End of the School Year Zaniness

Mon.-Thurs., June 1-4, 2026

As usual, a fun and hectic few days in Ventura County for us as the grandkids' school year comes close to its end.

Of course, that means that Summer dreams are also close at hand. Dreams like a honest answer to this probing question. . .

. . . what a question!

Best that I invoke the Fifth Amendment on this one.

On Monday we bid adieu to our young houseguests.

An early morning run to

Rolling Pin Donuts seemed appropriate

Chester and Mallory were a

joy to have with us this past week

Mallory is my goddaughter after all

Chester is deep into his career as a chef.

What's not to love about this guy?

The annual VCSHoF induction ceremony

is this coming Sunday night

That means a busy week that included a Zoom meeting on Monday, a visit to the ceremony site on Tuesday and a lengthy meeting on Thursday to set up the seating chart for the 340 attendees.

Pull this kind of event off is not easy.

After Tuesday's meeting, Brian FitzGerald and I headed to Estabalos Meat Market for an authentic Mexican lunch.

Manteca in plastic tubs at Estabalos

for only $2.99/lbs.

Manteca is Spanish for lard. YUM!

On Wednesday, I got assigned the after school duty to pick up both Mary and Jacob.

The minor problem was that they got out of school about one hour apart.

I scooped up Mary first and asked her if she wanted to get something to eat.

"No, I want to go to the park and rake up the pine needles."

O.K. then . . .

She found a good stick

to use as a rake . . .

. . . proudly showed off her new

class t-shirt . . .

. . . and happily went to work . . .

. . . until her friend arrived to pick

up her sister

They were off like a shot to the park's play area.

Can't blame them at all.

Finally, Jacob's school let out and we headed home for a short while before returning to Jacob's middle school for . . .

. . . Mary's Cross Country team

meeting at Las Colinas Middle School

for next Fall's team. Good for her!

Oh nuts, day dreaming again . . .

How in the world did this happen?

Got to give up a lot to get a lot

Myles Garrett lede the NFL in QB Sacks in 2025. Interesting.

Updates from Italy . . .

Final DI Standings with

the Top Six in the playoffs

DII Playoffs start this weekend

with two Wild Card Games

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Cecina Trappers (4-4) at

Trento Thunders (6-2)

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Torino Reapers (3-5) at

Padova Saints (6-2)

DIII Wild Card Weekend

Friday, June 5, 2026

Palermo United (3-3) at

Pisa TFU (4-2)

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Verona Redskins (4-2) at

Varese Gorillas (5-1)

Roma Mavericks (3-3) at

Ravenna Chiefs (5-1)

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Castelfranco Cavaliers (3-3) at

Piacenza Wolverines (5-1)

Well, DUH!

The French DI Final Four

Sunday, June 7, 2026

La Courneuve Flash (7-2-1)at

Cannes Iron Mask (10-0)

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Marseille Blue Stars (6-4) at

Thonon-les-Bains Black Panthers (9-1)

No rest for the best teams

in France and Italy

Aside from their National DI schedules, both France's Thonon-les-Bains Black Panthers (9-1) and Italy's Firenze Guelfi (8-0) also participate in the Central European Football League which is much more a tournament than a league.

Instead of enjoying a playoff bye in their National tournaments, they will face off in Thonon-les-Bains this coming Saturday.

It should be a good one. 

American Football League of Europe

Week 3 Games

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Wroclaw Panthers (1-1) at

Paris Lights (1-0)

Berlin Thunder (1-1) at

Firenze Red Lions (0-1)

Rhein Fire (1-0) at

Vienna Vikings (2-0)

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Alpine Rams (0-1) at

London Warriors (0-2)

The Rhein Fire are already

excited about their next home

game in two weeks

European Football Alliance Slate

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Munich Ravens (2-0) at

Paris Musketeers (2-0)

Frankfort Galaxy (0-2) at

Tirol Raiders (0-2)

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Nordic Storm (2-0) at

Prague Lions (0-2)

Love these Soacha Rhinos

posters from Colombia

Hmm . . .

I wonder if there is a part in Tulsa King for a Cuban underworld anti-hero?

Reading Is FUNdamental!

A light, breezy murder mystery

It was a perfect choice after reading back-to-back American Civil War historical novels with lots of gruesome details.

Another Blessed Weekend in Paradise

Sat.-Sun., May 30-31, 2026

The non-stop assault on my recent dietary successes continued as we wined and dined our houseguests, Mallory and Chester.

Breakfast pastries from Café Ficelle both mornings and a fabulous dinner on Saturday at Chianti Trattoria & Pizzeria did their delicious damage to all my biological systems.

Sunday night, Laurie's generous

charcuterie board made for a

much needed light dinner

It was all savory, plentiful and, thankfully, not over the top.

Having houseguests fo a week definitely has its benefits.

On to the weekend's EuroBall action . . .

Spanish DII Playoffs

Saturday's Semifinal Result

Madrid Conference #2 Seed

Alcorcón Smilodons (7-2) - 24

Levante Conference #1 Seed

Valencia Giants (7-2-1) - 20

Sunday's Semifinal Result

Madrid Conference #1 Seed

Alcobendas Cavaliers (9-0) - 23

Sur Conference #1 Seed

Jerez Jaguars (6-1) - 6

The June 13th Spanish DII National Championship will be an all Madrid Conference affair this season.

In their two previous meetings this season, the Cavaliers swept the Smilodons, 13-10 on February 7th and again 21-14 on April 25th.

Those two close games bode well for a great title rematch.

Moving on . . .

Italian Football League DI

This one appeared to be a

non-competitive season finale . . .

. . . and so it was

Firenze Guelfi (8-0) - 47

Bologna Warriors (1-7) - 0

Would this one be more competitive . . .

. . . yes, it was!

Ferrara Aquile (3-5) - 19

Milano Rhinos (0-8) - 10

Kudos to the Rhinos for fighting to the very end of the campaign.

The Aquile's win secured them the #6 seed and final spot in the DI Playoffs.

Game of the Weekend

The Winner earns the Playoffs

#2 seed and a Wild Card bye

Our old Skorpions' teammate,

Nicolas Principi, is a Strong Safety

for the Legnano Frogs

This game was a DANDY and a

throwback to IFL games of 2008!

In OVERTIME . . .

Parma Panthers (6-2) - 43

Legnano Frogs (5-3) - 42

The Italian DI Playoffs will start

with Wild Card Games on June 13-14

Wild Card Game #1

#5 Seed Legnano Frogs (5-3) at

#4 Seed Ancona Dolphins (5-3)

The Dolphins beat the Frogs, 21-14, on April 25th.

The winner of the Wild Card game will play a DI Semifinal on the road against the #1 Seeded Firenze Guelfi (8-0).

Wild Card Game #2

#6 Seed Ferrara Aquile (3-5) at

#3 Seed Torino Giaguari (5-3)

The Giaguari defeated the Aquile, 29-14, on March 28th.

The victor of this skirmish will travel to play in the other DI Semifinal against the #2 Seeded Parma Panthers (6-2).

European Football Alliance

The only EPA game this

weekend was an all German affair

Munich Ravens (2-0) - 45

Frankfurt Galaxy (0-2) - 26

The EPA Standings, after just

three weekends, show a clear

separation of powers

American Football League

of Europe

Dark but excellent pre-game poster

Paris Lights vs. Firenze Red Lions

Paris Lights (1-0) with an easy win

over the Firenze Red Lions (0-1)

The Rhein Fire (1-0) routed

the London Warriors (0-2)

The always tough Vienna Vikings (2-0)

outlasted the Wroclaw Panthers (1-1)

The Berlin Thunder (1-1) ruined

the Alpine Rams (0-1) debut

The AFLE is off to a more competitive

start than their rival EPA

Friend Julien Urgenti has decided

that this photo will soon go

up in his new, at home office

The Baltimore Colts Defense gang-tackling Green Bay Packers RB Paul Hornung in a 1960s game is a good one, especially for a Packers fan like Julien.

Why do these Iberians keep

tempting me?

Reading Is FUNdamental!

Another good American Civil War read

The author, Madison Jones, had a grandfather, Steven Moore, who was only 12 years old during the December 15-18, 1864, Battle of Nashville in Tennessee.

In 1900, Grandpa Steven wrote a memoir of his harrowing experiences during those four snowy days of battle in search of his father Edward who was a Colonel with the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

Our book's author used his grandfather's memoir as the basis of this most interesting historical novel that was first published in 1997.