Yesterday, La Pétanque Marinière hosted its first tournament of the season.
The attendance was moderate but the atmosphere spirited.
Around 9:30 a.m. the air was a little chilly but the blue sky above promised a more clement temperature later on and it delivered.
The field (cleaned the previous day by professional gardeners) looked good. Sporting a light shade of green, it almost looked like a manicured golf course.
The ground was still soft and proved a little tricky for players unfamiliar with this condition.
The contestants were as follows:
- Jean-Claude Etallaz & Doug Mcoville?
- Henry Wessel & Minette Etallaz
- Rob Everett & Holly Sammons
- Calvert Barron & Sabine Mattei
- Les Stone & Eva Lofaro
- Noel Marcovecchio & Helga Facchini
- Bernard Passemar & Mireille Di Maio
- Shannon Bowman & Lillian Sebban
- Alain Efron & Larry Cragg
- Bleys Rose & Tamara Efron
- Christine Cragg & Kathy Stone
- Brigitte Moran & Charles Davantes
Verena Rytter & Liv Kraft organized and ran the tournament. Thank you ladies.
Two games were scheduled before lunch and two more games after lunch.
The tournament started at 10:00 a.m.
For once I lucked out and was teamed up with Larry Cragg. He proved to be an excellent pointer throughout the tournament and I have nothing but praise for him.
On our first game, we faced Rob Everett and Holly Sammons. Toward the end of the game we were leading 12/9. On the last “mène”, after we had played all our boules and were unable to counterattack, Rob managed to score an astounding four points in a row.
We lost 12/13. We wuz robbed! Damn you Rob and Holly!
On our second game, facing Noel Marcovecchio and Helga Facchini we lost 8/13. I still wonder what happened. As a matter of fact, it confirms my suspicion that Noel is an adept of black magic.
After lunch, with the temperature rising, I removed my Navy wool cap and switched back to my familiar “casquette”.
It seemed to favorably impact our next games.
We won our 3rd game 13/2 against Jean-Claude Etallaz & Doug Mcoville.
To satisfy their quest for a perfect losing streak and to put an end to their sufferings, on our final game we mercifully subdued Calvert Barron and Sabine Mattei by a score of 13/6.
I am convinced that the hat did it.
While playing, I managed to take some shots of the action with Sneaky Pete, one of my favorite cameras and they are here for you to see. I hope that you will like them.
A good day altogether even though I was outshined one more time by a certain Tamara who managed to snatch the second place while I had to settle for the fourth spot.
Damn that woman.
Final results:
1st place: Noel Marcovecchio & Helga Facchini $30.00 ea
2nd place: Bleys Rose & Tamara Efron $25.00 ea
3rd place: Bernard Passemar & Mireille Di Maio $15.00 ea
4th place: Alain Efron & Larry Cragg $12.00 ea
5th place: Les Stone & Eva Lofaro $10.00 ea
Thank you la Pétanque Marinière for a well run and fun tournament.
Alain
PS: To look at photos of this event and listen to the accompanying background music, turn your computer’s sound on, and click on the link “My Photos” located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go Full Screen.