Bocce Blog

If there's anything I've learned in my 31 years on this planet - it's this. People like beer, sports involving the throwing of various sized globes, and the camaraderie that comes with participating in the like. Nothing exemplifies this essential truth like Bocce. Bocce has been entertaining the masses since 5000 B.C. in ancient Egypt and hasn't lost any of it's magic since. An enegmatic-mix of the at once snobby-croquet and country-horseshoes - Bocce is the every-man's (and woman's) game. Every year I have the honor and pleasure of taking this weekend pasttime to a completely new level at an annual 'Mecca of Bocce' tournament fondly known as the Julius Carabello Memorial Bocce Classic in Denver, CO.

Grandma, grandpa, and great-grandma

Carabello pictured here in 2010.

Started in 2005 by Zebulon Carabello and a rag-tag bunch of CSU alumni n' company this humble gathering has grown from a handful of friends into an epic event that is cherished by young and old alike. This feel-good of all feel-good's is not only fun, it's a great fund-raising effort. Early on supporting the Smile Train foundation, and more recently the Denver Children's Hospital's Cleft Lip and Pallet Camp. This year, after being nominated as Bocce's biggest fan (I'm looking at you Ryan McCoy) and my (self) appointment as Il Consiglere of Bocce I have decided it's high time to blog about the event. This year was an especially important year as it marked the 1st Carabello Classic of the newest addition the the Carabello crew, Maggie Carabello.














Zeb showing off his latest creations.


This year, like every year, I flew in for the event. Knowing that juggling a new-born and a Bocce tourney is more than any one man can handle by himself (even with a great wife like Meaghan). I flew in Friday morning to help Zeb prepare for the big day on Sat.

The trip started at 4:15AM which gave me enough time to throw my Bocce set in my suitcase, splash some water in my face, and frantically head for Tucson International Airport. With me in my night cap, and my coffee-deprived frown, visions of Bocce-victory danced all around. After a quick cat nap on the 7:00AM flight I arrived early in Denver at 9:30AM.

Zeb picked me up and we were off to the industrial (and historically Italian) North-side of Denver to pick of some essential Bocce supplies... Italian sausage, buns, and peppers and onions. Our first stop was Blue Point Bakery where we picked up six or seven donated boxes full of freshly-baked rolls for the sausage. Next we hit up a local produce wholesaler Giambrocco's for the peppers and onions (which play an important role in another important Bocce ritual - so stay tuned). An interesting side-note: Zeb's mom Sharon (pictured above) is absolutely instrumental in making this donation happen (the Giambrocco's guy calls her 'babe' on the phone). Our last (but not least stop) was to Canino's sausage factory where we bought and picked up some generously donated (and freshly made) Italian sausage. After that Zeb took me on a personal tour the this historic Italian side of Denver where you can still catch a mass in Italian at Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the first Sunday of every month.

Still, there wasn't much time to dilly-dally what with a truck full of sausage, peppers, and onions as you can well imagine, so we set off to the Carabello casa to put our feet up for a bit, to meet the little Carabellissima, and to get ready to prep the food for tomorrow. That's where the real team-effort comes in for "chopping day". Since I came in early this year I got to actually participate the the hard labor of the thing (and cried the whole time).



Leaving the North-side for home...


The first step it to wash the fine-looking produce and prep it for the knife-wielding frenzy to come...
















That's a spicy meat-a-ball!


Luckily we had plenty of help for this as our good friends, Eric Graas, Phil and Lauren Ake, Brodie Campbell, Christy, Nate, Lenae, and Aubrey Mulhern, Zeb's brother Joel and his wife, and Mike Knutson all came over to turn these raw ingredients into refined sausage accoutrements. First came the chopping... Brodie took the peppers while Christy and I were relegated to onions outside (hence the crying). After a while we had enough to fill a giant bucket (literally). After a bit of olive oil and a mix of top secret spices the produce is ready for the grill.

After a couple quick rounds of Bocce in the back yard it's time to hit the hay and get ready for the big day tomorrow.









Phil prepping some grill packets after some instruction from Zeb.

Eric "Car bomb" Grass, Aubrey, and
Nate enjoying some Day-glow Bocce.

We met up again around 9:00AM at Zeb's place on Sun. to help load up the food, grill, and supplies. Eric's fiance Amanda made us some kick-ass breakfast burritos to get us through the morning and we were off to Wash park. This is were the heavy lifting comes in... We unload giant propane grill, all the food, water and soda donated by Pepsi (who also generously match the funds raised by the tournament) and set up the food tables and registration tent. Once that's done there's barely time to enjoy a beer before the brackets get set up. This is serious. Some teams spends months preparing for this day and come in full regalia.

















The Bocce Balla's pictured here in 2009.

Zeb announces the teams and their opponents and soon dozens of teams will be pitting their best throws against one another.













After it was all over the Patsies had won the coveted Bocce plaque and we had raised $8500 for the Cleft and Lip pallet camp.

Pat Dudley (captain of the Patsies) measuring the latest toss.

Alas it was all over too soon (as usual) and it was time to head back to the desert... but looking forward to Bocce 2011...
















A last look at the DIA terminal before heading to my gate.