After vanquishing two of our rivals in the first two games of this season, Team Rod was riding high against the fellas of Boccelism or Lism as they prefer to be called. We were not only riding a two game winning streak on this young season but a two game winning streak against the four-time champions of Boccelism.
It wasn't meant to be last Monday night though.
We just couldn't put anything together. We had some good rolls, we had some bad rolls. We had some good dance moves, we had some bad luck. Oh well, that's the way the gold record shatters sometimes.
For the record:
Game 1
Beth and me
Mitch and SHR
They took a 3-0 lead before we came roaring back to take a 4-3 lead. But then everything went bad.
7-4 Boccelism
Game 2
Jim and Erik
Mitch and Dani
They took a 5-2 lead but again we edged closer. We didn't take a lead though but we did get as close as 5-4. But then just like in the first game, things went sour at the end.
7-4 Boccelism
So far this season, we have beaten the two teams that we hadn't beaten yet (going 0-2 against both ODB and Watch Your Balls in previous seasons) and lost to the team that we had beaten twice in a row.
I'm not sure what this trend means for a team we haven't beaten in five previous tries. But The Sweet Meats have a week to figure it out. Rod prefers it medium raw if you catch my drift.
Season Record: 2-1
The Movie: Complete With Sound Effects!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Rod: Avenger of All Losses
After beating ODB last week for the first time, we faced off against another team that we were 0-2 against, Watch Your Balls.
In fact, not only were we 0-2 against them but we hadn't even won a game against them. But those two losses came at odd times in Rod's checkered past. One was immediately following the haze of a heartbreaking Sweet Meats defeat last spring as part of a doubleheader. And the other was last fall. That loss dropped us to 0-3 and much drama immediately followed.
But Rod is in a different place mentally these days and likens last fall to the dissolution of his marriage to Rachel Hunter. And now look how happy Rod is!
But when we went down by 4 after the first frame, things looked a bit dicey. But Rod ain't afraid of no balls. Mitch and I began the comeback by notching our first point. Dani and Beth added a point and then Mitch and I added two more. All of a sudden it was tied at 4.
Down 5-4, Mitch and I added two more. Dani put the hammer down in the next frame and we took a satisfying 7-5 victory.
Game 2
Mitch and SHR put up three quick points before Watch Your Balls answered with three of their own. Then Rod was down 4-3 before we even knew what hit us. No matter.
Jim and Erik tied it at 4. And then Mitch went to town. His first roll of the frame was so brilliant that it forced Watch Your Balls to expend all of their pent up energy into four missed opportunities. SHR and Mitch finished them off and that was all she wrote.
Game 1
Dani and Beth
Mitch and me
7-5 Rod
Game 2
Jim and Erik
Mitch and SHR
7-4 Rod
On the night, Mitch's side won by a score of 11-1. Nice! Yet somehow I scored the Hot Rod belt. I'll take the charity knowing that the real winner on this night was Rod.
Season Record: 2-0
The Movie
In fact, not only were we 0-2 against them but we hadn't even won a game against them. But those two losses came at odd times in Rod's checkered past. One was immediately following the haze of a heartbreaking Sweet Meats defeat last spring as part of a doubleheader. And the other was last fall. That loss dropped us to 0-3 and much drama immediately followed.
But Rod is in a different place mentally these days and likens last fall to the dissolution of his marriage to Rachel Hunter. And now look how happy Rod is!But when we went down by 4 after the first frame, things looked a bit dicey. But Rod ain't afraid of no balls. Mitch and I began the comeback by notching our first point. Dani and Beth added a point and then Mitch and I added two more. All of a sudden it was tied at 4.
Down 5-4, Mitch and I added two more. Dani put the hammer down in the next frame and we took a satisfying 7-5 victory.
Game 2
Mitch and SHR put up three quick points before Watch Your Balls answered with three of their own. Then Rod was down 4-3 before we even knew what hit us. No matter.
Jim and Erik tied it at 4. And then Mitch went to town. His first roll of the frame was so brilliant that it forced Watch Your Balls to expend all of their pent up energy into four missed opportunities. SHR and Mitch finished them off and that was all she wrote.
Game 1
Dani and Beth
Mitch and me
7-5 Rod
Game 2
Jim and Erik
Mitch and SHR
7-4 Rod
On the night, Mitch's side won by a score of 11-1. Nice! Yet somehow I scored the Hot Rod belt. I'll take the charity knowing that the real winner on this night was Rod.
Season Record: 2-0
The Movie
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
If You Want My Bocce: Back in Business
This is a season of redemption. This is a season to welcome back old friends. This is an era of good feelings.
This is If You Want My Bocce 2008!
For our first game of the season we had a tough assignment - the Old Dirty Barristers, the reigning champions.
This was the third time we had started a season against them. We lost to them to begin Fall '07 as well as Summer '06. Would Spring '08 be any different?
At first, it didn't seem likely.
We quickly were down 5-0.
But then Team Rod started to come back.
Jim and Dani started it with two points with some nice rolling.
Down 5-2, Sweet Touch started things off well with an excellent first roll. ODB took four rolls to get closer. But closer they got. Right on the damn pallino.
No matter, Beth knows that Rod likes it nice and hard so that is what she did. With a precision shot, she knocked out ODB's ball to give us two points. It was an unbelievable shot.
Jim and Dani gave us another point to tie it and we were on our way to victory!
Down 6-5, Dani pinned them deep with an amazing roll. Tied at 6 in the same frame, Jim put them away with a lovely shot deep.
In Game 2, we fell behind 4-2. No matter, SHR, Dave, Mitch, and I had a plan for victory. We chipped away. Soon it was 4-3. Then it was 5-4 us. Then 6-4.
Mitch and I had the opportunity to put the hammer down. Unfortunately, we didn't quite do that. No matter. ODB helped us out. With a chance to win, not only could they not add to their point with any of their remaining balls, they knocked theirs out with their last ball to give Rod the win. As we all know - some guys have all the luck.
Team Rod!
Hooray for everybody! I can't wait for our next game - maybe Floyd will actually turn on the heat so our Rod hands aren't so darn cold.
Check out the video. Not my best work considering I missed Beth's amazing Game 1 shot as well as the last shot of the match. Oh well. There's some Ms. Pac Man footage instead.
And while you're at it, this Rod approved jam is dedicated to our returning members, Beth and Jim. Welcome back.
This is If You Want My Bocce 2008!
For our first game of the season we had a tough assignment - the Old Dirty Barristers, the reigning champions.
This was the third time we had started a season against them. We lost to them to begin Fall '07 as well as Summer '06. Would Spring '08 be any different?
At first, it didn't seem likely.
We quickly were down 5-0.
But then Team Rod started to come back.
Jim and Dani started it with two points with some nice rolling.
Down 5-2, Sweet Touch started things off well with an excellent first roll. ODB took four rolls to get closer. But closer they got. Right on the damn pallino.
No matter, Beth knows that Rod likes it nice and hard so that is what she did. With a precision shot, she knocked out ODB's ball to give us two points. It was an unbelievable shot.
Jim and Dani gave us another point to tie it and we were on our way to victory!
Down 6-5, Dani pinned them deep with an amazing roll. Tied at 6 in the same frame, Jim put them away with a lovely shot deep.
In Game 2, we fell behind 4-2. No matter, SHR, Dave, Mitch, and I had a plan for victory. We chipped away. Soon it was 4-3. Then it was 5-4 us. Then 6-4.
Mitch and I had the opportunity to put the hammer down. Unfortunately, we didn't quite do that. No matter. ODB helped us out. With a chance to win, not only could they not add to their point with any of their remaining balls, they knocked theirs out with their last ball to give Rod the win. As we all know - some guys have all the luck.
Team Rod!
Hooray for everybody! I can't wait for our next game - maybe Floyd will actually turn on the heat so our Rod hands aren't so darn cold.
Check out the video. Not my best work considering I missed Beth's amazing Game 1 shot as well as the last shot of the match. Oh well. There's some Ms. Pac Man footage instead.
And while you're at it, this Rod approved jam is dedicated to our returning members, Beth and Jim. Welcome back.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Rod: Vision of the Future
Mitch e-mailed me this artwork right after the completion of the fall season.
He wrote, "This photo was on the computer I'm using at work. Strange coincidence or vision of the future?"
Jeremy of the Sweet Meats also left this photo as a link in the comments section of the last post.
Should we buy some prints?
Dave also sent this Faces video around recently to his fellow Team Rodsters.
The new season is almost upon us. Prepare to be amazed fellow teams at Floyd! We're back and hungry to avenge our tumultuous last season. Sing it Rod!
He wrote, "This photo was on the computer I'm using at work. Strange coincidence or vision of the future?"
Jeremy of the Sweet Meats also left this photo as a link in the comments section of the last post.Should we buy some prints?
Dave also sent this Faces video around recently to his fellow Team Rodsters.
The new season is almost upon us. Prepare to be amazed fellow teams at Floyd! We're back and hungry to avenge our tumultuous last season. Sing it Rod!
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Over Already?
And we had been playing so well of late! But that is the nature of this lovely but often cruel game of bocce.
The day started off on a promising note.
We held off the strong bashing skills of Balls Deep and won 7-5. We all rolled well. I was the weak link and I wasn't half bad. SHR placed every ball exactly where she wanted. Dani was very good throughout and Mitch dominated after the first frame.
Too bad the fun times didn't continue into the second game. A 7-1 spanking wasn't fun. But we weren't rolling that poorly. Balls Deep rolled really well. It seemed like every single time they needed to knock one of our balls out, they did.
Game 2 lineup
Erik and Mitch
SHR and Dani
Game 3
I replaced Dani. We took a quick 3-0 lead. And then the problems began.
Balls Deep were out of balls but they had the point. We had two balls left. If we could knock their closest ball out, we could get four points and win. However, there was plenty of space left to put up a two-spot and give Rod a commanding 5-0 lead. In our last game of the regular season, Erik faced a somewhat (but it was Game 2, not 3 and we already had the point) similar situation. This is how I described the play that followed from that game:
I especially loved Game 2 when we fell behind 3-0 before tying it 3-3. Then in the next frame, we had one point already scored with one ball left. The Mamalukes had a ball very close to our closest. But our other two balls were pretty close as well. Erik looked at Mitch and me and said, "I'm going to try something crazy here."
And he did. It was crazy good is what it was. Perhaps the best shot I've seen all season. With precision, he knocked the enemy ball clean out while keeping all four of our balls near the pallino. A four-spot! The end. Erik awarded himself the Hot Rod with his lovely last roll.
With visions of that amazing roll, Erik tried it again. This is what happened. Not quite what he had in mind. Oh well, we still had a ball left. Unfortunately, Mitch tried the exact same thing. Again, to no avail. Balls Deep were on the board.
This proved to be an important momentum shift. SHR and I gave up a point. Erik and Mitch gave up another and all of a sudden it was tied at 3.
No matter. I was happy that it was only 3-3. We were very lucky that they hadn't already put us away with our three straight frames of uninspired play. But their penchant for successful bashing had disappeared at just the right moment for us and we still had a chance.
Then we started taking it to them. SHR and I put up a point and then Erik and Mitch added two more points, powered by this Mitch roll.
We felt good with a 6-3 lead. Bring on the final 8! Not so fast there. Rod has had to learn many times not to put a notch in that ol' bedpost before actually bedding the lady or two or three. Speaking of loving each other, Balls Deep were way in love with each other during the match. Lots of PDA, boys with girls, boys with boys, girls with girls, any sort of combo available. Rod wasn't sure if he approved or not even though it seems like something Rod would be into. Rod was conflicted.
Henry found more interesting things about the bocce court than the game itself.
Anyway, back to the action ...
SHR and I tried to put it away but all of a sudden - two bad things began to occur.
1. Balls Deep's stellar rolling came back when they most needed it.
2. Our luck began to run out.
After my first good roll, they placed their ball right near the pallino. SHR and I had three straight rolls all end up in the same rut. Then Balls Deep did the same thing with their next two. I was hoping they would only end up with one point and it seemed that way even after they rolled their final ball. But after measuring, they were a little closer and got two points. Every single measuring moment in this match went against us.
It went back to Mitch and Erik and they had a very similar frame to the one SHR and I just rolled. They expended all of their balls with Balls Deep having three left. Only one more needed to get closer to end our season. It was nerve wracking. This is what happened.
We got lucky again. It came down to the final frame tied at 6.
Balls Deep started with an amazing amazing amazing roll. They put their ball right on the pallino deep deep deep. SHR and I spent our first three rolls trying to dislodge the two.
It came down to the last roll. Even if I got closer somehow, they still had three balls left. But I didn't care about that. I'd worry about it later.
I rolled an excellent shot. It hit their ball, it hit the pallino. For a brief moment, I thought we would live for another roll or two and force their hand.
But it wasn't meant to be. The rollback went their way and that was it.
Ouch. I can't believe we didn't even make it to the final weekend.
Final Record: 3-4
This was our first losing season since the first season - the last time we really had to find ourselves as the season went along. It was also the last season we didn't make it to at least the final 8.
With Dancey Dance On: 0-3
With Rock On: 3-1
This was the first time Team Rod didn't win at least one playoff game. But we were really coming together at the end of the regular season so we're not going to let one loss deter us. We'll be back in 2008, fighting trim, and ready to show off any new scarves and such that we happen to accrue over the holidays.
The day started off on a promising note.
We held off the strong bashing skills of Balls Deep and won 7-5. We all rolled well. I was the weak link and I wasn't half bad. SHR placed every ball exactly where she wanted. Dani was very good throughout and Mitch dominated after the first frame.Too bad the fun times didn't continue into the second game. A 7-1 spanking wasn't fun. But we weren't rolling that poorly. Balls Deep rolled really well. It seemed like every single time they needed to knock one of our balls out, they did.
Game 2 lineup
Erik and Mitch
SHR and Dani
Game 3
I replaced Dani. We took a quick 3-0 lead. And then the problems began.
Balls Deep were out of balls but they had the point. We had two balls left. If we could knock their closest ball out, we could get four points and win. However, there was plenty of space left to put up a two-spot and give Rod a commanding 5-0 lead. In our last game of the regular season, Erik faced a somewhat (but it was Game 2, not 3 and we already had the point) similar situation. This is how I described the play that followed from that game:
I especially loved Game 2 when we fell behind 3-0 before tying it 3-3. Then in the next frame, we had one point already scored with one ball left. The Mamalukes had a ball very close to our closest. But our other two balls were pretty close as well. Erik looked at Mitch and me and said, "I'm going to try something crazy here."
And he did. It was crazy good is what it was. Perhaps the best shot I've seen all season. With precision, he knocked the enemy ball clean out while keeping all four of our balls near the pallino. A four-spot! The end. Erik awarded himself the Hot Rod with his lovely last roll.
With visions of that amazing roll, Erik tried it again. This is what happened. Not quite what he had in mind. Oh well, we still had a ball left. Unfortunately, Mitch tried the exact same thing. Again, to no avail. Balls Deep were on the board.
This proved to be an important momentum shift. SHR and I gave up a point. Erik and Mitch gave up another and all of a sudden it was tied at 3.
No matter. I was happy that it was only 3-3. We were very lucky that they hadn't already put us away with our three straight frames of uninspired play. But their penchant for successful bashing had disappeared at just the right moment for us and we still had a chance.
Then we started taking it to them. SHR and I put up a point and then Erik and Mitch added two more points, powered by this Mitch roll.
We felt good with a 6-3 lead. Bring on the final 8! Not so fast there. Rod has had to learn many times not to put a notch in that ol' bedpost before actually bedding the lady or two or three. Speaking of loving each other, Balls Deep were way in love with each other during the match. Lots of PDA, boys with girls, boys with boys, girls with girls, any sort of combo available. Rod wasn't sure if he approved or not even though it seems like something Rod would be into. Rod was conflicted.
Henry found more interesting things about the bocce court than the game itself.
Anyway, back to the action ...SHR and I tried to put it away but all of a sudden - two bad things began to occur.
1. Balls Deep's stellar rolling came back when they most needed it.
2. Our luck began to run out.
After my first good roll, they placed their ball right near the pallino. SHR and I had three straight rolls all end up in the same rut. Then Balls Deep did the same thing with their next two. I was hoping they would only end up with one point and it seemed that way even after they rolled their final ball. But after measuring, they were a little closer and got two points. Every single measuring moment in this match went against us.
It went back to Mitch and Erik and they had a very similar frame to the one SHR and I just rolled. They expended all of their balls with Balls Deep having three left. Only one more needed to get closer to end our season. It was nerve wracking. This is what happened.
We got lucky again. It came down to the final frame tied at 6.
Balls Deep started with an amazing amazing amazing roll. They put their ball right on the pallino deep deep deep. SHR and I spent our first three rolls trying to dislodge the two.
It came down to the last roll. Even if I got closer somehow, they still had three balls left. But I didn't care about that. I'd worry about it later.
I rolled an excellent shot. It hit their ball, it hit the pallino. For a brief moment, I thought we would live for another roll or two and force their hand.
But it wasn't meant to be. The rollback went their way and that was it.
Ouch. I can't believe we didn't even make it to the final weekend.
Final Record: 3-4This was our first losing season since the first season - the last time we really had to find ourselves as the season went along. It was also the last season we didn't make it to at least the final 8.
With Dancey Dance On: 0-3
With Rock On: 3-1
This was the first time Team Rod didn't win at least one playoff game. But we were really coming together at the end of the regular season so we're not going to let one loss deter us. We'll be back in 2008, fighting trim, and ready to show off any new scarves and such that we happen to accrue over the holidays.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Rods Evens It Out
That's right, ladies and gentlemen. If You Want My Bocce has evened its autumnal ledger at 3's.Erik, Dani, Mitch, and I all rolled well and it showed in the results.
I especially loved Game 2 when we fell behind 3-0 before tying it 3-3. Then in the next frame, we had one point already scored with one ball left. The Mamalukes had a ball very close to our closest. But our other two balls were pretty close as well. Erik looked at Mitch and me and said, "I'm going to try something crazy here."
And he did. It was crazy good is what it was. Perhaps the best shot I've seen all season. With precision, he knocked the enemy ball clean out while keeping all four of our balls near the pallino. A four-spot! The end. Erik awarded himself the Hot Rod with his lovely last roll.
We started this season with an unbelievable amount of strife, tension, and anxiety. Now we are cruising. Unfortunately, we don't play again until December. Oh well, Rod will be ready. He's always ready.
Season Record With Rock On: 3-0
Season Record With Dancey Dance On: 0-3
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Team Rod on the March
Team Rod, riding high after finally winning for the first time this season, took on old rivals Boccelism last Monday night.
We went in at 1-3 and the former four-time champs went in at 1-2. Someone was going to go home sad.
Pre-game conference from the "Lisms."
Game 1
Dave and me
SHR and Erik
SHR and Erik were solid the entire game. Dave and I were a bit spotty though. Of our first two frames, we only had two good rolls between the two of us. But the two good rolls put us in excellent position and we scored a point in each frame. I had a good feeling about the match based on getting two points on the strength of only two good rolls out of eight.
We took a commanding 5-0 lead. But then Boccelism began the comeback. The closest they got was 6-5 before we put the hammer down and won 7-5.
Game 2
Dave and me
Dani and Erik
This one wasn't so good. Boccelism was heartened by their late comeback and took it to us.
7-3 Boccelism
Measuring is easier with the help of a flashlight! Boccelism always come prepared.
Game 3
Mitch and me
SHR and Erik
Boccelism oozed confidence for Game 3. But everyone knows that ooze is one of Rod's favorite words so we weren't afraid.
We all rolled well. With a 5-2 Rod lead, the lads of Boccelism placed their ball closest to the pallino. We had two left though. I was hoping that SHR could knock their ball out and clear the way for Erik to finish them off. But she took matters into her own hands and superbly knocked their ball out while at the same time nudging another one of our balls a bit closer to give us two points! And the victory!
7-2 Rod!
I took a few movies over the course of the night but didn't get the best ones - including the stellar last roll from my honey. Plus I accidentally was taking them in the lowest quality setting. Oops. Rod can't always be on top of his game.
Worth watching anyway though.
SHR won the Hot Rod. Not that the Hot Rod award has made an appearance since September but we can all hope.
Season Record with Rock as the Soundtrack: 2-0
Season Record with Dancey Dance as the Soundtrack: 0-3
We beat Boccelism for the second straight time after losing our first four matches to them. We now have won two in a row (against the champions of the last six seasons!) to get to within sniffing distance of .500.
I was hoping to find an image like this of Rod marching.
Instead, this was the best I could do.
Also, congratulations to Cobra Kai for representing well by taking the first ever Bud Bocce Cup at Union Hall yesterday. Job well done.
We went in at 1-3 and the former four-time champs went in at 1-2. Someone was going to go home sad.
Pre-game conference from the "Lisms."
Game 1Dave and me
SHR and Erik
SHR and Erik were solid the entire game. Dave and I were a bit spotty though. Of our first two frames, we only had two good rolls between the two of us. But the two good rolls put us in excellent position and we scored a point in each frame. I had a good feeling about the match based on getting two points on the strength of only two good rolls out of eight.
We took a commanding 5-0 lead. But then Boccelism began the comeback. The closest they got was 6-5 before we put the hammer down and won 7-5.
Game 2
Dave and me
Dani and Erik
This one wasn't so good. Boccelism was heartened by their late comeback and took it to us.
7-3 Boccelism
Measuring is easier with the help of a flashlight! Boccelism always come prepared.
Game 3Mitch and me
SHR and Erik
Boccelism oozed confidence for Game 3. But everyone knows that ooze is one of Rod's favorite words so we weren't afraid.
We all rolled well. With a 5-2 Rod lead, the lads of Boccelism placed their ball closest to the pallino. We had two left though. I was hoping that SHR could knock their ball out and clear the way for Erik to finish them off. But she took matters into her own hands and superbly knocked their ball out while at the same time nudging another one of our balls a bit closer to give us two points! And the victory!
7-2 Rod!
I took a few movies over the course of the night but didn't get the best ones - including the stellar last roll from my honey. Plus I accidentally was taking them in the lowest quality setting. Oops. Rod can't always be on top of his game.
Worth watching anyway though.
SHR won the Hot Rod. Not that the Hot Rod award has made an appearance since September but we can all hope.
Season Record with Rock as the Soundtrack: 2-0
Season Record with Dancey Dance as the Soundtrack: 0-3
We beat Boccelism for the second straight time after losing our first four matches to them. We now have won two in a row (against the champions of the last six seasons!) to get to within sniffing distance of .500.
I was hoping to find an image like this of Rod marching.
Instead, this was the best I could do.
Also, congratulations to Cobra Kai for representing well by taking the first ever Bud Bocce Cup at Union Hall yesterday. Job well done.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
May the Worst Team Win
That is what I said to the Coffee Flats Terrors before our match on Monday night.
We had stumbled to a pathetic 0-3 record this season. We had lost team members as the season progressed. And we had lost sight of the most important thing - listening to rock music while playing bocce is much more preferable to listening to techno while playing bocce.
There wasn't anything we could do about any of these things. Other than hope for the best against the defending champions, wish our former teammates well in their future endeavors, and hope against hope that honest to goodness rock & roll would be played on this night.
Game 1
Erik and Dani
Mitch and me
I was the weak link while everyone else was hot and we cruised to a satisfying 7-2 victory. We've blown 6-0 leads this season so I wasn't convinced we were going to actually win until the final point was scored.
Game 2
Erik and Dani
Mitch and Dave
Mitch and Dave were on fire! They put up a four-spot to start us off and then we bled the Terrors to death by scoring one point at a time prolonging their misery like a cat would torture a mouse or a Rod would torture a young blonde plaything in a much different manner if you catch my Rod innuendo and I'm sure that you do.
7-0 Rod!
Could this be the turning point? Maybe. Maybe not. But we continue to prove that for whatever reason and whatever personnel we throw out there, new Rodsters or old, we are a force to be reckoned with, at least, when we play the Terrors. We are their Sweet Meats (we are 0-5 against them) and we raised our record against the Terrors to an imposing 4-0 in our last four matches dating back to Summer '06.
The Video
Celebration Time!
Erik forgot to bring the Hot Rod award to the game. It hasn't mattered until this week because the Hot Rod award is only given to the MVP of the game if and only if we win. This week, the award would have been given to Dani for her stellar play. To be honest, everyone except me was a solid contender for the award.
No worries though because yesterday, Hot Tub Eric in Memphis e-mailed me this gem of a picture with the subject heading Hot Rod.
This is much much hotter than a belt buckle, don't you think?
Everyone has their rituals I suppose. Apparently, the Terrors have one for when they get shutout. I'm not quite sure what to make of this but I think Rod would be strangely excited by it.
Season Record With Rock On: 1-0
Season Record With Dancey Dance On: 0-3
We had stumbled to a pathetic 0-3 record this season. We had lost team members as the season progressed. And we had lost sight of the most important thing - listening to rock music while playing bocce is much more preferable to listening to techno while playing bocce.
There wasn't anything we could do about any of these things. Other than hope for the best against the defending champions, wish our former teammates well in their future endeavors, and hope against hope that honest to goodness rock & roll would be played on this night.
Game 1
Erik and Dani
Mitch and me
I was the weak link while everyone else was hot and we cruised to a satisfying 7-2 victory. We've blown 6-0 leads this season so I wasn't convinced we were going to actually win until the final point was scored.
Game 2
Erik and Dani
Mitch and Dave
Mitch and Dave were on fire! They put up a four-spot to start us off and then we bled the Terrors to death by scoring one point at a time prolonging their misery like a cat would torture a mouse or a Rod would torture a young blonde plaything in a much different manner if you catch my Rod innuendo and I'm sure that you do.
7-0 Rod!
Could this be the turning point? Maybe. Maybe not. But we continue to prove that for whatever reason and whatever personnel we throw out there, new Rodsters or old, we are a force to be reckoned with, at least, when we play the Terrors. We are their Sweet Meats (we are 0-5 against them) and we raised our record against the Terrors to an imposing 4-0 in our last four matches dating back to Summer '06.
The Video
Celebration Time!
Erik forgot to bring the Hot Rod award to the game. It hasn't mattered until this week because the Hot Rod award is only given to the MVP of the game if and only if we win. This week, the award would have been given to Dani for her stellar play. To be honest, everyone except me was a solid contender for the award.No worries though because yesterday, Hot Tub Eric in Memphis e-mailed me this gem of a picture with the subject heading Hot Rod.
This is much much hotter than a belt buckle, don't you think?Everyone has their rituals I suppose. Apparently, the Terrors have one for when they get shutout. I'm not quite sure what to make of this but I think Rod would be strangely excited by it.
Season Record With Rock On: 1-0Season Record With Dancey Dance On: 0-3
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?
If You Want My Bocce squared off against Watch Your Balls this past Monday. I wish that we hadn't.We fell to an ignoble 0-3 on the season. What the fuck? We are just terrible, terrible, terrible. All 6 of us were terrible on Monday night.
Five of the six members of the squad kept swinging for the fences all night to do something great. Instead, there were a lot of whiffs. Yes, there were a couple of nice doubles which were immediately followed by more strikeouts and more weak groundballs. Beth was the only member of the team to not hit the back wall at least once.
Watch Your Balls played well so no disrespect there at all. But we were abysmal. It was embarrassing how bad we were. We never forced them to make bad shots because we kept rolling hideous ones.
Game 1
Erik and Mitch
Beth and Dave
7-3 Watch Your Balls
2 of our points were scored because they gave them to us with an errant roll.
Game 2
Dani and Mitch
Dave and me
7-2 Watch Your Balls
At this point, we have to look deep within our hearts and see what we are truly made of. That is the beauty of sport.
"These are desperate times. We have to play like a desperate team. Maybe we can get lucky and get some help."
"This team has shown itself to be resilient. We needed wins the past two games and didn't get them. We need a win tomorrow."
The first quote is from Todd Helton. The second quote is from Clint Hurdle. Both were made after the Rockies lost their third in a row in mid September and were on the verge of having their season getting away from them. Since these quotes were uttered, the team has won 21 out of 22 and are headed to the World Series.
"We all feel terrible for ourselves as a team right now that we can't really close the deal. But we still have time. We're not giving in."
"It (the losses) will only make the champagne taste sweeter."
"We need to go out there and finish strong and dig down deep and really do some soul-searching because we're going to have to finish with a flurry."
The first two statements were uttered by Willie Randolph. The last one by David Wright. All there were made during the Mets disastrous last week of the season.
So what will it be? Will we be the Rockies or Mets? Can we right the ship? Or we will go down in an embarrassing blaze of defeats?
Statistically speaking, we are the worst team in the league right now. Our next match is against the best team in the league, our vaunted rivals, The Coffee Flats Terrors who will be out for my blood and the blood of the traitors in our midst.
But as Mitch pointed out, the Devil Rays seem to always beat the Yankees.
There is still plenty of season left to make Rod proud. Because right now, he's in hiding.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Urban Bocce, A Found Shirt, and Juggling
It has been a slow few weeks in Rod Land. Still reeling from our 0-2 start, we've been biding our time until our next match. We were supposed to play last week but the Notorious BRF have left the league having not even rolled one ball in anger all season. Oh well.
In the meantime, bocce fun still has been happening.
First, there was Urban Bocce '07!
Secondly, an odd Boccelism occurrence happened to SHR and me.
A couple of seasons ago, I proudly wore this shirt during yet another Boccelism march to the championship.
If you notice, the shirt is way too big on me. Anyway, I appreciated the gift from Cobra Kai but the shirt was so damn big that I ended up not keeping it.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. SHR says to me as she is going through her laundry bag, "I didn't realize you still wore your 'Stop Boccelism' shirt. The laundromat put it in my bag." I was quite perplexed because I remember throwing out the shirt a number of months ago.
It only took me a moment to realize that this wasn't my shirt and that somehow our laundromat had given me someone else's "Stop Boccelism" shirt. How incredibly strange is that? What are the chances of this happening? Does my laundromat know I play bocce from washing my If You Want My Bocce shirt and got mixed up and gave me this shirt? Very very odd.
A few days later, SHR thinks she saw a Cobra Kai member in our neighborhood. The pieces are falling into place.
Notice how small the shirt is compared to my other one. If you are missing this shirt, don't fret any longer. Just let me know and I'll return it.
And finally, who knew that Mitch could juggle? Let alone juggle bocce balls? Check it out.
My team is going stir crazy. We need to get back on the court soon for something other than practice.
In the meantime, bocce fun still has been happening.
First, there was Urban Bocce '07!
Secondly, an odd Boccelism occurrence happened to SHR and me.
A couple of seasons ago, I proudly wore this shirt during yet another Boccelism march to the championship.
If you notice, the shirt is way too big on me. Anyway, I appreciated the gift from Cobra Kai but the shirt was so damn big that I ended up not keeping it.Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. SHR says to me as she is going through her laundry bag, "I didn't realize you still wore your 'Stop Boccelism' shirt. The laundromat put it in my bag." I was quite perplexed because I remember throwing out the shirt a number of months ago.
It only took me a moment to realize that this wasn't my shirt and that somehow our laundromat had given me someone else's "Stop Boccelism" shirt. How incredibly strange is that? What are the chances of this happening? Does my laundromat know I play bocce from washing my If You Want My Bocce shirt and got mixed up and gave me this shirt? Very very odd.
A few days later, SHR thinks she saw a Cobra Kai member in our neighborhood. The pieces are falling into place.
Notice how small the shirt is compared to my other one. If you are missing this shirt, don't fret any longer. Just let me know and I'll return it.
And finally, who knew that Mitch could juggle? Let alone juggle bocce balls? Check it out.My team is going stir crazy. We need to get back on the court soon for something other than practice.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
We Just Can't Beat the Sweet Meats, Part V
The less said the better. Game 1, we had a 6-0 lead and blew it.Game 2, we sucked.
Game 1
Dani and Mitch
Erik and SHR
7-6 Meats
Game 2
Dani and Beth
Erik and me
7-3 Meats
The Hot Rod belt remains homeless two games into the season.
I've always liked the Sweet Meats but now that they've added some Phillies phans to the mix, I'm not as into this team. Yes, their theme song is still a reworked version of Meet the Mets but that might not be enough for me.
Not only do I have to put up with the Mets blowing their lead a little more each day to the Phillies but now I also have to put up with Phillies braggards badmouthing David Wright right behind me as I'm rolling?
All I have to say in the David Wright for MVP debate is this: David Wright might not be the best player in the league. But he never ever has ruined a frame of bocce by kicking the balls away with three balls left to play in the manner that the Jimmy Rollins touting Phillies fan did during this match. No, that would be more of a Jose Reyes move.
The only solace I can take in this loss is that we went from being absolutely terrible in the first match (except for Mitch) to an overall level of mediocre play in this one.
Season Record: 0-2
A movie of Dani's first roll as Rod.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Things Can Only Go Up From Here
After the controversy comes the games.Unfortunately, Monday night's game didn't treat us so well.
Game 1
Beth and Erik (check out the Rod belt! in the picture and the movie of his first Rod roll.)
SHR and Mitch
Um, we sucked.
7-1 ODB
Game 2
Beth and Erik
Mitch and me
Much better. Much much better. Mitch kicked much ass.
7-0 Rod
Game 3
I was planning on putting SHR back in for the third game. But she liked what she saw in the Game 2 squad so she told me not to put her back in and we stayed the course.
I had a nice roll to start the game going deep. ODB couldn't get closer and spent all 4 balls. Mitch rolled the second and third balls and we took a quick 3-0 lead. Mitch remained on fire! I got way too conservative and didn't get us an opening four-spot.
When it got back to Mitch and me, Rod still had a 3-2 lead. Mitch blew us all away again with an incredible roll right on the pallino. With their three remaining rolls, ODB couldn't do anything. My first roll was not good but my second got us a point. Mitch finished the frame with one more nice roll to give us a three-spot and a 6-2 lead. Still, I kicked myself for not getting us a four-spot.
Then ODB scored three more points on the strength of a really nice last roll and all of a sudden things were scary. Still we still held a 6-5 lead.
Unfortunately, my not so good play continued while at the same time, Mitch's dominant play came to a conclusion.
ODB led off by going midrange and putting their first ball close to the pallino. Not that close but pretty close. Mitch started off and split the uprights! Right between the two balls, right to the back wall. I tried to knock the ODB ball myself which was a bad play on my end. I, too, hit the back wall. What was I thinking? Why was I so aggressive? When the play called to be aggressive earlier, I was too conservative. And now that I needed to be conservative and just get us close, I fucked up royally. Rod, I'm sorry for letting you down. Because I did.
My next roll was better but not close enough. Mitch had the last roll and again, he couldn't get closer. This left ODB in the enviable position of having three rolls to get one more point and take us down. They only needed one. Ouch.
7-6 ODB
This was a tough, tough loss. One of the most disappointing regular season losses I can think of in recent memory. But it's all good. We're getting to know each other as a team. We've got plenty of time to get better. The fact that we were as close as we were with pretty much only one good player on the night is encouraging.
But the unforgiving schedule doesn't get easier. We face the Sweet Meats in our next match. We better gel real quick. And we need to remember the Rod philosophy of playing within ourselves and not trying to do crazy ass shit unless the situation dictates. In the season opener, I was the one who forgot our cardinal rule. But I promise to remember real quick. Onwards and upwards, Rod style! Yow!
Season record: 0-1
Sunday, September 16, 2007
The Story of How Sweet Touch Joined If You Want My Bocce
At the conclusion of the 2007 summer season, Rodsters Mike and Sarah decided to take a break from bocce. This opened the door for Sweet Touch. I asked him if he wanted to join our team since it had been discussed earlier back when the Terrors were deciding whether or not to stay on Saturdays or move to Mondays.
The Terrors also were up to 10 members and we only had 6 so the numbers made sense for a switch.
After a few days of contemplation, Erik decided to leave things up to fate and made a pronouncement.
The Terrors also were up to 10 members and we only had 6 so the numbers made sense for a switch.
After a few days of contemplation, Erik decided to leave things up to fate and made a pronouncement.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
We Just Can't Beat the Sweet Meats, Part IV
Match 1: Round of 8
If You Want My Bocce vs. Boccismo
Game 1
SHR and Jim
Beth and me
We got off to a strong start by dominating to the tune of 7-2. We fell behind by an early score of 2-0 but the tide turned in frame 3 when SHR and Jim put up a four-spot with four great rolls. In particular, SHR's 2nd roll was the one that pushed us from 1 point to 3.
Game 2
Sarah and Dave
Mike and Mitch
We took a quick 3-0 lead. And in proud Rod fashion, we had some good 'ol defensive rolling in the fourth frame. Leading 3-1, Boccismo was on the verge of a game changing 3-spot. But Sarah knocked the pallino back a little and they only scored one point. We still had a 3-2 lead.
Boccismo tied the score at 3 before Dave and Sarah added two more and the M & M Boys added one. But then Boccismo caught fire and took a 6-3 lead. But we weren't fazed. Dave and Sarah put up a point to get us to within 2. And then Mike and Mitch finished it off with a beautiful 3 spot.
Final 4 action!
Uh-oh.
Not against the Sweet Meats again! That squad has Rod's number.
Game 1
SHR and Jim
Mike and me
We fell behind 6-0 in ugly fashion. Down 1-0, Mike and I had 4 chances to get a ball closer to the pallino and missed all four. The Sweet Meats capitalized and put up three. Then SHR and Jim gave up two more.
But the game wasn't over just yet.
Mike and I put up a four spot powered by Mike's great first roll.
Down 6-4, Team Rod felt the comeback coming on.
On SHR's 2nd roll, she placed the ball right on the pallino. Woo hoo! On the Sweet Meats second attempt to break it up and the last roll of the frame, they gently nudged the pallino. It was measuring time. After much deliberation, it was deemed that the Meats were closer by mere millimeters. We had one last ball left. It was a very very tough shot and Jim couldn't quite put it in there.
7-4 Meats
Game 2
Beth and Mitch
Sarah and me
No matter because we were pumped for Game 2.
We took a quick 4-0 lead powered by a clutch roll by Beth in the first frame and a good roll by me in the second. In fact, my roll in the second frame was millimeters short of giving us three points rather than just two. This would come back to haunt us.
In the next frame, we went for the kill. On our last roll, Mitch put up two points for us. Unfortunately, they had two left and used them well. They scored two and halved our lead.
In the next frame, Sarah's great last roll was wasted when they had an even better roll and scored another point.
No big deal. Mitch and Beth put up two more on Mitch's clutch last roll.
With a 6-3 lead, I was excited. Surely, we'd put them away and we'd be on to Game 3.
But it wasn't to be.
All four of us shit the bed. No gold records for this year's Rod squad.
In the first frame of our undoing, Sarah started it off well enough. But the Sweet Meats put one of their balls right on the pallino. With my first roll, I tried to knock it to no avail and hit the back wall. Then Sarah didn't do much better. I knew I needed to protect us but my 2nd roll was way too short and not even close. The Meats scored an easy two points. I felt lucky that it wasn't more and that we still had a 6-5 lead.
The second frame of our undoing was awful. The Meats put the pallino in the back. Mitch and Beth spent all four balls not getting close. Mitch rolled the last ball of Rod Summer Season '07 and made the same mistake I made in my last roll of the season - he failed to protect us by putting one of our balls fairly close. They closed us out with the next roll and it was already time to start planning for the fall.
Game 2
7-6 Meats
I'd by lying if I said that I was rooting for the Terrors against the Sweet Meats. I'm competitive and I liked the fact that all of us from that original championship team still had only one trophy. Plus, the Sweet Meats have never won so I wanted to root for them as well.
But like many a Floyd final match, one team simply dominated. The dominant rolls that we saw against us were nowhere to be found against the Terrors. But that's the way it goes. Congratulations to the Coffee Flats Terrors - two time champions.
They might have had an easier road of it than it looked when the seedings were announced - no match against the 5-1 Bourbon Balls, a forfeit, and a Brian-less Boccelism. But that doesn't matter. They came to play and played well. And the way that some of them were rolling in the final three matches, it wouldn't have mattered who they played.
The league has had only two champions over the last 6 seasons. They are clearly the teams to beat. Next season should be interesting.
Not to mention, there are going to be some major changes in Rod Land. But more on that later.
6 important rolls of the day:
Check the Terrors' blog for more.
Summer Season
Final record: 6-3
Regular season: 4-2
Playoffs: 2-1
If You Want My Bocce vs. Boccismo
Game 1
SHR and Jim
Beth and me
We got off to a strong start by dominating to the tune of 7-2. We fell behind by an early score of 2-0 but the tide turned in frame 3 when SHR and Jim put up a four-spot with four great rolls. In particular, SHR's 2nd roll was the one that pushed us from 1 point to 3.
Game 2
Sarah and Dave
Mike and Mitch
We took a quick 3-0 lead. And in proud Rod fashion, we had some good 'ol defensive rolling in the fourth frame. Leading 3-1, Boccismo was on the verge of a game changing 3-spot. But Sarah knocked the pallino back a little and they only scored one point. We still had a 3-2 lead.
Boccismo tied the score at 3 before Dave and Sarah added two more and the M & M Boys added one. But then Boccismo caught fire and took a 6-3 lead. But we weren't fazed. Dave and Sarah put up a point to get us to within 2. And then Mike and Mitch finished it off with a beautiful 3 spot.
Final 4 action!
Uh-oh.
Not against the Sweet Meats again! That squad has Rod's number.
Game 1
SHR and Jim
Mike and me
We fell behind 6-0 in ugly fashion. Down 1-0, Mike and I had 4 chances to get a ball closer to the pallino and missed all four. The Sweet Meats capitalized and put up three. Then SHR and Jim gave up two more.
But the game wasn't over just yet.
Mike and I put up a four spot powered by Mike's great first roll.
Down 6-4, Team Rod felt the comeback coming on.
On SHR's 2nd roll, she placed the ball right on the pallino. Woo hoo! On the Sweet Meats second attempt to break it up and the last roll of the frame, they gently nudged the pallino. It was measuring time. After much deliberation, it was deemed that the Meats were closer by mere millimeters. We had one last ball left. It was a very very tough shot and Jim couldn't quite put it in there.
7-4 Meats
Game 2
Beth and Mitch
Sarah and me
No matter because we were pumped for Game 2.
We took a quick 4-0 lead powered by a clutch roll by Beth in the first frame and a good roll by me in the second. In fact, my roll in the second frame was millimeters short of giving us three points rather than just two. This would come back to haunt us.
In the next frame, we went for the kill. On our last roll, Mitch put up two points for us. Unfortunately, they had two left and used them well. They scored two and halved our lead.
In the next frame, Sarah's great last roll was wasted when they had an even better roll and scored another point.
No big deal. Mitch and Beth put up two more on Mitch's clutch last roll.
With a 6-3 lead, I was excited. Surely, we'd put them away and we'd be on to Game 3.
But it wasn't to be.
All four of us shit the bed. No gold records for this year's Rod squad.
In the first frame of our undoing, Sarah started it off well enough. But the Sweet Meats put one of their balls right on the pallino. With my first roll, I tried to knock it to no avail and hit the back wall. Then Sarah didn't do much better. I knew I needed to protect us but my 2nd roll was way too short and not even close. The Meats scored an easy two points. I felt lucky that it wasn't more and that we still had a 6-5 lead.
The second frame of our undoing was awful. The Meats put the pallino in the back. Mitch and Beth spent all four balls not getting close. Mitch rolled the last ball of Rod Summer Season '07 and made the same mistake I made in my last roll of the season - he failed to protect us by putting one of our balls fairly close. They closed us out with the next roll and it was already time to start planning for the fall.
Game 2
7-6 Meats
I'd by lying if I said that I was rooting for the Terrors against the Sweet Meats. I'm competitive and I liked the fact that all of us from that original championship team still had only one trophy. Plus, the Sweet Meats have never won so I wanted to root for them as well.
But like many a Floyd final match, one team simply dominated. The dominant rolls that we saw against us were nowhere to be found against the Terrors. But that's the way it goes. Congratulations to the Coffee Flats Terrors - two time champions.
They might have had an easier road of it than it looked when the seedings were announced - no match against the 5-1 Bourbon Balls, a forfeit, and a Brian-less Boccelism. But that doesn't matter. They came to play and played well. And the way that some of them were rolling in the final three matches, it wouldn't have mattered who they played.
The league has had only two champions over the last 6 seasons. They are clearly the teams to beat. Next season should be interesting.
Not to mention, there are going to be some major changes in Rod Land. But more on that later.
6 important rolls of the day:
Check the Terrors' blog for more.
Summer Season
Final record: 6-3
Regular season: 4-2
Playoffs: 2-1
Monday, August 13, 2007
One Down, Three to Go
A shorthanded If You Want My Bocce entered the playoffs hoping to avenge a regular season loss to Tchauzinho, one of two teams that handed the Rods a loss this summer. I think we were the only team they even beat!
Game one started with Beth and Dan at the far bathroom side and me and Mitch at the other end. We won the coin flip and opted to begin the match on the far side and with the red balls. We went down 0-1 after the first frame, but then came roaring back as M & I put up a three spot. In the next frame it was the long game, with the pallino squatting right by the wall. DMR rolled a great ball which somehow picked up speed towards the end for a near miss as it threaded the green ball and paulie (Don't get mad at me for typing that. First I typed pally, but I didn't like the way it looked.) to hit the wall. On his next roll though, he pinned the paulie to make a bocce sandwich, but red was just closer! One more point for Rod! M and I put up point in the next frame to bring the score to 5-1. In the next frame, Beth rolled a great knock out shot with either our 3rd or last ball which forced Tchauzinho's hand and resulted in another point for the Rods. I threw the paulie in the next frame and though my first ball was pretty mediocre, the Tchau Tchau's could not get closer and we took the game 7-1.
For game two, Dave swapped in for Dan. Sometime during this game we find out that the Tchau Tchau's are Mets fans, too. Carlos Delgado hits a two run home run in the 8th inning to give the Mets some breathing room in their game vs. the Marlins. Members of both teams are happy, but alas, one team will see their smiles turn upside-down at the end of the match.
The Roddies went down 0-2 in the first frame but then Mitch saves us with a great roll with our last ball in the next frame to get us on the board. The Rods then tie it up in the next frame thanks to precision knockout rolling by Nellie. We then take a lead and I think I did something good cause on the napkin upon which I scribbled my notes, I wrote "4-2 SHR." The Tchauzinho's decide to go deep in the next frame and take two points to tie up the game. However, SUJTCH (or MIJAN, take your pick) continue to be in sync this game. We put up a three spot to take the game and the match. Rod 화이팅!
Game One:
Love Touch & Hot Legs
Downtown Train & Young Turk
Game Two:
Love Touch & Handbags and Gladrags
Downtown Train & Young Turk
Up next are Boccismo who advanced to the round of 8 because neither of their potential opponents decided to show up. What are the retributions for teams that do this? Unless they make an effort to call the bar or let their opponent know they will not be able to make the match, they should be shown the door. The games can go way long as it is (the 1PM match between VVV and the Gowanus Iguanas went an hour and forty-five minutes!). It's selfish and rude to waste other people's time.
Addendum 8/14: It has come to my attention that some people can't see the special message I typed in Korean in the line above GAME ONE. I wrote "Rod Fighting" with fighting spelled out phonetically in Hangul but Jim just told me it looks like "Rod ???!" Boo.
Game one started with Beth and Dan at the far bathroom side and me and Mitch at the other end. We won the coin flip and opted to begin the match on the far side and with the red balls. We went down 0-1 after the first frame, but then came roaring back as M & I put up a three spot. In the next frame it was the long game, with the pallino squatting right by the wall. DMR rolled a great ball which somehow picked up speed towards the end for a near miss as it threaded the green ball and paulie (Don't get mad at me for typing that. First I typed pally, but I didn't like the way it looked.) to hit the wall. On his next roll though, he pinned the paulie to make a bocce sandwich, but red was just closer! One more point for Rod! M and I put up point in the next frame to bring the score to 5-1. In the next frame, Beth rolled a great knock out shot with either our 3rd or last ball which forced Tchauzinho's hand and resulted in another point for the Rods. I threw the paulie in the next frame and though my first ball was pretty mediocre, the Tchau Tchau's could not get closer and we took the game 7-1.
For game two, Dave swapped in for Dan. Sometime during this game we find out that the Tchau Tchau's are Mets fans, too. Carlos Delgado hits a two run home run in the 8th inning to give the Mets some breathing room in their game vs. the Marlins. Members of both teams are happy, but alas, one team will see their smiles turn upside-down at the end of the match.
The Roddies went down 0-2 in the first frame but then Mitch saves us with a great roll with our last ball in the next frame to get us on the board. The Rods then tie it up in the next frame thanks to precision knockout rolling by Nellie. We then take a lead and I think I did something good cause on the napkin upon which I scribbled my notes, I wrote "4-2 SHR." The Tchauzinho's decide to go deep in the next frame and take two points to tie up the game. However, SUJTCH (or MIJAN, take your pick) continue to be in sync this game. We put up a three spot to take the game and the match. Rod 화이팅!
Game One:
Love Touch & Hot Legs
Downtown Train & Young Turk
Game Two:
Love Touch & Handbags and Gladrags
Downtown Train & Young Turk
Up next are Boccismo who advanced to the round of 8 because neither of their potential opponents decided to show up. What are the retributions for teams that do this? Unless they make an effort to call the bar or let their opponent know they will not be able to make the match, they should be shown the door. The games can go way long as it is (the 1PM match between VVV and the Gowanus Iguanas went an hour and forty-five minutes!). It's selfish and rude to waste other people's time.
Addendum 8/14: It has come to my attention that some people can't see the special message I typed in Korean in the line above GAME ONE. I wrote "Rod Fighting" with fighting spelled out phonetically in Hangul but Jim just told me it looks like "Rod ???!" Boo.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Even the Brooklyn Dodgers Finally Beat the Yankees
Fresh off our thrilling victory over the Terrors of Coffee Flats, If You Want My Bocce suited up last Monday against the 4 time champions -- Boccelism.
We've played them well in the past (other than the terrible championship match) but went into the game an abysmal 0-4 against them.
But so far this season, the U.S. Steel of bocce have not been dominant. Whether they suffer from winner's fatigue, are confused by the new court, or are merely toying with the rest of the league, who knows? But they entered the game a highly mediocre 2-2. They were ripe for the picking.
But not at first. They took a quick 4-0 lead and things were looking dicey really quickly for Team Rod.
But then ... but then ... The tide turned to all Rod!
Jim and SHR put up a three spot and all of a sudden it was close.
And before they knew what hit them, Mike and Beth finished them off with four big points!
Game 2 was ugly and better not discussed.
Game 3 started in the same similar fashion as the first game - with Boccelism taking it to us. We found ourselves in a 3-0 hole before we even knew what hit us.
And what would a match against Boccelism be without a little controversy? At one point, Mike was measuring and accidentally moved the pallino further away from our ball and closer to theirs. The captain of Boccelism admitted that the pallino moved slightly but one team member who our team already had a run-in with in the past insisted that the pallino never moved. I'm not sure of all the details but it ended up not mattering much. And to be honest, what are the rules if your team is the one who moved the ball by accident? Regardless of when this happened during Game 3, it had no bearing on the outcome of the match because Mike had a great shot to give us a point anyway.
We scored two in the first frame of the comeback and we were on our way again. Mitch and Jim tied it at 3. Mike and I added two more points to give us a 5-3 lead.
And then it came down to Jim and Mitch. Jim led off with a perfect first roll. So perfect that Boccelism missed the next four shots. So we had three balls left to try to beat Boccelism for the first time ever! Mitch missed. Jim missed. But they were only missing to set up the dramatic final shot. In my hysteria, I forgot who rolled the winning shot (even though I knew who was taking it mere seconds before) and had to verify during the celebration who had actually rolled it.
We raised our winning percentage against the champs to a sparkling .200.
Game 1
SHR and Jim
Beth and Mike
Game 2
Mitch and me
Beth and Sarah
Game 3
Mitch and Jim
Mike and me
Mitch texted Dave (Boccelism's number one fan) this message.
It was a great night all around. I even made peace with Bashley of Po-Town.
Final regular season record: 4-2
The celebration continued onto the streets of Brooklyn. This is next year!
We've played them well in the past (other than the terrible championship match) but went into the game an abysmal 0-4 against them.
But so far this season, the U.S. Steel of bocce have not been dominant. Whether they suffer from winner's fatigue, are confused by the new court, or are merely toying with the rest of the league, who knows? But they entered the game a highly mediocre 2-2. They were ripe for the picking.
But not at first. They took a quick 4-0 lead and things were looking dicey really quickly for Team Rod.
But then ... but then ... The tide turned to all Rod!
Jim and SHR put up a three spot and all of a sudden it was close.
And before they knew what hit them, Mike and Beth finished them off with four big points!
Game 2 was ugly and better not discussed.
Game 3 started in the same similar fashion as the first game - with Boccelism taking it to us. We found ourselves in a 3-0 hole before we even knew what hit us.
And what would a match against Boccelism be without a little controversy? At one point, Mike was measuring and accidentally moved the pallino further away from our ball and closer to theirs. The captain of Boccelism admitted that the pallino moved slightly but one team member who our team already had a run-in with in the past insisted that the pallino never moved. I'm not sure of all the details but it ended up not mattering much. And to be honest, what are the rules if your team is the one who moved the ball by accident? Regardless of when this happened during Game 3, it had no bearing on the outcome of the match because Mike had a great shot to give us a point anyway.
We scored two in the first frame of the comeback and we were on our way again. Mitch and Jim tied it at 3. Mike and I added two more points to give us a 5-3 lead.
And then it came down to Jim and Mitch. Jim led off with a perfect first roll. So perfect that Boccelism missed the next four shots. So we had three balls left to try to beat Boccelism for the first time ever! Mitch missed. Jim missed. But they were only missing to set up the dramatic final shot. In my hysteria, I forgot who rolled the winning shot (even though I knew who was taking it mere seconds before) and had to verify during the celebration who had actually rolled it.
We raised our winning percentage against the champs to a sparkling .200.
Game 1
SHR and Jim
Beth and Mike
Game 2
Mitch and me
Beth and Sarah
Game 3
Mitch and Jim
Mike and me
Mitch texted Dave (Boccelism's number one fan) this message.
It was a great night all around. I even made peace with Bashley of Po-Town.Final regular season record: 4-2
The celebration continued onto the streets of Brooklyn. This is next year!
Friday, July 27, 2007
An Epic Battle
Wow. Both Games 1 and 3 went to the final frame tied 6-6. I think that I might have had a heart attack if the second game had been super close as well.When it came down to the final frame of the night, I felt that it was such a shame that one team had to lose. Thankfully, Team Rod prevailed.
Game 1
Mitch and me
Jim and SHR
The Terrors took 3-0 and 5-2 leads and things looked bleak. But they just couldn't put us away. We took the opening and pounced. We all had some really clutch rolls in this game. They still had a chance to beat us at the end but couldn't do it.
7-6 Rod
Game 2
Beth and Mike
Dave and Sarah
The Terrors busted out with a 4-0 first frame lead and that was pretty much it. We got absolutely destroyed by a score of 7-1. I saw almost all of the game action during the match. However, one of the few that I missed involved a bit of controversy. Apparently, on a Beth roll, Team Rod thought that the ball did not hit the back wall. However, the Terrors called that it did even though at first, one of them said that it didn't. I'm not exactly sure what happened since I missed it but it got kind of loud there for a spell.
7-1 Terrors
Game 3
Mike and me
SHR and Jim
If Game 1 was tense, this one was even tenser because of the high stakes involved. It was back and forth. The Terrors took a 6-5 lead. I ended up placing our red ball right on the pallino. The Terrors had two balls left to knock ours out and win. Kaci almost placed her ball closer but couldn't quite do it. Then Chris knocked that green ball out of the way and we lived for another frame.
We were down to our last ball and the Terrors controlled the point. The pressure was on Jim. And he came through with a great roll. The last roll of the night fell to Dani. She rolled well but couldn't quite do it. Rod Wins! Who's going to update Wikipedia?
Thank you to the Sweet Meats for the many cheers of "Rod! Rod! Rod!"So if you have the patience, check out these two movies of the night's festivities. They are both about six minutes long. I had no intention of making a movie at first. I was simply taking a few short movies to keep track of the action for blog purposes. Eventually, I decided to just keep taking movies of all the important action. If only I can learn how to take movies and roll at the same time!
Games 1 and 2
Game 3
Next time, I'm just bringing a notebook.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
We Just Can't Beat the Sweet Meats!
It is really kind of sad, ain't it? The two other times that we've played, we destroyed them in the first game only to fall meekly in the next two games.
Before the game, Cap'n Jim (oh yeah apparently the summer team is called the Jimbo's Sweet Meat All-Stars or something) told me that despite our two squads being friendly that they were going to decimate us.
I wasn't afraid though but I suppose I should have been.
Game 1
Mike and Jim
Dave and Sarah
Things didn't start well as we quickly found ourselves in a 3-0 deficit. But then Dave and Sarah quickly tied it and we were on our way. That is until the Meats answered that with a three spot on Mike and Jim to take a 6-3 lead.
However, we weren't done. No way. Dave and Sarah notched another point and we were only down by 2.
Then things got interesting. Jim started the frame with an exquisite first roll. The Sweet Meats spent the next four balls trying to knock Jim's ball out of the way. They did not succeed but did set up a nice wall around the pallino where it resided on the right side.
Victory was within our reach! We had three balls left to get two more points but it was a tricky shot. Mike and then Jim both tried to sneak it in on the left side but couldn't quite do it.
With one shot left, I was hopeful that Mike could get us another point to set Dave and Sarah up to win it. The score would have been 6-5 at the very worst if Mike was not successful.
However, Mike (goaded by the Coffee Flats Terrors in attendance) went for the kill. It was an easy shot he kept saying afterwards. I was blissfully ignorant at the other end of the court about the debate going on before Mike's roll. So when his roll came barreling down the court and smashed into the wall of red, I was caught unawares.
Unfortunately for Rod, a one point green advantage turned into this.
Game 1
7-4 Sweet Meats
Game 2
SHR and Beth
Sarah and me
But we didn't let it faze us. We took Jimbo and his squad out quickly by a score of 7-2. All of the women rolled well and they carried me because I was pretty mediocre. SHR had one of the best rolls I've seen in a long time early in the game that set up Rod taking a 5-0 lead.
Game 3
Same as Game 2
It was back and forth at first. 2-0 Meats, Tied, 3-2 Meats, 4-3 Us
But the tide turned in the frame where we took the lead. My good rolls from the beginning of the game had completely deserted me at this point. Despite an excellent roll by Sarah to knock the pallino back to set us up for a killer round, I hit the back wall and we only got two points. We should have had three.
Somewhere during this time, many of the Coffee Flats Terrors who were supposedly rooting for us early in the match accepted bribes from the Sweet Meats to root for them instead of us. Oh well, anything for a quarter I suppose. We now know how cheaply some of the Terrors' loyalty can be bought.
Whether it was my bad rolls, Rod having an off night, or the quarters being bandied about, we completely fell apart - all four of us.
The Sweet Meats scored three points in the next frame and then finished us off in the next frame by only throwing one ball. The funniest part of this was that Tom Sweet Meat had no idea that the game was over and thought that we had become so disheartened that we had simply quit. I think he thought that we had one more ball left or something? Anyway, it was yet another loss to the Sweet Meats but we'll get them back in the playoffs! Maybe.
Game 3
7-4 Sweet Meats
Summer Record: 2-2
Before the game, Cap'n Jim (oh yeah apparently the summer team is called the Jimbo's Sweet Meat All-Stars or something) told me that despite our two squads being friendly that they were going to decimate us.
I wasn't afraid though but I suppose I should have been.
Game 1
Mike and Jim
Dave and Sarah
Things didn't start well as we quickly found ourselves in a 3-0 deficit. But then Dave and Sarah quickly tied it and we were on our way. That is until the Meats answered that with a three spot on Mike and Jim to take a 6-3 lead.
However, we weren't done. No way. Dave and Sarah notched another point and we were only down by 2.
Then things got interesting. Jim started the frame with an exquisite first roll. The Sweet Meats spent the next four balls trying to knock Jim's ball out of the way. They did not succeed but did set up a nice wall around the pallino where it resided on the right side.
Victory was within our reach! We had three balls left to get two more points but it was a tricky shot. Mike and then Jim both tried to sneak it in on the left side but couldn't quite do it.
With one shot left, I was hopeful that Mike could get us another point to set Dave and Sarah up to win it. The score would have been 6-5 at the very worst if Mike was not successful.
However, Mike (goaded by the Coffee Flats Terrors in attendance) went for the kill. It was an easy shot he kept saying afterwards. I was blissfully ignorant at the other end of the court about the debate going on before Mike's roll. So when his roll came barreling down the court and smashed into the wall of red, I was caught unawares.
Unfortunately for Rod, a one point green advantage turned into this.
Game 17-4 Sweet Meats
Game 2
SHR and Beth
Sarah and me
But we didn't let it faze us. We took Jimbo and his squad out quickly by a score of 7-2. All of the women rolled well and they carried me because I was pretty mediocre. SHR had one of the best rolls I've seen in a long time early in the game that set up Rod taking a 5-0 lead.
Game 3
Same as Game 2
It was back and forth at first. 2-0 Meats, Tied, 3-2 Meats, 4-3 Us
But the tide turned in the frame where we took the lead. My good rolls from the beginning of the game had completely deserted me at this point. Despite an excellent roll by Sarah to knock the pallino back to set us up for a killer round, I hit the back wall and we only got two points. We should have had three.
Somewhere during this time, many of the Coffee Flats Terrors who were supposedly rooting for us early in the match accepted bribes from the Sweet Meats to root for them instead of us. Oh well, anything for a quarter I suppose. We now know how cheaply some of the Terrors' loyalty can be bought.
Whether it was my bad rolls, Rod having an off night, or the quarters being bandied about, we completely fell apart - all four of us.
The Sweet Meats scored three points in the next frame and then finished us off in the next frame by only throwing one ball. The funniest part of this was that Tom Sweet Meat had no idea that the game was over and thought that we had become so disheartened that we had simply quit. I think he thought that we had one more ball left or something? Anyway, it was yet another loss to the Sweet Meats but we'll get them back in the playoffs! Maybe.
Game 3
7-4 Sweet Meats
Summer Record: 2-2
Monday, July 09, 2007
If You Want My Bocce vs. Bourbon Balls
We have a winning record again!
I was out of town last week but I made sure to listen to the Faces last Monday morning as a tribute to Team Rod.
We only had four folks on the squad (Mike, Sarah, Jim, and Dave) but they took down Bourbon Balls in three games.
Not sure what happened exactly but I figure someone has got to update this thing.
After having avenged our playoff loss to Po-Town in a recent match, we look to take down the last team to end a season of ours, The Sweet Meats, in our next match.
I was out of town last week but I made sure to listen to the Faces last Monday morning as a tribute to Team Rod.
We only had four folks on the squad (Mike, Sarah, Jim, and Dave) but they took down Bourbon Balls in three games.
Not sure what happened exactly but I figure someone has got to update this thing.
After having avenged our playoff loss to Po-Town in a recent match, we look to take down the last team to end a season of ours, The Sweet Meats, in our next match.
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