Wednesday, December 18 -
Thursday, December 19, 2019
We enjoyed two fun days with family, friends, music and food. In other words, we were in my type of heaven.
But first . . .
A new photo of Jacob from his
Christmas Pageant on Tuesday
As well as one of the Archangel Mary
from the same Santa Clara Elementary
School music extravaganza
Speaking of music extravaganzas . . .
Our son Michael invited us to
be his guests at the Newbury Park
High School Choir's Winter Concert
Dress Rehearsal on Wednesday
Mary joined us for this one
She was riveted by the music
as we all were
Over 100 NPHS students with
amazing voices that really put
us in the Christmas spirit!
Despite the naysayers, there are a lot of good things going on in public education and the job that Choir Director John Sargent does with these teenaged singers is definitely one of them.
Thursday meant another great 90 minute session with my Italian Conversation class at the Conejo Valley Adult School campus in Thousand Oaks. As usually happens after these gatherings, I was hungry for some Italian food.
Since Laurie still was busy wrapping Christmas presents, we decided to postpone my cuisine yearnings until dinner time at one ion our favorite spots, the Made in Italy Bistro in Westlake Village.
We invited Debi and Cyndy Murphy
to join us in celebrating the Holidays
We think that they had a good time enjoying not only the fabulous food but also the lively atmosphere that means you are dining in a true Italian environment.
These two live wire waiters
from Italy are part of what makes
this place a fun dining spot
So is the fact that they have a few large tables where it is possible to share your culinary experience with total strangers.
When the four of us arrived, there was only one table available to us which sat ten people. We knew the drill and we took our seats at one end of the table and were soon joined by what looked like a family of five pleasant, outgoing strangers.
We bonded quickly as we admired each others dining choices and exchanged the usual chit-chat.
At some point they asked what I did for a living to Debi who explained my convoluted situation. They told us that the young man with them was an American football player.
I quickly turned into my EuroBall Recruiter mode and had him exchange seats with Laurie so that we could talk more easily.
As it turned out, it was once again a matter of it being small world.
With Cole Tracy
Cole is indeed an American football player, a 2018 NCAA All-American football player as the kicker for LSU!
His story is an interesting one as he started playing American football at Newbury Park H.S. where one of his coaches and teachers was none other than Michael Contreras.
Both of the sisters are also NPHS graduates who had Mr. Contreras as a teacher and joined Cole in raving about their time in his class.
I was feeling both proud and good.
While Cole is currently in negotiations with an XFL team, I had to give him a quick rundown on the advantages of life in EuroBall.
But I digress, back to Cole's interesting American football odyssey . . .
After graduating from NPHS, Cole opted to go 100% cross country to kick for the Division II Assumption College Greyhounds of Worcester, Massachusetts. His career with the Greyhounds was, in a word, OUTSTANDING!
After redshirting his Freshman year, he enjoyed three wonderful seasons as the Greyhounds kicker that culminated in 2017 with DII All-American honors after setting a school record for most point score in a season (148) by going a perfect 67 for 67 on PAT attempts and 27 for 29 on his Field Goal tries.
He graduated after this four years at Assumption but, because of his redshirt Freshman year, he still had a year of eligibility left.
That's when he received a fateful and surprising phone call.
It was from a coach at LSU, yes, the Southeast Conference's Louisiana State University Tigers, to see if he would be interested in being a graduate transfer that would include for immediate eligibility with the Bayou Bengals!
He did indeed jump at the opportunity with a vengeance.
He concluded his one season of SEC football again earning All-American honors but this time at the DI level.
He finished his four year's of college kicking as the NCAA's All-Divisional all-time leader in career Field Goals made (97) and Points Scored (502).
As a Senior at LSU in 2018, Cole was the toast of the country when he kicked a 42 yard Field Goal with no time left on the clock to beat the Auburn Tigers on the road at a packed Jordan-Hare Stadium by a final score of 22-21 on national television.
Cole's winning kick in the
2018 LSU-Auburn game
Cole being given the traditional
Hero's Ride by his teammates
after the Auburn game
On top of all that, he came across as a humble and engaging young man. If the XFL doesn't work out, his leg would guarantee at least two additional wins for any EuroBall team willing to sign him.
Life continues to be of daily interest to me.
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