Category: Fourre-tout

“When the Zone calls, you must listen.
You never know how long being in the Zone lasts.
It is a cardinal rule – you must take advantage of every second that you are in the Zone.” ― JohnA Passaro

While playing pétanque a little while ago, something peculiar happened to me. I suddenly strongly felt that I was “in the Zone”. It might have happened to me before but I was never really aware of it. This time I was.

“In positive psychology, flow, also known as the Zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. … Achieving flow is often colloquially referred to as being in the Zone.”

I was at the plate ready to shoot. I threw the ball as usual, but this time it felt different. My arm and my body responded exactly as asked. The pitch felt inspired, smooth and powerful.

Usually, the second the boule leaves your hand you know if you pitched correctly. You know before the boule hits the ground if you are going to hit or miss.

When you are in the Zone, everything feels right. You are almost witnessing a slow-motion sequence of your move. Your mind is locked on the target and all your limbs perform exactly as directed. You cannot miss.

Your sojourn in Heaven is fleeting, but while it lasts it feels fantastic. I remember thinking, why couldn’t I always play like this?

But it is difficult. The body does not always perform as directed by the mind. I would almost say that the body has a mind of its own and often does as it pleases.

The secret is to keep both body and mind on a very tight leash because almost anything can break your concentration. When playing (especially shooting) you should almost be in a trance-like state… with the total absence of any external stimuli…

But finding your way to Zion is difficult. You keep trying and failing… you never know when it is going to happen. But when it does, even for a few minutes, you feel like Superman. You want to remain there forever… but the Gods of pétanque are capricious. One moment they favor you and next they discard you like a one-night stand.

Entering the Zone is like falling in love. And it is better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all.

Alain

Yesterday I/we witnessed one the greatest upset since the 2016 presidential elections.

La Pétanque Marinière was hosting a “select double” tournament sandwiched between two storms and it turned out to be one of most exciting “tournoi” of the year.

It was well attended with twenty-two “doublettes” (44 players) registered to play.

You might also have called this day “la Journée des Revenants”, the Day of the Ghosts. People who had vanished from the radar screen suddenly appeared to return from the Great Beyond.

I saw with great pleasure Colette Van Der Meulen who left the Bay Area a while ago and resurfaced yesterday (as perky as ever) to play in our tournament.
Also reappearing after a long absence, Raymond Nielsen, and his daughter Erika.

Luc Pouget also reappeared and reenlisted in LPM.

The field was still wet and soggy and it took a while for players to adapt to this condition. It was essentially (especially in the morning), a game of “plombés » and the best « plombers » were, in my opinion, Raymond Nielsen and Peter Mathis.
Especially Raymond who played with a disconcerting facility.

Before I go into the tournament itself, I want to recognize Sandra and Mark Shirkey and Akira Okawa who were instrumental in revitalizing our field. Yesterday, Mark shanghaied some sturdy fellows to move our scoreboard. It worked very well and the contraption was moved in no time.
The whole operation reminded me of the raising the flag at Iwo Jima.

Back to the tournament.

On the personal side, my teammate (Jean-Claude Bunand) and I lost our first game 6/13. We won our 2nd game 13/1 and also our 3rd game 13/6, which unfortunately qualified us for the Concours. I said unfortunately because we might have had a chance in the Consolante, while practically none playing with the Big Boys.

In the afternoon Peter Wellington and Joe La Torre quickly dispatched us,  allowing me to devote the rest of day to memorialize this event with my sneaky little camera.

In the Concours semi-finals, Patrick and Brendan faced Raymond Nielsen and his daughter Erika. Both (particularly Raymond) played very well but were defeated 13/4. I felt sorry for Erika who might have been under tremendous pressure to please her demanding father.
Also in the semi-finals, Kevin and Peter defeated Ed Porto and Woolfie 13/4.

In the finals, Peter Mathis and Kevin Evoy faced Patrick Vaslet and the Great Brendini. All excellent players.
Midgame though, the situation did not look good for Patrick and Brendan. Peter and Kevin were leading 10/3 and cruising to victory.

Peter who has a flair for the dramatic, was so relaxed that he even jumped the fence separating us from the dog park to fly to the rescue of a dog being attacked by another dog. Atta boy!

But as I always said, it ain’t over until the fat lady sings, and I never saw any fat lady loitering in the vicinity.

At one critical time, the score was 12/8 in favor of Peter and Kevin. They needed a single point to win the tournament.
But Patrick and Brendan kept their composure. Especially unflappable Patrick who remained as cool as a cucumber and saved the situation when it really mattered.

Toward the end of the tournament, in a stunning reversal of fortune, Patrick and Brendan scored 5 points to clinch the tournament. They won 13/12!

Final results

Concours
1st place: Patrick Vaslet and Brendan Cohen,  $79.00 each
2nd place: Peter Mathis and Kevin Evoy, $66.00 each
3rd place: Woolfie Kurz and Ed Porto, $53.00 each

Consolante
1st place: Delio Cuneo and J-Michel Poulnot, $40.00 each
2nd place: Charlie Davantes and Liv Kraft, $26:00 each

Alain

I have a lot of photos to show you (maybe too many) but I managed to whittle down the original number of pictures from 941 to under 250. Enjoy!

It always amazes me to see an incompetent blowhard outmaneuver decent, smart, qualified individuals.

The blowhard’s main weapon is a mouth that, like an adult store, never closes. This orifice generates a loud and uninterrupted flow of rubbish on a permanent basis.

We see this happening in media, business, politics, the movie industry, manufacturing, and yes, in pétanque as well… The mouth that roars overwhelms everybody with a deluge of bombastic statements that nobody bothers to contradict.

If you repeat your baloney long enough, just like Frankenstein’s creature it acquires a life of its own and begins to thrive.

All the so-called “strongmen” of the past had a big mouth and many of them paid a steep price for that poisoned gift.

“You prove your worth with your actions, not with your mouth.” Jean Paul

Listening to a blowhard’s directives is like flying a plane engulfed in cannabis fumes. While it lasts the ride is exhilarating; but when the plane leaves the stratosphere and returns to earth, it can leave you with a severe hangover.
You have to cut your losses and cash your chips… if you have any left.

When a blowhard is blathering, Satan smiles appreciatively. The Prince of Darkness recognizes one of his minions.

The days of a blowhard though, are usually numbered. He is like a high-wire artist; highly susceptible to a gale coming from any direction.

“Tail-gunner” Joseph McCarthy was a prime example of such a scam artist. He rode high from 1950 to 1954, spooking everybody with his Red Scare and Lavender Scare.

In 1954 the Senate censured him. He died an alcoholic 3 years later at the age of 48.

Food for thought

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.”  Will Rogers

Alain

PS: you might want to add a comment. This section is finally operational.