Winter Time Detroit Bouledrome Secured at Secret Location

A hard won victory for Sam/TimC./Nick/Jeff against Fred/Pat/Maury at Campus Martius Park this afternoon.   Sam led off each round putting in a boule at around 20 inches from the cochonnet at a medium distance - tempting for the opposition to beat his point (and not to shoot) - which worked to our advantage time and again as Team-Pat threw down 80% of their boules before regaining the point.  This left us with a majority of boule with which to point and a consistent lead in score.  A couple of well placed shots from me, together with the unfailing pointing from Nick and TimC. gave us a comfortable lead despite Team-Pat having a "boule advantage" (Pat and Maury each had three boules to use). 

Club Members have been sworn to secrecy the locationof the "boule bunker" which doubles as a safe-haven in case of zombie apocalypse.  Stocked with food and beverages for a five year span - we could be playing boule in an ice-age

Pat and Tim Gain Another Petanque Victory

Swept! Team-Pat sweeps up and propels to top of rankings

Team-Jeff/Fred/Sam were schooled today at Campus Martius Park with a Fanny (13/0 loss) to Team-Pat/Maury/Abu.  Every round they had a close first boule, and we expended nearly everything to win back the point.  I'm not sure what was keeping us back - we switched up our playing order, we changed strategy on pointing and shooting - but nothing we attempted worked to our advantage.   They were just the better team.  Aaron E. joined us for the second game which improved somewhat as we had three points this game, but still a loss to Team-Pat (13/3).  I guess some days are like that.  Hopefully not TOO many!  Pat took a healthy lead in the standings - regained.  It'll take quite a few games to dislodge him (if ever).

Zanesfield Petanque Club's Newest Member

In an odd news story that has crossed the Country, an exotic animal keeper has set free over fifty wild animals from his Zanesville property in Ohio.  Zanesville is on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio.  Some of the animals include African lions, grizzly bears, wolves, chimpanzees, and an orangutan!   Local police are using their rifles to go on a local Safari hunt but some of the predators remain at large.

An odd coincidence at the Zanesfield Petanque Club courts, also in the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, as new members include, Yogi, a grizzly bear and expert pointer; and Boo-Boo, an Orangutan and experienced shooter.  The new members will be representing the Zanesfield Petanque Club at the next petanque tournament in Amelia Island, Florida.

Fred Maintains his Top Position at the Detroit Petanque Club

Strong Games Played - Now at Campus Martius Park

As the October winds arrive, we've moved across the street to a more sheltered (and sunnier) Campus Martius Park for our boule games.  Monday's game was pretty exciting with lots of boule-for-boule exchanges on the piste.  Sam and Maury were holding their own against Abu and Fred - while I was sneaking in a boule now and then.  At 13/12 - you could tell everyone played their hardest.  Thanks to all who attended.

Days Becoming Chillier at Detroit Petanque Club

Fred K. Tops the Club Standings

In the first game today, Fred K. (teamed up with Maury B. & Jeff W.) kicked butt with a 13 to 1 victory over Team Pat A.; Tim C.; and Abu M.   The wide point spread was sufficient to knock Pat A. into second position, leaving the other players stunned and in awe of Fred's new accomplishment.  I was proud to be on the winning team today, as we laid in point after glorious point, leaving Team-Pat to watch our steady ascent.

The second game almost had a reversal, with a revenge match giving Pat's team a 6 point to zero lead.  But we caught up and tied our opponents, and agreed (due to time constraints) to play a final round, with the winning team at 13 and the losers at 12.  We ended up in a strong position, with the cochonnet at 11 meters and protected - but Pat's shot found a hole and knocked the cochonnet to 15 meters - and kept the point for the win.

Double Losses Plague Team-Pat

Monday's games brought Team-Pat together with Tim C. and Eric C. re-joining the weekday gaming.  What was initially thought to be a "power-team" turned into quite a fight for survival as Team-Fred & Jeff piled on the points with control of the cochonnet and Fred anchoring in the points while Jeff slammed away any offending boules from the mix.  Will Pat (who is only marginally above Fred's score) maintain his top position?  Today might very well be the day when Pat is toppled.  Come out and see (or DO the toppling!)

Players Becoming Scarce at Detroit Petanque Club

Lately I've noticed a distinct lack of participation in our weekday games.  I realize that folks are busy (thank goodness they're working) but if you do like playing the game, please come down to the courts before the season ends.  When winter hits I may do some campaigning at Quicken to drum up some interest.  After all, they do have nearly 4,000 employees - some might be interested in playing a cool, trash-talking French game right at their doorstep - without any cost!   Anyhow, we've been moving our playing to different sections of gravel at Cadillac Square Park - which does change up the game play somewhat.  Nothing like a fresh, deep puddle of gravel to increase the level of difficulty.

a couple of Carreau, a few 5 point rounds... neat!

The petanque carreau (kah-row) is a neat little trick shot that happens along once in a while.  The shooter throws his boule (A) at the target boule (B) and A replaces B neatly such that you see one boule "magically" replace the position of the other boule (which is "kicked" out of the way).  Here's a video of one in action: CARREAU (not "exactly" a tir au fer (shooting iron to iron) carreau - but you see the action).

This afternoon's games (2) of Jeff/Abu vs. Pat/Maury were fun.  We had two rounds where each team lucked out 5 points - but with a couple of lucky shots (a tir-au-fer and a carreau) we took both wins (Jeff/Abu).  Satisfying.  Pat has promised to seek a revenge match on Tuesday.

Five Points on a Cochonnet Knock - Takes the Game

Sharon joined the game today after a long time away.  Maury and I teamed up (for the sake of the holiday) and we did pretty well, especially after knocking the cochonnet to the back position, but still valid, and rolling in four more boules for five points and the win.  Slim pickings on players as of late, I certainly hope folks remember we're out here -playing noon to 1pm.  Winter has a sneaky way of slipping in before we realize it.

The Detroit Hub Visits the Detroit Petanque Club

Ashley, journalist and Kenny, photo-journalist joined us today from The Detroit Hub, a website of journalists dedicated to telling the stories of the people, and organizations that are transforming Metro-Detroit.  I wasn't sure they would be entirely up to our salty group but as it turned out, they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the trash-talking experience.  Not one to allow others to passively watch, we drew them both into the action after a short lesson on how to play.  We split into two teams, with Pat A., Tim C., Fred K., and Kenny verses Jeff W., Abu M., Ashley, and Nathan.  Nathan, by the way, is from Vietnam where petanque is regularly played.  While Ashley had progressed at an exceptional pace throughout the two games we played; Kenny displayed a superhuman expertise with the boule.  No doubt we would be in for a strong competition.  The first game went as expected, with the more seasoned players on Pat's team pulling 13 points to our 2.  The second game, a revenge match - had a completely different scheme as we quickly ascended to six points to our opponent's ... zero!   It took quite a bit of yelling coaching on Pat's account to bully inspire his team to gain five points. Time being a constraint, we decided to end the game at that round, and as such, our final result gave Team-Pat the win (13/12 modified).



Nice group for a Wednesday





Kenny displays his mastery of the boule to Ashley



Almost caught up to my opponents!

Segway Petanque - Why Not?

As an interesting variation to petanque, we had our first player on a segway try the game out.  The rules of petanque permit (kinda) a segway player to participate.  As long as one wheel is in the circle...   I'm not sure what advantage segway players would have, however, because the machine keeps wanting to "right itself" which throws the aim completely off for a player.

Finally! a fusion of S.C.A. and Petanque

Today's game was a happy mixture of petanque players with Society for Creative Anachronism friends.  Matt S. and Cheryl D. were walking through Campus Martius Park and we pulled them into our lunchtime game.  Cheryl is an experienced boule player, but this was Matt's first petanque game - though admittedly, he has played bocci before.   I decided to make a true tournament - with Cheryl, Matt, and me representing the S.C.A. against the petanque regulars.  So how did we do?  Not bad at all.  Matt and Cheryl pointed really closely on a consistent basis while I made a few of my shots (a VERY few).  This put us out in the lead for a while until Pat's team got wise and caught up.  In the end, they took the win - but it was not a milk-run by any imagination.

We can see that Pat is extremely happy with the current status of the game

 Pat, Tim and Abu glorious after their victory, went over to the ping pong table to test our Abu's claim that he was the "King on Table Tennis" -  No reports back get on the result.


Matt (as usual) was spectacular at Petanque.  Afterwards we went over to try out the bean-bag toss . . .



Court Surface at Campus Martius Park - a challenge

Playing boule upon the same surface every time can give you a false sense of predictability.  Tournaments played on your home court will give you some advantage as you familiarity with the "lay of the land" should give you inside information to all of the dips and "puddles" of gravel that might not be apparent.  That is why you should try to mix things up a bit by either varying the places you play petanque (in our case, moving across the street from our usual stomping grounds) or throwing some small twigs and rocks upon the surface to give you and your team a modified terrain.  Remember, the original game of petanque is played in the town squares in the South of France and those squares are littered with bumps, tree roots, and even small trees!



Pat and Sam really warmed up to the different ground surface, which was very FAST running with sparse gravel



Both Teams Took a Beating at Campus Martius Park

In continuation of our Campus Martius Park playing, the lawnside court was a tad on the narrow and meandering side, with lunch-goers eating feet away from where we threw - but as this is the norm for playing in France and in New York - I thought it was important for our players to experience the game under varied circumstances.  iI think our being there, next to the gaming equipment (ping-pong; bean-bag) helps to bring onlookers into the communal gaming experience.  That is always good: a small town experience in a big city.

The Sun Shines for Friday's Games at Campus Martius Park

Playing petanque across the street at Campus Martius Park among players of table tennis and bean-bag toss

In another great trade (because Mark had to leave a tad early) Sam went to the other side, giving him (along with Pat, Mark, and Fred a nice win.  Sam was really rolling in the great points suspiciously when he was playing on Fred's team.  We'll have to investigate this matter further.

 

Detroit Firefighters Commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of 9-11 at Campus Martius Park



Game Playing at Campus Martius Park

Campus Martius Park has begun a social games collective for people in Detroit to gather together and interact.  Games include: Chess, Checkers, Table Tennis, Backgammon, Corn-Hole (beanbag), Washers, Bocci and of course Petanque.  The games will be provided through to October 14 (Petanque continues until the snow falls).  For the next few weeks, to promote the games in the park, we will be playing petanque at Campus Martius Park instead of Cadillac Square.  The new court surface will do our players good as we've become too used to the layout of the courts at our usual playing spot. 

Jazzy Day in the Park

Not a bit turn out for today's games, perhaps folks were thinking there wouldn't be enough room for us to safely toss the boules?  We actually had more than enough room, using the larger of the ten courts at Cadillac Square Park.  Friday, the first day of the Jazz Festival of Detroit might be a different story, but I'll take a look on the Web-Cam and let you know.

Four Points - Lost in Error

It happens...   My team was catching up to our opponents, and we had a good (great) round going with the possibility of four points to be won when the ole' push the opponent's front boule closest by accident routine played out.  In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have tried to be so greedy with the points.  Lesson hopefully learned.