Coaching for Pizza: Las Vegas and Other Fun Things . . .

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!