Another Day of 7-on-7 at RIo Mesa

If it's Thursday, then it must be time for more 7-on-7 passing games. Today our games were 30 minute affairs at Rio Mesa against Agoura, Pacifica and Santa Paula. We continue to make headway on a steady pace.

Jordan Nunnery getting open

7-on-7 is simple really, receivers trying to get open vs. defenders trying not to let receivers get open. Jordan rushed for 1,100+ yards last season.

Runaway Freight Train on Track #11

Tanner Wrout was another of our running backs last season and he also rushed for 1,100+ yards.

It is nice to have these two RBs returning for their Senior campaigns.

"Hit the Tight End!!!"

Mitchell Haerterich is our TE who is about to battle his way into a pass route.

Crossing Routes

Ben Quantock flying across the field

Jaylen Stewart attempting

to surround a pass

Up for Grabs

Deflecting the pass is our newest OLB, Andrew Gonzales, who transferred in yesterday from Oxnard H.S.

Senior QBs Trent Thornton and . . .

. . . Christian McNair

They continue to compete for the starting job on a daily basis. Trent had the edge today.

Focused!

Nick Pizano and Keith Kemper on defense

What the . . .???

Maybe he transferred in yesterday from the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Italian Football League Semi-Final Playoff Results

The drive for the 2011 Italian Football League Championship continued this weekend with the playing of the circuit's two semi-final playoff contests. The results were simple and straight forward, the two favorites won by comfortable margins.

In Saturday's game, the #1 seeded (9-0) Bologna Warriors outscored the #4 seeded (5-4) Reggio Emilia Hogs 46-27.

Today, our beloved Sicilians, the #3 seeded (6-3) Catania Elephants flew to Parma to play the #2 seeded (7-2) Panthers. The first half was a typical IFL shootout that saw the Elephants ekeing out a 32-21 intermission advantage. The Parma squad made the necessary half-time adjustments and outscored Catania 21-0 in the third quarter to cruise to the win by a final tally of 59-40. For highlights of this game, go to http://www.prtv.it/2011/06/i-panthers-al-superbowl-battuti-gli-elephants/

Up next is the 2011 IFL Super Bowl game on Saturday, July 9th at Parma's Stadio XXV Aprile - Via del Popolo between the #1 seeded (10-0) Bologna Warriors and the #2 seeded (8-2) Parma Panthers. The kick-off is set for 8:30 p.m. These two teams met in Week 6 of the IFL season on April 30th with the Warriors prevailing at home 34-23.

As for the Elephants, another solid season is in the record books with lots of ups and downs. Our favorite squad continues play good football and challenge for the title each season. Now it's time for the Elephants to relax on the Ionian Sea with a granite and a brioche for a few weeks as they re-group and . . .

"WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR!!!"

Conejo Passing Tournament

Your Rio Mesa Spartans spent the last two days competing in the 20 team Conejo Passing Tournament. The tournament is played on the three Field Turf gridirons at Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake High Schools.

We played three games on Friday evening at Westlake H.S. vs. Westlake, Santa Maria and Oaks Christian.

Today we were back at it bright and early at Newbury Park H.S. vs. Ventura, Nordhoff and Palmdale.

The six games saw the Spartans play well in spots and not so well at times. All in all though, we continue to make progress each day.

WESTLAKE GAME

Tanner Wrout Holding

Juwan Beard in Coverage

Darion Zimmerman: "HELP ME!!!"

Christian McNair airing it out

You have officially been Re-Wrouted

Keith Kemper, a.k.a, THE CLUB

SANTA MARIA GAME

Jordan Nunnery, Two Catches in One Play

Joe Alamillo, HURRY!!!

Gabe Doungtran, Cover 1

Ben Quantock, Breaking a Saints' Ankle?

James Turner, Ball Room Dancing Lesson

Matt Espinosa in Coverage . . .

. . . Double Coverage

OAKS CHRISTIAN GAME

Oaks Christian LB, landslide winner,

"Tournament's Best Dressed Player"

LB Joe Alamillo still working on his game

VENTURA GAME

Mitch Haerterich proving a

good stance leads to . . .

. . . a TOUCHDOWN!!!

Good stance by James Turner

Hey, isn't that Newbury Park's newest teacher/coach, Mike Contreras, refereeing in the background?

Nice Coverage James!

Three REALLY old coaches!!!

Ventura H.S.'s Phil McCune and Brad Steward are two good reasons to still love high school football in Ventura County.

GREAT coverage by

Jordan Nunnery and Jaylen Stewart

NORDHOFF GAME

Football Ballet

Interception by Tanner Wrout

Back in the Flat, Jordan Nunnery

This Ref is KILLING us!!!

Nice Catch by a Ranger

But not a Tank Ranger

A few of the Rio Mesa Parents

Jump!

Joe Alamillo, INTENSITY!!!

Wrout Runs Amok

TD Ben Quantock

Battle!

PALMDALE GAME

TD Jordan Nunnery

Two long days in the Sun were over. Next up are three more 7-on-7 games at Rio Mesa next Thursday vs. Santa Paula, Pacifica and Agoura High Schools.

Noir

NOIR, noun, \'nwär\

Definition of NOIR : 1. crime fiction featuring hard-boiled, cynical characters and bleak, sleazy settings

Followers of this blog know that I have become a big fan of Scandanavian noir literature and films.

It started innocently enough when Mike and Susan D'Antuono suggested that I read Swedish author Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just before I left for Sweden last year.

Thoroughly absorbed, I excitedly raced through Larsson's so-called Millennium Trilogy in my first few days in Skåne. From their, Hässleholm Hurricane impressario Uffe Palmbrink got me hooked on Swedish author Henning Mankell's 11 book Kurt Wallander series that I finally finished last week.

Next, Camino de Santiago fellow pilgrim Trine Beck sent me a Danish DVD titled The Per Fly Trilogy. Talk about noir! By the way, on Friday, June 24th, Midsommar Day, it will be Happy Birthday time for Trine!!!

In the June, 2011 edition of the University of Washington's alumni magazine, Columns, there is even a mention of the Swedish murder mystery genre. UW associate professor of Scandanavian Studies, Andrew Nestingen, has written not one but two books on the subject. His first book in 2008 was titled Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia: Fiction, Film and Social Change. This year he has co-edited a collection of essays on the subject, Scandinavian Crime Fiction. I'll need to take a look at both of these works sometime soon.

While unsuccessfully trying to find a copy of Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø's book The Snowman at Barnes and Noble, I did come across the following tome.

This is one of an interesting series of books published as the Akashic Noir Series. Each book is a compilation of noir short stories set in a particular major city. There are over 40 cities highlighted to date in the series.

Copenhagen Noir included work from 16 different noir writers from both sides of the Øresund. Most were very good yarns, a couple, not so much. As always, it was great to read stories set in many of the Danish and Swedish neighborhoods that we got to know so well last Spring and Summer.

IFL Game Time

The Italian Football League's Serie A playoffs start this weekend with a pair of semi-finals games. Our favorite team, the 6-3, #3 seeded Catania Elephants, are in the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons, an awesome accomplishment in itself in the topsy-turvy IFL.

The New 2011 Catania Logo

Only four days left until . . .

GAME TIME!!!

2011 IFL Semi-Final Playoff Games

Saturday, June 25th

#4 Reggio Emilia (5-4) at #1 Bologna Warriors (9-0)

Sunday, June 26th

#3 Catania (6-3) at #2 Parma (7-2)

2011 IFL Championship Game

Saturday, July 9th

The two winners of this weekend's Semi-Final games will play in the IFL Super Bowl at Parma's Stadio XXV Aprile - Via del Popolo

Good Luck Elephants!!!