30 people came out to give the Tipp Hill bocce field a proper test drive. Going into the first round everybody had their teammate and opponents randomly selected, and after every round from that point on we gathered back together and everybody got a new teammate and a new opponent. We kept going in that fashion, eliminating people once they amassed two losses, until only four players randomly selected into two teams remained. Jim Whipple and Andrew Dougherty vs. Scott Mead and Paul Colabufo.
Our champs celebrating at the Ukrainian National Home.
Andrew Doughtery and Jim Whipple won the game 11-7 and won the tournament.
I talked to everyone who participated in the tournament, to see what they thought about our potential new field and the reviews were almost all positive. The one thing that almost everybody I talked to mentioned was “This field is a lot bigger than I was expecting it to be.”
My own personal observations were:
- The field is a lot more level and less bumpy than Sharkey’s, thus the quality of bocce was a lot better. You just didn’t see any of those shots that randomly bounced away.
- The Ukrainian National Home is a cool place to drink. We were able to watch SU upset Virginia Tech on a big projector movie screen, and we had total run of the place, often times even walking behind the bar and pouring our own drinks. Its a very laid back, welcoming, fun place. And the drinks are super cheap, I was drinking a Middle Ages Amber that they were selling for $1.
- People were excited about the possibilities of playing on a new field. We spent most of the day talking about ideas to make next season the best one yet.
Unless we decide to do a snow tournament (some early plans are in the works) this will probably be our last outdoor tournament until the spring. Expect another blind draw tournament once the warm weather comes back. I think they are a lot of fun, as well as a great way to play with a lot of different partners, experience a lot of different bocce styles, and meet a lot of new people.
