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In This Issue:
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Vol. III, Issue 43 - November 22, 2004
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Notes from the publisher
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Bocce product of the week
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Non bocce product of the week
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The weekly Ezine for bocce aficionados everywhere
Volume 3, Issue #43 - November 22, 2004
Publisher: Mario Pagnoni Copyright 2004 http://www.joyofbocce.com
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I hope you will like this electronic newsletter. To be deleted from the list, you can Unsubscribe at the end of this issue. We will quickly and permanently remove your email address from our list (we'll be sorry to see you go). But, be aware that one of our enthusiastic readers suggested that “…bocce and unsubscribe are mutually exclusive terms.”
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If you know others who would enjoy and benefit from this Ezine, encourage them to sign up. You could forward this issue to them (see Forward link at bottom of newsletter) so they can decide for themselves if they want to "opt in". I promise that I will never be in the business of selling or trading your email address or other personal information.
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2ND EDITION UPDATE
We have completed the Joy of Bocce 2nd Edition. There is not another sentence to proofread, not another picture to resize, not even another punctuation mark to add or change. It is at the printer and looking good.
I expect to announce it for sale via my web site and this ezine in the next issue - am revamping the web site to reflect the new book's cover image. Also, there will be an e-book version that will sell for $4.95 - details next week.
I am very proud of the finished product. The first edition was very well received by the bocce community, and this second edition blows that first one away. With over 300 photographs, beefed up chapters, several new chapters, and an endorsement by Newsweek, I believe the 300-page book will serve the sport well.
Anyone thinking about purchasing the first edition might want to hold off until the new and improved book is available...on the other hand, an autographed copy of the first edition just might become a collectible. I saw it as a collectible on Amazon.com for a couple weeks selling for around $150. It's no longer listed, meaning that someone purchased it for $150, or the lister discovered that no one is dumb enough to pay that much money for it.
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Recently I came across a very well written piece on curling - probably the best explanation of the game I have yet seen. All of these ball and target games - bocce, boules, lawn bowls, as well as tenpin, candlepin, duckpin and other bowling games probably had a common ancestry. I've become fond of saying their evolution is lost in the mists of antiquity.
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to bring this excellent article by Clint Casey to your attention. He describes the action at the Great Smoky Mountains Curling Club (Knoxville, TN).
Writes Casey...
“The object of the game is to push, or deliver, a 42-pound rock across a 146-foot sheet of ice with enough accuracy and finesse to slide it into the center of concentric circles, the house. The stone, made exclusively of Scottish granite, has a handle on top to improve the accuracy of a throw by slightly rotating it on release, making it curl. But, even if a rock is thrown straight, it’ll pick up a spin of its own.”
Click below for the complete article...
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This week’s photos come courtesy of Eureka, California's Richard Heisler (affectionately known as Zio Riccardo). They highlight The BIG BEN DOUBLES RAFFA TOURNAMENT held at Campo di Bocce, Los Gatos, CA.
Not only did Zio Riccardo send great pictures, he wrote the following which explains the event, the players, and the venue much better than I could (and made my editorial job so much easier this week).
"Restaurant/Bocce Club Campo di Bocce hosted the annual Big Ben Punta, Raffa, Volo Tournament on Saturday, October 30th. Campo di Bocce is a
boccista heaven on earth with everything an avid player could want. It is located at the south west end of Silicon Valley, just west of San Jose off Hwy. 17 and about an hour south of San Francisco or ½ hour from SFO.
Four indoor and four outdoor courts with a base of compacted granite dust and a light coating of loose material give a very fast roll. Two of the outdoor courts are covered and all four are surrounded by a brick wall with plants and fountains and tables for snacking or dining. Indoors there are more dining areas, a full bar and a boutique where balls and logo clothing are for sale.
When you go to their website http://www.campodibocce.com be sure to take the virtual tour.
We live about 5 -6 hours north of the Bay Area and are drawn there because of the many tournaments. My wife Barbara and I made dinner and court reservations for the evening before the tournament and met Ben Musolf, the manager and tournament director. He graciously hooked us up with two experienced players, John and Andrea Ross, to learn the ins and outs of Punta Raffa Volo with which we had had no competitive experience. John and Andrea are respectively the President and Treasurer of the US Bocce Federation and were wonderful about spending the time with us to get us up to speed.
Punta Raffa Volo is the game which is played internationally and is the world championship game. When bocce makes the Olympics, this will be the game played. Check out http://www.bocce.com/puntorules.htm for the rules.
During the tournament, we received our expected drubbing, scoring 5 points in our first game, but getting shut out in our second two which, unfortunately, were against the winners and runners up. Fortunately, the subject of Fanny was never brought up. The level of play was generally high as the field included many national champions and members of our world championships teams who have competed in Europe and South America. After lunch the semifinals and finals were exciting games with a large spectator draw and a level of expertise which made us vow to start practicing daily for next season. We not only learned a great deal about bocce, but enjoyed the camaraderie, generosity and helpfulness of many on the competitors. Special thanks to Campo di Bocce and to Ben Musolf for running the event and taking time to help out the novices."
{Publisher's notes: The "Fanny" mentioned refers to the custom of "kissing the fanny" - usually a picture or ceramic creation - when a team is defeated by a shut-out.
When bocce goes Olympic, it may be the volo game that makes it instead of Punto Raffa Volo. Nothing is certain yet - we must keep promoting.}
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Merchandise still available at joyofbocce.com
Check out the first-rate equipment we offer. The finest measuring devices for bocce (made in UK by Prohawk for lawn bowling, petanque, and bocce) - the finest bocce balls in the world (made in Italy by Perfetta) and the number one selling instructional book on bocce in America - Check them out.
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