Gene and Sharon Revisit the Piste in Detroit

We were playing at 8/8 and decided, since it was tied up and time was nearly up too, to make the next point a thirteen, and the loser at 12.

Fortunately my shooting was pretty decent today - so it turned the tables sufficiently to give us an edge.

It must have also convinced my partner, Hitesh, to go in as my tournament partner for August 26th. We'll make a very winning combination.

If you know you're going to attend the tournament, please do let me know because I'm going to close the gates at 8 doubles teams.

Rochester Meeting of Petanquers

We had great weather, great turnout and the start of the official Rochester area petanque players!

It was agreed that every Wednesday from 6:00 - 8:00 will be the official meeting times and everyone will be back next week. And everyone agreed to spread the word to bring in new players for expansion of the club. Everyone was quite pleased and excited about having a North Oakland County location which will allow more people to play who can't play in Royal Oak or in Detroit.






As usual, extra boules are on hand for newcomers, see you next week!

Two Triplettes for Cadillac Square - Mike's Winning Streak Ends

James/Joe/Mark played against a decidedly "handicapped" Pat/Aaron/Clark - namely Clark a passerby didn't really have his head in the game - so in essence, Pat and Aaron were playing with 4 boules to 6...

But that's how things are in totally inclusive sports... and frankly, we've built up the clubs by welcoming in folks despite their "green-ness"

So kudos to Pat and Aaron... You still won seven points off the opposition - not bad.

My second game couldn't have been more fun... Mike and I were 0 (Zero) to Hitesh/Rob's 5 points - with 10 being the win. In a fluke, we scored 6 points with a lucky hit (no defensive boules can mean easy pick'ns). We still lost it in the end - but at lease held our own.

NOTE: I think the winning streak for Mike is over... two losses today!

Doubles Format Works Well With Timely Arrivals

No need to take a poll, from the overall excitement of the two doubles games run today I can see that this format works well under certain conditions. Namely, when sufficient people are present at noon-time, we can break into two (dare I say even three!) games of doubles/singles and even triples.

The results (see doubles layout) are for the four teams playing 1 game. But in an hour, we can run a Winners Play Winners (and Loser play (duh) Losers) series.

The hot game was James/Hitesh who were tied with Pat/Mike at 11. What I gather, James/Hitesh had two points sitting for the win, but that victory was snatched from them by Pat's shot.

See you at the piste...

Royal Has Great Weather!

We had great weather on Sunday, but uh-oh, the weeds are making for some challenging play!

We had plenty of regular players and the pleasant opportunity to play with two new eager players, Paul & Denise! The played very well, and we look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Paul and Denise happen to be from my side of town, in Rochester, so this week we're going to try a local "Group Get Together" down in the Rochester Park! (Maybe the makings of a new club meet!)

Anyone who is interested, it will be this Wednesday at Halbach Field next to Dillman & Upton on Woodward Avenue.

Call Joe if you have any questions, 248.688.5708.

Joe Z. Visits the Detroit Strip - Takes Home a Win

The Detroit Petanque Club was given some northern suburbs lessons by Michigan Petanque Club president, Joe Z. And apparently that advice was sound, because my team: Abu/Kevin/Jeff/Mark was soundly beaten by Aaron/Mike/Joe/Tim 13 to 4... Yipes!


Then, in the second game (7 points adjusted to 13) - Pat/Abu/Jeff were again beaten by Tim/Aaron/Mike 13/7 Ouch!

I've changed the Rankings Board to reflect the more worthwhile "Average" rating. Players who are in for more than 9 games have a collected sufficient results to rate a realistic average.
Technically, if you win every game 13/0 you can have a 4 average; but typically, the range will fall between 1 (you get 1 point for losing) and 2.5 to play more than 10 games and be above 2 average is an excellent rating.

King Cobra's Continued Dominance, in Photo Form.

King Cobra asserted his dominance of the piste once again today, playing for the winning team in two games. Jeff will have scores and his pictures up later, but in the meantime, enjoy the pictures in this slideshow (Jeff finally is depicted in action. Study his technique; this is the surest way to defeat him. It is clear that the King Cobra knows Jeff's ways, as he managed not only to win two games, but also to defeat Jeff in both of them.)

Toronto and Kitchener Petanque Tournaments

Tony from Ontario just sent me some photos from his enormously successful tournaments he held in Toronto and Kitchener.

Keep in mind that Petanque is very popular in Asia - especially in Thailand, Japan, China, Laos and Vietnam - (The SEA Games [Southeast Asian Games] include petanque among the competitive sports)

Tony told me there were about 15 teams at each of the events - and he's just started!

Philippe Boets of Petanque America had recently sent multiple sets of boules to Tony (just in time!) I am glad that they have all been put to good use so soon.

...And I am thankful for Tony's organization of these events. Located in Detroit, Michigan - it is a relatively short drive to Kitchener and Toronto. We'll definitely need to run an International Tournament very soon.

Rita and Rob Join in on the Detroit Fun

Couldn't ask for nicer weather - not too windy, temperature just right. The whole of Cadillac Square was cleared out - and lots of fancy and expensive cars were wheeled into play. Perhaps for another big festa for the weekend (we'll see!)

Today's group was joined by Rob and Rita (Rob has played before, but this is Rita's first try... she did VERY well).

Pat/Mike/Jeff vs. Aaron/Kevin/Mark - We sizzled today, whoop'n some butt at 13/3

...and in the following match:

Jeff/Kevin/Mike/Rob vs. Pat/Rita/Tim we rocked the house: 13/7

Rob who hasn't played for months, was shooting like the pro he is... nothing was safe from his devastation. Then of course there is the "curse of Mikey" which gives any team he plays with a 75% chance of winning...

Note: Aaron mentioned it, and rightfully so, that yesterday - after his team (Aaron & Hitesh) tanked at 7/2 - he was able to come from behind, and become victorious ala' Spartans with a 13/12 win. So we'll award his team the +2 points for that.
VIDEO from today...

Aaron and Mark went off after the first game, to try out the opening day for Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes on John-R and Woodward (behind Compuware bldg.) and report back (see previous review).

There's a tongue-twister that gets used for vocal warm-ups in theater quite often. It works the "W" sound in an excruciating manner. It goes:

Whether the weather is cold,
Or whether the weather is hot;
We'll be together
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.

There's a version to be had for Pétanque, I'm sure, and it involves crêpes. A few minutes' walk away from the pistes in Cadillac Square Park is Good Girls Go To Paris, a new Crêperie owned and operated by Torya Blanchard Howell, a french teacher. The hours are 7AM-7PM Monday-Thursday, 7AM-2AM Friday and Saturday, and Sunday 7 AM-4PM. The crêpe batter is, from what I can tell, a whole wheat affair, and the variety in her menu is quite exciting.

Local Organic Fair Trade Coffee – Always $1

RIGHT BANK - SWEET

1st “KATIE” – apples, salted butter, caramel - $4
2nd “FAY” – bananas, pecans, butter, brown sugar - $4.50
3rd “CORA” – blueberries, strawberries, whipped cream - $4
4th “MELINDA” – lime, brown sugar, cream cheese - $4
9th “GOOD GIRL” – banana, nutella - $4
10th “BLACK KRISTY” – strawberries, chocolate, whipped cream- $4.50
11th “WHITE CHRISTY” – lemon, sugar - $3
12th “SHANNON” – banana, chocolate, coconut - $4
17th “HELEN JOY” – almond, chocolate, coconut - $4
19th “MOLLIKA” – cherry, chocolate, whipped cream - $4.50
20th “SNYDER” – all fruit - $5

THE SEINE – PLAIN CREPE - $3,
all ingredients a la carte - 50 cents
build your own crepe or add to a crepe

LEFT BANK – SAVORY

5th “VERA” – bacon, spinach, boursin - $5
6th “ALLISON” – hummous, hot sauce, spinach, herb de provence - $5
7th “SARAH” – mushroom, chevre, spinach, red pepper - $5
13th “JESSICA” – ham, pineapple - $4
14th “KSENIA” – ham, swiss - $4
15th “JAMIE aka GIRL IN THE D” – onion, bacon, swiss, egg - $5

There was a bit of a wait today, which would seem to have been because today was the first full day of business for the shop. It's another little bit of French culture slowly seeping back into our fair city, the Paris of the Midwest.

Your author had a crêpe jambon-fromage, and Mark—of Pétanque fame—had a Vera, which he seemed to be enjoying as he hustled back to work.

The crêpes come with high praise from all who were enjoying them, and would make a perfect pre- or post-game snack for the pétanquistes in downtown.

Boules From Minnesota..

The piste

This is Don he's the originator of the
"Concept" which is MPLS boules..

"it's not a club it's more of a concept"
We had about 15 people come out
it was a monday night!!


James and Cheryl were on vacation last week and threw Boules with the Mpls petanque club..

Old Format is Best - Everyone Plays in Same Game

I tried, really, I tried to have multiple games going at once, but today it just didn't work out.

We had five people - so I decided to have a true doublette start and I'd wait on the sidelines until another player(s) showed to create a 2nd game.

A half hour later, Mark shows up - and I just felt it'd be best to jump into the existing game as a triplette.

So, while the theory of running as many games as we can sounds nice - the reality is that we only have 1 hour - and not everyone shows up at one time. That said, people would be waiting around not playing until other players showed up. That will only cause frustration and less people showing up.

So... my original formula works (unless there's enough folks at the beginning of the start time) of everyone playing as they show up.

Enough of that. Now on to today's game(s). The doublette began with Pat/Tim vs. Aaron/Mike then they were joined by Mark; Hitesh; and me.

The first game, 13/3 - whew! Pat's team took it. But then Pat; Tim & Mark left to return to work (side note: Mark pulled up his pant cuff and we saw ... something that resembled, well... he claims it's a medical device...) Anyhow, it was Mike/Jeff vs. Hitesh/Aaron for a second game which went well for Mike and me (7/1 adjusted 13/6) - then Hitesh had to Hitail it to work, leaving Aaron to continue the game (un-ranked for fun) to 13 points. Which he did, taking the win 13/12.

For those of you who think playing/working downtown in Detroit is dangerous... check out the police presence...(photo) . Nothing to worry 'bout here...