Roll'em's took to the brick dust this past Wednesday without the Herbster.  We picked up Ryno who's subbed for us before and may replace Fred as our new super sub. 
In the first game we took on 2 Boobs and 2 Girls who were missing two players of their own.  The game started with the girls getting a point but then us boys gave up three which unfortunately was the theme of the night.  The girls followed with a three pointer of their own making the score 4-3 us.  The Boobs followed with another three banger to take a 6-4 lead but our girls came through again with three and a 7-6 lead.  Knowing we couldn't give another three pointer we managed to come through with our first point of the game.  The Glue and Clutch then closed out the win 9-6.
In the second game we took on long time nemesis Squatchy Bocce who were playing with one of their backup players.  Keeping with the theme of the girls would get points and we'd give them up and the game would go back and forth.  With the Squaches leading by one our girls came through with a four point frame to open some distance between us.  We were leading 7-5 and luckily the balls were on the girls end of the court.  We got a good throw that caused the Squachys to use all four balls.  After Clutch had thrown her second ball she walked away shaking her head but the ball caught the edge of a ball in front and ricocheted inside of their closest ball and we walked away with a 9-5 win.
Two tough opponents and two wins thanks to the play of the Glue and Clutch who scored 16 out of 18 points on the night.  The Glue said she told Clutch in the first game that with the way me and Ryno were throwing they were going to have to win their end and they did in a big way.
3-1 start sure feels a lot better than the 0-4 that we started last fall's season.

Roll'em If Ya Got'em had our much anticipated start to the 2017 season last night on a cold evening.  Much to the the wives delight we reverted to our normal line up of Herbster and myself on one end and The Glue and Clutch on the other.
In the first game we played Late Bloomers who pushed the starting time to the limit and maybe a little past but who wants to start the year off with a forfeit?  Maybe Roll'em because the Bloomers were on fire.  They started out with a pair of two pointers and then a single before we got on the board.  We managed to get a couple more points before losing 9-3 in a game where we were never competitive.  The Bloomers did a great job of getting inside our throws or knocking us out of the point.
In the second game we played Feeder of the Pack.  This game had a inauspicious start also as we fell behind 2-0 right off the bat but we didn't let it get out of hand.  The game was close for the first part but then Roll'em found our groove and we pulled even and then a little ahead.  With Roll'em leading 6-4 we had the type of situation that killed us last year.  Herbster had a nice throw that caused Feeder to use three balls to get inside him and pretty close to the pallino.  We decided to go for the kill and were able to make the hit and push the pallino almost to the back wall while also getting our ball closest but not very close.  The Feeders final shot caught one of the balls that were short and we had a wide open chance to close out the game.  Herbster threw a nice easy throw to get well inside their balls and on our final throw I threw what I thought was a nice easy throw but it kept going and going and going.  When it was thrown I didn't think there was any chance of hitting the wall but about five feet out it started looking like it would hit it.  Fortunately It stop with six or eight inches to spare and we won the game 9-4 and we took advantage of a situation that we struggled with last year, the wide open easy shot.
It was good to take the courts and get the season going even if we would have like to win both. 

The Grumpy Shillelaghs had a rough day yesterday.  In the first game we played the 4 horsemen who normally play as the Misfits of Bocce.  They started off strong and kept in going as the Shillelaghs went down 9-2.  The horsemen didn't give us many chances as they were throwing real good for the first game of the year.
In the second game we faced another good team in the Big Muddy Monsters who were coming of a 9-1 shellacking at the hands of Mission: Imbocceball.  We let the Monsters get out to a fast start and take a 7-2 lead but then we started to get our groove and narrowed the score to 7-6.  With the Monsters in for a point with two balls remaining I managed to throw two of my worst throws of the day and the Monsters capitalized winning 9-6.  I really believe that if we'd have got that point we would have won but we'll never know.
All in all it was a respectable showing while playing with one player who'd never played before and on player who's only played one season indoor at the VFW.  It didn't help matters that we had a really tough draw and played two good teams.  The Horseman made it to the championship undefeated where they played the old men of the Ecclectics who managed to stay awake way past their bedtimes and beat the Horsemen/Misfits to win the title.
It was a really good day and as always The Glue's Irish Stew was awesome, maybe the best she's made and good seeing all the bocce people we've got to know.  Bring on the season.

The Grumpy Shillelaghs take the court tomorrow to open up the 2017 bocce season.  Clutch and Herbster won't be playing because of a conflicting trip that has since been cancelled.  I got Bake and his wife along with Twink down to the courts yesterday to take some practice throws and explain some of what will be going on tomorrow.  We may go down there again today and get some more court time in.  I'm not sure I'm going to be a fan of moving the St. Patrick's tournament from Saturday to Sunday to avoid conflict with the events going on up town.  We may head up town this afternoon to see what's going on but then again maybe not.  For a big part of my alleged adult life I've celebrated St. Patrick's day to the max however yesterday I had a couple Busch Lights at the bocce courts, a couple Smithwicks and a Harp here and that was about it.  The Glue did fix a wonderful corned beef and potatoes supper though.
Bring on the bocce season.

Yesterday started off with me going to Jacks to meet some old high school classmates for breakfast.  I had the standard which was very good.  The real fun part was the interactions of all the classmates some of whom hadn't seen each other in 30 or 40 years.  Awesome time with plenty of stories and harassment.
After I got home me and The Glue decided to take a get away trip to Cape Girardeau.  We did a little shopping at Academy Sports then The Glue went to Kohl's for some clothes. 
We were trying to decide where to eat and decided to just wing it and walk around old downtown and see what happened.  First stop was Katy O'ferralls for their excellent house beer which is an Irish Red.  We had a good conversation with a couple who were in there about places for us to go in Cape and for them to go in Murphysboro.  We then walked down to Ragsdales for a beer and decided to have a small pizza there.  The Amber ale was ok but the pizza was mediocre at best.  After a quick trip to the levee we went up to Minglewood for a beer.  We both had Fat Monk which is similar to a bock and was excellent.
Next up was a short walk to The Bar which is somewhat famous for being in the movie Gone Girl which I didn't think was very good.  I had the Lazy Magnolia pecan beer and the Glue had an Ultra.  We then ordered some sweet chili wings which we both really enjoyed though next time the Glue will probably get the pineapple habanero wings.  We also had a good time talking with two couples sitting at the bar.  Final stop was Bella Italia for the traditional Blue Moon on the patio.  We also had some fried ravioli's which were just ok.
At this point if was time to head to home sweet home which apparently is Malaysia at least according to facebook. 
Very good little get away for us.