Fri,-Sun., August 14-16, 2026
We start this weekend's long blogpost with a remembrance.
Saturday would have been my
mother Chuny's 102nd birthday
She is seen here with her great-granddaughter Mary on Christmas Day 2019. Chuny is the one on the right in case you're confused.
Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom!
We started our weekend with a sumptuous meal at Camarillo's Chianti Trattoria & Pizzeria, our favorite spot in town for an Italian meal.
We were joined by Joanne and Paul Sabolić to celebrate Paul's 78th birthday.
As we all enjoyed our meals, we were joined by a new character, at least to us, at Chianti. He was none other than the owner of Chianti, a young man with Lago de Como roots by the name of Davide.
As we exchanged pleasantries with him during the meal that included our background in Varese coaching the Skorpions, he raised an eyebrow and said that he wanted to share a story with us outside after we had finished our various plates of pasta and in one case, lamb chops.
What in the world did Davide
want to tell us?
As it turned out a fascinating tale from the "It's a Small World" genre.
When Davide was about 16 years old in the year 1982, he was a student in Varese. He and some friends saw posters all over town announcing the formation of Varese's first ever American football team with a plea to attend their tryouts.
Davide did attend those tryouts and became an original Skorpion, INCREDIBLE!
I'll be sure to be wearing some Skorpions swag the next time we dine at Chianti.
It truly is a small world.
After a great meal, one deserves a great dessert.
We opted for dessert at
Rolling Pin Donuts
Joanne was justifiably ecstatic with the assorted dozen donuts that Paul bought for us to share.
Paul is somewhat addicted to the donuts at Camarillo's premier donut emporium, but then again, who isn't?
To be clear, most of the donuts in the box were for their daughter's family to enjoy.
Perhaps.
Sunday was a day for another
great Air Show
Strict rules were in place for the
45th Annual Wings Over Camarillo
Air Show
Fortunately, my pet elephant qualified as a service animal.
It has become an annual ritual for Jacob and I to attend this great Camarillo tradition over the past decade.
Jacob by a light WWII bomber
Navy fighter plane from WWII
Pre-WWII training plane
Mini jet plane
Another Navy plane with fold up
wing for aircraft carrier storage
A HUGE WWII troop transport plane
Refueling duty patches
The roll of Black troops in the military . . .
. . . was on full display
We heard some interesting tales from the men manning these two booths.
Jacob using a high-tech
interactive device
Commies!
Ground troop vehicle
There was a heavy military flavor from all the branches of our armed services today as has been the norm over the years.
Jacob seeking answers to his many
questions about the famed Doolittle
Raid on Tokyo
This man, who has authored several WWII related books, had much needed answers for Jacob.
Chart Your Course, INDEED!
Jacob was quite interested in
what Sea Cadet Corps has to offer
The skies overhead started
buzzing with activity
Undaunted, Jacob explored one
of the U.S. Army's many vehicles
There is also a Vintage Car Show . . .
. . . going on amidst the Vintage Aircraft
Lovely
Cherry
Comfort ride
What the . . . ?
It was a 1928 Citroen
Model B14 Faux Cabriolet
with an Art Deco paint scheme
Different.
You run into the most interesting
people at the Air Show
Exhibit A: As has become yet another custom at the Wings Over Camarillo festival, we bumped into the Gray family while walking the grounds at the Camarillo Airport.
The Gray family is composed of Nick, Nicole and their two children Tate and Oakley.
Nicole is the daughter of Paul and Joanne Sabolić.
It is always fun seeing them.
A P-51 Mustang about to take off
and then do a bombing run
Glider aerobatics
Another Commie plane,
this time a Mig
Buzzing the airfield
Majestic in flight
Beautiful
Bomber Command
That smoke to the right is
from this plane's "bomb run"
Really loud sounds and lots of smoke from the fireball of this expertly staged explosion.
The 45th Annual Wings Over Camarillo Air Show was a big hit on all levels.
Let's check in on what happened in EuroBall this weekend . . .
The European Football Alliance
Semifinal Playoff Games
The Munich Ravens (10-1) took
care of business against the
Frankfurt Galaxy (4-7)
The Nordic Storm (10-1)
overwhelmed the
Paris Musketeers (4-7)
The EFA's Title Tilt will take place in Innsbruck, Austria
on August 29th
The #1 seeded Storm (10-1) and #2 seeded Ravens (10-1) are the only two EFA club's with winning records.
In their two regular season games, the Ravens won the first matchup on June 28th, 37-34, in Munich.
In their second meeting on August 8th, in Copenhagen, the Storm prevailed mightily, 55-7.
I'm picking the Storm by 13.5 points.
The American Football League
of Europe is still playing
regular season games
Vienna Vikings (10-1) with a solid
win over the Alpine Rams (2-9)
The Berlin Thunder (5-6) were too
much for the Paris Lights (3-8)
The Wroclaw Panthers (9-2) with
a strong showing over the
London Warriors (6-5)
The Rhein Fire (9-2) cruised by the
outmanned Firenze Red Lions (0-11)
The current AFLE Standings
The top two teams in each conference make the playoffs.
With only one more weekend of regular season games on the slate, the playoff spots are already cemented.
The #1 seed goes to the Vienna Vikings (10-1).
The Rhein Fire (9-2) have secured the #2 seed.
The fast finishing Wroclaw Panthers (9-2) have the #3 seed.
The final playoff spot and #4 seed belongs to the London Warriors (6-5).
Even if the Warriors lose to the Rhein Fire (9-2) and the Berlin Thunder (5-6) upset the Wroclaw Panthers (9-2) next weekend that #4 seed should stay with the Warriors based on their 40-29 victory over the Thunder in Berlin on August 2nd.
I think.
Moving on to the IFAF World Championship Flag Football Tournament in Düsseldorf, Germany . . .
As you may know, the 2028 Los Angeles Games will include Flag Football as an official sport for the first time in Olympic history.
This IFAF tournament was an important one as the the top three finishers in both the Men's and Women's tournaments would be given automatic berths into the LA28 Games.
There was one huge upset in Men's Pool Play.
American Samoa with the
#1 seed out of Pool A?
Yes, thanks to a STUNNING
upset of the USA squad!
Great to see Italy's Men
undefeated in Pool D play
Italy and Germany
After Pool play, it was time
for the Knockout Rounds
USA vs. Italy for the
Men's Gold Medal
The USA (5-1) defeated
Italy (5-1)
Both of these Men's teams punched their LA28 Olympic tickets.
I'm extremely happy for Team Italy's WR Andrea Volonnino who was a splendid player, hungry to learn, on our Varese Skorpions youth teams in 2018 and 2019.
Canada beat Mexico, 34-26, to win the Bronze Medal and the third automatic Olympic bid on Sunday.
USA!, USA!!, USA!!!
It was the USA's 6th consecutive IFAF World Championship.
The Italian Women's team had
a hard time in Pool A games
Team Spain performed well
in Pool B
Mexico, USA, Great Britain
and Canada
The Women's Knockout Round
It came down to a North American
affair, Canada vs. USA
Upset win for Canada
The USA Women had won the last three IFAF World Championships.
Canada with an automatic
LA28 Olympic berth
The other two automatic Olympic bids were earned by Silver Medalist USA and Mexico who nipped Great Britain, 20-19, in the Bronze Medal game.
Daniel Castañon's Spain Women's
team finished in 8th Place
They are still alive for LA28 but will have to do well in qualifying tournaments over the next two years to make it.
Spain's Murcia Cobras are
back at it again
Interesting paring in
San Diego in December
What the heck is a Fullback?
Well, that was different
So was the Washington Huskies
narrow 18-11 victory in 1898 over
the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, 18-11
All black Husky uniforms for 2026
No thank you, our school colors are purple and gold.
First it was the imaginary Latin American Football League, now the Facebook group Sports Uniform Talk has made up another faux league, the Asian Football Association, with five teams so far.
The India Temples have
good colors in my opinion
China's Shanghai Pandas
are adorable
But those white alternate helmets are bit much.
Japan's Tokyo Samurai with
epic alternate helmet
The Thailand Tusks,
"Strength of the Elephant,
Honor of Thailand"
 |
| South Korea's Seoul Flying Dragons |
Again, they have a great alternate helmet!
To sum up the main concept of the Latin America Football League and the Asian Football Association, someone at Sports Uniform Talk has WAY too much time on their hands.
100% CORRECT!
How could anyone argue against this?
Now, a new week will begin that will see both Michael and Mary start their school years and call for Laurie and I to wake up early each weekday to ferry the grandkids to school once again.
Our duty free Summer is over.
