CHAMPIONS of the Floyd Summer 2008 Bocce League

Well its about fucking time. And if feels pretty great. Last night, Joanie Loves Bocce achieved bocce nirvana. Yes folks, the JLB is the reigning Floyd bocce champion!

For me, it was quite a rollercoaster of a day. I had been drinking the night before: beer, beer, beer, scotch cocktail, whiskey cocktail, bed. I woke up with one of the more vicious hangovers I've had in a while. I'll spare the details, but my first food for the day was a Ritz cracker around 1:30 pm. My first successful attempt at being on my feet without throwing up was around 2:30 when I got in the shower in an attempt to get it together to get to my 3:00 bocce game. I would not let my team down. For the next three or four hours I struggled with headaches and heartburn and lightheadedness, but there was bocce to be played.

Quarterfinals. JLB vs. Hibocces. 1-7, 7-0, 7-4.
The Hibocces. I did not care for them at all. I mean, they're probably nice to their mothers, but that doesn't mean I want to play bocce with them. They had one girl on their team who seemed nice. She complemented me on my plaid vans. The rest of them, eh. All the more embarrassing when they leaped out to a big win in the first game. They won possession of the pallino on the coin flip and kept it for most of the game by playing the pallino very long and getting mostly lucky. Kirstie and Danielle at the north end, me and Eric at the south end, we couldn't really wrest back control. Until the second game.



In game 2, Kirstie came out, Hugh came in to play with Danielle at the North end. We took control back and kept it. We dropped the pallino super short, and they kept either missing on their attempts to knock it back, or just sailing by on their attempts to keep it close. They were a little cocky after that first game. We knocked the air out of them in the second. The third game was more of the same.

Semifinals. JLB vs. If You Want My Bocce ("IYWMB"). 6-7, 7-0, 7-6.
We like IYWMB. They've been in the league for a long while; they're nice guys and girls; and they're good. Very good. I think they have a trophy. In game 1, we kept our same squad of Hugh and Danielle and me and Eric. And we came out strong. We jumped ahead to an early 5-1 lead. We let them get back into it on a couple of mistakes and they took the game 7-6. Game 2, we switched it up a bit. Kirstie subbed in for Eric, Abby for Hugh. And man, did we take control. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but it was a quick 7-0 win for us in the second game. Game 3 was tight again. We scored one, they scored 1, they scored 3, we scored 2. It was back and forth. At one point they were up 6-3. And then we scratched out a few more points and on to the finals. I think that was the most exciting game I've ever played. In comparison, the finals were a little bit of a let-down.



Finals. JLB vs. GBBB (great big balls of bocce?). 6-7, 7-0.
We came out a little rusty and fell behind 6-0. Then we rattled off 14 straight points. Done and done.



Presenting your Summer 2008 Floyd Bocce All Stars:
Kirstie "Laverne"
Danielle "Shirley"
Abby "Leather Tuscadero"
Lisa "Joanie"
Teresa "Mary Beth"
Hugh "Potzie"
Eric "Arnold"
Matt "The Fonz"

Summer 2008 Playoffs - Round 1

The Joanies faced off against Brooklyn Skeptics in the first round of the playoffs. We played this team in the last game of the regular season and trounced them in two games. But more memorable than the win was our interactions with them, or rather, lack of interactions. This was the least friendly team we've ever faced. Even when we play the Old Dirty Barristers, there's conversation. This team: nothing. And after the game, Kirstie tells me she ran into them three times later that weekend and they pretended not to know her despite spending an hour playing bocce with her.

But I digress. We beat them again. Soundly. 7-3, 7-1. And it wasn't even that close. In game 1, Eric and I played at the South end, Teresa and Lisa at the North. I win the coin toss. Eric rolls a little longer than we'd like on the first pallino toss, but puts the bocce close. They miss with a couple, then knock the balls around and land with 2 points. I miss then Eric misses. With our last ball, I throw a hard shot between two of our balls, hit their balls right in the middle and when the dust settles we have 3 points. They miss with their last ball.

Coming the other way, Lisa goes long, the other team takes the point back right away. Teresa misses, Lisa misses, and with the last ball Teresa gets the point back. The Skeptics then take the point back and score two more. The end up tying the game at 3.

Going back the other way, they toss the pallino half way, then put the bocce relatively close. Eric puts it closer. They miss the rest long. We have an opportunity to score four, with the point and three more balls to play with only one of theirs close. I try to put the bocce in front of theirs, but miss a little long. Eric then gets our second point by getting it close. Instead of just trying to get a third point, I try to get all 4 by hitting their bocce ball away. I'm a little off course, but it works out. Four points for us and we win the first game 7-3.

I won't go into details on the last game. Basically, they weren't very good, and we played a well managed game.