Cal Lutheran EuroBall Talk and a Slice of Americana

I had another opportunity yesterday to speak to college players about the process of furthering their careers playing American football in Europe. Wednesday's tour stop was at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

CLU Kingsmen QB Jake Laudenslayer

and DE Jordan Barta

We had a group of about ten players who came for a visit but these two players were very interested.

Jake is only a Junior and will be graduating from CLU next December right after the end of the Kingsmen football season placing him in prime position to catch on with a team for the Spring seasons in several European countries. He is 6'3"/190.5 cm tall and weighs 225 lbs./102 kg. In 2010 he led the SCIAC Champion Kingsmen, completing 62% of his 236 passes for 1,964 yards and 18 TDs. He was named to the All-SCIAC First Team at QB. The CLU coaches are very high on his future. Are you listening Catania?

Jordan is a Senior and will be graduating later this Spring. He was named to the All-SCIAC First Team in both 2009 and 2010. He was also named to the NCAA Division III All-American Team as an Honorable Mention. In CLU's two SCIAC championship seasons in 2009 and 2010, he had 15.5 OB Sacks, 26.5 Tackles fo Loss and recovered five fumbles. Again, Ben McEnroe, CLU's Head Coach, was extremely positive about Jordan as a man of high character possessing a great football motor. Jordan can also play fullback or tight end if needed. A quick pass rushing DE would be a huge plus in the Italian Football League.

My Power Point presentation usually takes from 60 to 90 minutes depending on questions. At CLU it took two hours, mostly because of all of the in-depth questions that Jake and Jordan had for me.

Next up will be talks with Seniors at Claremont-Mudd, Chapman, Redlands and La Verne Universities. Their coaches are currently trying to determine a good day and time for their players to meet with me.

After getting back home to Camarillo, I felt so good about how it went at CLU that I took off on an 8.19 stroll through the farm lands of Camarillo. This has been a good week for me on my quest to once again fit into my four month old Levis. My three day walking total for the week is now 19.6 miles, so I'm well on my way to my 28 miles/week goal.

In the evening, it was time for a great slice of Americana -- a last regular season Boys' Basketball game, as well as a cross-town high school rivalry with the Pacific View League Championship on the line, with Rio Mesa at Camarillo. Both teams shared identical records, 18-7 on the season and 8-1 in PVL action. Rio Mesa was ranked #10 in the latest CIF Division 3A poll while the Scorpions were ranked #13 in the CIF Division 2A poll. The CIF playoff divisions are enrollment based ay Camarillo is a bit bigger than Rio Mesa.

Camarillo won the first game with the Spartans at Rio Mesa by a score of 78-66 three weeks ago. The Scorpions only PVL loss was at the hands of the Oxnard Yellowjackets 78-66.

The "Scorpion Dome" was PACKED!!!

Standing Room ONLY! It was hot, humid, exciting and lots of fun to watch.

The Spartns started fast, leading 17-5 in the first period but Camarillo had a run and closed the gap seeing RM leading 21-18 going into the second period.

The Scorpions owned the second quarter and led at halftime 38-31.

Whatever Spartan Coach Chris Ruffinelli said at halftime worked as the Spartans came out on fire in the third period outscoring the Scorpions 23-13 to make it 54-51 going into the final period of the PVL season.

In the fourth quarter, Rio Mesa continued to wear down the Scorpions with their quickness, ball handling skills and hot shooting. RM outscored Camarillo 22-14 in the fourth quarter and won bragging rights as well as the 2010 Pacific View League Championship by a final score of 78-65.

RMHS Four-year starter Joseph Soto

driving to the hoop

If Joseph Soto is not named the PVL's 2010 MVP it would be a crime -- a felony probably. He scored a game high 23 points and dished out oodles of assists.

As near as anyone can remember, this was only Rio Mesa's second Boys' Basketball League Championship in the school's 46 year history!

CONGRATULATIONS SPARTANS!!!