Sunday, August 11, 2024

A Week Spent Mostly Indoors in Super Hot Las Vegas


Tues.-Sun., August 6-11, 2024
Since we start this post on a Tuesday . . .

. . . we obviously had street tacos for
lunch, this time at Establos Meat
Market in Camarillo

YUM!

Tuesday evening practice at
Camarillo H.S.

Jacob high pointing this pass

Jacob on Offense into his break

Go DEEP!

Talking things over with his
Defensive Coach

This was the only practice I got to attend this week as Laurie and I were headed to Las Vegas for a few days.

A stop at Eddie World in beautiful,
downtown Yermo was a MUST!

Las Vegas was TOASTY all week long

Playing Uno with Kevin and his dog
Biscuit was a great way to beat the heat

A trip to Bass Pro Shop was another
absolute MUST!

Overall, staying indoors to watch the 2024 Paris Olympics was our best option.

I love this Olympic Champion's
Gold Medal style

Could this GREAT Cuban
athlete do it?

SI!

What an accomplishment!

Truly amazing

As for some other Olympic events . . .

. . . well, yes, there was this

Spain was happy to win the
Soccer Gold Medal to say the least

Which reminds me, I need to start getting ready for my coaching job in Gijón, Spain.

I've tried eight of these nine
dishes over the years and
they were all good

MUY BUENO!

Of course Italy is wonderful too!

I have not been to Bari, Parma, Trieste or Taranto.

I need to travel more.

Thoughts from the net . . .

AWESOME accomplishment!

On the other hand

Who doesn't love a good
Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The Apple ones were a diet staple
of my high school days

It happens

I've been to many of these
wonderful college stadiums

To watch actual games in the Fall, I've been to eight of these facilities:
1. LSU's Tiger Stadium
2. UCLA's Rose Bowl
4. Notre Dame Stadium
6. Washington's Husky Stadium

9. Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium
12. Army's Michie Stadium
20. Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
22. USC's Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

In the Spring or Summer, I have also visited these seven arenas:
3. Michigan Stadium
7. Ohio State's Ohio Stadium
14. Oregon's Autzen Stadium
17. Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium

18. Georgia's Sanford Stadium
19. Florida State's Doak S. Campbell Stadium
25. Texas' Darrell K. Royal Texas Stadium

Speaking of stadiums, how about these NFL AI inspired ones . . . 

Parking would be a drawback
at this new L.A. Rams arena

The Seattle Seahawks one is
AWESOME!

Sailgate to the MAX in Tampa Bay

The N.Y. Jets could roam the
Mediterranean during a game

A 24 team Big XII in a few years?

Why not given the way that college football is heading.

Spain's Guadalajara Stings
into the L.A. 2028 Olympics Spirit

Flag football will be a new Olympic sport in four years.

HoF FB John Henry Johnson

HoF Tackle Bob St. Clair

I wonder why the players from the 1950s and 1960s suffered so many head injuries?

University of Illinois girding
for the 100th Anniversary of
Red Grange's legendary game

These throwback 1924 uniforms
with a great leather look to the helmets

In that 1924 game, Illinois was playing the inaugural game in their Memorial Stadium that was dedicated to all of the Fighting Illini students and alumni who lost their lives in World War I.

The opponent was the defending National Champion Michigan Wolverines.

Grange, aka "The Galloping Ghost," returned the opening Kickoff 95 yards for a TD. In the First Quarter he had TD runs of 67, 56 and 44 yards.

In the Second Half, he added another TD to his total on an 11 yard scamper and threw a 20 yard TD pass.

That was a total of five TD's scored and one TD pass thrown.

Throw in his two interceptions as a DB that day and it becomes easy to see why Illinois is honoring the memory of their three time (1922-'23-'24) All-American RB.

Final Score: Illinois (3-0) 39 - Michigan (2-1) 14

Illinois finished the 1924 season with a 6-1-1 record while Michigan was 6-2 on the year.

Baylor coaches wearing these
t-shirts at practice

Well, it's true!

On Friday night I caught part
of the local high school's scrimmage

Sunrise Mountain Miners in gray
vs. the Sierra Vista Lions in blue

Kevin will be a student at Sierra Vista H.S. in just two more years.

Jacob giving us a thumb's up
on Friday from back in Camarillo

On Saturday, Jacob's Camarillo Stingers
team would travel to Newbury Park H.S.

The Stingers were scheduled to scrimmage the North Valley Bears and then the Fillmore Raiders.

The results of these two scrimmages would be evaluated by the league to determine seeding for the 2024 season that starts in two weeks.

Jacob at CB to the left vs. the Bears

He also played WR

Getting-off vs. the Raiders

Eye balling his WR in their huddle

Making a solid tackle on a
scrambling North Valley QB

From the videos that I saw,
he ran full bore most of the day

Waiting for the Defensive call

Getting a breather on the sideline

Post scrimmage team huddle

Michael reported that Jacob gave great effort today which was all I wanted to hear.

Good lesson parents and coaches

On to news of the EuroBall weekend . . .

Coach Michael Wood's Helsinki Roosters
team had no trouble staying sole
possession of first place in the Maple League

WEEK 12 in ELF play, only
two more weeks left in the
regular season after this one

Seven games plus three
teams on Byes

The Prague Lions were confidant

A second Prague poster

Their game with the Ferhérvár Enthroners promised to be competitive.

And it was, Prague (1-10) edging
Ferhévár (2-8) for their first win
in a low scoring affair

The Bravos were the heavy favorites

UPSET!
Frankfurt (4-6) with a solid
win over Madrid (7-3)

Stuttgart vs. Tirol should be
a good game

It was! In a mild upset,
Tirol (7-3) edged Stuttgart (9-1)

Paris was traveling again
due to the Olympics

No problem, Paris (8-2) routs
Cologne (4-6) by fifty points

What level of play from the floundering
Barcelona Dragons this week?

A solid Munich pre-game poster

The Dragons pre-game poster
was again the best in the ELF

No pre-game poster could predict
this sad state of affairs, Munich (7-3)
showing Barcelona (2-8) absolutely
NO MERCY!

Wroclaw at Berlin

A great game that went to overtime,
Berlin (5-6) outlasting Wroclaw (4-6)

Despite their record, the Wroclaw Panthers continue to battle every week. Four of their five losses have come by twelve, ten, ten, three and now two points.

Great pride in Poland to be sure.

Interesting Rhein Fire poster

Not an interesting outcome,
Rhein (10-1) routs Hamburg (2-8)

The ELF continues to have
optics issues

Three of the weekend's games were tight ones with victory margins of just two, three and three points.

One game was decided by a comfortable 17 point margin.

Then there were the three lopsided contests won by 90, 50 and 49 points. Just not a good luck for a league that is billed as Europe's best.

Only the idle Vienna Vikings
remain undefeated at 11-0

ELF Week 13 Schedule
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Madrid (7-3) at Paris (8-2)
Milano (3-7) at Tirol (7-3)
Ferhérvár (2-8) at Vienna (11-0)
Munich (7-3) at Helvetic (1-9)

Sunday, August 18, 2024
Frankfurt (4-6) at Wroclaw (4-6)
Barcelona (2-8) at Stuttgart (9-1)
Cologne (4-6) at Hamburg (2-8)
Berlin (5-6) at Rhein (10-1)

ELF Week 13 Bye
Prague (1-10)

I await three competitive games next weekend, Madrid-Paris, Frankfurt-Wroclaw and Cologne-Hamburg.

The other five games may once again fall into the ELF's patented lopsided category.

Reading Is FUNdamental!

Patterson just never disappoints
with his page turning, high energy
style of writing

The five hour drive home from Las Vegas to Camarillo will start early on Monday morning after some good days in Nevada's portion of the Mojave Desert.

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