Winter/Spring 2009, Game 6: Joanie vs. The Holy Rollers

Today's game was as dull as a 7-0, 7-0 beating can be. We played well; they played really really badly. I think they must have had some rookies filling in or something.

Teresa and Lisa played at the North end, Hugh and Eric at the South. I sat out. Since we won the first game 7-0, we stuck with the same team and I sat out again.

Holy Rollers = HR
Lisa = L
Teresa = T
Eric = E
Hugh = H
First letter is either S for Short, M for Medium, or L for Long.
Second letter is either S for Shoot or L for Lag. Shoot means trying to hit something and lag means trying to softly roll the ball to a specific spot.
The last symbol is either - for a bad roll, 0 for a neutral roll, + for a good roll or ++ for a perfect roll.

Game 1, Round 1.
HR SL-
L SL+
HR SL0
HR SS+
T SL+
HR SS0
L SL+
T SL+
Holy Rollers won the coin toss, rolled the pallino short and then missed long with the first roll. Lisa stuck her first bocce. The Rollers missed long with their next bocce. With their third they took a shot and knocked the balls around and ended with the point. Teresa then rolled the ball in closer. The Rollers tried to shoot again, but wasn't successful. Lisa then Teresa rolled good bocces and took 2 points. Joanies up 2-0.

Game 1, Round 2.
E SL+
HR SL0
HR SS+
HR SL+
H SL-
E SL+
H drop
Eric dropped the pallino short and then put the bocce close. Rollers missed on their first attempt to get it close, then hit it with a shot but didn't end up closer, missed again on number three, then lagged one in on their last try. Hugh then missed short with his roll. With the third bocce, Eric got a lucky zig zag on a short roll that landed a fraction closer. I got to use my calipers. Hugh dropped the ball for 1 point. Joanies up 3-0.

Game 1, Round 3.
L ML++
HR MS0
HR MS+
T MS+
HR MS-
HR MS-
L ML+
T ML+
Lisa rolled a medium length pallino, then put the bocce right behind the pallino for a perfect first roll. The rollers missed on their first shot, hit on their second. Teresa then shot their bocce and landed closer. Rollers missed with two shots in a row, and Lisa and Teresa put their next two close for 3 points. Joanies up 6-0.

Game 1, Round 4.
E SL+
HR SS0
HR SL0
HR SS-
HR SL+
H SL++
Eric dropped the pallino short and then put the first bocce close. The Rollers missed with three rolls and landed it close enough with their fourth. Hugh knocked it away with his first ball to get the 1 point necessary. Joanies win game 1, 7-0.

Game 2, Round 1.
L ML++
HR MS-
HR ML-
HR MS-
HR ML+
T MS++
L ML+
T ML+
Lisa started game 2 with a medium roll on the pallino and perfect roll on the first bocce. The Rollers missed long on three rolls and then scored on their fourth. Teresa knocked their ball away, then she and Lisa landed a couple more close for 4 points. Joanies go up in game 2, 4-0.

Game 3, Round 2.
E ML+
HR ML-
HR MS-
HR ML-
HR MS0
H ML+
E ML+
Joanies win 7-0, 7-0.
Eric tossed a medium pallino and solid first roll. Rollers missed on four in a row. Hugh and Eric both put balls close enough to score 3. Joanies win 7-0, 7-0.

Now we get three weeks off before round out the season with games against the Gowanus Iguanas and the Old Dirty Barristers.

Winter/Spring 2009, Game 5: Joanie vs. Baracce Obama

So the experiment is back on. Eric and I brainstormed about how best to keep a scorecard in our bocce games. First priority, it had to be easy. I have to be able to play, advise the other players, keep score, and still have a good time. In order to do all that, I had to be able to keep a simple shorthand. Second priority, it had to be worthwhile, which meant I had to keep track of information that I thought would be useful. Last time I kept score, I tried to keep track of where every ball went, how close it was to the next ball, how hard it was rolled, etc., all because I didn't think I knew which information was going to be useful. But in the end, there was too much noise. So this time, the plan was to keep track of just a few metrics: how deep, how hard, and whether it was a successful roll. And of course, whether the round resulted in points for or against. So for each ball, I wrote down S, M or L for short, medium or long. Then I wrote L or S for lag or shoot. Then a +, - or 0 for positive, negative or neutral. This last one involved some judgment calls, but I figured give enough data it will all even out. And I put an asterisk if it either kissed the palino or for some other reason was a perfect shot. Below is the transcript. For the first game, I put the meaning in parentheses.

Game 1, Joanies 4, Baracce Obama 7.
Teresa ("T") and Danielle ("D") played at the North end, Hugh ("H") and I ("M") at the South. Baracce Obama ("BO") won the toss, chose red, and started from the North.

Round 1: PM (palino medium)
BO: ML+ (medium, lag, positive)
D: ML0 (medium, lag, neutral)
T: ML+ (medium, lag, positive)
BO: ML0 (medium, lag, neutral)
BO: ML+ (medium, lag, positive)
D: ML- (medium, lag, negative)
T: ML- (medium, lag, negative)
BO: ML+ (medium, lag, positive)
Score -- D/T -2
Joanie 0, BO 2

Round 2: PM
BO: ML+ *
M: ML-
H: ML0
M: ML0
H: ML0
BO: MS0
BO: MS+
BO: MS+
Score -- M/H -2
Joanie 0, BO 4

Round 3: PL
BO: LL+
D: LL+
BO: LL0
BO: LS-
BO: LL-
T: LL0
D: LL-
T: LL0
Score -- D/O +1
Joanie 1, BO 4

Round 4: PM
H: ML+
BO: ML0
BO: ML-
BO: ML+ *
M: ML0
M: MS+ *
BO: ML-
H: ML0
Score -- M/H +1
Joanie 2, BO 4

Round 5: PS
D: SL+
BO: SL-
BO: SL+
T: SL0
D: SL-
T: SL-
BO: SL-
BO: SL+
Score -- D/T -2
Joanie 2, BO 6

Round 6: PM
BO: ML+
H: MS0
M: ML+
BO: ML0
BO: ML0
BO: ML0
H: ML-
M: ML+
Score -- M/H +2
Joanie 4, BO 6

Round 7: PM
D: ML+ *
BO: MS-
BO: ML-
BO: MS+ *
T: ML+
BO: ML+
D: ML0
T: MS-
Score -- D/T -1
Joanie 4, BO 7

Game 2, Joanies 7, BO 3.
Kirstie ("K") and D at the North end, H and M at the South.

Round 1: PM
BO: ML0
H: ML+
BO: MS+
M: LL-
H: LL-
M: LL-
BO: LL-
BO: LS+
Score -- H/M -2
Joanie 0, BO 2

Round 2: PL
BO: LL-
D: LL-
BO: LL-
BO: LL-
BO: LL+
K: LL+ *
D: LL-
K: LL+ *
Score -- D/K +2
Joanie 2, BO 2

Round 3: PS
M: SL+ *
BO: SL-
BO: SS+
BO: LL0
BO: LS-
H: LL+
m: LL+
H: LL+
Score -- M/H +4
Joanie 6, BO 2

Round 4: PM
D: ML-
BO: ML+
K: ML0
D: ML-
K: ML-
BO: ML-
BO: ML0
BO: ML-
Score -- D/K -1
Joanie 6, BO 3

Round 5: PS
BO: SL-
H: SL+
BO: SL-
BO: SS-
BO: SS+
M: LS-
H: LL+
M: Drop -- Tied, replay frame

Round 5a: PM
BO: ML-
M: ML-
H: ML+
BO: MS-
BO: ML+
BO: MS-
Score: M/H +1
Joanie 7, BO 3

Game 3, Joanies 7, BO 1.
K and D at the North end, H and M at the South.

Round 1: PM
T: ML+
BO: ML0
BO: ML+
K: MS+
BO: LL+
T: LL-
K: LL-
BO: LS-
Score -- T/K -1
Joanie 0, BO 1

Round 2: PM
BO: ML-
H: ML-
M: ML+
BO: LL-
BO: LS+
BO: LS+
M: LS+
H: LS+
Score -- MH +3
Joanie 3, BO 1

Round 3: PL
T: LL+
BO: LL0
BO: LL0
BO: LL0
BO: LS0
K: LL+
T: LL0
K: LL+
Score -- KT +2
Joanie 5, BO 1

Round 4: PM
M: ML+
BO: ML+
H: ML+
BO: ML-
BO: ML+
M: MS+
BO: ML-
Score -- MH +2
Joanie 7, BO 1

Joanies win, 4-7, 7-3, 7-1. Decent game. I'll leave the analysis for the next post. Go Joanies!!!

Winter/Spring 2009, Game 5: Joanie vs. Laser Cats

Game 1: Joanies 3, Laser Cats 7
Teresa and Danielle at the North, Eric and I at the South. We did not play well. I started out trying to keep score like I did again Bourbon Balls, but we were playing poorly and it was distracting so I stopped. I kept a few notes though. Laser Cats won the coin toss and started from the North. Teresa and Danielle took the first point. Eric and I missed a few and gave back three points. Then Teresa and Danielle gave them three more. Eric and I took back two, but Laser Cats got the last point and won 7-3.

Game 2: Joanies 7, Laser Cats 2
Danielle and Kirstie at the North, Eric and I at the South. We got out to a 5-0 lead pretty quickly. They fought back a little and picked up one point in each of the next two rounds before we finished off the game.

Game 3: Joanies 7, Laser Cats 4. Same team. Same outcome. Go Joanies.

Not a great game, but not a terrible game. We had a long layoff, and need to practice more. Before we played, Bocce Brunch beat the Gowanus Igaunas. And after our game, Old Dirty lost to Do These Droids. I'm pretty sure Joanie is in first place in the Sunday division.