The Joy of Bocce Weekly
In This Issue: Vol. III, Issue 36 - October 4, 2004 
•   Notes from the publisher
•   Bocce product of the week
•   Court sizes...
•   Non bocce product of the week
•   Photos of the week
•   Tournament update
Notes from the publisher
The weekly Ezine for bocce aficionados everywhere
Volume 3, Issue #36 - October 4, 2004
Publisher: Mario Pagnoni Copyright 2004 http://www.joyofbocce.com

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Come visit us often at joyofbocce.com. We have bocce info, merchandise, links to other great bocce sites, and the best selling bocce instructional book in the USA.

Order Now @ just $13.95 by clicking on the book image to the right.

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I hope you will like this electronic newsletter. To be deleted from the list, you can Unsubscribe at the end of this issue. We will quickly and permanently remove your email address from our list (we'll be sorry to see you go). But, be aware that one of our enthusiastic readers suggested that “…bocce and unsubscribe are mutually exclusive terms.”

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If you know others who would enjoy and benefit from this Ezine, encourage them to sign up. You could forward this issue to them (see Forward link at bottom of newsletter) so they can decide for themselves if they want to "opt in". I promise that I will never be in the business of selling or trading your email address or other personal information.

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A word about ads: Like any entrepreneurial type, I'd love to turn a profit from something I really enjoy. For now, I have decided not to accept paid advertisements. If I pitch a product here, it is something I have examined and tested and deem it beneficial to our readers.

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PLEASE – we are always looking for bocce photos and feedback from all over the USA. We want to connect bocce fans everywhere. You can email (author@joyofbocce.com) or snail mail (Mario Pagnoni, P.O. Box 608, Methuen, MA 01844).

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2ND EDITION UPDATE

Yes, we are in the home stretch on The Joy of Bocce 2nd Edition. I am very pleased with the production team - the book looks wonderful he said with a touch of humility. Hope to get it into the bookstores in October or early November.

What people are saying about The Joy of Bocce...

Court sizes...
My web site has navigational buttons for Court Top Dressing and Har-Tru Info where surfers can type in the length and width of their bocce court as well as the number of inches of Har-Tru (tennis court surface material) they desire. I can then get them a price quote based on this information including shipping. (Don't get many orders since the product ships from Virginia, and, unless you are in a state that is reasonably close, the shipping cost might be greater than the price of the material.)

I thought it might be interesting to look at the sizes of courts people are seeking quotes for - listed below are the court dimensions and the number of people seeking quotes for that court size.

91' by 13' - one
90' by 13' - three
90' by 12' - three
90' by 11' - one
86' by 12' - two
86' by 11' - one
80' by 10' - one
76' by 13' - one
76' by 12' - two
76' by 10' - two
75' by 12' - one
73' by 12' - one
72' by 10- - one
71' by 10' - one
70' by 12' - three
70' by 10' - two
67' by 13' - one
65' by 12' - one
60' by 12' - eleven
60' by 10' - five
60' by 9' - one
55' by 10' - one
54' by 10' - one
50' by 5' - one
45' by 9' - one
44' by 7'6" - one
40' by 8' - one
36' by 9' - one

Courts seem to get longer as we move west. There are a lot of 60 footers on the East Coast which I think came about because of the influence of the now extinct International Bocce Association (IBA). They gained a foothold in the East and got bocce ball manufacturers to include their rules and court dimensions (60' by 12') with each set of balls sold. Hence the "official" court was a short one.

We've always recommended that people put whatever size court fits in their backyard and their pocketbook. The bigger the court the more the expense and the greater the maintenance required.

Still, larger courts have many advantages. If you aspire to play at a high level and compete internationally, you need to practice on 80 - 90 footers. Also, on short courts (60' or so), it is relatively easy to hit (raffa) an opponent's good point away. Maybe the target is 20 feet from the end board and your hitting line is 10 feet up - that puts the target at only 30 feet away. On long courts the target might be twice as far away - "a lot of green" as pool players say.

Also, if you play against anyone who has good volo ability - s/he can be really tough on 60 foot courts. In this case Bigger is Better is my mantra - 75 feet or so by 10 to 12 feet wide seems a good middle ground for a backyard bocce court.

Get a quote on Har-Tru top dressing for your court...

Photos of the week
This week’s photos chronicle progress on the four covered courts our Ken Waldie Senior Sports Circuit is constructing in Salem, NH.

Named in honor of a friend of mine who was a naval academy grad and a victim of 9/11/01, our non-profit group offers seniors (age 50+) programs in softball, basketball, and bocce. Click the photo to the right to learn more about our non-profit group.

We've built four 80' by 12' courts - two side-by-side, then a 16' space before we added a second set of two courts.

Our next step is to cover all courts with a 30' by 208' greenhouse. We've raised the funds already and will start construction the week of 10/04/04. We'll show the progress in future issues.

Check out the last photo which depicts a prototype scoreboard design by one of our clever members (Bill Hadley). Miniature vices clip onto the board to indicate the score (which can be readily viewed by players stationed at either end of the court).

Bill Hadley (and I) would be interested in comments and suggestions about how the final version of the scoreboard should look. Please REPLY.

View this week's photos...

Bocce product of the week
Many top players believe that the best bocce balls in the world are made in Italy by Perfetta. Yes, we can get them to you via this ezine. The set is "official" size with four 107 mm red balls, four 107 mm green balls, one white pallino, and a well-constructed nylon carrying bag.

Click the Buy Now button or the Perfetta Bocce Set image to order @ $119.00 plus $14.00 shipping anywhere in the USA. It’s not cheap - but it’s quality!

Click for more on Perfetta bocce balls...

Non bocce product of the week
Brand new line of weight management products called Transitions. There are four new products to choose from:

1 – Transitions Fat Conversion Inhibitor (Fight fat before it forms)

2 – Transitions Carbohydrate Absorption Inhibitor (Reduce absorption of carbs)

3 – Transitions Conjugated Linoleic Acid (Reduce fat mass/increase lean muscle)

4 – Transitions TC AMP (Burn fat – promote thermogenesis)

More info on these at http://pag.unfranchise.com. Go to Health & Nutrition, then Diet and Weight Loss...

Learn more about Transitions...

Tournament update
{chronological order}

Please - anyone running a tournament - do me a favor - put a notice near your tourney bracket board informing players that they can go to http://www.joyofbocce.com and "opt in" for my FREE Ezine on bocce. Click the logo to the right to opt in if you do not already receive this ezine every Monday.

October 9, 2004 - Jerry Belleci Mem. Tourn. - Open Rules – four-person teams - Pittsburg Bocce Federation, Buchanan Park - Pittsburg, CA. Contact Manny and Lydia Romo @ 925-754-4890.

October 16, 2004 - Volo – 3 person team - So SF IACC - Orange Ave. Mem. Park, So. San Francisco, CA - contact Alessandro Bettucchi @ 650-583-9936.

October 16 & 17, 2004 - Singles Raffa tourney @ Palazzo di Bocce - top 10 finishers go to Montreal November 18-21 for the North American Raffa Championship - $100 entry returned to participants in the form of awards, prize money, and food reimbursements. Contact Mike Grasser @ 248-505-4744.

November 19 - 21, 2004 - North American Bocce Championship, Montreal. Contact Mike Conti @ 847-692-6223 or usbocce@aol.com.

Premier Boule Measure - steel tape - precise - fits in your pocket

Merchandise still available at joyofbocce.com

Check out the first-rate equipment we offer. The finest measuring devices for bocce (made in UK by Prohawk for lawn bowling, petanque, and bocce) - the finest bocce balls in the world (made in Italy by Perfetta) and the number one selling instructional book on bocce in America - Check them out.
 Check out the merchandise