Steven and Elisabeth Return to Germany



The Detroit Petanque Club enjoyed the company of boulistes Steven and Elisabeth from Germany this past week.  We wish them a safe journey home and a return sometime soon.




Steven amidst the flora of a newly refreshed Detroit.  When he worked in Detroit years ago it was a completely different scene at this location, it used to be a bus depot, no petanque at all!



 Ti returned to play boule with us today (Thursday) and with her help we (Jeff/Alpha/Ti) almost took the game (12/13). 

Steven and Elisabeth join us from Germany

 Monday's game was moved across the street to Campus Martius Park because of the extremely long lines waiting for free Wendy's Bacon Burgers.  Aha!  I should have realized that all I needed to do to bring 5,000 people to play petanque was to give out free $2 hamburgers...  The line was considerable, running the length of Cadillac Square Park, then wrapping around the street.

 Visiting from Germany, Steven and Elisabeth are here visiting Steven's family.  They're avid petanque players and were more than welcome to play some boule with us on Friday.  We also had Eliot, a friend of Alpha's, roll over to play some petanque (he's played before as well).

Point! Point!

No More Skunks for Team Pat

Two Skunks today - Fred Rises to Second Place

In an almost unheard of result, both games resulted in zero points for Team Pat/Tim/Nick/Sam.  "I think it was a combination of some really good openings by Fred, followed up by Jeff's lucky hits on anything that got close" (which wasn't much because for some reason Team Pat was pointing wide, short, and long.  After the first game, Pat was running for the office, but we were able to convince him that a revenge match would be his best option (playing to 7 points).  It turned out not to be the case as boule after boule was recorded for Team Fred.   Not one for Team Pat.  Whew...  what a shellacking...

Eric Cetnar, Member of the Detroit Petanque Club

 Here is a group shot of the club in November 2010.  Maury hated the idea of calling it the "Maury Invitational" because it suggested a memorial.  We didn't think anything negative about it, but I'm glad we took the group photo as it is one of the last we have of Eric playing at the club.  That following year I myself was out on sick leave due to a heart ailment and the club didn't return to regular playing until  August 2011.

Friday's Game a Win and a Loss

Our game began slowly, with the competition gaining one point per round - for forty minutes of playing.  Then switching out Abu for Tim, Team-Fred/Tim lost 4 to our 7 (13/10) in the second game.  The layout in the last round was a giveaway of points, however, here's what it looked like:

What would you have done if you were on Team Fred/Tim?

Slaughter on the Petanque Piste

 There are lots of fun amusements at Cadillac Square Park where we play petanque, including ping pong in which Pat, Sam, and Maury seem to excel. 

 Thursday's game was a real slaughter-fest for us, taking plenty of hits throughout the two games.  Some days are just like that, and I expect Friday we'll have a complete turnaround (one can only hope).  Pat and Fred are a powerful combination, no doubt about that.

Busy Events Down at Cadillac Square

 We shared the court space with lots of Detroit Public School kids and teachers who were running their seasonal campaign.  As part of the fun, there was a stilt walker, an inflatable man, some cars on display (hey kids, look what you can't drive!) and some local radio stations broadcasting from the plaza.

 There was also a decimation, with 13/2 going to Team Nick/Tim/Jeff...

Expecting Visit from Ann Arbor Petanque Club on Wednesday

Paddle Boarding AND Petanque - Fun Combination



Alpha runs a Paddle Boarding Club that meets out off Belle Isle



Mark B. and Sam O. get a Fanny on Alpha

Shayla joins the Club and earns her first Win

 Today we had nine players (in one game).  Yes, we ought to break up into two games of 5 and 4 players, but we knew by the mix that it would be more fun to play as one group.  And it turned out to be quite a competitive match with both teams playing hard for every point.  At the end, we ran low on time and made a 13/12 decider round, which is fair as our scores were pretty even at that point.

Alpha brought along his friend, Shayla, who went to Pat's team on a coin toss (a big coin toss) - which turned out to be quite a catch for Team-Pat (Pat; Tim; Fred & Shayla) since her pointing was excellent.

We had lots of folks watching us play, which is quite encouraging because that means possibly more players for the game.  The ping pong and bean-bag toss games really help with the foot traffic at Cadillac Square Park.

Mark B. takes the Top Ranking for the Club

In a surprising twist, Mark B., relatively new to petanque, took the top rank spot in the averages with a 2.49 - well ahead of second place spot, Pat A.  But who knows for how long he will be able to retain that placement as Pat will be eager to regain the number one seat. 

Reminder: Wednesday and Thursday are my last two game days until I return from my medieval reenactment camping event on the 12th of August.  I may be able to arrange with one of the players to take custody of the equipment for the week, we'll see.

Jason Joins the Petanque Playing and Pat's Team Makes a Strong Comeback

Jason used his bocci experience to lay in some magnificent points in today's game - his first

 Good playing today.  We had plenty of participants, and while we usually break into two (or three games) we decided to keep a nine player game going.  It worked out timewise as the game filled the hour, and there was plenty of edge of your seat moments as Pat's team (Pat, Tim, Mark B., Fred & Sam) had to work their way back from being down six or seven points to nothing in the early rounds.  Team Jeff (Jeff, Jason, Alpha and Abu) won six points (of 10 boules) in the second round - making it tough, but exciting for Team Pat to come back - and eventually win it 13 to 11.  Mark B. is only a game away from entering the top tier of averages, and it is likely that his high average will keep him in the first plce spot for a while. 



Mark just needs one more game to make the ten needed for the top rankings.  His score will make him the top man for the club - and Pat will be eager to lower his average



Jeff and Alpha take a Shellacing in a 0/13 Fanny

It happens, only, today... it happened to me!  The game started off fairly harmless looking with a point or two gained by Abu/Fred, but then they had two rounds of 3 points per, and we were well behind.  None of our boules rolled in even close to contend with Abu/Fred.