I first played Bocce ball about seven years ago when my boyfriend at the time returned from a trip to Croatia and decided it was high time to act more European. I was hesitant at first but soon discovered that the sport held pleasures beyond my wildest dreams...
Bocce ball as my friends and I know it is a laid back outdoor drinking game. While this statement may offend serious experts and professionals in the sport, I believe that the entire philosophy surrounding the game is one of relaxation and fun.
The original idea behind Bocce goes back to Egypt circa 5000bc when the game was played with polished rocks. According to www.bocce.org, "Throwing balls towards a target is the oldest game known to mankind". (Ain't that the truth.) The game, like everything else, was stolen from the Egyptians by the Greeks and then from the Greeks by the Romans who then coined the current name of Bocce from the Latin bottia, or boss. Pretty sweet, right? They basically knew this game was going to kick ass two thousand years ago.
Before the game moved to other parts of Europe it was publicly condemned by both the Catholic Church and the Republic of Venice as a form of gambling. People were actually fined and imprisoned for playing. Currently (currently meaning maybe literally currently but definitely as of 1998), Bocce ball is the world's second most played sport after soccer. It's pretty serious stuff. Google that 'ish and you'll find tons of tournament and club sites including the ever informative www.bocce.com, the official site of the United States Bocce Federation.
It's pretty easy to play. There are of course regulation rules, but if you're at the park or someone's back yard it usually ends up turning into a,
"I forget how to play."
"Oh yeah that's right."
"Wait no it's ... ah whatever that's cool."
Basically the essentials for Bocce are: something to sit on, music, and some Mimosa stuff (Cooks + oj) or Ghetto Mimosa stuff (PBR & Sparks, don't knock it 'till you try it), and the Bocce balls. You find a flattish place to set up camp and then pick teams. You can play with as little as two people and as many as eight. The set consists of a small ball, called a jack or pallino, and eight bigger 4" balls. Usually they are made of lacquered wood or plastic, but the professionals use metal as well. These jawns are heavy so make sure you have a way to get them where you are going.
Either team starts play by tossing the jack about the length of a bowling lane in the opposite direction from the drinking/sitting area. You can throw it as far as you want to, but obviously the farther away the jack is thrown the harder it is to reach with the bigger balls. Next one team throws the first of their larger balls. The idea is to alternate team throws attempting to get your balls as close as possible to the jack.
The fun part, if you're a bitch, is knocking the other team's balls out of the way when they get really close to the jack. The other fun part is figuring out a sweet technique and then slowly forgetting it once the mimosa's start kicking in.
You can also knock the jack closer to a teammate's mis-thrown ball if they happen to suck. It's all about teamwork, Y'all. Points are rewarded to one team per round. The team who gets any ball the closest to the jack gets all the points. Each ball that said team has thrown closer than any of the other team's balls gets a point. You play to 13 or really whatever number you want. Of course there are official rules that can be found on say, www.joyofbocce.com or maybe www.bocceballrules.net.
Fall is the perfect season to play. The weather is cool and the ground is dry. I got my set at a yard sale, but you can get them at any sporting goods store or online for anywhere from fifteen to a hundred bucks a set.
In the immortal words of ImCuterThanYou on some online message board posing the question, "Has anyone here ever played Bocce ball?"..."My ex boyfriend's brother LOVED it, and that is ALL I know about it".
So come on Philly, we all know we need more exercise and more excuses to drink during the day! Bocce ball has currently and officially replaced competetive talking as the new sport of Ugh News!
Written by Louisa Engle
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