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.

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

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

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

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

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!