Last Sunday La Pétanque Marinière of Marin County hosted its annual California Commemorative Cup tournament.
Members of various local clubs were invited and some braved the chilly weather and the heavy fog that blanketed most of Marin County in order to compete.
Croissants and hot coffee helped to keep spirits high.
The Contestants were:
- Doug Colleville & Nancy Jencks
- Herb Moran & Brigitte Moran
- Brendan Cohen & Linda Evans
- Albert Woodbury & Caitlin Woodbury
- Francois Moser & Henriette Matocq
- Jean-Michel Poulnot & Colette Van Der Meulen
- Charlie Davantes & Helga Facchini
- Marco Ilaria & Peggy Silverside
- Kevin Evoy & Holly Sammons
- Carlos Couto & Beth Lysten
- Jean-Claude Etallaz & Genevieve Etallaz
- Gus Foucher & Liliane Sebban
- Larry Cragg & Christine Cragg
- Jean-Claude Bunand & Mireille Di Maio
- Ed Porto & Carolina Jones
- Bernard Passmar & Sabine Mattei
- Wolf Kurz & Julie Thompson
- Joe La Torre & Teri Sirico
- Ken Lee & Susan Holbert
- Patrick Vaslet & Shannon Bowman
- Antoine Lofaro & Eva Lofaro
The LPM circus was kept under control by Christine Cragg (our exalted leader) ably assisted by charming Swedish beauty Liv Kraft.
The tournament was billed as Select Mixed Doublettes (1 man & 1 woman) and men as usual scrambled to assure the services of the ladies.
There would be 3 qualifying games in the morning and Concours and Consolante A and B after lunch.
A raffle (worth $200.00 of groceries) was advertised and a nice prize was up for grabs.
My sources tell me that the generous food basket was donated by the Marin Farmers Market (through the good offices of newly minted member Brigitte Moran).
Thank you Brigitte. You are accumulating good karma.
I opted out of this tournament. I chose instead to spend the day memorializing this event. I took 551 photographs that I agonizingly whittled down to around 240.
I tried to take at least one picture of every participant but I don’t know if I succeeded. I gave it the old college try, but my college days are now just a fading memory and my try might not have been as effective as in my salad days.
I might have missed somebody. Sorry about that.
The first phase of the tournament (3 qualifying games) started slightly after 10:30 a.m. and ended around 1:00 p.m.
During the lunch break , a drawing was held and the winner of this grocery piñata was nobody else but Teri Sirico. Congratulations.
The tournament resumed around 2:00 p.m.
The following teams qualified for the Concours:
- Kevin Evoy & Holly Sammons
- Brendan Cohen & Linda Evans
- Albert Woodbuty & Caitlin Wood bury
- Francois Moser & Henriette Matocq
- Joe La Torre & Teri Sirico
- Carlos Couto & Beth Lysten
- Jean-Michel Poulnot & Colette Van Der Meulen
- Ed Porto & Carolina Jones
In order to win a team event, the partners must be in sync. If partners squabble they will fail. Some did and were quickly eliminated.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, “a game is 90% mental and the other half physical.”
Some contestants failed the mental test.
To make a long story short, the Concours’ finalists were Ed Porto & Carolina Jones and Brendan Cohen & Linda Evans.
And they totally deserved to be there.
They were equally matched and they gave us the most exciting finals that I have seen in a long time.
I knew that Carolina and Ed were good players but I knew very little about Brendan and Linda.
They proved to be both formidable competitors, especially young Brendan who in my opinion was the MVP of this event. He graced us with amazing, extremely accurate shots.
Linda Evans, under an unassuming appearance, displayed remarkable pointing skills. She contributed mightily to the game.
The game proved very entertaining and drew many appreciative oohs, aahs and applauds from the crowd.
It was an even contest with scores seesawing between the 2 teams.
In the final hand, the score was 12 vs. 12.
The fate of the tournament was decided when Brendan missed a critical shot.
Ed Porto (slightly handicapped by a new hip) held his own and mightily contributed to the final victory.
The new names on the 2015 California Commemorative cup will be Ed Porto & Carolina Jones (loved them yellow socks) who finally won the tournament with a final score of 13/12.
Congratulations to all. Either side deserved to win.
A very long but very entertaining day.
Alain
PS: To look at photos of this event and listen to accompanying background music, turn the sound on, and click on the “My Photos” link located on the right side of this page.
For best viewing go “Full Screen“.