National Doubles (Florida) - In Action !

The National Doubles tournament, held down in Florida, is on a seashell surface. Joe reports that it's " a bit rougher than the surface on our boulodrome terrain." You can imagine what that does for "roulette" pointing.

National Doubles - 3 Games Won - 3 Lost

Joe called me with an update from the National Doubles tournament down in Florida.

They played 6 games today to qualify for the finals tomorrow.

1st Game: Win 13/5
2nd Game: Loss 9/13
3rd Game: Win 13/10
4th Game: Win 13/10
5th Game: Loss 3/13
6th Game: Loss 3/13

Joe and Marieke await the results of all of the matches to see if they qualify among the final-8 teams which will play for the tournament victory tomorrow (Sunday - April 3rd).

When I learn of their standing - I will post it here and we shall see how they do tomorrow.

Club President to Play in National Doubles - Boca Raton, FL

NATIONAL DOUBLES (BOCA RATON, FL) - Our own club President, Joe Zajac, has been teamed up with Marieke Rolland (wife of John Rolland, FPUSA President) to play doublettes on April 2nd and 3rd down in Boca Raton, Florida.

Joe shall represent the Michigan Petanque Club in the Doubles Tournament and hopefully the two will take top prize. Marieke is an excellent petanque shooter, so Joe shall shine as the pointer in the event.

Boca Petanque 2000 piste located at 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach, Florida 33446

SOON: Moving Outside to Royal Oak Piste

As the weather gets warmer, and the inside of the Bordine boulodrome gets very warm, our club will begin its plans to both clean-up the inside of the boulodrome for Bordine Nursery to use as its summer-stock greenhouse, and also to groom and prep our piste in Royal Oak for club play.

To this purpose, we'd like to organize a few of our members so we can work together to pack-up Joe's tables, chairs, banners and rakes in his truck. I'm not saying it will be this week, or even the next, but it'll be soon.

As for Royal Oak -- the ground there may need some weeds to be poisoned, some raking, and some grooming to get us ready for outdoor petanque play. There is a picnic table at the site, but I'm planning to build/buy a 2nd one, and we'll think about expansion.

Please keep in touch on this blog and the website (or by phone with Joe and me) as to when we'll be moving outdoors.

VICTORY FOR PALAZZO DI BOCCE

Tony Battaglia, victorious, holds aloft the Battle of the Boules cup after team Palazzo di Bocce won nine out of nine games of International Rules Bocce and five of sixteen games of International Rules Petanque against the Michigan Petanque Club. More information and photos will be posted on the Michigan Petanque Club's website:

WWW.MICHIGANPETANQUE.COM

Let Them Eat Cake

a Michigan Petanque Club member (whose name shall remain anonymous) enjoyed a heaping helping of dessert at the Palazzo di Bocce - just before the Bocce competition.

President Zajac holding the Battle of the Boules Cup

President Zajac holds the Battle of the Boules Trophy at the Bordine Boulodrome. I can tell he is very eager to hold on to it, having practiced playing Bocce at the Palazzo di Bocce numerous times this month.

Daniel Points - Master Bouler

Club Member Daniel points his boules expertly. We're lucky to have him in the club. No doubt his grandfather, Sebastien, has trained him well. The Michigan Petanque Club needs more players like Daniel. [click photo to enlarge]

Battle of the Boules Approaches

One week until the Battle of the Boules tournament. Club members are urged to roll grapefruit along their hallway carpets to practice for Bocce. (That is, if their hallways are 50 feet long!)

Instructing the Troops

President Zajac instructs the troops in the finer points of Bocce play. Also, the club members are urged to get 12 hours of sleep on Friday evening, and drink lots of water to stay hydrated.

Four Pistes - 24 Players

Twenty-four players are sorted into 4 games of Tripletts... Team mascot "Marley" looks on to ensure everything is done correctly.

Team Z Obut faced off against Team LaChance Integrale

Michigan Petanque Sports Central News Agency (MPSCNA) 11-MAR-2005

Last night was yet another spirited evening of hard hitting, tight pointing Petanque out at the Bordine's Bouledrome. Team Z Obut faced off against Team LaChance Integrale in the midst their ninth Best of Nine series.

A couple of weeks ago, the MPSCNA reporters thought they would (finally) be able to report a victory for Joe Zajac's Team Z Obut in a Best of Nine series. It was Zajac's eighth attempt against Monsieur Chance's heretofore unstoppable Team LaChance Integrale. They entered that evening 3 games to 2 in favor of LaChance, and Zajac assembled commanding leads 11-1 and 12-2 during the first two games, only to see those leads evaporate in stunning losses. Our reporting staff was so shell shocked at the time, even depressed because of our wish to finally report a victory for Team Z, that we could not bring ourselves to report Team Z's stunning defeat. (We admit that we are running out of creative ways of reporting LaChance victories, the winning streak has been so long.) So the eight Best of Nine ended 5 games to 2, as usual in favor of Team LaChance Integrale. That evening did not end there though, and Team Z rallied to win the next two games, setting the stage for last night's match.

Team Z entered the Bouledrome up 2 games to 0 versus LaChance in this Ninth Best of Nine. Mr. Chance entered the match clearly nervous, nervousness which was heightened when Team Z leapt out of the gates to a 7-0 lead in the first round. But we have often witnessed the frailty of those leads, and Mr. Chance came back to win the first round 13-11. Team Z again leapt to an 8-1 lead in the second game, a deficit this time that LaChance could not surmount, owing to brilliant pointing and textbook carreaus from Team Z, and the round ended 11-13 in Team Z's favor. The Best of Nine result at that point was 3 games for Zajac, 1 game for Chance.

The next two rounds were hard fought, seasawing up and down in the point count. Shots being fired up to four times in a round. There were numerous back to back biberons (when, on a point, the bouchon is kissing the boule). Numerous blasts sent the bouchon flying out of play. And when the dust settled, LaChance had scored two 13-11 victories, leaving this Best of Nine standing in a cliff hanger at 3 games to 3. All four games in this exciting evening of play ended in 11-13 decisions, very close play indeed.

Michigan Petanque Sports Central News believes that it is entirely possible that a Team Z Best of Nine victory might be reported in the course of the next few reports. Petanque fans - stay tuned!

(MPSCNA, in light of the unbroken string of victories for Team Integrale, is considering officially endorsing INTEGRALE as the brand to recommend for Midwest Petanquers. A decision on this endorsement is likely to be made in the next couple of weeks.)

BATTLE OF THE BOULES TROPHY

VP Jeff holds aloft the Battle of the Boules Trophy Cup. Hopefully this won't be the last time (this year) the Michigan Petanque Club holds the cup - as the Battle of the Boules competition approaches (March 20th).

Michigan Petanque Club Merchandise Available

Don't you sometimes feel a bit - underdressed when you're tossing your boule at the boulodrome. Do you yearn for a hooded sweatshirt with our club's logo boldly emblazoned across the back? Perhaps you want to wear boxers that show your wry sense of humor?

it's all at the Michigan Petanque Club store: www.cafepress.com/boules

or click to get there by visiting our main website...

Snow Emergency Doesn't Stop Petanquers

Winter snow piled up on the roof of Bordine greenhouse #30, while inside twenty die-hard Petanquers comfortably played boule. "I'm not exactly sure if we'll be able to leave the boulodrome if the snow gets any deeper," Jeff mused, "but there's plenty of hay-bales and cheesecake for all of us if we have to stay the night." Jeff had a few boule-spins of his own during the trek up from Wyandotte. There were plenty of spin-outs, one of which was my own little Toyota Corolla at the I-75 Exit on to Rochester Road. But facing a near accident in order to play a few rounds of Petanque was well worth it.

As people started filing out into the snow to return home, President-Joe and VP-Jeff played a final nail-biter game, which brought them to 12/12. Jeff placed a very close boule, but Joe matched and beat it, almost touching the cochon. With one boule left, Jeff was a shooting situation (the boule, not Joe) and -- MISS ! Joe took the game 13/12.

BATTLE OF THE BOULES

The Battle of the Boules is official.

Teams from the Michigan Petanque Club will play both Bocce and Petanque against teams from the Palazzo di Bocce on March 13 and 20th. The overall champion will be determined by the total amount of points from all games played.

If you are interested in participating, please let us know as soon as possible. If you haven't played Bocce (it isn't easy) you'll need to practice, as well as perfecting your Petanque techniques.

We plan to make trips to the Palazzo di Bocce for practice - so please take this into consideration if you want to participate.

The prize - The Battle of the Boules Cup

Ray Shows Us His Bocce Style

Newest club member, Ray, an avid Bocce player, shows us his bocce-style by pointing extremely well. We have much to learn from Ray (especially in case we have a tournament against Palazzo di Bocce).

Mike and Ray - Bocce AND Petanque Experts

Mike and Ray take a moment from their Petanque games to pose for the camera. Both have shown that their Bocce roots have given them "automatic experience" with Petanque play.

No Hokey Pokey in Petanque

You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out, and you do the Hokey Pokey and Turn Your Self About.... Club member Ken has a fantastic ability to point and shoot equally well - but for international tournaments, he may have to adjust his technique...

Largest Showing of our Club Members Yet!

Club President, Joe Zajac, sorts about 20 boules for team play. This is one of the largest showings of our membership.