http://ucanr.org/blogs/CroquetToday/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Description and account of croquet games at CS. en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:42:59 PST Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:42:59 PST Now don't get me wrong -- Croquet is a terrific sport. It has a long and gloried history. I understand it dates as far back as the Seige of Tyre, when community leaders were insistent that the annual polo tournament should continue just for the sake of public morale, despite the fact that all of the horses had been eaten. Gives one a little perspective on our own hard times today, and how much worse they could possibly be. But back to croquet. The ANR blog engine has been asking me for weeks...... Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:42:16 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=1391&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=1391 Aficionados (and -nadas) of the wooden mallet finally broke their hot-weather hiatus this week, playing two rounds of croquet on the spotty but well-clipped turf of Playfields Park. A slight breeze and patchy, high clouds kept the weather mild as veterans Linda Ribera and Jim Coats were joined by newcomer Claudia Myers. Though there was no croquet in her recent vacation, Claudia confessed to having enjoyed many games of pool while visiting family. It may be that the cue and ball honed her sense...... Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:11:01 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=674&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=674 The first and last CS croquet match for June, 2008, played out under smoky skies as the Sacramento Valley coughed and blinked its watering eyes at the fifth day of pervasive smoke from 1,000+ wildfires in the north state. To conserve fuel and minimize their overall time outdoors, the players opted to play on the patch of lawn next to the CS Davis offices rather than the infinitely more playable (and aptly named) Playfields Park. The contestants thus played their round on turf that was both...... Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:10:53 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=482&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=482 Like the fabled bride of Spring, today's match saw something old and something new -- so new and revolutionary, in fact, that it may signal a change in the very nature of the game. The old: For first time in 10 months, players returned to their original thwacking grounds, the once-soggy rectangle of turf that sits just to the south of the CS Research Park offices. Thankfully, irrigation of this patch of sod has been cut back to antedeluvian levels, such that one can listen to the songbirds...... Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:31:23 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=439&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=439 Six players took to the turf today, including three newcomers to CS croquet: Janet Byron (playing yellow and visiting from Oakland), Claudia Myers (playing blue stripe), and CS Director Bob Sams (playing orange stripe). The game played out under clear, sunny skies with variable winds at a new venue, Mace Ranch Park in Davis. The turf was firm, even, and well clipped, and more level overall than that at Playfields Park. Play began evenly enough, but it was not long til Linda Ribera (red) took...... Fri, 09 May 2008 16:36:09 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=401&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=401 (READER'S NOTE: There was no game on April 3, so we're re-posting a Croquet Classic report from an earlier game. Check again next week for an all-new game report.) The grass was long and the ground mushy, but that didn't stop David Krause from posting an impressive victory in today's CS croquet match here at Research Park in Davis. Krause (playing blue) bested three opponents, including the impolitic drubbing of his supervisor Karl Krist (playing red), who placed second. Also on the pitch...... Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:27:40 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=329&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=329 (Delayed report: The Cesár Chávez holiday on Friday pushed this post on the game of March 27 back to Monday, March 31.) By late afternoon Thursday you might have thought Davis was closer to the sea, all sunny with a fresh breeze befitting a fine springtime day. But not so in the noon hour, when the wind was both colder and stronger. Add the cloud cast that blanketed the sky, and you'll understand why local croquet players, wrapped in jackets and hats (some even in gloves), made do with only...... Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:51:06 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=322&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=322 Out of respect for certain religious traditions and the charms of the first day of Spring, there was no CS Thursday noon croquet on March 20. Play will resume at noon on Thursday, March 27. Also, CS Croquet Today becomes an opt-in service as of next week -- that is, email reports will no longer be sent automatically to all CS folks. If you would like to follow the weekly exploits of your mallet-wielding colleagues, just go to the CS Croquet Today blog and add it to your blog list or set up an...... Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:35:58 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=313&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=313 Herr Doppler had forecast a 25% chance of rain for today, but the 75% majority won out to welcome CS Thursday noon croquet back for a new year with a beautiful, sunny day and a mild breeze on the croquet pitch at Playfields Park. Three regulars from last season showed up to play today, and you could hardly tell any of them had taken the better part of seven months off from the game. As a matter of fact, with the exception of a few remarkably lucky hits, you could hardly tell that one or two...... Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:20:11 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=312&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=312 Personal business, a variety of illnesses, and the best-laid plans (which gang aft aglee) have put croquet onto the back burner for a long, slow simmer since mid-August. Now it's time to dust off our wickets, tighten our mallet-heads, and get our ba . . . Er, what I mean to say is that Thursday noon croquet is set to begin again, starting March 13 with an easy refresher round at Playfields Park in Davis. Anyone who wants to join in is welcome. We'll have at least four mallets, and maybe as...... Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:07:49 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=294&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=294 It was not your typical, blazing August day in Davis -- so it wasn't the heat that put perspiration on brows at the croquet field today. This was a game of astonishing leads and just-as-astonishing turnarounds, and as the game wore on the tension was palpable in the air. The group had a lackluster start until Linda Ribera (playing red) got to her second turn . . . and ran three straight wickets and an occasional bumped ball, bringing her almost to the halfway point while the other four,...... Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:18:13 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=129&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=129 Temperatures in the high 90s this first Thursday of August, together with office workload demands (for some) and major local real estate transactions (for others), kept the croquet crowd to just a few stalwarts this noon at Playfields Park. Leigh Dragoon (playing red) led off the match with a five-stroke run through the first three wickets, but it wasn't enough to keep "I've-never-won-anything-before" Jim Coats (playing black) from finishing the game first this time, at long last. Linda Ribera...... Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:16:39 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=127&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=127 A broad, well-manicured playing surface was the reward for CS croquet enthusiasts as players went the extra mile -- or quarter-mile, at least -- to set up posts and wickets at Playfields Park in Davis today at a little past noon. Soon the breeze fell away and the temperature began to climb. But when the match was over, Dave Kraus fans were chanting "No Fluke! No Fluke!" as Kraus (playing black) celebrated his second-in-two victory. The deciding play of the game was certainly Kraus's 7-sroke...... Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:15:58 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=128&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=128 The grass was long and the ground mushy, but that didn't stop David Krause from posting an impressive victory in today's CS croquet match here at Research Park in Davis. Krause (playing blue) bested three opponents, including the impolitic drubbing of his supervisor Karl Krist (playing red), who placed second. Also on the pitch were third-place Linda Ribera (playing yellow) and last of all Jim Coats (playing black). Despite the 8 minutes' difference in their finishing times, each player made at...... Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:12:36 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=126&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed wjcoats@ucdavis.edu(Jim Coats) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=126