Curse you Red Baron Petaluma!
Every year contestants from all the local Bay Area pétanque clubs converge to Marin to brawl for the honor of having their names engraved on the Interclub Cup.
This year the participating clubs were: La Pétanque Marinière (Marin County), La Boule d’Or (San Francisco), Valley of the Moon (Sonoma), Lamorinda (Contra Costa), Sunrise (San Francisco), Petaluma Valley (Sonoma County).
Due to the nature of this this tournament it is unlike a regular event.
The organizers have to keep track of all individual scores and tally all the results in order to determine which players will represent their clubs in the final phases of this event.
It is a tedious and time-consuming task.
Tournament Director Verena Rytter, Liv Kraft and Christine Cragg did an excellent job doing this and deserve a big hand for this thankless assignment.
Clap! Clap!
Among the contestants from the various clubs I spotted with pleasure seldom seen Pascal Gravier, steady Bill Hansen, Beth Lysten and adorable Rosa, young Noah Sonnet, and for the first time JoAnne Easton, newly minted member of the San Francisco club.
A big hello to all the other participants.
A tournament is often a humbling and sobering experience. A big fish in a small pond often finds himself small fry in a larger pond.
I would have loved to regale you about my own gig, but I produced such an abysmal performance that I would rather bury it discreetly (at night) in some isolated corner of my garden.
Three randomly drawn doublettes were played in the morning. The best scoring individuals would then represent their clubs in the following games.
At noon, in an emotionally charged moment, Marin club president Christine Cragg presented a commemorative plaque to Mireille Di Maio honoring René Di Maio who passed away last April. RIP René.
After lunch, the elimination process started. The highest scoring players from each club played each other in triplette formations.
In a memorable semi-final contest Lamorinda’s George Zolinski, Carlos Couto and Bill Hansen faced Antoine Lofaro, Jean-Claude Etallaz and Mireille Di Maio.
It was an evenly matched contest whose results were in doubt until the end.
George Zolinski’s team offered a dogged resistance to the Marin Club. George’s unorthodox shooting style was amazingly efficient but Antoine barely overpowered him with an even better performance.
Marin won 13/11.
In the Finals, the Marin Club faced Petaluma.
Petaluma fielded a very strong formation: Ed Porto, Jim Donahue and Dennis Casad.
On the Marin side: Antoine Lofaro, Jean-Claude Etallaz and Mireille Di Maio.
It was an interesting match full of emotional rebounds. Mireille Di Maio (Marin’s pointer) did a very good job but was outperformed by the steady efforts of both Jim Donahue and Dennis Casad.
Interestingly enough, I understand that Jim has been playing pétanque for only 5 months. Great show Jim. I see a great future for you.
Antoine played with the emotional bravura of a matador but missed a few crucial shots while Ed Porto remained coolheaded and almost error free.
Final results:
Concours:
1st prize: Petaluma
Ed Porto, Jim Donahue, Dennis Casad Final score: 13/8
$125.00 to the club. + bottle of Champagne each.
2nd prize: Marin
Antoine Lofaro, J-C Etallaz, Mireille Di Maio
$60.00 to the club. + bottle of Champagne each.
Consolante:
1st prize: Lamorinda
Beth Lysten, Pascal Gravier, Serge Hanne Final score: 13/6
$60.00 to the club.
2nd prize: Petaluma
Rob Everett, Doug Colville, Les Stone
Bottle of Champagne each.
Hasta la vista Petaluma. We will meet again.
Revenge is a dish best eaten cold.
Alain
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.