A Sign We Hope We Never See Here...

A Sign We Hope We never See Here...
Originally uploaded by hdarpini.

My wife and I ran across this sign during our vacation this summer in Provence. I happened to spot it posted on the side of a building that ran along a narrow street.

For those who don't read French, the sign says "No boule playing allowed." Not a very friendly sign, especially for Provence, the birthplace of pétanque!

Decisions Decisions Decisions

Decisions Decisions Decisions
Originally uploaded by JeffreyWiden.

Gene and Sharon have really been taking their time, studying boule placement and the line of pointing. Partly, this is for psychological reasons - "it unsettles the opposition"

Glimmers of Hope

Glimmers of Hope
Originally uploaded by JeffreyWiden.

Today's games at Campus Martius brought together Allan, Gene, Tony, Sharon, Jeff, and Hal. Doug, photographer from the Detroit MetroTimes hung about to take some photographs. It was nice cool weather. This should last into the weekend.

East Coast Update

Dad
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

For my father's birthday earlier this month, I sent him two sets of boules. The package arrived early and Mom fully aware of the contents wouldn't let him touch it till his actual birthday. This past weekend, Dad finally had a chance to break the boules in at a scout camporee.

My father brought the boules along to play petanque during the free time. He quickly attracted scouts and leaders, many who tried out the game. Petanque turned out to be a big hit with the scouts. Dad was able to win his matches but says one young scout came dangerously close to beating him.

My most recent phone conversation with my dad had about a ten minute discussion of the best places to play petanque in my hometown. Jeff, who vacations not far from my hometown, came across French-Canadian tourists playing on the beach, so Dad is going to check that out as well as some other locales. Now Mom might even join in the fun.

Thanks to Maison de la France!

I want to thank Ms. Anouk Thiebaut of Maison de la France for her great hospitality, and providing Mario and me with the ability to play petanque for TWO DAYS! She probably didn't realize that we'd pay to have such fun! We would also like to thank her for the pleasure of teaching our sport to all the convention visitors, not to mention all the French companies at the exhibit (although there's still two guys who thought they could take us -- but we didn't have time to prove them wrong!). We're already anxiously waiting to come back for next year!

Teaching Petanque in Chicago

Mario is about to shoot this convention-goer's good point out of the piste. I tried to tell him to take it easy on the ladies, but he insisted on teaching them a lesson! We taught at least 30-40 people each day, and spread the good word of petanque. We both had a good time, and a good laugh as we plombee'd some shots and sprayed some convention attendees with a healthy dose of sand as they walked by the piste. We started keeping our score by how many attendees we sprayed... I think Mario won?

Jesse Jackson Likes Petanque Downtown

It wasn't enough to spend the last few days teaching petanque! At the airport, on my way back to Detroit from Chicago, I just had to say hello to Jesse Jackson (who was also on his way to Detroit), and thinks that bringing our new cultural sport of petanque down to the City of Detroit is a great idea! Maybe we'll see him playing down at Campus Martius this Saturday!

This Week's Visitors Are a Sign!

Our website is getting more and more traffic from around the country, and also from places around the world. And to think we're attracting visitors for just some simple, really concerned, attempts at making petanque fun! That's the way petanque should be!

Detroit Free Press - Community Detroit

Check out the great article written about us in Thursday's Detroit Free Press. You can see a badly scanned version here.

Detroit Petanque Ducks High Sticking at Campus Martius

The Detroit Petanque Club was joined by the Molson Sportsmen Hockey Team (from Canada). They didn't point or shoot very well with all of that padding and helmets, but we let them win a few rounds anyway for fear of high-sticking!

Jeff Shows Off Fall Season of D.P.C. Uniform

Available in limited quantities - the D.P.C. zip-up and play is a light-weight "soccer jacket" with the DPC Piggy logo on the back, and the DPC round logo on the front. It's perfect for these chilly days, and yet allows for the flexibility shooters and pointers need for victory.

Back to Campus Martius for Lunchtime Group

As the weather was nice, and I was curious as to who was playing petanque up at Campus Martius (does anyone know?) the other day -- we detoured our lunchtime Renaissance Park Riverfront group up to Campus Martius Park. The crowds weren't keeping us from playing, and as you can see, it offered up a feeling of Manhattan. There were plenty of people looking on as Gene, Sharon, Will, Allan, and Jeff played mixed Doubles/Triples. Another reason for shifting to Campus Martius this and next week, during lunchtime, is to get our players ready for the harder, gravel surface (unlike the hard-packed sand at Ren. Cen.)

Allan takes the point
Crowds Passing By - "Watch the boules!"
Gene firing off another shot!

Cool and Breezy Day Alongside the Detroit River

Gene must have an enormous wardrobe because he's always coordinated for his petanque playing.

Today's doublettes: Tony/Jeff vs. Gene/Sharon

NEWSFLASH : Giant Rodent Plays Petanque

Visiting treasurer from Seattle
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

Mouseketeer Jeff Widen played boule in the official Presidential regalia of the Detroit Petanque Club.

Undercover Maude!

Maude was the only smart one today. When the rain came down this afternoon, and cut our playtime short, we all got soaked, and Maude just had a good laugh watching us all running around to get to the cars. I think she might have been smiling at me because she knew I had too much gear to carry, and I just got drenched!

Midwest Petanque Champions Spotted

The games haven't been played yet, but we're just urging DPC to save themselves some embarrasement for the October 8th Tournament. When Dan, Jennifer, and Joe come down to the DPC courts, we just can't be held responsible for what happens!

Jeff what big ears you have

Jeff what big ears you have
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

I really don't know what to say but he begged me to bring him back Mickey ears from Orlando.

T'Choupi Shows D.P.C. Team Spirit

Unlike some dogs I know who have to walk around naked, T'Choupi is styl'n in his Detroit Petanque Club T-Shirt.

Nothing says "I have too much time on my hands" more -- than custom doggie clothing.

Joe and Jeff Attend World Bocce Championship

The Palazzo di Bocce is quite a place. It is the absolute BEST venue for Bocce in the United States (and probably the best in the world when you consider its incredible food catering and support facilities).






Jeff and Joe with the Women''s Champion (Italy), and the Junior Champion (Italy) Bocce winners. Their jerseys signify that they're Bocce champions (Like the Yellow jersey Lance Armstrong won in the Tour de France).

Jeff and Joe standing with Mario Pagnoni, Mr. JOY OF BOCCE himself! We talked for hours about the state of boule sports in this country. Mario is quite a remarkable and helpful resource.

Switzerland Takes Top Place in the Singles World Bocce Championship

Joe and Jeff had the pleasure of watching the final three games of Italy (unseated for Singles Bocce for years!) against Switzerland. Each team ahd 1 win under their belt, so it went to the final 3rd game, and at one part, it was tied up, 11/11 (they play to 15). It ended with Italy-13, Switzerland-15. The Swiss & Italian competitors were starting to show their exhaustion, with leg cramps, and lots of foot stomping.

Alliance Francaise de Grosse Pointe

Saturday, the MPC and DPC offered petanque lessons to the Alliance Francaise de Grosse Pointe at the Royal Oak VFW park. The instructors included: Hal, Joe, Melissa, Gene, Michel, Jeanette, Sharon, Eric, Maude and Jeff. We had great weather - played lots of games, and I was able to learn a few more curses in French.

Abbreviated Morning for Campus Martius

Nice cool morning at Campus Martius. A slightly shorter play-day (for Campus Martius) due to an engagement up in Royal Oak with the Alliance Francaise de Grosse Pointe (picnic & petanque).
Melissa is really getting accurate. She's been trying for and successfully shooting the cochon - at will! Watch out - when the cochon is hit out of bounds, and only 1 team has boules to play, all of those unplayed boules are points!






I'm glad to see Rob joined us again at Campus Martius. Renee and Jeff challenged Rob and Melissa to a game. It was nail-biter close - though sadly, I cannot seem to recall the outcome.... ;)

Check for our news article in this coming Thursday's DETROIT FREE PRESS

Doublettes for Today - Allan/Jeff Victorious Over Gene/Sharon

The heavy rain that came down last night (we also received hail!) really firmed up the terrain at the Renaissance Center Park. This made it harder for the pointers because the boules rolled FAST!

Two games of doublettes were played, Team-Allan/Jeff against Team-Gene/Sharon, with double victory going to Team-Allan/Jeff.

Allan was laying in boule after boule - right at the cochon, or placed in perfect position to really challenge the shooting from Gene. Sharon was on-the-boule today, but even her skills were no match for the opposition. Umpiring was assisted by Brian, who lent a measured eye to the boules.

Rain Doesn't Keep Nutty Petanque Players Away

Despite a solid weather report of rain showers, Petanque went on. As I ambled up to the piste with my cart, Gene, Tony and Sharon were already into their first round or two. Hal showed up a game later joining me and sharon for double victories.

For more information, contact Hal D'Arpini or check out the Alliance Francaise de Grosse Pointe's website. Joe and I (Jeff) will be helping to teach the Alliance members how to play petanque. As such, there may not be enough room for everyone to play (at once). As for food, people are bringing food to share, so keep that in mind too.

This is on Saturday at Noon, so I will be down at the Campus Martius location for our DPC meet/games, and then hike it up to Royal Oak for the Noon event.

Man the Lifeboats - the S.S.JEFFREY is going down!

Today was an absolute torpedo for Jeff. Teamed up with Tony and Sharon against Gene, Will, and James - the first (of three) went fine, (a win) - but games 2 & 3 were downright awful... 13/3 and 13/5

At one round in the game, the cochon fell into a deep pit in the terrain, in a place I though it could never be removed. Then Will laid in his laser-plombee, rocketing the cochon up and out 3 feet. It was just a matter of time before his team laid in 4 boules.

But really, I'm actually delighted that the pupils are now holding more than their own.

#1 Bocce Player!?

I had the pleasure of meeting the acquaintance of Mr. Formicone tonight... (Rumor has it that he's the World's best Bocce player...) I watched some very impresive games where he retired his opponents, and provided a very entertaining display of his great boule throwing skills. I'm going to try to watch him as he advances during the week... YOU should too!

Big Birthday Bash!

I was able to have a piece of Michele's 21st Birthday cake tonight... I shared a few drinks with him, and talked about some boules in the U.K. He happens to be the #1 Boule player under 21 in the World! I didn't get to play him with all these tournament games going on at Palazzo di Bocce, but I think I could take him! :-)

Crash and Burn

It had to happen sooner or later, and today was the day. Gene, Sharon and Will took Jeff, Hal and Tony down to Chinatown with a 13/5 finish.

"It was ugly... with Gene shouting out Da-Bears [in response to Tony's Da-Bears taunting last Saturday] and round after round going to them with 13 looming."

Here, we see the careful plotting by the inseparable Gene & Sharon.

[Note: we did have a re-match which gave us a turnabout win: 13/3 but the sting of the earlier defeat lingered]

Belle Isle Hazards

A few weeks back, a friend and I were playing petanque on the track surrounding the soccer field over on Belle Isle. The surface is ideal, our soccer teammates were all running late and he had his boules with him, so why not. Not more than ten seconds after my friend had tossed the cochon, a seagull swooped down and snagged it. Between our fits of laughter, the seagull was chased and the cochon retrieved. The question then became what does the rule book say about seagull interference?

Excitement

Excitement
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

I actually took this photo back on September 10th, but the child's excitement to be learning petanque always makes me smile. I thought I'd share the smile.

Jeff is a good teacher, though I hear he rips off Denise's tricks. The children have a lot of fun trying out petanque and keep on trying no matter what.

Detroit Petanque Club Has Visitors from Sister Club

Lunchtime has never been so competitive! Today's petanque session encompassed Sharon, Gene, Bobby (this trio will be the triplette for the Oct 8th event by the way...); Eric and Maude (from the Michigan Petanque Club); Hal, Will, and Jeff.

Triplettes were played (Hal, Sharon & Maude) vs. (Eric, Bobby & Will) - while on one of the many other courts, Tete-a-tete: Gene vs. Jeff went on...

Bobby and Will teamed up in a singles/doubles mix against Jeff at terrain #2 (of 13 at the DPC training courts) playing two games against him, vying for victory. Victory was precariously in their grasp, with the magnificent half-lobs from Bobby, and the miraculous "Deus-Ex-Machina" plombee shots from Will. But Jeff held his own for the wins. "It's just a matter of time before these guys will beat me every game," Jeff mused, "I see the determination in their eyes."

Greggory shoots and other photos

Greggory shoots
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

The main reason RWA and I were added to the blog authors was for the access to our photographs from club meetings. (Bobby and I are the ones with the "fancy digital SLR cameras")

However, we take more photos then we'd ever post on the blog. So we started a group in flickr where all the photos taken during club meetings can be added. The group is called Michigan/Detroit Petanque Club and anyone can add photos. You'll need a flickr id to add photos but it is free to join. Jeff, Bobby or myself (Melissa) can help anyone with setting one up.

If you just want to view the photos, all you have to do is wander over to the group. (http://flickr.com/groups/55244749@N00/)

And yes, I can be bribed not to post bad or incriminating photos.

World Class Bocce All This Week

Stop by to see some of the best in Bocce...

Never enough Boules!

I had a great time with DPC on Saturday, and had a great time with MPC on Sunday, but I still hadn't had enough! I had to do my shift at Palazzo di Bocce afterwards. And what a great time it was! All the Bocce champions from 16 different countries were there. I sat down with the captain of the French team, and asked him "What are you doing HERE!?, you should've been at our piste today!" We had a good laugh... The opening ceremony party was a great time, and if you get a chance you should come out to see everyone play. I'll be there most of the week, just call, or look around for the only guy with a petanque hat on! :-)

Happy to Have a Full Piste!

We almost ran out of piste space today! I can't decide if I'm happy or sad!? How great it was to see so many players, but now I need to get straight away back to work to get this piste made larger! Five games of triplettes?, that's it?, we definitely need more space!

Thank You Romain!

As a novice to petanque, I appreciate all the advice I get from the more experienced boulers, like Romain.

I am sorry we beat you...twice. :-) Your advice on how I can improve my pointing and consistency are much appreciated. And I swear I am not a ringer.

Point it in

Point it in
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

Today was my first venture to the Royal Oak piste. I enjoyed the experience and definately will return to improve both my petanque game and my french.

Choosing teams is getting tricky

Choosing teams
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

It was quite crowded in Royal Oak today. The beautiful day was more than likely to blame as it was perfect weather to play petanque.

Restful Day of Casual Petanque in Wyandotte

Denise and Jeff luxuriated in their Sunday, playing some Petanque in the baseball infield behind their home. T'Choupi was interested in chasing the cochon (at first) - but he soon settled down and watched us play. Denise's pointing is quite good - I'd say Team: Tony/Denise/Jeff have a pretty good chance at the Mid-West Petanque Championship on October 8th.

DPC Mascot T'Choupi Finally Meets MPC Mascot Marley

The two Havanese finally meet, after all these weeks of sending e-mails back and forth to each other. What did they learn today? That there's plenty of food/snack opportunities with the right begging pose.

He's gonna beat us

He's gonna beat us
Originally uploaded by mainegal.

Bobby and James watch as Brandon destroys all their hard work with a dead on point. Brandon may be the only reason Joe and Jeff beat Bobby, Sharon and James in this round.

Team Photo

Marcus, Joe, Brandon,Sharon, Bobby, Jeff and James

Titular Head-VP and VP for Detroit Petanque Club

Today, in a bold political tour-de-force, Jeff secured Vice-Presidential positions for the Detroit Petanque Club via long time members Cheryl and James. Serving double-duty as VP for the Michigan Petanque Club (let's see how long that milk-run position will last) Jeff knows being a Petanque VP isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Yup, being the VP means long hours cleaning and polishing the boules, then there's the raking of the terrain, and let's not forget all of Joe's dirty laundry that needs cleaning and ironing. Yep, I'm glad I have two VP's to do all that work because I have lots of my own filthy dirty crusty laundry that needs wash'n.

BLOG IMPROVED - Now We Have Comments!

As if I were 12 years old again and my mother shouts down the hall: JEFFREY CLEAN YOUR ROOM!

Okay Okay - I've painted the walls, put things away in "drawers" and put up a chalkboard for your rants.

Thanks to Melissa for playing Mom today...

Another pair of close games at Renaissance Center Park

I couldn't ask for a better set of games. Both were extemely close: 11/13 and 12/13. In the first game (doubles), Sharon was paired with Jeff against Tony and Hal. We were neck-in-neck - with the decidind boule thrown by the ever talented Sharon. Then Hal joined us for mis-matched doubles/triples (Hal/Gene/Jeff vs Tony/Sharon). We were behind 6 to 12, but then caught up using a combination of strategy (boule in front rules) and stressful shooting. Finally, it was to be decided by a final well placed boule. Voila!

Three More for Detroit Petanque Club

Will, Rameesh, and Probert joined us today down at the Renaissance Center Park.

We did some preliminary pointing and shooting lessons, but after a few rounds they all were playing at a very good level.

What surprised Rameesh, Probert and Jeff the most was how easily Will (who had never played petanque before today) used plombee' pointing shots. These are advanced throws, but his technique was virtually flawless.

Before long we all were trying out plombee' throws using Will's style. Probert really does them well now too and I think the Detroit Petanque Club is going to do great against the more experienced Michigan Petanque Club on October 8th.

Join us in this free tournament - open to all (Members and non-Members) at our Campus Martius Park location in Detroit. This is going to be quite a large event, with participation from both the Michigan and Detroit Petanque Clubs - and anyone else who may be interested.

Teams can be established ahead of time by the participants, but must include at least 1 female and 1 male (Mixed Triplettes). If you want to participate but do not have a team, we can help you organize one. contact Joe and Jeff for more information. Webpage soon to be posted.

T'Choupi Learns Petanque at an Early Age

T'Choupi knows that learning petanque at an early age will vastly improve his shooting throw.

"Marley learned Petanque much later in life," remarked T'Choupi, "and he's only shooting at 45%."

Starting at only 3 months of age, and with proper practice sessions, T'Choupi hopes to get his shooting skills up to 80% or better. He favors a 720 gram, 73 mm boule with some light striations, and it helps if it's rubbed in bacon...

Come see some World Class Boules!

I (Joe) am volunteering to help out at Palazzo di Bocce for this very rare boule event! And even though us petanquers may not favor the "B___" sport, these players are part of our boule family... so hopefully I'll see a bunch of you next week! And also start practicing for our next "Battle of the Boules"! Our