Michigan Petanque Club Announces Sports Event Director

Cyrille Didierjean, of the famous Didierjean family, has been asked to be the club's Sports Event Director.

Cyrille, as we all know, is a dedicated club member and experienced petanque player. He will coordinate the club's tournaments and help to set up the method and scoring guidelines under which these tournaments will run.

"I know it is difficult for one or two people to juggle all of the many tasks that our club demands," comments Jeff Widen (club VP), "and with various members using their skills and knowledge to help coordinate different parts of the clubs operations, we'll all benefit."

There are many different ways to run a tournament. Swiss; Norfolk; Elimination; Winner/Loser Trees -- now we can establish a club accepted method which will be both clear and fair.

If any of our members would like to offer some advice on tournament operations, please speak with Cyrille, Joe or Jeff.

Michigan Petanque Club - Sunday's Tournament Results

Michel, Marie (a new visitor), and Jim won first place with 3 wins (and only 18 points given up); Running a very close second was Gregory, Anita, and Gerard with 3 wins (and only 23 points given up).

Joe reported to me about a few improvements that we can make regarding our future tournaments:

1) Establishment of the tournament under unanimously accepted guidelines.

2) Posting of the number of games to be played, as well as how the scoring is to be performed.

3) Posting scoreboards at each terrain to allow everyone to know the progression of the game.

We are in the works to have a club Sports Event Director assigned to organize all of our future tournaments. This will create a clear, fair, and accepted format for all. Also, we will be constructing enough scoreboards for all games being played (Jeff will make some more of those "cochonnet-style boards").

I hope everyone had a pretty good time on Sunday. We're sorry if you felt things didn't run smoothly. We always try to do our very best to ensure people have fun and things run fairly.

10th World Junior Petanque Championship - Team U.S.A.

In Montreal, on July 21st through 24th - the 10th World Junior Petanque Championship will be held.

And attending this year's competition is the F.P.U.S.A. team: Patrick and sister Olivia (both from Sonoma, California) standing with Jessie and Alex (Sarasota, Florida).

Joe Zajac was able to watch Alex play while he was down in Florida for the National Doubles event. Joe was very impressed with Alex's shooting, as I was after viewing the video footage taken during the tournament.

Go Go Go Team-USA!

Winners of the National Singles

Gilbert Salomon, President of the Sarasota Club, hosted the National Singles tournament down in Sarasota, Florida held this past Sunday (May 29).

We see him standing next to the winners: [back row] Gilles Canesse (1st Place); Pierre (2nd Place); John Rolland (3rd Place); and Kevin Nault (4th Place); [front row] Pierette (1st Place); Dominique (2nd Place); Jackie (3rd Place); and Sue (4th Place).

Congratulations to the winners, and all who participated.

New Colors and Designs

This baby-blue ladies top is one of the many new MPC and DPC logo shirts, sweatshirts, and other tops at our merchandise page.

Why not take a look?

www.cafepress.com/boules

Denise Widen Joins the Craziness that is Petanque

Dazzled by the quaint setting of the Detroit Petanque Club, Denise Widen decided to join us for the afternoon and played on the Presidential team against VP Don and new member Dave.

Meet the Detroit Petanque Club's Newest Member

Dave Elwart - he's 87 years old and points very well indeed. I played three games against him and he captured the point sufficient times to make me "sweat a little"

Joe and Star Pupil Remain Afterward to Continue Practicing

Joe and his pupil, Jaciel. They remained after the event to practice on pointing and shooting throws. It looks like Jaciel (only 11 years old) will be World Champion material in a short time.

Petanque is good fun for the whole family

Meet Thierry and Dawn, parents to Lukas (left) and Stefan. They played a full day of petanque at the Heritage festival. Thierry is in the midst of his own backyard petanque piste.

We can't wait to play there!

I bet his whole family will benefit by becoming expert pointers and shooters.

Meet Jaciel - he's only 11 but plays like a pro

Jaciel, only 11 years old, has a very neat pointing throw. Very accurate too!

We Welcome the Entire Family

Stefan (foreground); Thierry; Maude; Dawn; Lukas (kneeling); Joe; Jaciel; and Eric playing in the final game of the day. The Michigan Petanque Club invites all couples and thier children to play at their terrain in Royal Oak (Sundays at 1:00pm).

The Storm that Never Came

Though the sky at times seems foreboding - no rain arrived and game play was uninterrupted. The club played about 6 or 7 full games - (starting at around 2:35 pm after the vintage baseball game ended).

Jaciel Shows Us His Method

Jaciel points with his unique style of throwing while his teacher, Joe Zajac, proudly looks on. The whole club is enthusiastic about the new infusion of young members. "It keep Petanque alive," exclaimed Joe excitedly.

Didierjean Brothers Team Up

Cyrille and Gregory teamed up with Jaciel to ALMOST win their game ... Maude, Sue and Jeff were the final victors.

Dan Kneels to Point

Rare Shot of Dan kneeling for a close pointing.

Dan shows off his $500 Sunglasses

Dan wore his expensive sunglasses for today's sunny event.

Hey - Let's Meet at Lipuma's

Before the event, Larry and Sue were eating nearby in downtown Rochester and spotted Jeff and Joe at Lipuma's getting coney dogs...

Dave Jonker

Dave Jonker points his boule as Joe and Dan look on. It was nice to see many of our members sporting the club's t-shirt. By the way, you can obtain a t-shirt and other MPC regalia at the Merchandise page off our website.

Jaciel - 100% Petanque Player

Jaciel, loyal member of the Michigan Petanque Club, faithfully guarded the MPC Banner.

Stefan - Petanque Pointing Expert

Stefan points with great success as Jaciel looks on. We all had a pretty competitive last game of the day - with the leading score bouncing from one team to the other.

Petanque is Social Fun Too !

Jeanette, always immaculately dressed, chats with Cathy and Joe. Jaciel listens in, picking up Petanque gossip.

Let the Sorting of the Teams Commence

Sue helps in the team sorting for the Heritage Festival event.

HAMMER NAILS MOVE !!

Saturday's Heritage Festival began with the coordinated efforts of the Michigan Petanque Club setting up the terrain for the event. As the stringed template (thanks Joe) was put into place, each of the "corners" (Cyrille; Gregory; Thierry; Jeff) would yell out "NAIL" and Jaciel would run and drop one off, and then "HAMMER" and Joe would slam the nail into the ground. Then Larry would wrap string for the new piste.

Burrrrp!

Six Hotdogs Later... President, Joe Zajac was on hot pursuit of some Rolaids! Lipuma's is a very popular Coney Island in downtown Rochester.

Where Are Our Blog Readers From?

Joe and Jeff were wondering: from where (county, state etc) our BLOG
readers came...

If you could be so kind as to send us off an e-mail simply
telling us what country, state, city you're from, we'd appreciate it.

Please send your e-mails to: info@michiganpetanque.com

Thank you very much. We're just very curious.

Jaciel shows plenty of potential as newest MPC member

After playing puddle petanque in Royal Oak, Joe took a 7 minute nap and then went out to train with Jaciel, his 12-year old Rochester neighbor who recently took up an interest in petanque after watching Joe play in the neighborhood park.

Joe thinks, in time, Jaciel will be giving Roland, Cyrille, and Danny (and the rest of the club) a run for their money because Jaciel (pronounced: wha-see-elle) has excellent pointing skills and is already practicing his shooting.

We should see our youngest Michigan Petanque Club member at the Heritage Festival next weekend.

SuperBoule

Super-Boule a/k/a Hobo-Joe used his superpowers to shoot and point almost flawlessly. His cape also kept the majority of the rain off of his shoulders. Who can outpoint and outshoot Super-Boule? We shall see....

Thierry Proves He's Piste-worthy

Thierry's jacket is sopping wet, but he played as if it were the finest Summer day. Perhaps we should create a sub-set of the M.P.C. - called, the WetBoules.

Thierry is hard at work on his new Petanque terrain in his backyard. He's actually doing most of the work by-hand! I'm sure he could use one of Joe's backhoes... (give Joe a call Thierry...) And of course we're all looking forward to the "opening day" for the Le Pichouron Piste sometime soon...

Rubber Ducky Takes the Field

Joyce, one of the die-hards who decided to play in the driving rain, looks particularly duck-like in her bright-yellow rain-vest. A new nickname? Perhaps.

Jeanette tries rolling through the mud

Jeanette has perfected her roulette pointing, but how does it fare through the mud? Just as expertly!

Mother Nature Keeps Us Under The Trees

Camille decided to wait a half-hour to see if the rain would let up. It didn't, not until around 4pm.

Super Eric Keeps Dry Beneath the Trees

Some people use raincoats, others use umbrellas, Eric has his own fashion sense! Gregory just graduated AND already has a job! Good going! We'll see you all next week - hopefully it will be a dry day!

Umbrella Dan

Never one to give up on the possibility of playing Petanque, Dan holds his umbrella aloft while shooting. "It affects the balance somewhat," Dan remarked, "but it's better than getting soaked."

Larry and Sue Visit the Petanque Pond

Larry and Sue also came out tothe terrain, despite the weather, to see what was going on. Romain (at right) looked like he was fishing, using his boule-magnet in the puddles.

Hopefuls - Choosing Teams

The day started out with a fine drizzle. Perhaps it would stop... (it didn't - it turned into a downpour). Teams were selected - and play began...

Heritage Festival - This Saturday (May 28 @ 2:00pm)

Joe spoke a little bit before Petanque play, about the Heritage Festival.

Just a note: the petanque demonstration begins at 2:00 pm, so we'd like some of our members show up earlier (let's say at 1:30pm) so we can organize the terrain/piste set-up.

We'll be putting down 9 terrains on the ball field at the park (check the website main-page for the map and info). Then we'll each take a terrain and show the onlookers how to play petanque, and play some rounds of games with them.

You are all serving as our club ambassadors so please be patient teachers. We'll be bringing our extra boules and cochons so there should be enough for all. See you there! (and yes, we'll ALSO have our tournament on the Sunday (May 29th)).

Puddle Petanque Shows Who Is The Craziest

Sunday was a day for Noah's Ark. There was an outstanding turnout for the tournament, but due to the inclement weather we decided (by a vote) to push the tournament to next Sunday (May 29) and just play Petanque in the mud. As you can see, some of us were prepared and some... well some were not as well prepared.

Who was there: Joe, Jeff, Dan, Thierry, Joyce, Cyrille, Gregory, Sebastien, Francoise, Daniel, Eric, Maude, Larry, Sue, Michel, Jeanette, Romain, and Camille.

Levitating Boules at D.P.C.

Joe throws another close boule.

Michel's Shooting Right On

Michel fires off another successful shot.

Umpire Joe

Umpire Joe makes a careful measurement. At the N.E. Regionals, Joe took and
passed his "field umpire's exam"

Pointing Perfectly

Joe pointed very well today, and though I cannot recall all of the scores,
we (Joe and Jeff) did pretty nicely against Michel and Jeanette.

Don's Pointing is Dangerous

Don's pointing makes Zajac re-think his June 11 PVP-Tournament Strategy.

Good Times

Don rakes in the good times at the Detroit Petanque Club terrain.

This was Saturday - amazing how the next day was so rainy.

Magic Boule Levitates at D.P.C. Terrain

Joe works his magic...

Welcome Back Jeanette and Michel

Michel and Jeanette came to visit the Detroit Petanque Club on Saturday.
What beautiful weather. We played lots of mixed games among those present:
Jeanette, Michel, Don, Joe, and Jeff. I think Michel was a little impressed
with the progress we've made in our pointing and shooting.

Michel & Jeanette Back From The South

I just received an e-mail from Michel and Jeanette that they're back in
Michigan. This Winter they both enjoyed a really adventurous cruise. I'm
also sure that they played quite a bit of petanque. When I last spoke with
Michel, he was planning on putting in a terrain in his backyard in Florida.
Let's all give them a hearty welcome and test out their shooting and
pointing skills.

MPC Accepts DPC Challenge

The President of the Michigan Petanque Club, officially accepted the Detroit Petanque Club's PVP-Cup Challenge.

As the screws were tightening, Joe issued a call to arms appointing Dan the VP of the Michigan Petanque Club. Of course, we're not sure if this is an actual appointment, or if Joe simply wished to "stack the deck" with his best player.

We'll see what happens when the two clubs meet on June 11.

Detroit Petanque Club Practices at Sunrise

7:00 a.m. While most of the MPC members sleep, the DPC plays petanque...

"There's no better time to exercise those throwing muscles than early in the morning," reassures club President Jeff Widen, "I guess we're just a bit tougher than those pretty boys up in the Northern suburbs."

Two games were played. The first 13/10 went to VP Don Tait, the second, 13/9 to Prez. Jeff Widen.

Joe and Friends do Fairly Well in Triples in NYC

Joe Zajac, after flying at break-neck speed to the N.E. Regionals, played Triplettes with, Drish (Morocco); and Cherif (Senegal). Their first game, a well-fought victory: 13/7 and their second game, also well fought (but a loss) 7/13. Their final game (against Yngve's team) was a 13/0 fanny [Yngve won].

Yngve was a very gracious host, showing Joe around Manhattan, and his shooting pen up on the rooftop above his apartment. We'll find out more about Joe's trip once he wakes up after only sleeping for 3 hours in 72 hours...

Kickball with a side of Petanque

What would kickball be without a little Petanque? Jeff went to a BBQ in Bloomfield Hills with his wife Denise where they are joining a kickball league (the "Freeballers") for Friday nights. After the kickball was put away, Jeff brought out the Petanque balls and everyone played. Though the terrain was a full-lawn the game play was pretty decent.

Hal Reports on Sunday's Petanque Games

[Hal D'Arpini - Special Petanque Correspondent]

Just wanted to update you on today's club meet (who showed up, etc.) so that you can post it on the blog site. Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera (yet) so I can't send you any pictures.

Jennifer, Anita, and Joyce were there when I arrived. As Jennifer and Joyce were defeating Anita and me (the final score escapes me), Mike and Cathy showed up. We played a game of triplettes (my team lost but I don't remember the score), and then Jennifer left, to be replaced by Thierry.

After another game of triplettes in which my team lost (I have a bad memory for scores), Joyce and Anita left. Cathy and I went on to defeated Thierry and Mike in doublettes 13-7.

The rain held off nicely, and there was even a little sun from time to time.

See you next week,

Hal

[thanks Hal, I was wondering what the turn-out would be for today, as Joe was in NYC and I was at the kickball BBQ - I'm happy that people had a good time - see Joe... they don't need us!!!]

No Tournament this Sunday - but play as usual

Joe and Jeff won't be able to attend this Sunday's Petanque meet. It happens, rarely, but it happens.

This weekend, Joe is playing in the N.E. Regional Petanque Doubles and Triples in New York City. Jeff is playing kickball (yes... kickball) with his wife up in Bloomfield Hills. Dan has a previous engagement. Cyrille is attending his brother,