Congratulations to the Two Tims for taking First and Second

The final day of the five-day Bastille Tournament began with no sure certainty of who would place first, let alone second. But after gaining a trio of points, the First place spot was in the bag for Tim C. The challenge for who would place Second was still at large, with Scott T. & Tim W.battling it out for the 2nd spot.

Both games were played very closely, with the final scores 13/10 for the two courts. Well done !

I think the tournament went pretty smoothly, but if anyone has any comments on how it could be improved, please let me know!

Tim C. Wins Four in a row - Can he Seal the Deal?

Tomorrow will be the last of the Bastille Day Tournament Games - and Tim C. is in the lead, but Tim W. does have a chance... if Tim W. can beat Tim W. 13/2 in tomorrow's game then he'll be the top dog.

Second Place is really anyone's guess - lots of folks are still in that race.

See you there!

Tim C. Leaps to the Top Position for the Tournament

With Three Wins, Tim C. has a pretty good placement, but with 2 days left in the tournament, and plenty of people with 1 and 2 wins under their belt - there's always a chance for him to be topped. The numbers you look for are not only the amount of wins but also the point spread. If you can win a game or two and with a healthy span of points (13/3 let's say) then that'll easily pop you up near the top of the rankings.

I was watching the Pat vs. Tim game - quite close, with a 12 to 12 boule-burner ending. Nice going. See you tomorrow!

Day 2 - Bastille Day - Tournament Week

Lots of strong competition today, with Scott T. taking the top position with two wins and 15 points followed closely by Tim C. with two wins and 12 points and Deric T. in Third place so far with two wins, 6 points.

We also received a visit from Buzz's wife, Timmie who finally got to see what a tough player he is during petanque games.
I still think Pat calls down Rita to offer a distraction to our team, but fortunately we're staying concentrated upon the court.

First Day of Bastille Day Tournament Went Swimmingly

Inspired by the mini-tournament held by the Ann Arbor Petanque Club in Ann Arbor this past weekend: slideshow I decided, in honor of Bastille Day (see info), to hold a week long petanque tournament during our afternoon games. The first game of each afternoon session (12-1pm Cadillac Square Park in Detroit) will count towards points in a tournament talley with randomized teams. After the games played on Friday, I shall count of the individual player wins (as well as the points won verses lost) and award prizes (to be determined). If you haven't stopped by, please do so - you need not play every day because even if you win 2 games over 2 days time, you might fare well against folks that might lose 4 games over 4 days and only 1 win. Point is, have fun!

Tim C. Tops the Rankings

Petanque Pizza Party - Big Success - THANKS BUZZ !

SLIDESHOW(Click for more photos)

Thanks to Buzz, what would otherwise have been a hot day turned into a nice, social pizza petanque party. He brought everything, from the pizzas, to the pop and lemonade, to the plates and napkins. You are a gracious gentleman.

Great Pointing from Raphael C.

Excellent game play today. I really appreciated Raphael's pointing which was spot on for most of his throws. Bravo.

Six Point Swing - Slaughtered By a Bad Shot!

Six point swing in favor of our opponents after hitting out own boule away. Sheesh! Hate that! As Abu said, "I was a very good friend for his team today."

See you tomorrow (Wednesday) - don't forget to wear a hat for shade - it is a VERY hot week.

Pat Rockets Back to the Number One Spot

July Begins Tough for Some

Upon reflection, yes, June seems to be a better month for me - with two really bad losses in one afternoon! Still though, we did improve 100% from the previous game...

After the 13/0 loss but before the 2nd game began, there were some who wished for a re-mix of players (the teams were selected by random GIANT coin tosses). But I chose to have a revenge match with the same teams... Why? because: A) switching teams after a big loss only underscores a feeling of defeat; B) playing the right strategy and a little luck can sway a mismatched player game.

Second game: 13/1 Twas okay with me, as I knew going in we were the underdog team, so we really just strove to play our personal best - and get a few points.

The standings have certainly changed, with Buzz knocked down to 5th position, and Tim C. and Pat A. neck-in-neck for first!

June Ends with a Great Boule Game

Pat mentioned that my shooting and pointing was particularly good this month, so he was happy to report that June was over today. But we shall see. This afternoon's close 13/11 game was due to everyone playing at top notch - with excellent shooting and pointing all around. I am very proud of the progreess of all of the club's players - keeping their eyes not only on their throws but also on the strategy, and the rules as well. Very nice!

NEWSFLASH : Buzz Doesn't Win Everytime !

Another close one . . .

Everyone took all kinds of chances both shooting and pointing in this game. Round per round, the game play was very close - until we finally had a 12/12 round. Well done y'all! See you Monday. Maury and Pat should be back by then.

Buzz Pulls Off Another Win for His Team

Joined by Will (Plombe' Will of years ago) my team struggled to get back some points after our opponents took a 5 point, and then a 3 point round on us. It was tough, but with some careful strategy, we advanced to a threat. Unfortunately, at the last round we couldn't cut away their three points sitting...

See you tomorrow.

close game - full for all

Tim's Shot Results in a Slaughter

The best play of the day went to Tim W. who fired in a boule at the opponent's boule. We knew that the close cochonnet would move somewhere, but we had ample boules left to use and he took the shot. The enemy boule went flying, and the cochonnet bounced off numerous boules and remained nested right in the middle of 4 of our points! Nice.

another Skunking...

Buzz Takes the Lead

It was strictly a pointing game . . .

When you take the shooting element out of the petanqe, the game takes on a different mode of play. If your team lands a close (couple of inches away form the cochonnet) boule - you're not going to have the brash bold shooter come in and "smash things up" - instead, the opposition's pointers will be trying to deftly push and nudge the enemy boule out of position. This results in many rounds of relatively tightly packed boules as nobody is around to knock everything apart. In a way, each assemblage of boules is carefully lobbed into positition. Today's game had Buzz/Maury pitted against Eric/Fred - strong pointers all around. an enjoyable game.

Friday's Games

Buzz has really been doing well, rocketing to the number three spot with a soolid 1.92 (threatening Maury's 2nd position). Fred learned a new method for pointing (using just the fingers, not the thumb) which made for a very stable throw (otherwise the thumb might throw the boule off a bit when the boule is grasped & released)

Mikey Returns to the Petanque Pistes

Cursing Like Sailors!

Another fun day of boule. We thought we had it in the bag, until a cochonnet knock by Pat gave our opponents 4 points! At 12/8 we had to keep them at bay, but eventually, their 13th arrived.

Pat is a firm believer in talking to the boule... directing the boule's path by sheer will. It seemed to work as Buzz tried some really salty cursing to get his boule closest to the cochonnet. It works!

Yes, we meet at 12-noon (but I arrive shortly thereafter... probably by 12:10pm) - telling folks that we play at 12:15pm to 1:05pm isn't as easy to remember as Noon to 1pm... But you get the general idea...

Pat Defends His Lead

Not one to give up his crown easily, Pat A. put in another win today 13/6 against a powerful opponent: Tim C./Mark W. Maury B. is a close 2nd place, and if he can pull out some wins while Pat loses a few, they'll do a switcheroo in ranks.

My own game went smoothly, with Buzz and I keeping close to Abu/Brian - it was anyone's game until the final round 13/11. Well fought.

Action Packed Friday Game

Great action packed game today. We had really close rounds with points being shot out then replaced by other pointed boules, shot out agin, replaced, bumped ... the teams were very evenly matched as testament to the close score 13/10.

Thanks for a really great game today, and have a nice peacefu weekend. See you Monday!

Mark Brings a Guest to the Petanque Piste

Happy Birthday Mark. Today, Mark decided to show up after a long hiatus (can we say... Jackson Prison?) with a guest, Caitlin from Lansing. Decidedly player abundant - we played one game of 5 verses 4 people... my team lucked out with the coin toss as Caitlin pointed way better than Mark... and it was her first time!

We nearly caught up with our opponents, if not for my losing 2 points with a bad-luck opponent-boule push... nonetheless, we did fine and the game was a pretty tight going one (point for point) until the end.

Tally-Ho.. see you Friday.

Playing within the Distances

Distances for the initial throw of the cochonnet should be maintained within the 6 to 10 meters. [Article 7] Sure, there's times when the cochonnet may roll to 11 or 12 meters - and you all decide to "play it" but you're cheating yourself out of a nuance of the game: the experience of shooting & pointing to particular spans.

When the cochonnet consistently lands at 12 meters, you're taking shooters (and pointers) out of the realm of their experienced playing and introducing more luck to the round. You are also straining the arms of the shooters (not good) as well as defeating players who just can roll such a distance.

I think it is far better to take back the cochonnet and re-throw to a valid distance.

Of course, we're talking about everyday playing. For tournaments, throwing to valid Article-7 distances are a given! I would expect players to utilize Article-8 which allows a team to "take back" the cochonnet and the first thrown boule if the cochonnet is not at a valid distance (but if the opposing team has also thrown a boule - the distance is then considered valid).