Sharon Hunter Helps Us Win Two Games to Zip

Sharon (of Gene and Sharon) came by to play during the lunchtime petanque session. She pointed (despite not having hefted a boule in 8 months) admirably. Together with Wayne and me - verses Mike and Robert, we shut them down in 2 games.

New Tropicana Boule Tested in Detroit

Aaron and I tested out the Tropicana boules this afternoon at Cadillac Square Park. The first thing we noticed is the distinct bounciness of the orange-boule. It takes a bit of finesse to get it rolling down the piste. The weight (light) means you need to heft it a bit, but beware - it'll bounce right out of bounds if you're not too careful! I do prefer striations on my boules, but I daresay cutting "stripes" in the Tropicana boules might lead to a messy end.

Speaking of messy ends, I attempted a plombee and not only did my Tropicana boule "not stick" but it split! I'll have to examine my warranty to see if it covers damages after merely 1 game.

The obvious and perhaps ONLY benefit of the Tropicana boule over it's more solidly built cousin, is that it's edible. At the conclusion of the game (Aaron won handily) I decided to eat my boules for their vitamin-C rich content. Try doing THAT with an Obut Nexius!!

Mike Replaces His Lost Boules with New Ones

Just in from Florida, Mike's new Tropicana Boules arrived. They're 78 mm, 760 grams, and full of Vitamin C goodness. They even have his name on them!

May your Tropicana Boule always be closest to the cochonnet!

Another Guinness World Record

All sorts of World Records are being broken this week. Today, for example, Mike has the record for the "Shortest Time Anybody Has Owned Competition Boules" - 23 Days!

The $150 engraved Obut Match 120's were given to him on May 5th, and yesterday (May 27th) were left on the bus.

We have a team of experts searching the bus lost & found; and pawn shops of Detroit hunting out Mike's balls. I'll keep you updated.

On a side note, Pat A. forsaw them going missing on May 5th: (portion of the e-mail):

...nice one Wayne could be used at the next meet. I bet he leaves on the bus on his way down.
Jeff did you get insurance on the boules?

ANSWER: Nope, no insurance.

No Sleep for the Wicked - World Record Breaker Celebration Continues

With a day off from Petanque on Monday, I jumped back into the middle of "all things boule" with my "48" Jimmie Johnson hat (good marketing angle there, #48 is an easy number to get on items) by enjoying a lunchtime of petanque playing at Cadillac Square. There was a marching band in Campus Martius - and a lifesized replica of one of the racing stunt planes they'll be flying at the Red Bull Air Race next Sunday.






Back at the office folks were all excited about our World Record Breaker event and even had a cake made to celebrate the 48 hours. Sorry, I'd upload a slice to you all, but my bandwidth isn't THAT wide.

Then I gave a short display of petanque in the office, using the smooth carpet as a piste. My first boule ended up inside one of the offices.

THEY DID IT! Guiness World Record Broken!

At 9:10 EDT, after two cold nights of temperatures in the 40s, 12 staunch men and women from around the country shattered the world record for continuous pétanque play. The previous record of 40 hours and 9 minutes had been set on July 22-23, 2006, in Bad Bevensen, Germany.

Not satisfied with merely breaking the record, they are continuing on in their quest to set a new mark of 48 hours. You can follow their attempt in real time from the Heritage Festival in Rochester, Michigan via the live video feed here: http://www.mogulus.com/petanque

Congratulations / Félicitations to everyone involved.

Petanque Marathon World Record Breaking Event

Twelve die-hard petanque players from all across the United States will be playing petanque non-stop for a goal of 48 hours beginning Friday @ 5pm.

Details can be found at the World Record Breaker website: http://www.petanquealliance.com/

If you would like to help us out as a volunteer (an hour, 2 hours or even longer) or even to just cheer us on and say hello, come on by:

Rochester Heritage Festival

Gene Sanford Re-Joins Petanque Club Weekday Sessions

Gene Sanford, longtime player of boule has returned to the Cadillac Square pistes.

Twin victories for Gene by the way!

Saturday before the Big Guinness World Record

James showed off his Guinness World Record outfit he'll be wearing for the event next weekend.

We enjoyed a nice afternoon (with very minimal rain). A full triplette: James, Cheryl, Dan, Alpha, Mike and Jeff.

Bocce or Petanque? Why not BOTH!

Bocce Video 1

Bocce Video 2

Bocce Video 3

Beautiful weather brought out lots of lunchtime competition, and the Detroit Petanque Club is happy to see that a new Bocce Club has formed at Cadillac Square. I believe their hours are similar (12-1pm) but I'll keep you posted as to the details.

Pat, Tim and Mike show a Fanny isn't as Easily Made Against Them

Despite my getting a 13/0 fanny against Kevin and Mike the other day, it was a shallow victory for today I competed against Pat, Tim, and Mike (Pat/Tim/Mike vs. Jeff/Kevin/Aaron)
and with a 13/7 loss, we were determined to take a revenge match. Pat and Tim quickly retreated back to their offices, as Hatesh joined us...

Jeff/Aaron verses Kevin/Mike/Hatesh
with KMH leading 12/5 we caught up and took the lead and the win 13/12

Red Downs - Sends the Honigman Boys Running

Chalk up another loss for Honigman (Pat, Tim, & Kevin) - as Wayne, Jeff and Mikey [team captain] school them in a 13/2 slaughter.

Red Downs Tries out his New Obut Boules

With a lucky break in the rain clouds, the weekday petanquers came out to toss a few boules, and who joined us but that all around athlete, Mike "Red" Downs with his new Obut 120 boules.

There was plenty of jockeying for space, with good tight points tossed in all-around, but with an equal number of accurate shots from James, Tim, and Jeff.

Kevin C. made some really excellent points - remarkable for such a new player. We'll have to keep an eye on his progress.

Before the rain finally chased the game away, it was 8/5 with Hatesh; tim; Mike; and Jeff in the lead verses Pat; James; and Kevin.

Double Victory for Pat, Wayne & Jeff

Another excellent day for lunchtime petanque in Detroit at Cadillac Square. Kevin, Tim, and aron teamed up to do battle verses Pat, Wayne, and Jeff.

The first game was ugly, with PWJ winning 13/2. The second game, a "revenge" also failed, but not as easily, 13/8 - the victory to PWJ.

Mike's New Obut Boules Arrived

Mike Downs, faithful member of the Detroit Petanque Club has new boules: Obut Match 120's in 74 mm 700 grams. Thanks to Petanque America, they arrived well ahead of season schedule, thanks Philippe!

Sunday in Royal Oak

It was a delightful day up in Royal Oak, with the dappled shade, not too hot, not too cold, and plenty of boulers to compete with. Joe's friend Alex brought us tons of submarine sandwiches, and Joe even cooked up his own style of Petanque Sausages though the stuffing is a bit... tough.

Present were: Joe Z., Jeff B., Jeff W., James H., Cheryl D., Michael, Denise B., Eric Z., Dan C., Ian, Alex, plus a ton of others faces too new for me to remember names (sorry).

Also there were no less than four dogs: Celia (Havanese); Bentley (Havanese); Tzu-Tzu (Corgi/Westie mix); and a big ole doggie with aq victorian collar (black lab mix).

Video: ERIC POINTS

Crutches Don't Stop a Dedicated Petanquer

Jason G. is dedicated to his sport. So when he took a nasty fall a week ago, it didn't keep him from playing boule. And he'll be in his cast for at least another month, but at least he'll still remain active.

In fact, our sport was conceived for people with mobility issues. Back in World War 1, veterans with missing or prosthetic limbs participated in Petanque games either standing in the circle, or on their wheelchairs, with the wheel placed within the circle.