Warm Day at Last!

Finally, after all of the snow and rain - we've reached a semi-safe place of warm sunny weather. It should get up to the 70's by week's end.

The courts located at Cadillac Square Park should be available to us for game play. Some players voiced the difficulties in the terrain at Campus Martius Park - I find it to be a bit tough - but the challenge is fun (and the ground authentic to "town square" play).

Mikey is Back!

Just goes to show you, our club is a class act 100%

....well, 90%

Pat/Deric vs. Jeff W./Mikey/Aaron in the MUD... We lost 9 to Pat/Deric's 13...

Brian and Tim C. beat out Maury B. and Fred 13 to 6...

Note: When assembling teams for game play, it is better to divide the players into two games (ideally doubles) so that new players coming to the courts can jump into a game without waiting (or making one of those lopsided 4 vs 3 player 8 boules per side games - which take 2 hours to play and litter the ground with too many boules.

I'm out until Wednesday... see you then!

Two Doublettes for a Sunny Wednesday

Tim C. joined by Pierre L. (a confirmed Frenchman and petanque player) played (and won) in a tight 13/12 match against Abu M. and Eric C. at Campus Martius. I'll have to get some feedback from them about what kind of a player Pierre is...

On court-2, Pat A. gave warning to Tim W. for cellphone-petanqueing, though I think Tim W. rolled in some decent boules despite being on the phone with his bookie (kidding). Lots of trash talking at Court-2... Fred K. and Jeff W. kept up a coordinated team effort - Fred taking some shooting throws for practice as well!

Surface at Campus Martius Park Ready for Play

My shooting was still on, but unfortunately, my shot boule knocked our own away - rats! This resulted in a 4 boule swing for our opponents (who were in 2nd-5th positions). Fred and Eric were putting in some really close pointing boules and we had some very close (back and forth for the point) rounds.

The courts at Campus Martius Park has been re-surfaced with gravel and tamped down level. Excellent for rolling points.

Pat A. Shoots the Cochonnet with a Calculated Risk

Randomly drawn teams are a good way to run a club - little room for argument when a "blind cochonnet" selection is the deciding factor. But, sometimes fate places strong players on the same team (as in today's match where we had two strong shooters on a team). The challenge of overcoming the odds is part of the fun! Sure, you might feel out-matched but perhaps you shouldn't concentrate on the win as much as decreasing the point spread. Strategy will also bring you a better game position. Pat and I were taking some calculated risks (shooting the cochonnet) - blowing up a group of boules to move the cochonnet into the open - and those risks could have fallen badly for us (they happened to work out well). Risks, however must be matched up with the score situation. If you're leading by tons of points, sure, go ahead and take those chancy glory shots... but if you're way behind in points, you may want to keep an eye towards defensive boule placements to limit the points of the opposing team. Whatever. Have fun. See you next week!

Maury's Comeback Plans Almost a Success

Today's match was a good example of "It isn't over until the last boule is thrown. Despite losing to us, Team: Maury/TimC./Fred K. made lots of headway towards a comeback. We (Pat/Jeff/Tom/Eric) had a 11 to 0 lead and looking for a shut-out, but after coordinating their efforts, the opposition ate away on our lead, until it was getting a bit.. let's say, too close for comfort.

Excellent pointing from Tom C. and Eric C. today - wow! They really kept Tim C. busy with the shooting (using up his boules early).

Hope the warm weather continues - see you soon.

Latest Results for the Season

So far we're having nice weather, excellent turnout, and closely fought games... see you soon!

2010 Season Opens with Twin Wins for Brian G. and Tim C.

A great day for a season open, we played at Campus Martius Park (until the fences around Cadillac Square Park clear).

The game play started out strong for us, taking the lead at 9 points to zip, but then our adversaries realized we weren't playing on carpet anymore and started to give a bit more umph to their throws.

The finish, 5 points for Brian & Tim came after our sole boule was struck away and the cochonnet was swept to a key spot.

The "revenge" match, brought Pat A. out to warm the benches as we played a 5-pointer. But again, Team Brian/TimC. took the day with a 5 to Zip sweep. Heck, this is getting annoying!



Anyhow, we should be playing regularly at Campus Martius Park (next to the Au bon Pain - now closed) from Noon to One. See yah there!

Indoor Bouleodrome Closes for the Season

Big thanks to Brian G. for making the arrangements to use the best space in town for the club's indoor playing. It warmed us up for the season opener and kept the comradery going as well. Pat A. took the Winter Season Trophy, Second place goes to Tim "Peppers" C. - there is definitely NO third place prize... Sorry Brian!

Tim Tops Indoor Winter Standings

Our Winter Indoor season is soon to come to an end, so I thought I'd finally update the scores for the past 8 games into the standings excel sheet...

The Honigman Brothers top the 1 and 2 spots with KCP in the 3rd and 4th places.

Miller Canfield coming in for Copper with the 5th spot.

Today's game was a close one, but Jeff/Fred sitting on 2 points for nearly the whole game, until finally closing in, at 11 points ... Abut laid in a close boule, and it took our team 4 boules to displace it, costing us tactical advantage. We just couldn't make the point and Abu/Brian took the 13/11 victory.