Bocce Town

The nation is going boingo for bocce. No longer just grandpa’s game, the younger set is heading for the courts. And it’s a little-known fact that the Detroit area is a renowned hub for worldwide tournament play. Excerpt: Kickball may still be kicking around town, but these days the game with buzz is bocce. This ancestor of bowling got its first popularity boost from soldiers of ancient Rome tossing stones to fill the downtime between battles. Over the millennia, their descendants developed the game into a diversion ideal for lazy summer afternoons: Roll balls toward a small white target ball (the pallino, or sometimes pallina) while sipping chianti. Whoever gets closer wins…. Did you know, for instance, that the international bocce community regards the courts at Detroit’s Palazzo di Bocce as the best in the world? Read the full story here.