By: Bill McAllister

The Stoney and Bill Show had the honor of playing in the Detroit Lions annual Tony Filippis Memorial Bocce Tournament on Wednesday at Palazzo di Bocce in Orion Township. The tournament raises money for local charities and was named after Tony Filippis, who started the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame back in 1999.

I'm not sure however, how proud the Lions were of us. If you wanted to create a 'how not to play bocce ball' DVD, we would be the stars of that DVD. Now, I have played bocce ball at every family gathering since I could walk. I went into this tournament thinking, "this is going to be a piece of cake". Then I entered Palazzo di Bocce. Wait, where is the grass? This was unlike any bocce ball I had ever played. This was like playing bocce ball on your driveway. You don't roll the ball so much as you drop it on the ground and hope for the best. Obviously, there is an actual skill involved that none of us possessed.

Our team consisted of me, Stoney, Sara and our boss Jimmy. Our first opponents were Detroit Lions alumni with an average age of 70-years old. We were soundly trounced. Next up were some engineers from Ford Motor Company, we were promptly disposed of. Finally we played the guys from Motor City Harley Davidson, they treated us like road kill.

All in all, it was a great time and a great cause.