Joanie Loves Bocce

Fall 2009 Champions!!!

2009-12-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't blogged much this season, but I can't pass up the opportunity to celebrate Joanie's 2nd Championship! Yes, Noah's dad is a bocce champion! Again!

We played Kiss My Palino in the 1st round last sunday, and then Veni Vedi Bocce in a tough 2nd round, also last Sunday. Today, we beat veterans Gowanus Iguanas 7-2, 7-2 with Kirstie and I playing at the South end and Danielle (our MVP) and Teresa playing at the North end.

In the finals we beat Bocce Brunch 0-7, 7-1, 7-3. In the 2nd game, Kirstie and Teresa came out, I moved to the North end to play with Danielle and Hugh and Eric took the South End. Bocce Brunch spanked us in the first game playing an exclusively long ball type of game. Once we got control back, we kept it, playing short, and taking advantage of every opportunity.

Congratulations Joanies!

Bocce Overdose

2009-08-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

Way too much bocce was played yesterday. We had a double header scheduled, and then a rescheduled game from earlier in the season. Plus, I got to the bar early and subbed in for another team. So that's 4 bocce matches yesterdays. And all but one went 3 games and were fairly hard fought.

My first game was subbing in for Solid Gold who played the Little Lassos. It wasn't in compliance with league rules (we only had 3 players), but most of the summer teams don't bother with the rules. I don't remember the score precisely, since it wasn't my team, but we won in 3 long games.

My second game of the day, and Joanie's first, was against The Mo I Bocce. We lost to them earlier in the season on a day when we let them play with only 3 players. Today, they had a full compliment of teammates, but still, for some reason, didn't play two people at each end. Anyway, it didn't help them much. We won 7-6, 7-2. Lisa and Abby played at the North end in the first game, Eric and Hugh at the south end. Game one was one of those games where every round is only one point. I came in the second game for Eric and we came out had a quicker second game.

Game 3 and 4 were both against If You Want My Bocce, who also needed a substitute from Solid Gold. We split. First match they won, 7-6, 4-7, 7-6. Second game, we won 7-6, 1-7, 7-4. I think. That's a lot of bocce scores to remember.

I went home and promptly fell asleep. Looking forward to having next weekend off. Go Joanie!

Joanie Beats Count Boccula: 7-2, 7-2

2009-08-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

We felt bad about this one, really we did. Count Boccula stepped up for us the week before, lent us our fourth player so that we could deliver to the Little Lassos the defeat they so richly deserved. We repaid them by humiliating them 7-2, 7-2.

Humiliating is the wrong term though. I mean, if it was another team that we beat that badly, it would be appropriate, especially since it just as easily could have been 7-0, 7-0. But Count Boccula took the loss with class. Lauren, their captain, recognized that she was about five years behind Joanie in terms of bocce experience and asked us for some pointers after the match. We were happy to oblige.

When I left the bar afterwards, Eric and Hugh were still there hanging out with our new bocce pals.

Looking ahead to next week's game (tomorrow--I'm writing this on Friday)... We play a triple-header. I don't know whether to be excited or worried. Our first game is against the Mo I Bocce. Last time we played them, they only brought three players, we let them play anyway, and they won. I don't expect them to win again. They seemed more lucky than good. Then we play If You Want My Bocce, and then another game against IYWMB to make-up for a game they had to cancel earlier in the season. This is the part that worries me. First, I think we'll win the first game handily. We'll be good and warmed up from beating The Mo I Bocce. But the second game will be our third of the day and I expect most of us to be a little lacking in concentration, and half of us to be drunk. I don't like to play under circumstances like that, but so be it.

And in case anyone needs a reminder, IYWMB is the team we beat in the semifinals last summer that put that awesome video on their blog. You know, the one that names me "The Fixer." Love that. I think I'll watch it now to psyche myself up.

Joanie beats The Little Lasso's: 7-4, 7-4

2009-07-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day for bocce. We've had some trouble fielding a full team lately. Today, only Eric, Hugh and I were available. Luckily for us, Joanie is a likeable team. Early in the season, I made nice with one of the new teams, Count Boccula (nice name!), and when I asked their captain (I think), Lauren, if one of their teammates would be willing to be our fourth, she told me to take my pick. I picked Valerie, who seemed to be their best player. They were eager to help, since we were playing the Little Lassos, a team that has gotten a reputation for being a little obnoxious. Lauren and Val wanted to see the Lassos lose, and Joanie was just the team to make that happen.

Val and I played at the North end, Hugh and Eric at the South. For the most part we played our game, kept the bocces close, picked away at them, wore them down. It helped that the Lassos were drunk. It also helped that Val was cute and perfectly willing to flirt with the other team in order to distract. I don't know if that accomplished anything, but it was fun to watch. Personally, I just think we were just the better team today. Thanks to Val and Count Boccula, Joanie kicked some ass today.

Val -- You and the rest of Count Boccula can now count yourselves honorary Joanies.

Val even gets her own Happy Days name... Jenny Piccolo. Congrats Val! Go Joanie!

Joanie "loses" to The Mo I Bocce...

2009-07-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

So I don't like to complain about the other bocce teams, really I don't. But sometimes, I am left with no choice. We had a double-header scheduled our last time out, both against rookie teams. The first team had only two players and forfeited. The second team, The Mo I Bocce (another bad name--honestly, there are some great named teams in this league, see, e.g. Do These Droids Speak Bocce, If You Want My Bocce, Boccelism, Veni Vedi Bocce, etc.; it doesn't take that much effort) had only three players. Since I didn't want to waste the double header, rather than make them forfeit, I agreed to play--also Eric had schlepped in from New Jersey. They won 2-7, 7-5, 7-5. Fine, I'll live with that; I agreed to play. But what really bothers me is that they didn't seem to know that they were supposed to forfeit. They also didn't seem to know some other league rules and at least one basic rule of how to play. Perhaps it wouldn't have bothered me so much if we won. But is it asking too much that the new teams acquaint themselves with the league rules? I don't think it is.

The era of the kinder gentler Fonz is over.

Joanie beats Count Boccula: 7-2, 7-5

2009-06-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

The title says it all. Joanie bounced back from the painful season opener with a much better performance against rookie team Count Boccula. Teresa and Abby played at the North end, and Eric and I played at the South. As usual, the gang at the North end played a little looser of a game, more in the middle of the court, more hitting, more space between the balls. And Eric and I played a much tighter game, keeping the palino short, leaving less room for multiple points for either team. At least, until the middle of the second game. Count B generally controlled the second game. They were up 5-1, when Eric and I had the round of the day. As usual, we kept the balls close enough that after Count B expended all of their balls, we had two closer than their closest ball, but if we could knock away their closest ball, we'd be able to pick up 4. Eric didn't go for the hit and instead tried to just get it in closer than their ball. He laid it in short, in front of the pallino, but not close enough to add any points. I rolled our last ball intending to sneak around that ball, bump Count B's ball and stop near the pallino, in hopes of picking up 3, and maybe a 4th if their ball rolled away. I ended up bumping Eric's short ball, then carrying forward enough to bump their ball a little and land close to take all 4 points. We tied it up at 5-5. Teresa and Abby closed it out without having to roll more than 2 balls.

Doubleheader next week. Go Joanies!

A new season

2009-06-13T13:49:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged about the team in a while. We ended last season on a sour note. After dominating the league for most of the season, we lost our last two games again two veteran teams, Gowanus Iguanas and Old Dirty Barristers. We drew the Old Dirty in the first round of the playoffs, and lost to them again. And to make matters worse, I wasn't even there. On the bright side, I wasn't there because my employer sent me to Paris to manage a team of twenty other lawyers on a fairly important project. And then I had a week of vacation in Paris. And then I came back and got to announce that my wife is pregnant. So there were good things, just not in the bocce universe.

So today we started the summer season. And again, not in a good way. We played a very annoying team of rookies and drunks, the Little Lassos, and lost in straight games, 7-5, 7-0. I don't even want to write about.

This is probably my last season of captaining the mighty Joanies, since next season I'll have a baby right around playoff time, and the following season I'll have an infant and I'll have to focus on captaining the Trokensimons instead. So this loss doesn't really mean anything. There are lots of games ahead.

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

2009-03-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-08T14:43:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Winter/Spring 2009, Game 4: Joanies vs. Bocce Brunch

2009-02-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

I've abandoned the experiment. No note taking this game, just bocce.

Game 1: Joanies 7, Bocce Brunch 3
Kirstie and Danielle played together at the North end, despite the no couples rule; Abby and Hugh played at the South. Abby was playing with a new cast on her right leg. Now that's one tough chick. Everyone played pretty well and we won 7-3.

Game 2: Joanies 3, Bocce Brunch 7.
Danielle and Teresa at the North end, Hugh and I at the South. I don't think we played too badly, but we didn't play great.

Game 3: Joanies 7, Bocce Brunch 5. Kirstie and Danielle again at the North, Abby and I at the South. Kirstie and Danielle didn't play great until their last round. Abby and I played well, until our last round. It balanced out to better than the other guys. Go Joanie!

We're now 3-1, and having a decent season. But now we get 3 weeks off. We'll see how well we shake off the rust.

Winter/Spring 2009, Game 3: Joanie vs. Bourbon Balls

2009-02-01T19:03:00.001-08:00

This sunday, I conducted an experiment. This will sound a little OCD, but I had my reasons. I kept a log of every ball thrown in our game against the Bourbon Balls. Before I go into detail, I just want to say how much we love playing the Bourbon Balls, and not just because we creamed them today. They moved to Monday night last season, and we missed them. Welcome back to Sunday.

As for the experiment, I wanted to be able to recreate and recall the entire game if I wanted to. For each round, my notes have 9 lines, one for each ball, and the 9th for the points scored in the round. Here's a sample from the first round. BB = Bourbon Balls, K = Kirstie, T = Teresa.

BB- pallino short middle - bocce just past
K- bumped-closer
BB-in front and closer
T- side - not closer
K - long
T - right in front
BB - knocked - still us
BB - bumped 2
+2

This match had 16 rounds, over three games, so I have 16 little sheets of paper with 9 lines of scribbling on it. This is what all those lines of scribble translate to.

Game 1, Round 1. Abby and I played at the South end, Kirstie and Teresa at the North. Bourbon Balls ("BB") won the coin toss and rolled first from the North end. They tossed the pallino short and in the middle, then placed their first bocce just past the pallino. Kirstie bumbed their ball and left hers a little closer. BB's next roll landed in front of the pallino and closer. Then Teresa put one close, on the side of the pallino but not close enough. Kirstie threw the third ball long. Then Teresa landed our last ball right in front for a point, but with a little room and BB with two more balls to throw. BB's third ball bumped our, but not enough and just pushed Teresa's ball closer. Their last ball bumped ours again, but after everything stopped rolling, we had two points. Joanies 2, BB 0.

Game 1, Round 2. Abby tossed the pallino middle distance and in the middle of the court, then put the first bocce about two feet in front. BB went around Abby's ball and put their bocce about one foot in front. I bumped theirs, and my ball sat right in front of the pallino. BB then bumped my ball forward a little, then did it again. With their fourth ball, BB bumped my ball away and theirs stuck with the pallino. Abby's roll knocked their ball away and stuck close for the point. My ball hit our ball, but didn't change anything. We scored one to put us ahead 3-0. Joanies 3, BB 0.

Game 1, Round 3. Kirstie rolled the pallino middle distance in the middle of the court, then put her bocce in front and to the right by a foot. BB missed long. Their second ball bumped ours, and stopped six inches past the pallino. Teresa bumped ours, but neither ended up closer. Kirstie threw our third bocce, bumped one of our balls and her ball stopped closer to the pallino. BB's third ball bumped ours, but rolled past. Their fourth rolled close, but not point. Teresa dropped her bocce and we took one point for the 4-0 lead. Joanies 4, BB 0.

Game 1, Round 4. Abby tossed the pallino middle distance in the middle, then put the bocce one foot to the right of the pallino. BB threw short with the first. With their second, they bumped our first ball and theirs stayed there for the point. I threw a ball that sat very close, just to the left of the pallino. BB bumped me away, leaving them with two close balls. Abby threw the third ball too short. With the fourth ball, I pushed the pallino forward to pick up two points. BB's fourth ball missed long. Joanies 6, BB 0.

Game 1, Round 5. Kirstie tossed the pallino longish in the middle of the court, then placed the bocce a foot in front. BB threw too long twice. With their third ball, BB bumped our ball away and theirs stayed put. Teresa then hit their ball away to take back the point. BB missed with their last ball and Joanie won game one 7-0.

Game 2, Round 1. Since we romped to a 7-0 victory in Game 1, we stuck with the same squad in Game 2. Abby rolled the first ball middle distance in the middle of the court and kissed it with the bocce. BB rolled the first ball very close, but not close enough. With the second ball, they bumped ours a little and their ball sat. Both balls were very close and I got a chance to use my calipers for the first time. It looked a lot like this-- OoO -- They got the point. Then Sonny gave me the finger (yes, this is in my notes--its possible he gave me the finger other times, but I didn't write it down--in general people thought my note taking was odd, and I was the object of a lot of teasing, but I kind of like how it all turned out). I rolled our second ball, and hit the pile right in the middle. The two balls on either side of the pallino split and my ball rolled with the pallino a foot and they stopped together. BB's next ball bumped mine a little closer to the pallino, then missed with their next ball. We had the point. Trying to add points, Abby and I both missed with our next rolls. Joanies 1, BB 0.

Game 2, Round 2. Kirstie threw the pallino long, then hit the back wall with the first bocce. BB's free roll landed about a foot and a half past the pallino and to the left. Teresa then pushed the pallino, but her ball rolled past and farther away. Kirstie then bumped their bocce and the pallino, and after the balls stopped rolling around, we had two points. BB then bumped one of our balls, to no effect. With their next ball, they bumped ours again and after the balls stopped rolling they had two points. Teresa hit the pile and when the balls stopped rolling BB had three points. BB dropped their last ball and took the three. This is why we hate the long game. Joanies 1, BB 3.

Game 2, Round 3. BB threw the pallino for the second time today, short and on the right, then missed with the bocce about three feet too long. Abby dropped the bocce about six inches in front. BB tried to knock our bocce and missed. With their third ball they bumped our ball, but we kept the point. With their fourth bocce they pushed the pallino and took the point. I threw our second bocce, bumped theirs, without changing much and past the pallino. Abby then hit their ball away to get two points for us. I then snuck our last ball in for a third point. Joanies 4, BB 3.

Game 2, Round 4. Kirstie threw the pallino middle distance and then dropped the bocce way short. BB's first bocce was closer, but not by much. Teresa then threw long. Kirstie pushed the pallino a little, but her bocce kept going and landed long. Teresa threw the last bocce closer, about a foot to the left. BB, with three balls left, missed with the first two balls, and landed the last one close enough. Joanies 4, BB 4.

Game 2, Round 5. BB threw the pallino middle distance, middle of the court, then threw a great first bocce that kissed the pallino on the left. Abby's first bocce landed a couple of feet to the left. I bumped both the bocce and the pallino to make some room, but without getting the point. Abby then missed with the third ball. With the fourth, I bumped their ball softly and left my bocce in front. It was their point, but we left two balls in front and in the way. Their next three bocces didn't change anything. Joanies 4, BB 5.

Game 2, Round 6. BB threw the pallino short and in the middle, then parked the bocce right in front. Kirstie bumped their bocce, no change. Teresa then hit their bocce and the pallino, all rolled down the court and our ball landed closer. BB rolled it close to get the point back. Kirstie hit our ball and hers landed too short. Tersa then hit their ball and after they all stopped rolling she had the closer ball. BB fixed it with their next two balls to get two points and win game 2. Bourbon Balls win Game 2, 7-4.

Game 3, Round 1. We shook it up again in game 3. Eric and Hugh came in to play together at the South end. Danielle came in at the North and I moved North to play with her. BB rolled the palino longish and then stuck the bocce close. Eric missed to the right, then Hugh hit the bocce and pallino, knocked them all back, left some room, but didn't get the point. Then Eric rolled our third bocce, placing it perfectly in front of the pallino. BB threw their second ball short. Their third bumped ours back a little, but no change in points. Their fourth bocce hit Eric's ball which slid off to the side, leaving them with the point. Hugh threw a great shot with the fourth ball that went between two balls, pushed the pallino and stuck to win the point. Joanies 1, BB 0.

Game 3, Round 2. Danielle threw the pallino long and on the left, and then tossed the first bocce three feet to long. BB threw too long too, but a little shorter for the point. I threw our second bocce a couple of feet too short, but closer than theirs. BB tossed their second ball too long. With their third they pushed my ball forward and closer to the pallino. With their fourth, they went too long again. Both Danielle and I missed with our third and fourth balls. Joanies 2, BB 0.

Game 3, Round 3. Eric tossed the pallino just barely over the halfway line, then put the bocce a foot long and to the left. This is the kind of pallino toss that can drive other teams crazy. Teams either try to get it close and roll it too far because they're worried about getting it over halfway, or they try to hit the pallino and miss. Sometimes they hit the pallino, but it happens infrequently enough that its worth doing every now and then. It worked pretty well this time, in that BB wasted three balls getting the point. Their first went long. Their second pushed the pallino, but toward our ball. Their third bumped our ball and theirs landed a little closer than ours. Hugh missed with out second ball. Eric rolled our third a little short, but close, just not close enough. Hugh then bumped Eric's short ball, but his then continued forward just enough to get very close to the pallino. BB's last roll was short. Just like the t-shirt says, one point at a time. Joanies 3, BB 0.

Game 3, Round 4. Danielle rolled the pallino short and in the middle of the court, then a perfect bocce that kissed the pallino and stopped in front. BB landed their first ball in front of outs, their second went long, their third was short, and their fourth hit our ball, pushed the pallino, and landed a little closer than ours, but with about six inches between their ball and the pallino. I rolled our second bocce and used the slope on the left side to bring the ball around theirs, pushed the pallino a little and sat perfectly for the point. Danielle rolled a ball that bumped mine a little and both of ours ended up close for two points. With our last ball, I snuck it in again and we scored 3. Joanies 6, BB 0.

Game 3, Round 5. In the last round, Eric started off with a middle distance pallino toss and then stuck the bocce close to the pallino. BB hit Eric's ball, knocked it and the pallino back , but ours stayed closer. With their second ball, BB knocked our ball forward and even closer to the pallino. They missed with their next two ball. Joanies Win 7-0.

It was a fun game and an interesting experiment. This was probably a long boring description of a bocce game than no one will read. I'll analyze it more in a future post. I'd like to develop a better system for keeping track of each roll, but for now a shorthand description of each roll is the best I can do.

Winter 2009, Game 2: Joanie vs. Bocce Guevara

2009-01-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

Your Joanies faced off against one of the dumber named teams in the league this past Sunday. Two problems with the name: First, Bocce does not rhyme with Che, nor does the "cc" simply replace a consanant sound in Che. These are the common key elements in bocce themed team names. See, Boccelism, Boccismo, If You Want My Bocce, and, of course, Joanie Loves Bocce. Second, its not funny or clever. Che Guevara's place in history is complex. To some he is lauded as a revolutionary. To others he's vilified as a ruthless strongman. Whether or not one approves of his ends, i.e. the throwing off of the American empirical stranglehold over the Cuban government, it is hard to approve of his means, e.g. death by firing squad for Batista supporters. This is hardly a proper figure to be honored with a bocce team name. Joanie and Chachi would be turning over in their graves. If they were dead. Which I bet they would wish they were if they were aware of the Bocce Guevara team name. Which they're not. Anyway, on to the recap.

The Joanies stunk it up.

Game 1: Bocce Guevara 7, Joanie 6. Danielle & Teresa at the north end, Eric and Hugh at the South. BG comes out with 6 straight points, before the gang starts fighting back. We tie it at 6, but can't get that last point.

Game 2: Joanie 7, BG 5. Kirstie & Abby at the north, Eric and the Fonz at the south. We fall behind right away again before coming back to take the game.

Game 3: BG 7, Joanie 2. Abby & Teresa at the north, Hugh and the Fonz at the south. Nothing much to be said here.

What bothered me about this loss is that everyone else on the team seemed to think that the other team got lucky breaks and that we weren't playing great, but we were battling. I did not see it that way. Bocce Guevara played a solid game, with the exception of one round that they kept trying to hit stuff and missing. We were lucky to win game 2. Even in rounds when we scored multiple points it seemed like it was more because of a lucky bounce than because anyone rolled a particularly good bocce. I played just as poorly as anyone else, with the exception of maybe 2 rolls that I was happy with. I think we need to recognize when we're playing poorly or we're not going to be able to improve.

Winter/Spring 2009 Seasons Begins

2009-01-11T17:26:00.001-08:00

Today Joanie began what we hope will be another championship season. We kicked it off against Do These Droids Speak Bocce.

Game 1, Kirstie and Hugh played at the South end and Danielle and Teresa played at the North end. They got off to a 6-0 lead, then let Do These Droids back into it. With a 6-4 lead, Kirstie and Hugh finished it off and we won game won 7-4.

Game 2, Hugh and I played at the South end and Danielle and Teresa stayed on at the North end. Do These Droids started off against D&T with 3 points. Hugh and I gave them another. D&T took a point, then Hugh and I gave up another. With Joanie behind 5-1, D&T started the come back with 2 points. Hugh and I then scored another 3 to put us up 6-5. D&T finished them off to bring us the victory.

Joanie wins 7-4, 7-5. It was a nice start to the season.

We also heard a rumor from the ODB (who lost their first game) that the end of the season tournament would not include every team, so there's some incentive to having a winning record. We're on our way. Go Joanie!

Fall 2008 Playoffs

2009-01-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late coming. In mid-December, Joanie went to the playoffs with a 8-2 record, in 2nd place in the Saturday division and bye in the first round of the playoffs. I couldn't be at that first playoff game, as it was the same day as the unveiling of my late grandmother's headstone. Joanie played without me, while I was with my family at a cemetery on Long Island. It was not a fun day for me. And in my absence, Joanie lost in 3 games. I won't say that we would have won if I was there. But we didn't win, and our season ended. We hope to build on the last two seasons in Winter/Spring 2009.

Latest News from Joanie-land

2008-11-09T17:42:00.001-08:00

For those interested in the latest news in the wonderful world of Joanie Loves Bocce, you're in luck. I've got some free time.

Three weeks ago we played a doubleheader, and swept. Our first game was against Bocce Guevara. First of all, nice pun. Second of all, I don't approve of the whole Che Guevara as a pop-culture figure thing. He was a complicated historical figure, who may or may not have had a part in some brutal oppression in the name of the socialist cause. I don't know enough about it. But in general I don't approve of the idolization of military figures, which he is. Third of all, none of this has to do with bocce, so on with the stuff we're all hear to read about. We won in 2 games. It was three weeks ago, so I don't really remember exactly what happened. I think they were competent, didn't make any big mistakes, also but didn't make any really tough shots to put pressure on us. Its the kind of game that ends up being one point at a time, i.e Joanies kind of game. We won 7-3, 7-2. The same second game that day was against Do These Droids Speak Bocce, which, in contrast to Bocce Guevara, I love the name. First, its a quote from Star Wars. Second, its an exact quote from Star Wars, no pun required. Third, I like this team too, and not just because of their name. They were cool. We won 7-5, 7-2. Same as first game. They weren't bad, but also weren't great. And we were on our game. Danielle, for one, played very well.

Last weekend, we played the Holy Rollers and 7-3, 7-5. I don't remember much about this game either, except that I sat out the first game after being shamed by Jen Williams, who pointed out how far Abby comes to play. So Abby and Danielle played at the North end, Kirstie and Eric played at the South end, and I sat out. I think Kirstie came out in game two and I played with Eric. Oh and if I remember correctly, they were initially short a player and had a friend who had never played before playing for them. All things considered, they played well. Its hard to win when you have a rookie playing, especially against the Defending League Champions.

Today, we played another doubleheader (what a weird schedule this season) and won both in straight games. First we played the Bocce Brunch, who Eric recalls beating us last season. I think we were embarrassed about it because they have such a dopey name. I sort of like this team, except I didn't today. A lot of little things bothered me, but mostly it was at the end when we measured a ball and they thought they were closer and I thought we were closer. They measure with some slack in the measuring tape, which lacks precision. I hold it taut. This annoyed me, especially because I knew I was right. But I gave it to them because if it was a tie, we were going to roll anyway, and I knew we would eventually win anyway. Which we did. 7-5, 7-3 (I think). Oh, and I got to roll the winning ball, which made me feel good. Take that Bocce Brunch.

Game 2 today was against Balls Deep. I think this was the team I accused of being anti-social when we played against them last season. They were much more social this time. I take back everything I ever said about them. They played well this time too. But we were better. 7-3, 7-6.

Yes, that's five in a row. This makes us 6-2, with two games to go. Joanie Loves Bocce is on a roll.

Video of Joanie's Semi-Final Victory

2008-09-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

I mentioned in the last post how much we like If You Want My Bocce. What I didn't mention, because I didn't know at the time, is that they have a blog. And that their blog has video of some of their games. And that one of those videos includes clips of our Semi-Finals victory against them. The video is below. The section on our game starts at around 1:20. Thank you Team Rod (that's what they call themselves--they're devoted to Rod Stewart, like the Joanies love the Fonz) for putting this online. Team Rod is a class act all the way.

You can find the video on their blog:

http://ifyouwantmybocce.blogspot.com/2008/09/rod-stuart-may-love-hamptons-but-lady.html

Or on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIGbZyw9s7M&eurl=http://ifyouwantmybocce.blogspot.com/2008/09/rod-stuart-may-love-hamptons-but-lady.html.

CHAMPIONS of the Floyd Summer 2008 Bocce League

2008-08-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

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.

What Does Joanie Love?

2008-06-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

Bocce, that's what. I know you've been waiting, breathless, for the Joanie Loves Bocce Blog, or JLBB for short, since the day we formed. And now, its here, and its probably a little anticlimactic.*

*Or not, but I do love saying "anticlimactic" out loud, so be sure read this blog aloud at least once. The best part is when you pronounce the "c" right before the "tic". Ennunciation is fun!

I will present the grand history of the JLB (or JheartB or whatever acronym/nickname we're using lately) in a future post. But for now, I'll just update everyone on the current events.

Saturday, June 7, 2008: The JLB opens the Summer 2008 season with a match against Excessive Force.* Excessive Force is scheduled to play a double header, with a game before ours against some team who's name I didn't recognize and don't recall. They didn't show up for the early game and didn't show up for our game. Summer 2008 begins with a win by forfeit. Abby, Hugh and Eric all showed up for the game. Lisa came late. Amy Little, a potential Summer alternate showed up, so points for her. We scrimmaged against the other team that was stood up by EF. We won in 3 games, but I don't remember the score, since it was just a scrimmage. Eric and Hugh played at the South end, Abby and I at the North. Lisa didn't come in time to get into the game. Eric was the only one who brought the skills, but the rest of us woke up a bit in game 3.

*I think we played them in Round 2 of the tournament last season in Winter/Spring 2008. If I remember correctly, they played well, but we won 7-4, 7-4.