What is Bocce and Why is My Kid Heckling Me While I Play?

My family has been playing bocce for as long as I can remember. My grandfather is actually one of the founders of the Italian Fraternal Society in Mechanicville where they built several bocce courts under a pavilion. My mom is now the president of the league. Bocce is a great game that anyone at any age can play. In fact, my grandmother played bocce until she was ninety-eight.

The game is simple. You have two teams, one has red balls and the other has green. You throw a small white ball called the pallino (which we pronounce as pauleen) and then each team tries to get their ball closest to it. Points are accumulated and after 7 rounds, the team with the most points wins.

I have been playing on my mom's league in Mechanicville and this past week, my son Ryan came along to watch. You may not know this, but when I watch him play baseball, I mic myself up and yell out things at his games. We call it "Big League Chooch" on the show. Well, it was his turn to do the same to me while I played bocce. I usually shout out his teammates in a positive way. But my kid was relentless and somewhat condescending. Take a listen to Ryan being a "Little League Chooch".

I guess I should just be happy that, at ten years old, Ryan still wants to come and watch me play bocce with my mom. I know there will come a time where that will be very uncool to do. So I guess he can be as loud and condescending as he wants.