Another few days living and enjoying our family in Paradise and Sin City both . . .
Mary relaxing as only she can
As usual, lots of babysitting is a big part of our weekly routine.
LOVE IT!
Mike and Jacob
The mighty Ninja Sharks had their season ending party at Camarillo's Boulevard Burgers.
Coach Mike ran the event
on the patio
Jacob and his first ever
AYSO participation trophy
I know, I know . . .
But he WAS happy
YOUR 2017 Ninja Sharks
Mike's last Words of Wisdom
to the Ninja Sharks
Meanwhile, back to babysitting . . .
Mary at nearby Lokker Park
She likes the swings
A LOT!
She likes the slides too
She makes gravity look easy
See
A Las Vegas weekend was also on our agenda . . .
Breakfast in Victorville
Emma Jean's is about the
half way point for our drive
to Nevada
We got to Las Vegas in time
to pick up Kevin from school!
Rated "The Best BBQ in the West"
by me
And I am an excellent judge of BBQ!
Damn it!
Signs like this make me wish I owned a Colt AR-15 Assault Rifle to go hunting for elk or deer.
Kevin is an NHL
Vegas Golden Knights fan
Someday maybe he'll
skate for them
Gramma Lo and Kevin
and Blitz
Yep, he is indeed missing
his first tooth
Back to School on Monday
Kevin and his classmates
As is usual, the weekend in Las Vegas was one revolving around watching football games, eating and playing numerous games of Sorry.
Good Times Indeed!
Watching the Rams win while we
were in Las Vegas was GREAT!
After that win, Sports Illustrated was
officially on the Rams Bandwagon
But today our Rams came back to
earth in Minnesota
Final Score: Vikings 24 - Rams 7
Speaking of the Rams, during the week they hosted an "NFL Play 60" event at their training site in Thousand Oaks.
Mike opted to take Jacob seeking to improve his workout regimen.
Rampage and Jacob
I believe Rampage is the Rams starting Strong Safety.
Jacob at the front of his line
ready to lay it all on the line
Gator Tackle Drill
Three Cone Drill
I still remember as a young boy in the 1950s seeing the Rams Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch talk to a group of us at San Marino H.S. as part of a Union 76 sports clinic.
I hope that for Jacob it was as good a night for him as it was for me 60 something memorable years ago.
Mary showing off the dress
I bought for her in Mexico City
last August
The 2017 UW Christmas ornament
Thank you Paul Sabolic!
Last Friday I had lunch at BJ's Brewery in Burbank with Paul, Mike D'Antuono and, surprise, Mike's sister Diana who was visiting from Seattle.
Paul has been giving Mike and I these annual University of Washington Christmas ornaments each year for at least the past decade. Laurie and I both love these wonderful gifts and happily put them on display every year after Thanksgiving.
Again, GRAZIE PAOLO!
Sleep Over Friday with Jacob
is always a weekly highlight
The cookies he and Laurie baked were delicious!
And I do mean SLEEP over!
NEWS FROM THE
FOOTBALL WORLD
Still EXCITED about Italy
and the Varese Skorpions!
Were the Skorpions unveiling our
2018 schedule?
Well, NO, not until FIDAF,
our governing body releases it
My guess is that we will not have a schedule until mid-December at the earliest.
Undaunted by the lack of our schedule, I headed to the Camarillo Outlets' LIDS store to have them create my very own . . .
Skorpions Coaching Hat!
It looks smart to me, worthy
of a Milan fashion show
Starting to get my Italian
taste buds up to speed . . .
. . . what better way to start
Football News From Mexico
The Pumas played for the
ONEFA League Championship
on Saturday
The now 9-1 UNAM Pumas are the team that played our Europe Warriors All-Star team in an exhibition game to start their 2017 season back in August.
The Pumas beat us 35-32 that day and I was impressed by their level of play.
The Pumas entered this title contest with an 8-1 record as did their opponents the Auténticos Tigres from the Universidad Autonomy de Nuevo Leon.
ONEFA, comprised of 22 universities, is the Public University League in Mexico and these two universities were meeting for the ninth straight year. The Auténticos Tigres had won six of the previous eight title matches including the last two.
Earlier this year the Pumas handed the Autéticos Tigres their lone loss of the season 22-19.
The Pumas lone loss of 2017 was a 27-21 overtime defeat at the hands of the two time defending National Champion UDLAP Aztecas in their season opener.
On Saturday the Pumas won the day and the ONEFA Championship by just another three point, 18-15.
Next up for the Pumas on December 2nd is the Mexican National Championship Game against this coming Saturday's winner of the CONADEIP Championship. This title game will feature the 9-1 UDLAP Aztecas and the 8-2 ITESM Toluca Borregos.
CONADEIP is made up of 12 universities that form Mexico's Private University League.
Back in September, the Aztecas beat the Borregos 28-0.
The fun is just beginning for our Europe Warriors coaching staff, as we will be in Mexico City on December 2nd!
The National Championship game will be played this year at the home of the CONADEIP Champion. Toluca is about 90 minutes west of Mexico City while Puebla is about 2 hours and 30 minutes east of the capital. Either way we are going.
Unless . . .
We opt to go to the West Point at Heroico Colegio Militar (HCM) game in Mexico City that same day. West Point is sending their Sprint Team, i.e., their squad of Cadets that are all 200 lbs. and under.
We spent a wonderful day touring the HCM facilities last August and talking football with their coaching staff. HCM, by the way, is Mexico's West Point.
Either way, it's going to be a GREAT day for American football in Mexico!
The Aztec Bowl
is now officially a Double-Header!
Our Europe Warriors U19 All-Star club will be facing a U19 All-star team made up ONEFA players at 10:00 a.m. in Texaco, Mexico.
At 1:00 p.m. an All-Star team of Mexican university players will take on an All-Star squad made up of American NCAA DIII players.
AWESOME!
Tickets for the Double-Header
go for a whopping
$70 Mexican pesos apiece!
YIKES!
That's about $3.70 in American dollars.
Oh.
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!
