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In This Issue:
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Vol. IV, Issue 39 - October 24, 2005
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Notes from the publisher
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Bocce product of the week
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Bocce news & readers' feedback
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Non bocce product of the week
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The weekly Ezine for bocce aficionados everywhere
Volume 4, Issue #39 - October 24, 2005
Publisher: Mario Pagnoni Copyright 2005
76 Emsley Terrace, Methuen, MA 01844
http://www.joyofbocce.com
Hello again bocce community,
Good news! We may get some high profile TV exposure for bocce this week. Details below under Bocce News and Readers' Feedback.
This week's photos highlight our group's fall clambake/bocce tourney. Right after the clambake we go into our fall league which will last 13 weeks. Then we'll pick new teams and begin our winter league.
Please feel free to copy the model of how we run any of these programs (details from issue to issue).
Next week I hope to post pictures of how we built our indoor court boundaries. They're fashioned out of 6" by 6" by 16' white vinyl fence posts, cleverly designed by our own retired engineer (and bocce sharpshooter) Bill Hadley. The set-up gives us 4 courts (80' by 12') over an Astroturf base allowing us to play indoors all year long.
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Also, click "Confirm" at the end of this ezine to further ensure consistent delivery.
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Joy of Bocce 2nd Edition
Click the link below to order an autographed copy from me. Shipping will be $4.00 (US Priority Mail).
Please let me know how you want the book autographed (type the details in the "Special Inscription/Autograph" box provided).
Also, you can order the book directly from the publisher ( http://www.authorhouse.com ). They even offer an electronic version at just $4.95 (you download it - no shipping charge).
Click on the image above to order from the publisher's web site or the link below to get an autographed copy directly from me. {If you order from the publisher's site enter Pagnoni in the box for Author = ...}
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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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P.S. Did a friend send you this? Sign up to get your own here - http://www.joyofbocce.com/feedback.ivnu - it's entertaining, useful, and complimentary.
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{Publisher's comments in brackets...}
Some big time TV exposure for bocce?
A couple of guys from my bocce posse and I will be headed to New York on Friday morning. We're bringing a portable bocce set-up (and bocce balls) to the set of the Issac Mizrahi Show. The fashion designer will host a new E-Entertainment spot where he not only interviews his guests, but gets them involved in "related" activities.
Friday's guest is Steve Schirripa (who plays Soprano character Bobby Bacala). Isaac and guest will play a little bocce right on the set.
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Marcia Greeley asks...
"I'm interested in finding out about portable indoor bocce courts. My Dad lives in a retirement community and they have an outdoor bocce court. They now want to construct a portable indoor court so they can play throughout the winter and not take up space that is used for other events when they are not playing. Any suggestions?"
{Pretty good timing. Next week I'll post the photos on how our group created such a set-up. You can get an idea of what it looks like by checking out this week's photos of our group's annual clambake/bocce tourney.
Last week's photos showed how we ran a tournament by setting up timbers over an Astroturf base. These can get a little heavy, so we made our new ones of white vinyl fence posts (hollow) and are talking with a manufacturer about producing them for resale. You still need a carpeted area to place them on, but they are pretty light and can be set up and taken down quickly. More details next week.}
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Pete Crowley, Le Mistral Club de Petanque
http://lemistralclub.home.comcast.net/
"I play Petanque - bocce's French cousin - with a group of guys in Worcester's Green Hill Park during the summer. I've been starting to search for a place we could possibly play during the winter, and saw that you seem to have managed that in several different places. I was wondering if you might have any suggestions where we might look in the Worcester or Boston area. I'm sure you're familiar with our game......the principle is similar, though petanque's balls are smaller and made of steel. The biggest difference I think is the playing surface. Whereas a bocce ground is quite smooth (am I correct?), petanque players welcome a rougher, and more unpredictable surface. This criteria has been the biggest problem in finding an indoor area."
{If you can play petanque on a carpeted or Astroturf surface, look for venues that rent time and space for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse games and practice. They seem to be popping up all over the place - there are a dozen within a 45-minute ride of my home in Methuen, Massachusetts.
Also, try contacting other petanque groups to see if they have found a solution. Try contacting Joe Zajac or Jeff Widen at http://www.michiganpetanque.com .}
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John Samaritano (Gio) sends an endorsement of our 7- drag brush...
"I just want to tell you that the 7' foot drag brush I purchased through your web site is fantastic! We used it for the first time at the American Bocce Club's Hurricane Katrina fund raiser tournament. It met rave reviews from the many teams that participated from throughout the New York area. We were able to sweep each court after each games in seconds. I highly recommend it to your readers. You can count on many more orders to come your way."
{Testimonials are great, but send photos of your event too, please.}
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In case you wanted a sample of an email press release to send to your league...here is one from the commissioner of the Havana Rollers League:
"Fellow Bocce Players,
While I am not an avid watcher of sports, I have watched enough to recognize the beginning of a dynasty when I see one. I remember the heyday of the Celtics with Larry Bird. And who could forget the Dallas Cowboys or the reign of Vince Lombardi?
If a dynasty is defined as much by their dominance of a sport as their name recognition, then as much as some of us may hate to admit it, Hogan’s Heroes is in the early stages of being a dynasty.
Last Tuesday, Captain Attar and his band of merry men obliterated everyone they came in contact with. The Stallions, a total embarrassment, were crushed with a 12-2 defeat. The Badabings fared slightly better with a loss of 12-6.
And Bonanno’s Wise Guys fighting to at least avoid the humiliation of ending the season in last place, were wasted 12-3. Only loyalty of fans and the dismal bids that would be received prevents the owners from putting both teams up for sale.
The only silver lining here is that after long and arduous negotiations, your commissioner has successfully penciled a contract with the Heroes to teach a special class in the off season on eye hand coordination. Tuition will be $2,000 for a one day eight hour class.. All Havana Rollers are invited to attend.
Some players, you know how bad you are, would be wise to view their participation as mandatory rather than voluntary.
A special thank you to our unassuming alternates. Some of you show up every week with only the hope of playing. Not only do we appreciate your coming, but your play and skill is sometimes better than the player you are substituting for. A few have asked if they could act as free agents next year, putting themselves out to the highest bidder. For now we have to say no. Rumor has it that the commissioner wants a little vig for each alternate trying to cash in."
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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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