Tight Boule Game Makes for Fun Filled Afternoon

Today we had a well matched group: Fred/Abu/Sam vs. Nick/Sharon/Jeff. The rounds were exceptional, with each point taken back by the opposing team numerous times. Nick & Sharon were essential for dropping in their points. Our opposition was fierce but we had some good fortune on squeezing in close boules and quite a few ricochet pointings.

I had a lucky shot removing a 9 meter opposing boule in a tight grouping. That is where the plombe comes in handy, it allows you "access" where otherwise a straight "cannon ball" shooting wouldn't work.

Close Matches - Well Play All Around

Fred flipped to Pat's team, and he was playing so great the other day that I kne wI would be in trouble against his pointing. Maury proved to be his usual close-pointer and joined by Eric, we held our own to the tough competition. Where the competition was getting points here and there, we were making nice strides 2-3 points at a time.

Sharon H. Returns to the Petanque Pistes

After a nearly year long sabbatical, Sharon H., long-time played for the club, returned to the Cadillac Square Courts. From the very first boule she was out-pointing every other player. "Prego - it's in there!" she exclaimed as yet another opening boule rolled to within a couple of inches of the cochonnet. We (Pat/ Jeff/ Sharon) won that game: 13/2 due to her excellent pointing. Another longtime player, Eric C. ambled over to watch the second game. He'll be starting up again as the weather becomes more comfortable.

Early May Stats

The playing conditions have recently improved with the warming of the season. We're still playing doublettes but I expect multi-triplette games going soon once the weather ascends into the 60's.

A recent carreau heightened my spirits - a rare result of a throw of one boule which replaces the target boule perfectly. Must be on account of the soft, raked gravel.

No Joy for Jeff with Four Games Lost

Beautiful Day for Petanque - Hardly Any Takers...

Despite the weather person (you have to be PC these days) saying rain rain rain... it was really nice weather out at Cadillac Park this afternoon. I was pretty much practicing for a while (except for the constant 2 questions asked of me: A) What is the name of that game? B) What do you have to do? Normally, I'd take this as a recruitment opportunity - but then Abu stepped up for a few games...

Petanque - April 12th & 13th

The Gravel Report: the grounds at Campus Martius and Cadillac Square will be groomed over the next few days. There will be hardening compound added to the ground as well as a top layer of gravel and raking. As such, despite the nice weather, we won't be able to play at those two parks until probably Monday (April 18). We do, however, have a third park (down near the Detroit River at the Ren. Cen.) which we have used for playing. If folks are up for trying that park on Thursday & Friday let me know. Excellent playing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Real precision pointing.

Two Fun Games at Campus Martius Park

NOTE: Heather B. the manager for the groundskeepers for Campus Martius Park and Cadillac Square Park, told me that she has arranged for the regraveling and hardening process to begin tomorrow through Wednesday. We will not be playing petanque until the surface is dry, so we'll play our next game on Thursday (April 14th).

Today's games were really competitive with Tim C. being the MVP for the first game (we had 5 boules of points in one of the rounds!) and the second game's MVP shared out between Sam O. and Fred K. Sam was putting in the crucial close first boule - and the opposition just could seem to find the distance. Maury B. was puttingin some dangerously close curve boules, and Pat A. was slamming away some of the boules - but by the time they decided to shoot - they were low on "ammo" Nice games guys! See you Thursday.

Skunked! Painful...

I (Jeff) was throwing terribly, and the points were adding up... by the time Sam stepping into the game, it was 8 to zero. Poor Sam, we didn't accumulate a darn thing, and Pat and Tim took the game 13 to 0 - a skunking!

On the revenge, we did a bit better, but still lost to the Honigman twins, 13-6.

On a brighter note, the 55 degrees was very welcome, and hopefully a sign that our daily game playing will soon start.

April Fool's Boules

Maury was the smart one, he took his big win and left town, literally! Sam and I were left fighting to get momentum in the second game - but Pat and Tim took home the 7 points for the win. (This last game may be under protest as my team mate was distracted by Pat's yammerings about some club in Chicago).

Cadillac Square Re-Opens for Petanque Season

The pristine gravel at Cadillac Square officially re-opened for the 2011 Petanque Season, and none too soon! The terrain over at Campus Martius, newly cleared of the skating rink mats, needs a gravel refresher - so it is fortunate that we can return to our usual playing courts across the street!
(The combine parks of Campus Martius and Cadillac Square have about 20 courts worth of petanque play available).
The teams included Buzz C., recently returned from Florida. Buzz was throwing pointing boules like the pro he is. But the VIP award goes to Abu M. who has been shooting and pointing boules expertly. Though we didn't take the win, we certainly did far better score-wise than is Abu were playing for the opposition.

Today's Petanque: a close shave...

Playing boule upon the uneven surface which is mostly hard-packed clay, at Campus Martius Park can be a challenge - but not one that isn't entertaining. Until a fresh layer of gravel is raked in for the season, the players will need to read the ground very carefully. Boules that look like they'll stop close to the cochonnet end up rolling an extra 2 feet; and the pits and "ravines" make for a putt-putt experience at times.

Today's game was excellent. Both teams pretty much exchanged point for point keeping an even pace until near the end. We were "playing near the wall" for a bit - which narrows the available angles for throwing. Sam laid in a close boule with his plombee, but Maury, up to the challenge, took the close spot with his own boule.

Fred has become noticebly more aggressive in his petanque play - shooting multiple times to dislodge a disadvantageous position. Nick was our team's anchor, placing very close pointer boules and keeping our opponents in shooting mode.

Have a splendid weekend.

Jeff

Warm Weather Brings out the Petanque Boules

With a surprise gift of warm weather (65 degrees) and sunshine, the petanque games restarted (at Campus Martius Park). We had only four players (Andonian watched for a moment) but the teams were evenly matched. Mike D. was shooting well, as was Abu - and Sam was plombee-ing in crucial close boules. My shooting has been improving, but is still not up to scratch... Abu and I held out for as long as we coule, but Sam and Mike made their thirteen.

Winter INDOOR Petanque

Have you ever played INDOOR PETANQUE on a hardwood floor? There is a petanque group in WHEATON Illinois that plays twice a week. The Chicago winter has absolutely no influence on whether they play or not. They ALWAYS play.

Here is a VIDEO LINK that captures the true spirit of INDOOR PETANQUE in Chicago. Click on the link or cut and paste into browser window.

After you view the video, be sure to leave USB Studios a comment and thank them for supporting our game.

www.vimeo.com/17872028

SEASON OPENER at Campus Martius Park

Finally, a break in the cold temperature! Eleven of us showed up to do battle on the slightly muddy soil of Campus Martius Park (in a few days it'll harden up to its usual cement consistency). Smiles all around as everyone got into the game and quickly things became competitive. Mark W. brought his girlfriend, Danielle, to the courts and she proved to be a g-dsend for our team as she picked up the gameplay immediately and rolled in some very crucial points. Scott T. also ensured our victory by pointing in fabulous boules where nobody thought there was space. My own shooting was terrible (though I lucked out on one of my throws) - it will take a little time to warm up to the outdoor playing. I was glad to see all of the familiar face (and new ones) - to be sure, this season is one of our earliest starts. Wear a jacket and come out and boule!

Maury Binkow Invitatational - Extra-Final Games

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Okay, so last week's game wasn't the "final" final game, and who is to say today's is final? Let's just call it the "Maury Binkow Invitational" and see if any nice weather in the near future allows us to extend our season.

The game "acorss the way" Abu/Fred vs. TimC./Maury was a nailbiter with a 13/11 finish. I didn't hear the details - but considering the game went for an hour (as a doublette) - the rounds must have been point-for-point exchanges!

Our games were fun as well. The first one, true, we lost 7 to 13, but we had some good shooting and pointing rounds. Boris was landing in some good value boules, as was Eric, I was hitting the targets - but we couldn't seem to thwart the great pointing from Sam and Nick. Pat blasted away anything and everything. The second game (a near win/loss for us (we won by a point) - was also well played... this time, however, it was lots of luck (for us - andmisfortune for them) as boules were knocked into our point tally.

So... perhaps tomorrow (or later in the week) an Andonian Invitational? then a Klugman Invitational.. etc etc... we'll see.

Final Game of the Season - and a cold one!

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We did it! We made it to nearly the end of November. Typically, our petanque season ends at around the 10th or so of November so I'm thrilled to have squeezed in a couple more weeks of games. Thanks to all who have come throughout the season to make this petanque club such a nice success.

I'm not sure if we'll have an indoor spot this winter, but if not, I'd still love to get together and do lunch during these chilly months.

Big congrats to Pat A. and Tim C. for taking the top two places in the ranks, and to our new guys who have been quick to learn the techniques/strategy and have placed high on the board (and in my heart).

Hope to see you soon, until then... may your boule always be closest to the cochonnet!

Jeff.

Tuesday's game was certainly a bone chiller. I don't think Abu nor I wanted to even try shooting once we could no longer feel our fingers. The 13/1 and 13/7 games...whew... a real blowout! Still though, I was hpapy to see you all out there despite the weather - and it was good to see Pat and Tim who came by to cheer us on.

Super Abu takes a 13/1 Victory

...whew... 13/1 what can I say... we just couldn't point in anything closer than 24 inches. That being said, we had a nice recovery in the revenge (2nd) match - 13/11 (10/8) win.

If I had to re-run things, I'd probably shoot more, and take points when I got them instead of "getting greedy" and losing my points in trying to accumulate.

Getting Greedy: When you're sitting on 3 or 4 points, and you're trying for MORE, but your boule ruins your set-up and awards the other team a point instead.

Close Game with Frozen Hands

This afternoon, at Cadillac Square Park, the hardy petanquers clutched their frozen steel boules in equally cold hands but the slight discomfort was soon forgotten as the lopsided scores (my team held a nice lead for a while) evened out to a 12/12 final round.

The 13th boule was hooked into a tight position (at 10+ meters) by Nick. The opposing team had 4 boules to sneak in - but despite some near pointing rolls, Nick's boule held the winning point.

Petanque tip of the week: fleece hats are warm!

Hard Won Boule Battle Royale

Today's games showed the consistency of strategy in concert with ability. There were hardly any boules wasted. Sure, there were some extra shots taken but overall I'd say the game-playing was very tight.

One of the situations notable for me was when we were sitting on the point at about 9 meters, with the opposition boule sitting snuggly 4 inches behind out own close boule. Then more of our own boules were "circled stagecoaches" around those two boules - meaning that if I could shoot away that back "spoiler" boule we'd stand to gain some nice points...

When I shoot, I try to get into a very focused mental state, my eyes only see the target boule - and I take careful consideration of the displaced angle of my left-arm to my target focal point. Then, if I'm trying for Tir au Fer (shooting directly to metal) I aim for a place about 6 inches above my target.

Kaboom! 4 points for us. Lucky shot.