BOCCE BALL

BOCCE BALL.
A resident mentioned that she was playing bocce ball across the street. I told her that I had never seen a game, even though it is popular in the area. She offered to escort me over to the court, and I could watch them play. A couple of days later, we checked it out. I hadn’t been home long, before the phone rang. It was Pete, the head of the local Bocce Ball League calling to tell me that I had been assigned to Team #12, and I would be hearing from the team captain shortly.
Another phone call, and it was Ernie Heuer, my team captain. He suggested that we get together to meet each other. I agreed to meet him in the Community Center the next morning. I told him that I had never played, but this didn’t seem to phase him. He suggested that I practice. So he checked out the small cart of 16 balls - 8 red & 8 green - along with two measuring tapes, and the little white pallino ball. He let me pull the cart! I figured that it was part of the initiation rite. After walking quite a distance, I asked Ernie why they didn’t store the equipment near the court. He said that they used to, but someone walked off with the storage cabinet. I pursued his answer by asking him - “In a gated -community of elderly retirees, who would do this?” Ernie said that he didn’t know. While the replacement cost was probably about $100, it is the mystery of the theft that intrigues.
Ernie suggested that I toss the eight balls at the white pallino to get the feel. The idea is to throw the boccia, underhand, to come as close to the pallino as possible, without touching it. My first throw hit the little white ball! I thought to myself, that the game was pretty simple. Ernie probably thought that I was a ringer. But throwing the other balls proved me wrong. The official rules state that a player can throw, lob or roll the boccio. Apparently, our league has settled on rolling the ball - except for a few who have trouble genuflecting, and they bounce the ball. The ball weighs two or three pounds. The game looks much easier than it is - especially if you use all the strategies involved.
My first game was Friday, May 29. I called Ernie to excuse myself because Marie and I had two nieces and a nephew visiting us from Michigan. He wasn’t upset, and excused me. He probably figured that I had thought better of the idea.
So, my first game was last Friday, June 5. We played Team #9 - two men and two women. We beat them 12-8. It was Team 12’s first win of the season! A game consists of how many frames it takes to reach a count of 12. A point is awarded for each ball - of each team - closer than the opponents to the pallino. I would like to think that the win resulted from my contribution, but Ernie was the biggest scorer. Our prize was that we didn’t have to drag the oyster shell court after the game. But, I did volunteer to haul the cart back to the Community Center.
Bocce ball is a new experience in my life, spanning nine decades. I enjoyed the competition, the exercise and meeting new old-oldsters. I look forward to my next game on Tuesday
RCL - 6/7/09.