BOCCE BALL! « Bill & Dani

BOCCE BALL!

bocce

The assumed indulgence of Father’s Day food and fare was alive and well at the McAllister household yesterday, but an unexpected past time also made a welcomed appearance: Bocce Ball! Being a first-generation American from my father’s Italian side, this backyard sport showed up a few times over the years. Be it at Grandpa’s house or at a BBQ for the Carlomusto clan in our very own neighborhood, I’d always heard about the spirited game, but myself had never played! I was always too busy with the Slip ‘n Slide or attempting to conquer a twin-pop without sacrificing half to the lawn gods. Leave it to Bill do introduce yet another new favorite I never knew I had…add that to the list next to Indian food and Ricky Gervais. For those unaware, Bocce Ball is a simple little sport consisting of two teams of 2, 4 balls each, and a jack ball. One player tosses the jack ball down the “court” (in our case, 25 feet of uninterrupted lawn space) and the players subsequently toss their team balls trying to aim for that very jack ball. A series of startegic bumps and knocks ensue in anticipation of the first team reaching the magic number of 11 (1 point for each ball closest to the jack without the opposite team’s balls in the direct vacinity) Sound confusing? IT’S NOT…think curling…outside…on the grass. My attention now turns to where I can continue my new favorite obsession. Ever hear of Palazzo di Bocce in Orion Township? That’s right, an entire free standing oasis dedicated to the play of this most relaxing yet inevitably energized game. Palazzo di Bocce encourages the joining of leagues or starting your own team, but they also welcome parties, business meetings, and events! What luck! Any game where you can still play with a Vernors in your hand is the sport worth trying to me! For those of you who have grown up with Bocce Ball and wonder how one could be so new to the game, my answer is this: some folks need a little more time to discover things than others…I hear there’s this new thing called microwave popcorn…sounds crazy, but maybe I’ll give that a try, too.

http://www.palazzodibocce.com/index.html

Posted by Dani on Jun 22, 2009



Flickr November 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 YouTube Channel Ann Arbor Music Center Danielle’s Myspace Jeff Pask Video Productions MotorCityRocks.com Email		BOCCE BALL! The assumed indulgence of Father’s Day food and fare was alive and well at the McAllister household yesterday, but an unexpected past time also made a welcomed appearance: Bocce Ball! Being a first-generation American from my father’s Italian side, this backyard sport showed up a few times over the years. Be it at Grandpa’s house or at a BBQ for the Carlomusto clan in our very own neighborhood, I’d always heard about the spirited game, but myself had never played! I was always too busy with the Slip ‘n Slide or attempting to conquer a twin-pop without sacrificing half to the lawn gods. Leave it to Bill do introduce yet another new favorite I never knew I had…add that to the list next to Indian food and Ricky Gervais. For those unaware, Bocce Ball is a simple little sport consisting of two teams of 2, 4 balls each, and a jack ball. One player tosses the jack ball down the “court” (in our case, 25 feet of uninterrupted lawn space) and the players subsequently toss their team balls trying to aim for that very jack ball. A series of startegic bumps and knocks ensue in anticipation of the first team reaching the magic number of 11 (1 point for each ball closest to the jack without the opposite team’s balls in the direct vacinity) Sound confusing? IT’S NOT…think curling…outside…on the grass. My attention now turns to where I can continue my new favorite obsession. Ever hear of Palazzo di Bocce in Orion Township? That’s right, an entire free standing oasis dedicated to the play of this most relaxing yet inevitably energized game. Palazzo di Bocce encourages the joining of leagues or starting your own team, but they also welcome parties, business meetings, and events! What luck! Any game where you can still play with a Vernors in your hand is the sport worth trying to me! For those of you who have grown up with Bocce Ball and wonder how one could be so new to the game, my answer is this: some folks need a little more time to discover things than others…I hear there’s this new thing called microwave popcorn…sounds crazy, but maybe I’ll give that a try, too. http://www.palazzodibocce.com/index.html Posted by Dani on Jun 22, 2009
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