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!!!