Mark gets a solid skunking from Buzz and Tim W.

Whew... what's that smell? Oh... another skunking. This time, Buzz and Tim W. delivered the goods against Mark and Tee. There was one moment when the 13/0 was going to be risked, but fortunately for Tim/Buzz it was Tee who pushed the opposition's boule in for a clean run of 13 points.

Other events: Mikey is back, and playing just as well as if he had never left. I'm not sure how he does it, but perhaps it is his Sampson-like beard growth... "don't shave Mike"

Abu Gets a Skunking

Mary, of Honigman Miller, joined us today upon invitation from Maury. Let me tell you, she is a very quick learner, attributed perhaps to her many years of bowling. Right away Mary pointed with excellence, and if not for my lousy shooting, we would have taken that 5/4 game!

Mark cycled by, off to some important architect meeting no doubt...

I'll have to check in with Mikey as we've not heard about his move down to Florida.

Pat Brings out his Big Balls

Jeff being called away for a fire drill, the players made do with their own boules. Pat brought out his 3 lb. wonders from Marseilles which served him well. "Maury's pointing was excellent," added Andonian - the pair took both games 13/6

Petanque... of Course!

What a nice combination of games for today! Our own game was pretty close, with Pat/Abu keeping slightly ahead of Tim and me... but then we had some lucky breaks, and Tim laid in a very close boule which Pat tried (3 boules!) to shoot away. Fortune was with us this day, 3 misses!

Chinese Invade Detroit - Can you say "Carreau" in Mandarin?

Amidst the loud Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat and heavy Thwumps of machine guns and mortar fire, the Detroit Petanque Club continued to roll their boules, like hand grenades, down the piste for their usual afternoon game playing. "I know that Detroit was rated Most Dangerous City in the United States," shouted Jeff Widen above the clamour, "but this is ridiculous!"

Actually, the noises were part of the production of the Red Dawn re-make that has been shooting in and around Detroit for a month. We're all getting used to buildings getting blown up, military vehicles including tanks and haf-tracks moving through the city as well as many uniformed Chinese "soldiers" marching about at $100 per day.

Close Game Says "Mob Rob"

Close game today (VIDEO) Maury was pointing perfectly, but we carefully planned our moves, letting Buzz lay in the strong anchoring first boule, then allowing the opposing team to over/under throw a few boules, then having Tim point in; Pat shoot away anything close and I came in for finishing up points. Effective strategy. We were behind 8 to 12 and had to hold them for three rounds, but we concentrated on not giving them their thirteenth point. May I add that Nancy and Buzz went boule for boule many times which always makes for a great game. Tim C. came in like a movie star with some difficult shots.

Mild Weather = More Players

We had a nice crew today, with Pat playing with Deric (for the win 13/11) against Mark and Tim C. That was a close game.

I teamed up with Tee against Maury and Buzz (another close game, it came down to a 12/12 and i was able to roll in a 13th boule.)

The second round had Pat back to the office and Eric coming in as replacement. We mixed the teams and played to 7 points.

Weather Warmed Up - Let's Play Petanque!

Last week was horrible weather-wise. Today, however, very nice. No wind, pretty temperate out... about 60 degrees... some sun. Surprisingly, only Maury, Deric, Tee and me (Jeff) for the hour.

Ah well, just remember, the winters are Looooong in Michigan, so come out and toss a boule.

Getting Cold - but hardy Michiganders still make a showing

a tad freezing these days, but we'll try to make it out there as much as we can. The other day it was just me and Deric playing but it was a fun set of games (I don't typically "rank" the games with less than 4 players). Yesterday I had a surprise meeting so I couldn't make it out to the piste, but today, if it's not raining, I should be out at noontime.

Boule Disparity Creates Automatic Defensive Positioning

Tough day for my team. We had two teams of 4 players each - meaning: 16 boules in play. Unfortunately, it took us 4 or 5 boules to beat the close boule - leaving a disparity of boules... 7 boules for the opposition to use, and only 3 or 4 boules for us (after having depleted our pointers). This forced us into a defensive position almost immediately (stunting the shooting aspect of our team because the shooters now had to be the pointers). Upon reflection, I should have mixed up the "batting order" a bit earlier -- perhaps rolling in the initial boule ust to keep us at a 1:1 boule use ratio. Who can really say how it'd turn out?

Widen Comes in With 2 Errors but Still Takes the Win

My shooting was waaaay off today giving the opposition at least 2 points today. Yesterday (Oct. 5th) Tim W. will note that I made a crucial error of 5 points to the opposition due to more of my flawed shooting.

Perhaps we should show ERRORS as a stat on the ranking chart...

BUT, despite a "protest" (as yet to be filed) by Andonian, LLP - we still took the win 13/4.

See you tomorrow. GO TIGERS!

Article 19 Ignored for the Fun of It

Thursday's game posed an interesting situation, but not one without an appropriate response via the official rules.

In Detroit, we play on semi-bordered courts, the sides are flagstones or a cement boundary and there are flagstones at the extent of either end.

Typically, after a shot is made, the boule will fly to the end of the gravel and if permitted to reach the end flagstones it will roll for another 200 feet. So we are in the habit of stopping the boule with our feet near the edge, but leaving the boule on the gravel.

Article-19 "Interference with Boules" states (in a nutshell) that if a boule is stopped/diverted purposely immediately disqualifies the player along with his/her team for the game in progress.

Well, in a tournament situation, yes, I'd say let the boule fly off the piste without disruption... But let's say it were an accidental stoppage of the boule. Then depending on who is doing the stopping there are consequences. If the throwing team's team member stopped the boule by accident, that boule is deemed void (and should be removed from the court). If a boule is accidently stopped by a member of the opposing team, can (on decision of the thrower) be re-played or left where it was stopped.

Of course, in our typical weekday playing, we hardly ever mark the boule positions, so there aren't any alternatives for when a boule that is hit is subsequently stopped/diverted by a player - but if the boule positions were marked (this is sometimes done in tournaments) - then the opponent of the thrower can leave the struck boule where it was stopped or it can be repositioned anywhere in a line from where it was originally to the place it ended up.

Lots of rules - yes... but clear rules end arguments.

SO, why do I mention this at all? Because at the time, we were sitting on 12 points (and a possible 13th (the stopped boule)) But for the sake of our leisure game, and to allow for more rounds, we discounted the 13th point. Truth be told, our opponents were at 6 points at the time and I never thought they'd gain the upper hand. They did! With a 12/13 conclusion!

Sometimes for the sake of having fun, the strict interpretation of a rule (during leisure play) can be dismissed.

Welcome to the Matrix

Rob showed up as Morpheous from the Matrix today and played with Tim W. and Mark W. They swallowed the red pill, taking a 5 to 13 loss against Jeff, Tee, and Abu.

Temperatures Fall - But Petanque Interest Rises

Michiganders, always avid outdoorsfolk, don't shy away from 55 degree days because we all know that Winter is 6 months long - hence, we need to enjoy every bit of outside while the going is good. Today's games were a nice testiment to this with another win for Buzz, and Tim C. walking away with two wins under his belt. It'll take a whole mess of wins for me to even get close to the top three. With Mike d. moving down South in a week or so, that'll knock him off the board and raise me up a pitch. See you tomorrow!

Fabulous Friday

Another skunking, this time Pat and Rob beat-up Tim C. and Buzz. Pat claims that Rob plays best when he plays on his team - I guess it shows.

My own trio did fine with the first game, but we fell apart in the 2nd - as did my shooting which Mark said was right on, but splintered at the end.

Enjoy the weekend - a tad rainy for Detroit...

Mark and Buzz for the Win

Buzz is on a roll, with 4 wins in his last 5 games. Coupled with Mark, they played a very tight game against Tim W. and Tee-Bomb with plenty of close-to-the border action. Here is Mark (see photo) in his "Karate Kid" stance ready for his shot.

"Even a Blind Squirrel Finds a Nut Now and Then"

Maury was very humble about Hal and his win today over Tee and me. We were see-sawing on points for a time, then Tee and I took a strong lead - but they re-captured and evened it out at 11's ... Finally, they needed 1 point to get to 13, and Maury calmly rolled it in right up to the cochonnet. Perfect.

But not one to claim an easy victory, he told us: "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then."

Buzz Skunks Abu and Tee

Buzz, one of our newest players, has succeeded in skunking (13/0 victory) his opponents. Teamed up with Tim C., the duo went 13 points without giving up a single point to Abu and Tee. Congrats!

New Year Kicks Off with a Pair of Wins for Jeff

Pat's Average OVER 2.0 !

Team Pat/Maury had double wins today catapulting Pat's average to a 2.02

My own game went rather nicely with Nancy rolling in close-point after close-point leaving Mark/Tim/Tee to try shooting out her boule.

Afterwards, we did some pointing/shooting practice. Speaking of practice, Buzz and Tee have their own sets (of 6 boules) and they've been practicing all of the time. It shows!

Mike Gives his Adios Message

VIDEOS:

Mike Says Goodbye

Abu & Buzz Round

More Game Playing


Mike will be leaving us in the next few weeks, off to the sunny climes of Florida. In this short interview (above) he comments on his friends, his prospects, and offers a very sobering parting message for all.

a close one...

Today's game was veddy veddy close - and a good game to boot! We came down to a 12/12 play-off... I love these types of games.

Friday Sizzles

I watched the 2nd game - exciting. Hal was pointing in like the pro he is and Abu tried out some very successful shots (completely atypical for Abu who normally plays a conservative game). Towards tyhe 1 pm hour Tim C. was substituted out for Eric C. but the Abu/Tim W. combo was simply too tough to beat.

My own game, we were playing very tight, with point for point exchanges. Raphael even came through with one of his classic push-pointings. But at the end, our pointing fell off, and it came down to my making a tir-au-fer shot (just grazed it).

Plenty of Petanque

Pat A. bounced back to his 2.00 ranking - to give some context to 2.00; when you win a game, you get 2.00 plus some additional points on the score-spread. On a loss, you get only 1 point. Most people win and lose and so their average falls somewhere in the middle (1.5 to 1.80) range.

Pat has won so many games that his average reflects a player who has won every game at 13/12 (2 points) - not bad!

If Pat's average goes higher than 2.00, it'd mean that overall, he's won all of his games with a spread of 13/11; 13/10 and so on.

Wednesday Brings Twin Triplettes

VIDEO of today.

Nice day today. Fair team composition brought out some great game-play. My own team was shooter heavy while the opposition was Pointer heavy. Pat's excellent shots adding in Maurys great points overwhelmed the opposition.

Note: Mike D. is leaving the decision as to whether or not he should pack up and move to Florida to a vote by the club.

Pat's Team Goes Nuclear

VIDEO

It was a total disaster! Pat; Abu; Tim C. ripped through our defenses and mocked our offenses with round after round of punishing points. Skunked! Then a re-match (7 point) also pushed us into the gutter with a 13/10 win for Pat's team.

Eric did very well indeed, with his victory against Mark & Rob (13/6).

Abu was lending me advice on team composition. But I think almost any team has a chance of winning - as long as luck and strategy are in play. Today, Lady Luck didn't shine upon us.

JAZZ FESTIVAL FRIDAY TO MONDAY... No Petanque Friday (Sept. 4th) - see you Tuesday (Sept. 8th)

Tuesday's Games

So competitive games on Tuesday. Though, yes, the scores were not 13/12, the games were point for point at the beginning, then some lucky breaks to leap ahead of the win.

No Petanque for Wednesday, I have a meeting. But I'll see you on Thursday!