Coaching for Pizza

"Hurricanes fortsätter satsa amerikanskt"

2009-11-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

This post's title is the headline of an article today in one of Sweden's newspapers. It translates into "Hurricanes continue to invest American".

I'm now officially a Swedish investment property!

I was contacted by Tomas Gustavsson, a sports writer for the newspaper NorraSkåne that services the greater Hässleholm, Sweden megalopolis. He wanted a little background information on the Hurricanes new "Amerikanskt" Head Coach from "Kalifornien".

If you want to see his article click on the website below.

http://www.nsk.se/article/20091106/SPORT/711069943/1127/sport/*/hurricanes-fortsatter-satsa-amerikanskt

On a weather note, the Hurricanes Uffe Palmbrink e-mailed me that the first snow of the season fell in Hässleholm yesterday. Camarillo was also chilly with a high of 69˚F = 20.5˚C and a low of 51˚F = 10.5˚C. . .BRRRR!!!

Oxnard Frosh Game

2009-11-05T22:26:00.001-08:00

Thursday saw us suiting up for our last home game of the 2009 season for a contest with the Oxnard Yellowjackets. They would be a formidable opponent coming into the game with a solid 6-2 record that included SIX shutouts!

Brian FitzGerald and I strategizing before the opening kickoff.

The Spartans on offense running the Option

Our offense has been a trouble spot all season long so points, yards, even inches would all be hard to earn vs. the 'Jackets defense.

The Topa Topa Mountains

Always a beautiful backdrop to John Reardon Field this time of the year.

Spartan Defense Played TOUGH!

I could not be prouder of our kids on defense as we forced Oxnard into four "3 and out" punts and held them on downs on three other possesions! The 'Jackets had been scoring a ton of points this year and our defense held them to only 7 points!

Unfortunately, Oxnard would return a punt about 40 yards for a second TD to up their lead to 14-0 half way through the third quarter.

Again, Fall Sunsets are just plain gorgeous
in El Rio!

Post Game Talk

Oxnard improved to 7-2 on the season and 3-1 in Pacific View League play as they notched their seventh shutout of the campaign in beating us 14-0.

We are now 3-6 for the season, 2-2 in PVL play.

We have one more game left on our schedule at cross-town rival Camarillo who is now 8-1 and alone in first place in the PVL at 4-0. Kickoff next Thursday is set for 5:30 p.m.

Young Coach Michael Contreras was cold

It was indeed California cold which is nothing like Swedish cold I'm sure!!!

Sunset in El Rio

2009-11-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

Monday night was our first day of practice after the time change back to Pacific Standard Time. This means that we have one less hour of daylight in the evening so our practices these last two weeks of the season have to be very efficient to beat the sunset.

As I walked out to my car after our workday was done I caught sight of this spectacular sunset.

The mountains on the horizon to the left are actually part of the Channel Islands National Park located about 20 miles off the California coastline.

Colors like these are part of the charm of
El Rio, California

Weekly College Football Report

2009-11-01T12:59:00.001-08:00

It is time for my weekly report on college football games of interest to our Swedish and Italian blogophiles.

HURRICANE WARNING!!!

It was a split weekend for the fans in Hässleholm, Sweden.

The Miami Hurricanes won a thriller 28-27 over Wake Forest to improve to 6-2 on the season.

Unfortunately, the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes lost to SMU 13-27 to drop to 4-4 on the campaign.

TEAMS OF INTEREST IN CATANIA

Hardin-Simmons Wins Again!

Hardin-Simmons beat always tough Texas Lutheran 38-22 to raise their record to 5-4.

Nebraska-Omaha (6-4) beat the Pittsburg State GORILLAS 31-28 in overtime. . .

GREAT NICKNAME!

Wabash is now 7-1 after defeating Oberlin 41-9.

San Diego (3-5) lost to Dayton 14-21.

BYE WEEKS

Three of Sicily's favorite teams enjoyed BYE weeks on the Halloween weekend.

Willamette (6-2), Arizona (5-2) and Washington (3-5) all got a week to heal and prepare for next week's games.

Halloween Party

2009-11-01T09:13:00.001-08:00

About a month ago, as Laurie was opening her EIGHT orange and black plastic crates of Halloween ornaments, she suddenly got the bright idea to have us host a Halloween party.

I was initially not very excited by the prospect but I must admit, we wound up having a lot of fun as people arrived in costume. The fact that while the party was going on we also watched Oregon defeat USC 47-20 may have added to the evening's festive mood.

Our Hostess, Witch Laurie

"Wayne's World, Party On!"

Scott as Garth and Angie as Wayne

Star Wars meets a Disney Movie

Elizabeth as Princess Leia, Luke as. . . well Luke, Vanessa as Dopey and Mike as Snow White. . .

Good Grief!

DON'T TAKE A BITE OF THAT APPLE!

Bufford here definitely stepped up in class tonight

Koreen as a retired Playboy Bunny (I think she could still hang in there quite nicely at the Mansion) and Brian as Bufford, the Earl of Skunk Hollow, Mississippi

Parties always mean good munchies!

Dopey,
are the other six Dwarfs coming over too?

Trick or Treaters a little stunned by
Snow White's beauty

The seedy side of Halloween

Gonzo as The Pimp Daddy of Camarillo and Pam as one of his "co-workers"

God Help Us!

Lorenzo as The Terminator and Lauren as Sister Mary Thomas Sadistic

"But We're Cousins. . ."

Yoda's in the House!

Carlos as Anakin Skywalker with his son Nicholas as Yoda

Group Party Picture

GOOD TIMES INDEED!

Pacifica JV and Varsity Games

2009-10-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

Friday night means another series of high school football games in America. We'll start with the Rio Mesa JV game.

JV Defense

This has been the strength of our JV team in '09 and today would be more of the same.

You MUST control the line of scrimmage!

A lot of pink on our uniforms tonight in honor of those who are battling or have battled cancer.

JV Toss Sweep

The JVs surged to a 34-0 lead before cruising to a 34-13 victory. The JVs are now 8-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Pacific View League.

The Run Through Sign

A staple of high school Varsity pre-games all over the USA. The Cheerleaders make 'em. . .

. . . and the Varsity breaks 'em!

Bombs Away Spartans!

The varsity got off to a quick start but Pacifica just played a more physical game and wore down the Spartans in the end.

Pacifica prevailed 35-14 making the Spartans 5-3 overall and 2-1 in PVL action.

Just before halftime I took this picture of an apparent Hurricane on the field.

Wouldn't you know it, it was an omen because. . .

. . .Two students from Sweden were in the stands!

Introducing Caroline Sjoqvist and Anton Eldh from Sweden. Theses two teenagers are going to observe classes at Rio Mesa for the next two weeks and I am going to be asking them a ton of questions during their stay here.

They are both from a town, whose name I should have written down, that is about 200 miles north of Stockholm which puts them approximately 600 miles from Hässleholm. Still, they both knew where the Home of the Hurricanes was located. Two nice young people indeed!

Cat Conti at Cronies

We ran into young Ms. Conti after our game last night. She was fresh off working the Camarillo vs. Channel Islands football game.

When I first met Cat about a dozen years ago, she was working at Camarillo's Cronies Sports Grill and working on getting her Teaching Credential.

She professed an interest in becoming a high school football referee, a first for a woman in our area and a rarity in the USA in general. Brian FitzGerald and I got her in touch with the head of our area's referee association and the rest as they say is history.

Cat is now an English teacher at Westlake H.S and is in her TENTH YEAR as a ref! She has gradually worked her way up to working NCAA Division II games in the Northwest Conference featuring teams in Oregon and Washington. Additionally, she has also been assigned to work one of the five California State Championship Bowl games at the end of this season.

A remarkable young lady don't you think!

Meanwhile 100 miles north of us. . .

Templeton Eagles 41 - Cabrillo Conquistadores 14

Riccardo Conticello's team dropped another one to sink to 1-7 on the campaign. We are going to try to drive up to Morro Bay for his game next Friday.

Pacifica Frosh Game

2009-10-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday the Spartan Frosh team played at home against the Pacifica Tritons. Going into the game we believed that this would be a very close contest and, as it turned out, we were correct.

Defensive Line warming up with Angle Tackling

Opening Kickoff of the Game

It was pretty much downhill for us after this point as we could not stop hurting ourselves.

Our micues included a Kickoff Return where the kick ricocheted off of one of our front five players and right back into the waiting arms of a Triton at midfield. How common is this? It is only the second time that I've seen this happen in 42 seasons of coaching!

Our more conventional turnovers were three lost fumbles (one at the 2 yard line on 1st and goal) and a game ending interception in the end zone.

It is hard to win a close contest when we commit FIVE TURNOVERS!

Final Score: Pacifica 12 - Rio Mesa 6

This disappointing day dropped our record to 3-5 on the season and 2-1 in Pacific View League games.

I was very proud of our defense's effort in only allowing one TD off of these five turnovers and of our team's never say die attitude in the face of adversity. Our kids fought hard and we had a chance to win it in the closing minute of the game as we drove down to the 15 yard line before throwing a pick.

After the game,
Mike with Vanessa and his In-Laws

The Perez family showed up to the game in support of their new Son-in-Law/Brother-in-Law.

NFL Sunday Results

2009-10-26T10:03:00.001-07:00

We watched the New Orleans Saints play at the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. . . GREAT GAME!

Saints QB Drew Brees

We are currently Saints fans because our God Son, Scott Fujita, is their starting Outside Linebacker. When he played for the Kansas City Chiefs for three years, we were Chief fans, when he spent a season with the Dallas Cowboys we were Cowboy fans and for the last four years it has been "GO SAINTS!".

For more on Scott go to http://www.nflplayers.com/REAL/#/all-players Scott is #55 on the bottom row of the pictures that will pop up for you.

The Dolphins were SMOKIN', taking a commanding 24-3 lead before Drew Brees ran a QB sneak with 2 seconds left in the first half to make it Dolphins 24-10 at the intermission.

Back and forth in the 3rd quarter with the Dolphins still leading 34-24 with 15 minutes left in the game.

The Fourth Quarter? The Saints went wild scoring 22 unanswered points to win 46-34!

The Saints are now 6-0 and the Dolphins dropped to 2-4. WHAT A GAME!

Only the 6-0 Indianapolis Colts and 6-0 Denver Broncos can match the saints record at this time. By the way, this is the first time in NFL history that three teams are still undefeated this late in a season.

Patriot Defense Swarming in London

Meanwhile, across the pond, the New England Patriots (5-2) hammered the Tampa Bay Bucaneers (0-7) 35-7 in front of 84,254 fans at Wembley Stadium in London.

College Football Results of Interest

2009-10-25T10:22:00.001-07:00

Another great

College Football Saturday!

Here are the results of interest to my friends in Sweden and Sicily.

Hurricane Watch

It was a bad weekend for Hässleholm's two favorite Division I teams.

Clemson (4-3) 40 - Miami (5-2) 37
The Hurricanes lost in overtime

UTEP (3-4) 28 - Tulsa (4-3) 24
The Golden Hurricanes played Wednesday night for BIG TV money

Now it is on to teams

of interest in Catania

First, the winners:

Arizona (5-2) 27 - UCLA (3-4) 13

Jason was at the game and quite happy I'm sure!

Hardin-Simmons (4-4) 29 - Sul Ross
State (2-5) 6

Matt's Cowboys are finishing strong.

Wabash (6-1) 37 - Wooster (4-3) 27

Denver's team rebounds nicely from last week's heart breaking loss.

And now for aturday's Silver Medal Winners:

Oregon (6-1) 43 - Washington (3-5) 19

My Dawgs keep competing which is good but we also keep losing which is bad. We've now dropped two straight since the miracle against Arizona.

Jacksonville (4-3) 34 - San Diego (3-4) 16

Taber's team losses two in a row for the first time this season.

Central Missouri State (7-2) 49 - Nebraska-Omaha (5-4) 31

Second straight loss for Larry's team as well.

Linfield (7-0) 30 - Willamette (6-2) 27

A huge Northwest Conference game did not go Brandon's way.

The NFL is playing

in London Today!

The annual NFL regular season game in London's historic Wembly Stadium is today between the 4-2 Patriots and the 0-6 Bucaneers.

I'm guessing that several Hässleholm Hurricanes and Catania Elephants are in attendance enjoying an up close look at American football at the highest level.

O.K., maybe I stretched the truth with the Tampa Bay playing at the highest level reference.

New Hässleholm Hurricanes Website

2009-10-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce that your Hässleholm Hurricanes of the Swedish American Football League, officially the VERY cool

"Sveriges Amerikanska Fotbollförbund"

have a new and improved website that you can find at

http://hässleholm-hurricanes.se:/text2_13.html

NJUT, which is "ENJOY" in Swedish. . . I think.

Friday H.S. Football Results

2009-10-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Spartans returned to Channel Islands H.S. on Friday to take on the Raiders in the traditional JV/Varsity doubleheader.

Blake Selig, WR/DB

Blake is having a great year for the Spartans' JV squad. He was the hard luck guy last year on the Frosh team as he had to sit out the vast majority of the season with a broken collarbone. He is a very talented and hard working young man indeed.

Tanner Wrout, RB/LB/Stud

The last part of the above is not a position, rather it is an evaluation!

Note the C.I. defender on his back in Tanner's wake as exhibit "A". The pink gloves are a "Cure for Cancer" statement.

The JV's continued their rampage through the schedule, humbling C.I. 47-0.

The JV's improved to 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Pacific View League.

Great TD grab by Lawrence Garcia,
a 19 yard strike from QB Blair Benchwick

The Varsity was facing a 5-1 Raider squad that was ranked #6 in the C.I.F. a week ago.

The Spartans were more than ready to play some football!

Devon Hall with the stiff arm

Devon is one of only two Seniors that are on the Varsity for their third year, Jamison Jordan is the other one. They are thus the only players on this year's Varsity that I coached in my last year as the Varsity's Defensive Coordinator.

Devon plays hard and represents Rio Mesa very well. He had 90 yards rushing last night.

At the end of the evening, the Spartans prevailed easily 40-6. The Varsity is now 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in PVL play.

Luis Holguin, Rio Mesa, Class of 1992
and
Noel Alaniz, Rio Mesa, Class of 1994

If any Rio Mesa alumni bleeds more Red and Black than these two, I have yet to meet them!

Yes, I know that Noel also has traces of Lakers' purple and gold as well as "Dodger Blue" racing through his veins too.

Meanwhile about 100 miles north of us. . .

Cabrillo's QB trying to rally the struggling Conquistadores

Sicilian foreign exchange CB Riccardo Conticello's Cabrillo team played a home game last night against the Nipomo Titans.

The Titans won 37-14 to drop Cabrillo to 1-6 on the season and 1-4 in the Los Padres League.

The Channel Islands Game

2009-10-23T09:39:00.001-07:00

We had a very interesting week of football leading up to our second Pacific View League game against Channel Islands (3-2 overall, 0-1 PVL).

After shaky QB play the first five games of the season, we had switched to a new starting QB last week. This young man was easily also our top defensive player the last two games as one of our two Falcons (Strong Safeties). In addition, he was our top punt returner, kickoff returner and held on PATs as well as being a key member of every other Special Team. Due to injuries, the flu epidemic and disciplinary issues we are not a deep team right now and we just can't get this kid off the field.

Unfortunately his legal guardians can.

Due to a poor grade in his English class and an attitude issue which we never saw on the field, they decided to remove him from the team on Tuesday. What a potential blow to our squad!

Add to this issue our two team rules of

1. "Miss a Practice - Miss the First Half" which would also claim eight more players including four starters.

2. "Miss Two Practices - Miss Two Halves" which would claim another six players and you can see our cause for concern.

These two team regulations meant that we only had 28 players at our disposal in the first half of the game. . . YIKES!

Then a funny thing happened.

Wednesday was a pupil free day at Rio Mesa for teacher meetings. Since Freshmen can not drive, legally at least, and there would be no school busses, we could be headed for a disasterous day. You must remember that Rio Mesa sits in the middle of strawberry fields with no housing for at least two miles. Some of our players live as far as seven miles from school.

They all showed up!

Then it was Thursday, Game Day.

It got stranger.

They were focused on the 15 minute bus trip to Channel Islands H.S. Once there, they remained focused as we waited under the visitor's bleachers for about 45 minutes for our warm-up routine to start.

Now you need to remember that this is a FRESHMAN team! Your average 9th grader normally has the attention span of a gnu during the fifth month of a drought in the African veldt!

Something was afoot here.

DEFENSE

We started the game with great field position due to awesome kickoff team coverage. . .

High Point the Ball!

. . . but C.I. kept making 3rd down conversions. The Raiders opened the game with a 12 play, 51 yard drive that featured two of these plus our stopping them on 4th down to finally end the bleeding.

Gabriel Duongtran is#9 in white, much more on him later.

Third and 20
The Raiders were at it again!

This time we stopped them.

Martel Tyler, #5, on the Sweep

Martel has been the heart of our offense most of the year and had to work hard for his 88 rushing yards today. He would also complete a 2 point PAT pass and register a team high 9 tackles from his Falcon position.

What the. . .?

Is that WR Riley Fagan, #4, actually scoring on a 25 yard TD PASS? We really enjoy throwing the ball in California but our kids have not been able to execute this phase of our offense very well this season.

Until now!

Our QB Gabriel Duongtran was a perfect 4 for 4 passing today for 59 yards and this TD thing.

With my wife Laurie

She arrived at halftime from her job in Santa Barbara about 45 minutes north of C.I.H.S. and was shocked to find us leading 20-0 at intermission.

Frankly, so was I!

Gabriel Duongtran sprinting out

Talk about a young man that responded to the challenge! Besides his passing exploits, he rushed 5 times for 31 yards and scored 2 TDs. He also caught Martel's 2 point PAT pass.

Defensively, Gabe made a tackle, broke up a pass and returned two interceptions a total of 49 yards.

In his spare time, he booted a 43 yard punt!

Player-of-the-Game seems logical to me.

Duongtran being tackled at the end
of his 24 yard interception return.

"Afterglow"

I was SO proud to address our squad after the game. Our effort and focus against C.I. was just GREAT!

The final score you ask?

Rio Mesa 27 - Channel Islands 6

As always we got a chance to play everyone in the 4th quarter leading 27-0, with the usual results. C.I. had a 70 yard TD called back but came through with a 63 yard short pass and long run TD play two plays after the penalty.

As always "Shutouts are Fascist!" Both teams could now leave the field with a little dignity.

After the game with Jorge Zaragoza

Jorge was one of my linemen at Rio Mesa in the late 1990's when I served as the Head Coach of the Spartans' Varsity team.

He now coaches the C.I. Freshman team as well as a Pop Warner team. He is still young enough to have incredible amounts of energy and patience to coach these two age groups during the same season!

Tragically for the two of us, by the time this picture was taken, C.I.'s snack bar was already closed for the day.

It could have been an epic moment worthy of the "Man vs. Food" TV show!

SAVED!!!

Here with Mike, my son, and Ralph Lemos, our Defensive Line Coach, enjoying the delicious post game snack that the parents provided for the team.

We are now 3-4 on the season and 2-0 in the Pacific View League. Up next is a home game next Thursday against the Pacifica H.S. Tritons.

Weekend Football Wrap-up

2009-10-18T10:47:00.001-07:00

Time to recap another weekend of football for my European friends following teams of interest.

Pioneer Valley vs. Cabrillo, in white

Friday night Riccardo Conticello's Cabrillo team (1-5) lost to Pioneer Valley 13-42.

Saturday's College Results of Interest to Catania

Arizona State 24 - Washington (3-4) 17, the Dawgs are killing me after giving up the winning 50 yard TD pass with 5 seconds left in the game.

Arizona (4-2) 43 - Stanford 38, Jason's 'Cats bounce back in a game as wacky as the score would indicate.

Willamette (6-1) 35 - Pacific Lutheran 17, Brandon's team continues to a methodical march towards the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Hardin-Simmons (3-4) 38 - Howard Payne 31, Matt's Cowboys are starting to get their act together after a shaky start to the '09 season.

Drake 21 - San Diego (3-3) 14, Taber's Toreros continue to alternate wins and losses each week.

Fort Hays State 31 - Nebraska, Omaha (5-3) 20, this was the first time that Larry's Mavs have lost to Fort Hays State since 1959. That's 50 years if my math is correct. . . OUCH!

Wittenberg 10 - Wabash (5-1) 7, Denver's Little Giants lost their first game on a Field Goal with 1 second left in the contest.

NFL TODAY

New Orleans (5-0) 48 - New York Giants 27, the Giants were 5-0 coming into the game and were pretty much handled by the Saints. On a bad note, LB Scott Fujita left the game early in the 1st quarter with a pulled calf muscle and did not return to action. The Saints are now one of only four NFL teams without a loss this season, the others are Denver (5-0), Indianapolis (5-0) and Minnesota (6-0).

Swedish Updates

Time to get our Hässleholm Hurricanes up to speed on the results of our two favorite college teams this weekend.

HURRICANE WARNING!!!

University of Miami (5-1) 27 - Central Florida 7, the Miami Hurricanes have been a real surprise this year.

Boise State 28 - Tulsa (4-2) 21, the Golden Hurricanes suffered a tough loss to the 6-0, 5th ranked Broncos.

Homecoming Game

2009-10-17T14:31:00.001-07:00

Rio Mesa's 2009 Homecoming Game.

For our readers back in Sicily and now Sweden, America has a tradition during the football season of picking one home game to designate as the Homecoming Game. During this weekend, alumni are invited to return to their Alma Maters to visit the school's new facilities, rekindle old friendships, see halftime fireworks, attend the Homecoming Dance Saturday night and, of course, determine how this year's Varsity football team measures up to the teams of the storied past, a.k.a., "The Glory Years".

The evening started off with the Junior Varsity game and the young Spartans improved to 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Pacific View League with a 56-0 shellacking of an undermanned Hueneme squad.

Tough Varsity Opponent

Hueneme's Vasrsity team, in red and white, was a surprising 4-1 entering this Pacific View League opener. They were also ranked #8 in this week's C.I.F. Northern Division poll.

The Spartan's, at 3-2, were unranked coming into the game but were hungry for redemption in their first league contest.

The stands were packed on an unuasually warm mid-October evening as the Spartans exploded to a quick lead thanks to running back Jamaal Perkins who had scoring runs of 90 and 47 yards on his first two carries of the ball game! After only 4 minutes and 7 seconds of First Quarter action the score was 20-7 Rio Mesa as both offenses exploded and Rio Mesa recovered a Viking fumble in the end zone. . . WILD!

At halftime with my Daughter-in-Law Vanessa who is wearing her husband's old #5 Spartan game jersey

I volunteered to work the chains for the Varsity game after being the announcer for the J.V. game. I enjoy watching and listening to other coaching staffs as they deal with the ebb and flow of a game. The Hueneme coaches remained very positive and professional in their approach to their players even though things didn't go as they planned.

At halftime, it was time to introduce the Homecoming Court which includes a King and Queen, each class's Prince and Princess and a Faculty Duke and Duchess. They get to do a vistory lap in a vintage car as they are introduced to the crowd.

For example. . .

A Porsche,

a Corvette and

a long-finned Cadillac

You HAVE to have a Balloon Arch. . .

. . . and Fireworks are a MUST as well!

Things settled down in the second half and the Spartan's were able to cruise to a 40-7 win as the offense accounted for 430 yards. The defense contributed a fabulous goal line stand after facing a first and goal at the one foot line!

The Varsity Spartans are now 4-2 on the year and 1-0 in PVL action.

All and all, a great Homecoming night in El Rio, California!

Hueneme Vikings and the Pacific View League Opener

2009-10-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

After a rough pre-season schedule that saw our Frosh team at only 1-4, we hosted the Hueneme Vikings in our 2009 Pacific View League opener.

As we stated at the start of the season, this is a very inexperienced group of players who are in need of equal doses of fundamentals, patience and commitment. The hard thing with our kids is getting them to understand that even though we were losing games, we were getting better each week.

The good thing is that as we entered PVL action, all six league teams were tied at 0-0 in PVL play regardless of their non-league season records.

The Trenches
Where games are won!

Our offense, in black, played a terrific game!

The Offensive Line on the move!

We had 55 plays good for 291 yards of Total Offense and 17 First Downs.

In European historical terms this is

Coach Contreras "The Elder" on the left

with Coach Contreras "The Younger"

We were VERY pleased with our defenses effort for the second week in a row. We only allowed 145 yards on 37 plays as 19 different players were in on at least one tackle.

The Vikings last drive of the game was of interest. We were leading 26-0 with only about 5 minutes left in the game when Hueneme put together an 8 play, 80 yards scoring drive that featured some really well designed gadget plays that the Vikings ran to perfection!

The zanniest play of all was their final play that was "The Old Flea Flicker" good for a 16 yard TD pass. . . or was it? The Vikings had not one but two receivers wide open in the end zone with nary a Spartan defender within 10 yards, as all 11 Rio Mesa players were swarming to the ball carrier before he pitched it back to the QB.

The "White Hat" referee, at this point, blew his whistle ever so slightly, much to his embarassment, not seeing the lateral and mistakenly thinking that the running back was tackled.

After explaining his inadvertant whistle, which meant the TD didn't count and that the down would have to be replayed, to the Hueneme Head Coach, he came over to me to explain the situation. I told him that I didn't hear any whistle, that it was probably just a bird flying overhead that shrieked. He asked if I was sure about it and I said "Yes".

Obviously, he didn't know that I believe that "Shutouts are Fascist!". Besides, the Hueneme kids should not be punished for executing a gadget play to absolute perfection because of blown call.

I almost went out and bought a "blue car" after the game. If this reference confuses you, read Hall of Fame Coach Frosty (Hadley Linderman's Great Grandpa) Westering's book.

FINAL SCORE

Rio Mesa 26 - Hueneme 8

I am so pleased with our coaching staff and our kids improvement, 1-0 in the Pacific View League sounds pretty good. Up next is a road trip to Channel Islands (0-1 in the PVL) who is coached by one of our former Spartan linemen, George Zaragoza.

Stay tuned!

Sunday in Seattle

2009-10-12T00:40:00.000-07:00

After all of the excitement of life in Puyallup on Friday and the Husky game on Saturday, it was time to relax a bit.

After going to church and breakfast with Mark and Susie Johnson's family, we decided to kick back in the Fremont and Ballard districts of Seattle.

Seattle's Fremont District

Where else in America could you find a gigantic statue of Vladimir Lenin?

The Ballard District's
Festive Street Market beckoned

I couldn't wait to see what wonders we might find at this cornucopia of all things Autumn?

A Pacific Northwest Geoduck

Don't ask. . .

Interesting. . .

Tomatoes

Flowers

Mini Pumpkins and Gourds

We took a late afternoon flight home after a VERY pleasant weekend in the Emerald City and its surroundings. Nothing but good memories from this corner of the USA!

Heather Linderman Ad of the Day

2009-10-12T00:21:00.000-07:00

If you have been a regular reader of this blog, then you know all about "The Heather Linderman Ad of the Day".

In Europe, this feature has regularly informed Americans about some of Italy's more unique advertising strategies.

Wisely, as the Ad of the Day moves to America, the shakers and movers of the program have decided to stress more traditional family values in the "Heather Linderman Ad of the Day" American style.

Today's ad was featured in the State of Washington's new campaign to lure new families to move to the Evergreen State as it is such a great place to raise a family, here it is . . .

Come to Washington and be as Happy as
The Chris, Hadley and Heather Linderman family

GOOD PEOPLE!!!

The Arizona-Washington Game

2009-10-11T09:28:00.001-07:00

Another Saturday morning, another GREAT day for college football!

First up was a check of the high school scoreboard back in southern California. I'm happy to announce that the Rio Mesa Spartans varsity team improved to 3-2 on the season by edging Dos Pueblos 21-7.

Riccardo Conticello's Cabrillo squad lost a close one, 7-0, to Santa Ynez to drop to 1-4 on the year.

Meanwhile, back in Puyallup. . .

Frosty Westering with his grandson
Jason Johnson

Saturday started with a real treat for me as Pacific Lutheran University was playing in Minnesota against Gustavus Adolphus. Jason's grandpa Frosty was the long time Head Football Coach at PLU and is a member of the College Football Hall-of-Fame. He and his wife Donna came over to watch the PLU game on streaming video at the Johnson home.

Jason is SO VERY proud of Frosty and I have been a fan of Frosty's since reading his book about five years ago. What great and positive people to be around!!!

Unfortunately, PLU record dropped to 1-3 as they lost Saturday 34-33.

In other scores of games of interest to the Catania Elephants yesterday we have:

Brandon Bennett's Willamette (5-1) 62 - Lewis and Clark 24

Matt Epperson's Hardin-Simmons (2-4) 13 - East Texas Baptist 10

Denver Wade's Wabash (5-0) 31 - Washington University of Missouri 12

Larry Atkinson's Nebraska-Omaha (5-2) 31 - Washburn 21

Taber LeMarr's San Diego (3-2) 48 - Valparaiso 0

Now it was on to the BIG ONE. . .

University of Arizona (3-1)

University of Washington (2-3)

A.K.A.

Jason Johnson

vs.

George Contreras

Last year we drove down to Tucson with Jason and Christie to see this game. Today we would once again sit together as proud alumni of our schools as they squared off in a key PAC-10 game at Husky Stadium.

Mark Johnson

We have been good friends with Mark since 1968! He lives about a five minute walk from Husky Stadium with his wife Susie and daughters Sophie and Mallory. They hosted a great pre-game and post-game affair in their new home on the Montlake Cut seen behind him.

The view East from the Johnson's backyard.

The view West from the Johnson's backyard.

It's Fall in the Pacific Northwest and the colors were AWESOME!

A child playing with leaves
on the UW campus.

The UW Quad

Miller Hall on the left

Miller houses the Department of Education where Laurie worked as a secretary 40 years ago.

UW's Frosh Pond

One of the Montlake Bridge's Towers

If tall ships are going through the Montlake Cut, people in these towers raise the bridge.

We walked acroos the bridge on our way to meet some of Jason's Arizona buddies on our way to the game.

Harry Husky with Laurie outside of
Husky Stadium

The Jim Owens Statue

Thanks again J.O.!

Hec Edmundson Pavilion to the left

It was a chilly 7:20 p.m. kickoff for the game but we were ready!

Jason and Christie in Wildcat Red and Blue

Laurie and I countered with Husky Purple and Gold!

Cool hat Laurie.

Football is a strange game sometimes and this would be one of the weirdest I've ever witnessed.

Let's start with some final game statistics;

Total Plays: Arizona 83-47

First Downs: Arizona 26-14

Net Yards Gained: Arizona 461-256

Time of Possession: Arizona 39:19 -20:41

Points Scored: WASHINGTON 36-33!!!

How is this possible you ask? Well it was interesting indeed!

Bottom line, at the end of the third quarter Arizona was winning 27-21. The Wildcat's kicker, Alex Zendejas, would add two Field Goals of 29 and 24 yards to up the Arizona lead to 33-21 with only 4:22 left in the contest and, truth be told, MANY people wearing Purple and Gold opted to leave the stadium at this point in time.

NOT US!

At the 2:55 mark, Husky QB Jake Locker hit WR Kavario Middleton on a 25 yard TD strike, Erik Folk added the PAT and the score was now Arizona 33- Washington 28.

The Wildcats put their "Hands Team" on the field anticipating a Husky onside kick but the UW opted to kick it deep and pray the defense could come up big.

DID THEY EVER!!!

The Play of the Night

So Arizona has been killing the Dawgs all night with a simple wide receiver screen and the UW seemingly has no answer to how to defend it.

It was exactly at the 2:37 mark that Arizona QB Nick Foles threw yet another of these Bubble Screens. Above you see Foles' pass that has just ricocheted off the left foot of Wildcat WR Delashaun Dean into. . .

. . . the arms of Husky LB Mason Foster!!!

Foster returned it 37 yards for a Husky TD, Locker hit WR Jermaine Kearse for the two-point PAT and VOILA, it was Huskies 36 - Wildcats 33!!!!!

The Wildcats had one last chance but DB Desmond Trufant picked off a Wildcat pass to seal the improbable comeback victory!

Husky Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt with an ecstatic UW Head Coach Steve Sarkisian after the game

"What just happened out there?"

A bottle of "Il Bastardo" Italian red wine back at Mark and Susie's home helped us analyze the evening's events.

We had a great time seeing everyone and the game's ending was just sensational if you were wearing Purple and Gold.

Thanks again to Jason and Christie for hosting us in Puyallup on Friday and to Mark and Susie for doing the same on Saturday and Sunday. Great friends usually equal great memories, this weekend was proof.

On a serious note, it was great listening to Jason during the game as the action unfolded. He truly has a great football mind with a very clear vision of the game in general and offense in particular. Because of his multitude of talents, he has many different ways to go when or if he finally decides to settle into some form of a more traditional career path. Coaching college football would be a fine choice for him someday in my opinion.

Puyallup, Washington

2009-10-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

We flew up to Seattle early Friday morning out of Burbank's Bob Hope Airport to spend the weekend seeing friends and attending the University of Arizona Wildcats at the University of Washington Huskies football game.

This is now becoming an annual event which gives us a chance to visit with two our our favorite people, Christie and Jason Johnson. If you are new to the blog, Jason and Christie were our housemates in Sicily during the 2008 Italian football season while Jason was quarterbacking the Elephants to the playoffs.

Of course, any trip to Seattle also means a great visit with our dear friends Mark, Susie, Sophie and Mallory Johnson. Thet are not related to Jason and Christie if you were wondering.

This trip would be a little different because instead of our normal game plan of spending the whole weekend in Seattle at Mark and Susie's home, we would instead spend the Friday night at Jason's parents home in Puyallup about 45 minutes south of Seattle before being handed off to Mark and Susie Saturday night after the game at Husky Stadium.

With Jason and Christie at the Ram Restaurant in Tacoma for lunch.

The Ram has a strict Anti-Gun Policy!

Puyallup's Good Samaritan Hospital

Puyallup is world renowned for two things.

First, it is the only city in America, if not the world, that has two P's, two L's and two U's in its name.

Secondly, it is the birthplace of Lori Wrout, one of Rio Mesa H.S.'s best teachers. She was born at Good Samaritan which gives the hospital "Historic Landmark" status.

We drove past the Puyalup Fairgrounds and were pleasantly surprised.

KARMA!!!

The Fairgrounds were hosting a Scandinavian Heritage Festival. The Swedish flag is the blue and yellow one on the far right.

I wonder if everybody in Hässleholm will dress like this handsome couple?

Laurie was ready to start her first foray into shopping for her trip to Sweden.

My newest Scandinavian friend Bengt

VERY cool hat!

Christie wearing her authentic, traditional Dirndl

Dos Pueblos Game

2009-10-08T20:58:00.001-07:00

Our last non-league game saw us drive north about an hour to beautiful Santa Barbara to play Dos Pueblos in a rare Freshman/JV doubleheader.

Great reaction to the Chargers' Sweep play

The Sweep killed us last week against St. Francis so we worked hard on containment this week and it REALLY paid off. Our cornerback, strong safety and outside linebacker groups played inspired defense indeed!

Coach Michael Contreras coaching up his Free Safety

The defense stepped up big forcing Dos Pueblos into an INCREDIBLE EIGHT "Three and Outs" and ninth series where Dos Pueblos punted after their fourth play.

Unfortunately, this effort was wasted as we still lost 12-7. Dos Pueblos put together one good drive in the first half for a TD and then returned a punt to the 5 yard line to set up a short scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

We had a GREAT week of practice and it showed in our overall performance but we still have a long way to go.

We return to action next Thursday against the Hueneme Vikings at home in our Pacific View League opener.

In the JV night game, the Spartans cruised to a 52-0 victory (32-0 at the end of the first quarter!) to increase their record to 5-0 on the campaign.

WAY TO GO GUYS!!!

Sweden "HERE WE COME!"

2009-10-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's official, I have been offered and accepted the position of Head Coach with the Hässleholm Hurricanes of the Sweden's American Football League for the 2010 season. The Swedish Spring/Summer season will put Laurie and me in Scandanavia from March through September.

Hässleholm, population 17,050, is located in southern Sweden about 85 miles north of Copenhagen, Denmark and 320 miles south of Stockholm, Sweden.

Our colors are Forrest Green and Black

The 2009 Hässleholm Hurricanes

In 2009, Sweden had 32 teams playing American football. The top six teams played in the Super Serien. Then there were five teams in Division I. Finally, the other 21 teams played in Division II which was subdivided into four geographic divisions. Thanks to "Peter from Stockholm" for correcting me on my earlier post, now amended, as to the structure of Swedish football.

In 2009 the Hurricanes played in Division II's Södra (Southern) Division. The Hurricanes were founded in 2006 and experienced their best season ever in 2009, so we have a lot to live up to. The challenge to improve on last season's success is very appealing indeed!

Final 2009 Standings for the Södra Division

Lugi Vikings 9-1

Hässleholm Hurricanes 7-3

Limhamm Griffins 5-5

Carlshamn Oakleaves 5-5

Oskarshamn Dockers 2-8

Carlskrona Seahawks 2-8

INTERESTED? Here are a series of links to help get you as FIRED UP as we are!

2009 Hässleholm Hurricane Offensive Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gND4yHs0Sk

The Swedish Tourism Board with a map of southern Sweden included:

http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Regions--Cities/Southern-Sweden/

The Community of Hässleholm's website is:

http://www.hassleholm.se/1933

The Hässleholm Hurricanes website can be found at:

http://www.hässleholm-hurricanes.se/

The Swedish American Football League website can be found at:

http://amerikanskfotboll.com/div-1.html#Div%20IIS

Click on this website for an article on the 2009 Swedish Super Serien Super Bowl game:

http://www.thelocal.se/14422/20080918/

Well, now it is off to Borders to buy the necessary books about Scandanavia in general and Sweden in particular. A "Swedish for Dummies" book is in order as well!

Adjö for now!

That is goodbye in Swedish.

Just Another Football Weekend

2009-10-04T18:46:00.001-07:00

Our latest football weekend started on a VERY alarming note when my mother called me on the way to Rio Mesa Friday afternoon to tell me that she just heard a report on her TV news station that massive mudslides in Sicily had perhaps killed several people.

My first move was to send out a mass e-mail to the Catania Elephants about everyone's safety, families and friends of course included.

Fortunately all of the Elephants, their families and friends are indeed safe as near as I have found out!

Some of the Devastation

As it turned out the mudslides happened in the Messina area about a one hour drive north of Catania. The mudslides were due to an incredible NINE inches of rain in only a THREE HOUR period combined with buildings constructed without permits.

The Death Toll is up to 21 people

According to this morning's Los Angeles Times report, another 30 people are still listed as missing.

For videos of the mudslides from the Italian media click on this link:

http://video.corriere.it/?vxSiteId=404a0ad6-6216-4e10-abfe-f4f6959487fd&vxChannel=Dall%20Italia&vxClipId=2524_4f9bf9ae-b103-11de-b562-00144f02aabc&vxBitrate=300

Friday evening arriving at St. Francis H.S.
for the J.V. and Varsity doubleheader
with Rio Mesa H.S.

As I posted on a previous post, I graduated from St. Francis in 1965. It was fun to return to the campus which has seen so many beautiful upgrades in the last 44 years including these sculptures in the quad of St. Francis, the Patron Saint of animals, with a wolf.

The program included a great article by John Zant about the class of 1964 and our 12-1 season that saw the Golden Knights win their first of two back-to-back C.I.F. AAA Football Championships. It brought back a flood of good memories. John was a very fast wingback on that 1963 team and was a long time sports writer for the Santa Barbara News Press.

J.V. action

Both teams were 3-0 entering this game and St. Francis handed us one of our only two setbacks last year when these kids were playing on the schools respective Freshman teams.

Final Score: Rio Mesa 28 - St. Francis 7

The J.V. Spartans are now 4-0!

I also got a chance to renew an acquaintance with Pete Fagan who graduated from St. Francis in 1966. Pete and his wife were also watching the J.V. game fron the top level of this classroom building. We were the equivalent of about seven stories above the field from this vantage point. It was good to see him again after all of these years.

Jack Friedman was our Head Football Coach

when I played at S.F

Varsity Action

A loooong night for Rio Mesa as the Golden Kinights dominated the game and won easily 41-0. St. Francis is now 4-0 and Rio Mesa drops to 2-2.

The Mural of St. Francis

Located above the stairway of the school's oldest cllassroom building, it was always one of my favorite spots on the campus.

Sunday, Laurie and Mike supporting

Scott Fujita and the New Orleans Saints

Vanessa approving of Mike's slippers

We spent the afternoon at Mike and Vanessa's and rooted the 4-0 Saints to a 24-10 victory over the New York Jets. We had a wonderful time and they were terrific hosts.

Other Football Results of Import to the Catania Elephants

Riccardo Conticello's Cabrillo H.S. (1-3) team defeated Santa Maria 28-21.

My Washington Huskies (2-3) lost to Notre Dame 37-30 in overtime.

Brandon Bennett's #18 ranked Willamette (4-1) team beat Whitworth 42-13.

Matt Epperson's Hardin-Simmons Cowboys (1-4) lost to Mary Hardin-Baylor 23-7.

Taber LeMarr's San Diego Torrero team (2-2) lost to Butler 25-24.

Larry Atkinson's Nebraska-Omaha squad (4-2) beat Emporia State 34-14.

Denver Wade's #12 ranked Wabash Little Giants (4-0) swamped Allegheny 37-3.

St. Francis Game

2009-10-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

This week's Rio Mesa Freshman football game saw us board a Pullman as we called it in Catania, i.e., a rented recliner bus with air conditioning and closed circuit TVs that allowed us to play an NFL Films DVD to get our players in the mood for the contest. After a smooth one hour drive we arrived in La Cañada-Flintridge for our game with the 2-1 St. Francis Golden Knights.

This game had a little extra significance for me since I graduated from St. Francis way back in 1965. It would be the first time I've returned to my alma mater to coach a team.

With Terry Terrazone before the game

We played on Jack Friedman Field named after the coach that Terry and I both played for in our S.F. days. Terry was the Best Man at our wedding in 1971. A St. Francis lifer, he was the Head Football Coach at S.F. for quite some time and now serves as the school's Athletic Director.

Pre-game Warm-ups

The opening Kickoff

Among the many improvements seen here to St. Francis since I graduated are the two three story buildings (more on this later), an all-weather track and a Field Turf field.

Third and Five

Unfortunately we faced a lot of these situations in the game which is not good at any level of football. We have struggled on offense for three straight weeks now and the loss of our starting fullback who stayed home with the flu today added to our tailback leaving the game in the first quarter with a foot injury did not help.

Mike Mendez, our backup fullback, played very well running for a lot of tough yardage between the tackles. Unfortunately he was our only offense as we failed to complete a pass and turned the ball over three times.

Defensively our only spark came from an interception by linebacker Jacob Salas who returned it about 30 yards.

FINAL SCORE

St. Francis (3-1) 41 - Rio Mesa (1-3) 0

This has been a rough three weeks for us but there are no magic answers. We will continue to coach up the fundamentals as we prepare for our trip north to Goleta to play our last non-league game against the Dos Pueblos Chargers.

FRESHMAN MOMENTS: There were three this day.

When we arrived at St. Francis, one of our kids looked across the way and marveled at what a wonderful school it must be, after all, they have a six story building! I didn't have the heart to tell him that they were really two separate three story buildings.

We of course needed to use the rest room after our long bus trip but Terry warned us that the men's bathroom was having a plumbing issue and smelled to high heaven (it is a Catholic school after all). He did not lie! The aroma was indeed overpowering and we were told to use the adjoining women's rest room. It was then that one of our player's in a rather mild voice announced that to his surprise "They sell tampons in here!". I explained to him again that it is a WOMEN'S rest room.

Finally, I submit to you "The Mystery of the Missing Shoe". In the locker room at Rio Mesa before we left, one of our players proudly showed me "the brand spanking new turf shoes" that had just arrived for him via an Internet purchase. Our players stowed all of their gear under the bus but when we arrived at St. Francis several players shoes had gotten moved around. After about ten minutes all shoe order was restored except for the owner of "the new brand spanking new turf shoes".

One "brand spanking new turf shoe" was missing. He remembered placing both of "the brand spanking new turf shoes" in his helmet and then placing his helmet inside of his shoulder pads before loading them on the bus. We combed the bus, the drop-off area and even called back to Rio Mesa to see if it was left in the area where we had loaded the bus.

It was a negative on all front.

We told him that the tennis shoes he was wearing would be just fine on Field Turf. He was resigned to his fate but called his Dad to tell him of his predicament. Having a supportive Dad is always a good thing and our player reported that his father would try to buy him some new shoes on the way down to the game.

Finally, it was time to don the pads and go out for our warm-u

I happen to be watching our player in question put on his shoulder pads and game jersey and as he tries to strenuously insert his left arm into his sleeve I am suddenly transported back mentally to the Westlake Community Hospital in 1974 for the birth of our first son, And

Why you ask?

Because as he pushes harder and harder with his arm the tip of "a brand spanking new turf shoe" first crowns and then is fully delivered to a now proud player. The Mystery is solved and we can now start the game at peace with the world.

The Dad was called before he had a chance to buy another pair of cleats.

ONLY IN THE WORLD OF

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL!

Arturo Sanchez

2009-09-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

#5 QB Arturo Sanchez with his Catania Receivers after the 2009 Parma game.

Happy to annonuce that Arturo Sanchez, our QB in Catania for the last half of the 2009 season, led his Leicester Falcons to the 2009 British Division II BRITBOWL Championship yesterday by beating the Colchester Gladiators 33-32.

WAY TO GO ARTURO!!!

For full details click below

http://leicesterfalcons.co.uk/matches/09_26_September.htm

The Weaver Wedding

2009-09-27T11:38:00.001-07:00

"And now for something totally different . . ."

About four years ago, Rio Mesa's Boys Soccer (Calcio) Coach Brandon Fuchs was about to get married to Monica and asked me to perform the ceremony. I, of course, told him that I was honored but that I had neither the proper credentials nor the experience to perform at such an important event in their lives. Not a problem, I was told.

Brandon's sister was an ordained minister who was originally going to oversee their ceremony but she was pregnant and could not guarantee them that she could be there since she was due to deliver the week of their wedding. She did all the paperwork for me and I was good to go at a large wedding on the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Oxnard, California.

It was indeed a great honor for me and I really enjoyed being a part of their special day. By the way, Brandon's sister was able to attend the ceremony and delivered a few days later.

Then, about two years ago, Gonzalo Rodriquez, Rio Mesa's Girls Soccer Coach, was about to marry his beloved Pam and they asked me to preside over their wedding in a rural setting at a friend's home.

Again, a great honor and sure to be a good time but I knew nothing about my credentials which Brandon's sister had procured for me at Brandon and Monica's wedding. Was it a one time deal? Did I have some kind of lifetime credential? I just did not know.

Through his sister, Brandon got me to an on-line website for the Universal Life Church Monastery based in Seattle, Washington. On-line, I quickly became a lifetime Ordained Reverend and I didn't even have to yell anything like "Death to the Papists!" at the end of my intense bible study.

I know that someday I will have to confess this break from my Roman Catholic upbringing to probably a very strict Jesuit priest no less but it was the expedient thing to do.

Which leads us to yesterday's wedding on the sand in Santa Barbara for the union of Matthew and Jennifer Weaver. Matt is the brother-in-law of Rio Mesa Varsity Football Special Teams Coach Brett Phillips and it was Brett who approached me about presiding over their ceremony.

Again honored, I said yes and found it interesting that Matt had been a student at Westlake High School in the 1980's when I served as Head Football Coach for the Warriors. . . a small world indeed.

Matthew and Jennifer Weaver

with the Reverend George Contreras

Thank goodness that Rio Mesa had an extra XXL graduation robe a few years ago.

The Weaver Family

It was both Matt and Jennifer's second marriages. Here they are with their combined five children Mason, Jaryd, Jack, Gage and Addison. They all seemed very happy together and I wish them the best!