February
The Month in a Nutshell: January saw Extreme boule action
stretching from the South Coast of England to the Shetland Isles. In February
it was the turn of the Welsh Extreme Boule scene to enter the limelight. In
particularly it was the Cardiff boulers who set out to top the World rankings.
Now for some Extreme boule means
mountains, bogs, forests… however some get their extreme kicks by clattering
boule over tarmac, judging cambers, dodging drains and playing under street
lamps – Urban Extreme Boule (UEB).
Extreme Boule veterans Murray,
Moss and Wort met for a night time clash of UEB with only one thing on their
mind – the number one spot in the World Rankings. The poorly lit conditions meant players had to
rely on their senses, more than their eyes and one man’s senses were far better
honed than the others. Enter Jim Murray, long time top dog on the Cardiff
scene, to play a round of sublime UEB. He dominated the game from the off,
leaving Moss and Wort floundering, even serving up a cold hard slab of ‘La
Rappiste’ from which Moss and Wort never recovered.
Moss in particular played pure
botchy ball throughout and ended up, somehow, with no points.
In the end Murray took home the
plaudits, and eased himself into the second spot on the World Rankings. Could
this be his year?
Current World Number One: Sam
Charles. No games from the master extreme bouler, but no one could match his
points average, although Jim Murray came close.
Match of the Month: Murray 17,
Wort 11, Moss 0. Murray won in style and Moss may have played one of the most
notoriously bad rounds of Extreme Boule yet.
Photo of the Month: Night boule matches do not always generate classic images so we've opted for this photo, taken pre match, when Murray met Wort and Moss. It captures the pre-match tension, only eased with the opening of the port - an old Cardiff extreme boule tradition.
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| Murray, left, won the match at a canter |
Fact of the Month: The highest
game of boule recorded is 886m a.s.l. played on the summit of Pen y Fan. There are substantial rumours that a game once took place on
a plane, but these cannot be verified.
Technique of the Month: La Rappiste. A move in which a player dupes
his opponents into playing harder shots, leaving themselves with an easy shot
to the Jacque to claim the points. As pioneered by Jim Murray.
Cheerio for now Extreme Boulers!
