Every religion has their story of creation. To the men and women of "Et tu Bocce," the game of bocce is their religion, Garfield Park their chapel, and the pallina their chalice. Like other origin stories, the formation of "Et tu Bocce" is one of victory and defeat, loyalty and deceit, bud light and miller lite.
In the beginning there was a team called "Blazing Sweetness." The Judeo-Christian origin gives us the creation of the world in six days, with the Lord resting on the seventh. The director's cut of the Bible tells us that although God was resting on the seventh day, he still allowed himself to daydream. What do all-powerful omnipotent deities daydream of you ask? Bocce teams, that's what. Now I will not claim "Blazing Sweetness" was the ultimate team in God's mind on that seventh day as that would be heresy, but it was close. The only thing missing was a monkey and Jennifer Grey (pre nose job) ... apparently the Lord is a huge fan of Dirty Dancing and everyone loves monkeys.
"Blazing Sweetness" was the ultimate melting pot. Most on the team were only acquaintances or had never met before the season started. At first, times were rough and morale low. But then a team member showed up with a boom box and through a three minute montage to Joe Esposito's "You're the Best" the team came together to learn to play bocce and also became the best of friends. From then on, the season was a myriad of overflowing high fives, beaming smiles, and a dominating show of flair.
All good things must come to an end and such was the case of Blazing Sweetness. The captain of "Blazing Sweetness," in an act of treachery reminiscent of Brutus, Judas, and Peter Pettigrew decided to form and captain a new team squelching the fire that was "Blazing Sweetness." We had heard there might be a new team and some of our team members might go over to it but when confronted with the fact that our leader was among the departed, crushed, all we could say was Et tu,[Captain's Name]. We do not utter his name after this betrayal. To create a new name for the newly formed team we have taken the statement made at his time of betrayal and filled in his unspeakable name with what really matters, bocce. Thus, like a phoenix reborn from his ashes, "Et tu Bocce" was launched from the smoldering remains of "Blazing Sweetness."
"Et tu Bocce" is already shaping up to be twice the team "Blazing Sweetness" ever was. We have replaced the outdated high five with the fist bump complete with explosions for special occasions. Our departed members have been replaced with much more attractive counterparts. Finally, we are working on a plan to rent some monkeys and get Jennifer Grey to make an appearance to create the bocce team God always dreamed of. Jennifer Grey was surprisingly easy to secure but the monkeys may be more difficult. We will keep you all in the loop.
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