Afterwards, we all broke up into teams of 3 vs. 3 and played a final game. I lucked out, getting matched up with Roland (excellent shooter) and Jeannette (excellent pointer) - so they pretty much carried me along as we FANNIED the (nameless) Opposing team...
I would like to add, special thanks to Marcel for the abundant and delicious croissants, and Michel for the generous prizes.
The Club will become soon become official (registered) as sufficient signatures have been collected to send off to the Federation Petanque U.S.A. (FPUSA) We will eventually need to collect dues from members in order to have the Michigan Petanque Club paid up with FPUSA [$10 per for the license, plus possible another $10 for a combined Club registration - we'll work out the numbers later] and a vote will be held on Sunday's usual meeting to select the President of the Club.
...as to the VOTE...
I will not go into the choices of interesting candidates for the position, but would suggest to voting members that we look for a neutral, dedicated, and energetic person for the job.
We're ultimately here to consistently play Petanque among our skilled players; while bringing in new players; with the proposition of entertaining challenges from other Petanque clubs in friendly competition.
Currently, I've been constructing the By-Laws for the Club, and will be forming a draft for members to comment/edit/re-draft upon this Sunday. The By-Laws will of course be subordinate to the rules of FPUSA.
See you on the piste this Sunday. You may need to wear a warm hat.
ALSO: Let's consider a Holiday Party (perhaps at a French Restaurant)
(Photos will follow - shortly).
Friday, October 01, 2004
WWW.MICHIGANPETANQUE.COM
If you visit the site now, it'll still be Under Construction - but I suspect there will soon be all sorts of photos, bios, event calendars, and match score results.
What this also means, is that we expect Petanque to grow in Michigan (and perhaps even throughout the Upper Mid-West) and we'll have the technology to keep current with all those computer savvy boulisters.
Keep tuned.