Busy College Football Weekend Update

The Thanksgiving Holiday was one endless stream of very enjoyable college football games!

As always, let us recap the key games of interest to our readers in Catania, Sicily and Hässleholm, Sweden.

As we have noted in earlier posts, the seasons are over for Willamette (Brandon), Hardin-Simmons (Matt), San Diego (Taber) and Wabash (Denver).

Nebraska-Omaha, 7-4, (Larry) continued to tune up for next Saturday's Kanza Bowl game in Topeka, Kansas vs. West Texas A&M.

Arizona (Jason) improved to 7-4 with a great win over Arizona State 20-17. The Wildcats will finish their regular season at USC next Saturday and then will await their Bowl game assignment.

The 2009 Apple Cup Champions

My Washington Huskies, 4-7, routed our archrivals, the Washington State Cougars, 30-0! The Apple Cup will reside in Seattle for at least the next 12 months!!! We will finish our season at home against the California Golden Bears next Saturday.

HURRICANE WATCH

A great weekend for the Hässleholm Hurricanes two favorite college football teams.

The Miami Huuricanes, 9-3, defeated South Florida 31-10 to finish the regular season. They too now await their Bowl game assignment.

Finally, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 5-7, finished their season with an exciting 33-30 overtime win against Memphis.

Thanksgiving Friday

Our Thanksgiving was extended into Friday, a GOOD THING INDEED!

We picked up Laurie's Dad Bill and his wife Florene and drove down to Orange County to celebrate our blessings again, this time at Laurie's sister Gayle's home with her husband David and their family.

Andy and Jenn were able to fly in from Las Vegas for the day, Mike and Vanessa joined us and most of the cousins would be there as well.

The Signs of Fall

Gayle loves to garden

Gayle and David's backyard was aglow with nature at its nicest.

Pre-Game Snacks

Another day, another turkey

Why don't we eat more turkey year around?

The kitchen was the nerve center of the day yet again!

David carves the turkey, Gayle checks the yams in the oven while Amy stirs the all important gravy.

Andy, Mike and Sarah catching up

Lyndsey giving thanks that she graduated from USC as she ices and decorates the cupcakes

Andy and Jenn watching. . .

. . . Nebraska at Colorado

Lyndsey's husband Craig is a Colorado graduate and she was REALLY into the Buffaloes' upset bid Friday. It didn't work out for CU as the Huskers won 28-20.

Mike with the only surviving member of Gayle's Pumpkin Patch 2009.

Guys just hanging out!

The Adult's Table

Place Settings

As well as names at each place setting, Gayle also added a fun touch with a picture from the past of the person to be seated. This was Andy's spot with a picture from about the fourth grade ready to greet him.

At the head of the Adult's Table was a picture of Grandpa Bill with a one year old Laurie.

Yams with brown sugar and marshmellows

More importantly, why don't we eat these taste treats year around?

DIG IN!!!

Tim, Sarah, Florene, Bill and Andy at the Adult's Table.

The Adult's Table is reserved for those who desire the tradition of serious Holiday discussions about politics, the cosmos and philosophy while you dine.

The Kid's Table

Here Craig, Amy, Laurie, Scott and John finish singing a rousing chorus of "Louie-Louie"!

For the third time. . .

Dessert

Just the right combination of delicacies to finish off two days of Power Eating!

The Holiday Season truly IS a great time of the year!!!

Thanksgiving's Three F's: Food, Football and Family

In America, Thanksgiving Day means three things. . . Food, Football and Family!

On Thanksgiving Day we traditionally assemble at my Mother's home to feast. It was a little sparse this year as Andy and Jenn were in Las Vegas and could not attend while Mike and Vanessa spent their first Turkey Day as a married couple with her family.

Not to worry, we will see the four of them on Friday as we attend a second Thanksgiving Day at Laurie's sister's home in Tustin.

FOOD

My Mother's Dining Room

in San Marino, California

This will eventually be the scene of our Carb-Feast 2009!

Funny thing this week, I received e-mails from Claudio Mangano in Catania and Linus Lindén in Hässleholm, both wanting to know about how to prepare a real American Thanksgiving Day meal.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes. . .

My sister Linda holding DELICIOUS Cranberries

IRONBEER, the Traditional Soft Drink of Cuba

First time I've ever seen it in a liter bottle and caffeine free to boot! Not a part of any real American Turkey Day but it worked at Casa Contreras today.

Laurie stirring the gravy to slather on the turkey and stuffing.

I personally mashed these Sweet Potatoes into submission!

Add a lot of butter and some chutney. . .YUM!!!

A Honey Baked Ham is a good supporting dish but. . .

The Turkey is CLEARLY the Star of the Meal!!!

Linda accidently put it into the oven upside down. The result? All the juices made there way down to the white meat which made for incredibly moist meat!

Sometimes accidents are REALLY good!

The Thanksgiving Buffet

My First Plate

The key is to start slowly and calmly build up to a ferocious pace. No. I am not a ham guy. Bring on the gobbler!

Dessert

The traditional pumpkin pie and my niece Lauren's phenomenal cranberry concoction. I had a sliver of both with some vanilla ice cream.

Some in attendance believe that I may have set a new Personal Record for most calories consummed in one meal!

FOOTBALL

The NFL only played three games today.

A staggered triple-header with no two games conflicting on the tube.

First up was Green Bay at Detroit. We watched the first half in Camarillo as we got ready to drive to San Marino and listened to the second half as we drove.

Final Score #1: Packers 34 - Lions 12

Next up was Oakland at Dallas which we saw entirely at Casa Contreras.

Final Score #2: Cowboys 24 - Raiders 7

The final NFL game was the New York Football Giants at Denver. I could not have cared less and did not watch any of it.

Final Score #3: Broncos 26 - Giants 6

Dallas Halftime Show

I found it curious that The Salvation Army sponsored it as the scantily clad Cowboy Cheerleaders did their thing on stage.

I gave Thanks for their outstanding contribution to the spirit of the day!

The NCAA also had a football game on the schedule

The #3 ranked Texas Longhorns invaded College Station, Texas to take on their archrivals, the Texas A&M Aggies.

I LOVE college football SO much more than the somewhat dull, low scoring games that the NFL tends to produce. This game did not fail me!

Colt McCoy is the Longhorn's

Heisman Trophy Candidate QB

Great game tonight with 304 yards passing and 4 TD passes as well as 175 yards rushing and a TD!!!

"I did NOT block him in the back."

Final Score: Longhorns 49 - Aggies 39

Now that was fun shoot-out! Texas finished the regular season at 12-0.

FAMILY

The best part of the day is still seeing your family and/or friends on this great American Holiday. Today lived up to the billing, mostly in the kitchen.

Laurie and her gravy

My sisters

Linda Contreras and Marilyn Wintroath

Even I got into the act a little bit!

It was probably at halftime.

Family Photo

From left to right; George, Chuny Contreras (Mom), Lauren Wintroath (niece), John Wintroath (brother-in-law), Linda Contreras (sister), Marilyn Wintroath (sister), Laurie and Katie (aunt)

A short break in the action

I just had to catch up on the Texas-Texas A&M game between dinner and the serving of the desserts!

One last look at Casa Contreras before driving back to Camarillo

What a GREAT DAY!!!

Fillmore, California

Wednesday afternoon I drove over to Fillmore which is the prime example of small town America in Ventura County. No malls, just a quaint downtown area with small, locally owned stores that supply all of the simple things that are the fabric of people's lives.

My main purpose to visiting this town that was founded in 1888 was to stop by Fillmore H.S. to watch their evening practice in preparation for this Friday's C.I.F. Quarter-Final playoff game at Bishop Union H.S.

I got there a little early so I decided to take a walking tour of Fillmore's downtown.

A Salute to Fillmore's sons and daughters in the Armed Forces

These are posted all up and down Central Avenue.

Fillmore City Hall

I love the ancient Firestone Tires sign

Still only $6 for a haircut? WOW!

What says southern California more than palm trees?

They even have a Pool Hall for your pleasure

Established 1919

Ninety years old and still kicking! You can find all of your hardware needs here I'm sure.

A simple but effective advertising strategy

The Fillmore Theater

The upscale Central Market . . .

. . . competes with the down home

Victor Market

121 years of Fillmore's town history awaits you inside.

The Glessinger Winery is always possible diversion

Fillmore prides itself on its long history with the railroad industry.

Christmas decorations are already up near Fillmore's Railroad Visitor Center

Lots of vintage railroad cars are on display.

Hook me up, I want to go!

California's premier railroad line

The Fillmore Mystery Dinner Train

As the name implies, dinners on this train ride through the country get to figure out "whodunnit" as they eat while a live murder mystery plot unfolds on their trip.

SHAZAM!

The old 101 is indeed "Radio Equipped"

Now it was on to Fillmore H.S.

"The Home of the Flashes"

Fillmore H.S.'s Weight Room

They have about 60 kids out for football and the formula here is basic but highly effective. They concentrate on "The Big Three". From left to right you go from Squat to Power Clean to Bench Press.

Their Field Turf Stadium is ready

Head Coach Matt Dollar

Matt runs the defense and has great rapport with his players and coaches. Their Frontier League Championship this year is their first outright title since the 1970's!

The Scout Offense running one of Bishop Union's favorite plays.

Installing a new play to spring on unsuspecting Bishop Union.

Buck Sweep Drill

The Flashes run the Delaware Wing-T which I fell in love with 30 years ago and ran throughout my career as a head coach in high school. I want to run it again in Sweden so I wanted to catch up on any and all new wrinkles that have been added in the last ten years, since I've been on the defensive side of the ball as an assistant coach.

Coach Curtis Garner in the Offensive Huddle

Curtis coached with me for several years at Rio Mesa H.S. when I served as their head coach. We ran the Wing-T together at that time and he has continued it at Fillmore.

Curtis is a good man and an excellent coach. I plan on meeting with him several times before I depart for Hässleholm.

GOOD LUCK FRIDAY NIGHT FLASHES!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF OUR BLOG READERS!!!

Lucy D'Antuono

Lucy D'Antuono passed away in Seattle this Fall after a long and fruitful life.

Her son Michael is a long time friend from my undergraduate days at the University of Washington. Mke and his wife Susan live in Pasadena now while Lucy's daughter, Diana, still lives in Seattle.

On Tuesday, we gathered with her friends and family at the Il Fornaio Restaurant in Pasadena to rekindle the memories of her remarkable life.

Lucy always struck me as a very elegant, reserved and graceful woman with equal streaks of strength and gentleness. She was a very positive person whose character was passed on to her children.

Lucy's favorite time of the year was Thanksgiving which gave her a chance to visit with family and friends while indulging her passion for good food.

Just a wonderful lady. . .

Lucy's Family

Daughter Diana is third from the left while son Michael is third from the right next to his wife Susan.

George

70 years old, has worked with Michael for years, is an extremely smooth-talker with a way with the ladies and has a VERY cool first name to boot.

Gentlemen, pay attention to this man and his moves!

The Usual Suspects

This is our University of Washington group with whom we celebrate Valentine's Day every year.

From the left: Peter and Sherlyn Claridge, Susan, and Michael D'Antuono, George Contreras, Paul Sabolic, Laurie Contreras and Joanne Sabolic

The Small World of Swedish Football

Cruising about Ventura County yesterday, I stopped by to visit both Simi Valley H.S. and Royal H.S.

Lance Martin

Head Football Coach

Simi Valley H.S.

In the small world that is football and Sweden, it came out that Lance played for Swedish American Football League's Lund Vikings in 1995. We talked a lot about his very positive memories of his time in Sweden which made me feel even more comfortable about our upcoming season in Hässleholm.

Lance mentioned that his coach in Lund is now a counselor at nearby Royal H.S.

John Burton

Counselor

Royal H.S.

Lance gave John, who I had never met before, a heads up that I was in the neighborhood so I stopped off to visit him as well.

He was the Lund Vikings Head Coach from 1989-1995 and was also overflowing with great memories from his time in Sweden! He also had some great coaching ideas about how to deal with the potential unique problems that any American football team in any European country has to face.

This VERY cool newspaper article from a Swedish newspaper about John's Lund team which still hangs in his office.

I wonder what the headline says?

It really is a small world, isn't it?

HURRICANE JASON HITS CALIFORNIA!

Jason Johnson, former Catania Elephant's star QB, arrived in Camarillo Monday afternoon on his way to Fresno for Thanksgiving with his brother's family.

Jason's Approach Shot at Saticoy Regional's

321 yard, Par 4, Ninth Hole

First up we hit the links late in the afternoon for a race between sunset and nine holes of championship golf. We just did beat the sunset as we teed off on the course's ninth and final hole.

Jason was a remarkable 11 over par for the evening, a feat that I was able to accomplish on the first hole alone!

Post Golf, Post Dinner at Stuft Pizza in Thousand Oaks

After our round of golf, we met Laurie for dinner at Bandit's BBQ in Camarillo and then it was off to Thousand Oaks to meet with the World's #1 European-American Football Blog reader, David P. Lassen.

It was great to see Dave as always but even more fun to see him and Jason interact face-to-face for the first time.

San Diego Playoff Madness Update

The results are in from this past weekend's opening round of the C.I.F. San Diego Section's 2009 high school football playoffs for the teams that we featured in an earlier post.

Amazingly, six of the 13 teams, in red below, that entered the playoffs with losing records won!

Division I

Torrey Pines (5-5-1) 27 - Otay Ranch (3-7-1) 17

Fallbrook (3-8) 7 - Rancho Bernardo (8-3) 6

Mira Mesa (7-4) 48 - Carlbad (3-8) 29

El Camino (4-7) 31 - Chula Vista (6-5) 7

Division II

Mt. Carmel (5-6) 42 - Morse (6-5) 16

Helix (7-4) 18 - Westview (3-8) 17

Scripps Ranch (6-5) 63 - Orange Glen (4-7) 34

Division III

Steele Canyon (7-3-1) 28 - San Marcos (4-7) 20

Division IV

Central Union (9-2) 56 - Clairemont (4-7) 21

La Jolla (5-6) 38 - Palo Verde (5-6) 32

Olympian (11-0) 45 - Santana (2-9) 7

Division V

Horizon (3-8) 21 - Mt. Empire (6-5) 20

An Old Friend and a New One

On October 4, 2009, the Los Angeles Times published one of my photos of the Basilica de San Francisco el Grande in Madrid, Spain in their weekly "Your Scene" part of the Sunday Times Travel Section. The "Your Scene" is the Travel Editor to pick one travel photo submitted by readers who are not professional photographers per week to be published on Sunday.

A few days later I received a letter congratulating me on the picture from John Patrick Walsh. I first met John as a 6th grader who had just arrived as a transfer student to St. Phillip the Apostle School in Pasadena from K.L. Carver School in San Marino.

After St. Phillip's, we both attended and graduated from St. Francis H.S. in La Cañada-Flintridge. After high school John attended Loyola-Marymount for a year before transferring to Southern California where he earned both his B.A. degree and graduated from their Law School.

Unfortunately, after college I had limited contact with John and probably had not spoken to him in about ten years, YIPES!

Well my L.A. Times photo created a perfect opportunity for Laurie and I to re-connect so Saturday night we met John and Colette in the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles for dinner and some catching up.

Casa Bianca

1650 Colorado Blvd.

Los Angeles, California

http://casabiancapizza.com/

John and Colette picked this GREAT Italian restaurant for our meeting! It is over 50 years old, has a ton of charm, was standing room only for hours after we got there and serves the best Italian food we've had since we left Sicily!!!

John Walsh and Colette Huby

The wine and beer flowed gently, the food was fabulous and the catching up went on for almost three hours!

We had not met Colette until this evening. She works as Charge Nurse at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica and hails from the United Kingdom.

We had an extremely wonderful time and we WILL meet again soon. They are such GREAT people!!!

The 2009 Football Season is Winding Down

As we ease into Thanksgiving Week, the football season is starting to slowly come to a close as teams finish their regular season games or lose in their playoffs. Although this means less and less games each week, it also means more intense games as only the better teams are still playing.

Wearing my Contreras Cobras T-Shirt with PRIDE

enjoying a cup of coffee

After spending most of Saturday with Mike and Laurie at our house watching college football, on Sunday we went to Mike and Vanessa's house to watch the NFL game between New Orleans and Tampa Bay.

Vanessa got out the snacks necessary for good NFL TV watching.

Mike teaching me the fine details of preparing a Power Point presentation.

I am in the process of setting up a series of meetings with the Senior football players at the 14 colleges that still play football in southern California from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo down to San Diego State. The purpose of these meetings is to make these players aware of the possibilities that await them if they are bold enough to enjoy the adventure that is playing American football in Europe!

Nice shoes Mike!

SATURDAY'S COLLEGE RESULTS

OF INTEREST TO OUR

BLOG FOLLOWERS

Wabash at Illinois Wesleyan

Denver's Wabash Little Giants (9-2) lost their NCAA Division III first round playoff game to Illinois Wesleyan in double overtime 35-41. This ends their season.

Taber's San Diego Toreros (4-7) ended their season with a loss to Southern Utah by a score of 32-37.

Jason's Arizona Wildcat's (6-4) suffered a heart breaking loss 41-44 to Oregon in yet another double overtime contest. They play at arch-rival Arizona State this week.

My Washington Huskies (3-7) had a bye as they prepared for this week's Apple Cup game at home against the Cougars of Washington State. OK, so some not so good teams are still playing college footballs.

Larry's Nebraska-Omaha (7-4) squad continues their work for their Dec. 5th Kanza Bowl game against West Texas A&M.

Both Brandon's Willamette Bearcats (8-2) and Matt's Hardin-Simmons Cowboys (6-4) ended their seasons last week.

Now we move on to

Hässleholm's Favorite Teams

The University of Miami Hurricanes (8-3) defeated Duke 34-16 and finish their regular season this week at the University of South Florida.

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-7) lost their game at Southern Mississippi 34-44. Tulsa's last game this week is at home against Memphis.

FINALLY, AN NFL RESULT

Our favorite NFL team, the New Orleans Saints (10-0), closed out the weekend as they cruised to a 38-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Bucs today. Their next game will be a tough one in New Orleans against the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football.

San Diego Playoff Madness

While surfing the net this morning, I opted to go to the C.I.F. - San Diego Section to check out their upcoming football playoffs for a possible weekend trip for myself and my bride Laurie.

What I found was a bit disturbing.

I know that C.I.F. playoffs have been watered down quite a bit in the last 30 years. Back when I was in high school their were only five playoff divisions (AAAA, AAA, AA, A and Small Schools) in the C.I.F. Southern Section with only the league champions qualifying for the playoffs. Occasionally, one or two second place teams might qualify but only if a division had less than 16 leagues.

My senior year in high school, the 1964 season, Servite and Mater Dei squared off for their league title on the last night of the regular season. One of them, Mater Dei, entered the game a perfect 7-0 and had recorded shuouts in ALL SEVEN of their games. Servite won the game 7-0 and got the league's AAAA playoff bid, 7-1 Mater Dei did not make the playoffs that year despite only allowing only SEVEN points in their eight game schedule!

Today, in 2009, the C.I.F Southern Section holds football playoffs in 11 different divisions, each a 16 team affair with an occasional losing record in the mix when a team gets hot in their league games after a losing non-league season. In most divisions, the top three teams in each of the five leagues that make up a division earn automatic bids to the playoffs and one Wild Card team is picked to bring a total of 16 squads into the tournament.

With this as a background, here is what is going on in the C.I.F. San Diego Section's 2009 football playoffs:

Each of their five playoff divisions is a 12 team affair with the top four seeds in each division earning a first round BYE.

Division I

For the 19 schools with enrollments

of 2541 or more

Teams in the Division I playoffs include:

Torrey Pines 4-5-1 Overall (2-2-1 League)

Otay Ranch 3-6-1 (2-3)

Fallbrook 2-8 (1-4)

Carlsbad 3-7 (2-3)

El Camino 3-7 (3-2)

Division II

For the 18 schools with enrollments

between 2125 and 2540

Teams in the Division II playoffs include:

Mt. Carmel 4-6 (3-3)

Westview 3-7 (1-5)

Orange Glen 4-6 (0-6)

Division III

For the 18 schools with enrollments

between 1725 and 2124

Teams in the Division III playoffs include:

San Marcos 4-6 (2-4)

Division IV

For the 18 schools with enrollments

between 790 and 1724

Teams in the Division IV playoffs include:

Clairemont 4-6 (3-3)

La Jolla 4-6 (1-3)

Santana 2-8 (0-4)

Division V

For the 20 schools with enrollments

between 175 and 789

Teams in the Division V playoffs include:

Horizon 2-8 (0-4)

That is 13 teams out of the 60 in their playoffs with losing overall records!

How on earth can you justify the three teams (Orange Glen, Santana and Horizon) being in the playoffs with a combined 0-14 league records?

For a real playoff treat, check out the Orange Glen 4-6 (0-6) at Scripps Ranch 5-5 (1-4) opening round Division II game this Friday night. Two teams that went a combined 1-10 in their leagues!!!

Sorry 1964 Mater Dei Monarchs