Tues.-Sun., January 4-9, 2022
A fun week to be sure highlighted by a visit from a great couple from our days coaching in Varese in Italy's Lombardia region.
But first, allow me to digress . . .
On Saturday mornings, TCM plays
these kitschy 1949 Batman and Robin
serials that were once a staple of the
movie theaters of that long ago time
One action packed episode each week for 15 straight weeks unless Christmas and New Year's Day fall on a Saturday which they did this week.
The plots are riveting, the acting superb and the special effects are incredible!
One picture is worth a thousand words
I said that it was kitschy.
On Wednesday, we had a special treat as we hosted Marta Crosta and Nicolas Principi who were in California visiting Nicolas' Dad who lives in Northern California.
We first met them back in the Winter of 2018 when I was coaching the Varese Skorpions and Nicolas was the outstanding Strong Safety/Linebacker for the team.
I first met Marta and her family when Nicolas invited me over to his Mother's home for one of the most amazing meals I've ever had the pleasure of slowly enjoying over several courses and some great camaraderie!
Marta loves both her Mexican food and guacamole, thus we headed to Camarillo's venerable El Tecolote Mexican Restaurant.
Michael joined Nicolas, Marta,
Laurie and me for a delicious
Mexican meal
On Thursday morning we found out that Michael took the day off from his duties teaching at Newbury Park H.S. to join us again.
Michael bonded with Nicolas when he coached him with the Europe Warriors in our 2018 game against the University of Chihuahua in Mexico, a 19-10 victory for the Warriors.
When Michael visited me in Varese the following Spring, he and Nicolas continued hanging out and our Easter Brunch again with his Mother and all of Marta's family was simply amazing.
Only one thing to do in Camarillo on a Thursday morning in January, we all headed to the Outlet Mall to see what bargains we could find.
The Outlet Mall was relatively empty and Nicolas and Marta were both focused on exactly what stores they needed to visit to fulfill their needs.
Done shopping, we decided on one more meal before Nicolas and Marta headed back north for their flight home on Saturday morning.
Entering El Rey Cantina's Camarillo
location in Old town
Marta wanted more guacamole.
Who were any of us to argue with her simple logic.
The food was even better than the night before!
Marta took one last photo of
us at our home before they
headed north again
It was SO good to see them again.
Meanwhile, back on the EuroBall front . . .
Alex Posito will be joining
us in São Paulo
A tough, old school type of player, Alex was a key part of both of our Europe Warriors Men's teams that played against the UNAM Pumas, a 35-32 loss for the Warriors, in Mexico City's Olympic Stadium and in the Chihuahua game mentioned earlier.
The Brazil game is gradually taking shape. I'm excited to be a part of it.
Most of my week was taken up with lots of activity on the donated American football gear for needy clubs front.
These 40 pants were headed to Poland
These 15 jerseys were a small part
of a large order heading to Guatemala
Our job is to pack boxes like this
one and then ship them overseas
So, where these boxes off to this week?
Poland's Zabki Dukes ordered
41 jerseys, 7 pants and a
dozen game socks
Not to be outdone, Poland's
Sieradz Warriors made a mega-order
The were shipped 40 jerseys, 40 pants and 16 pairs of socks!
And then there was the interesting story of the equipment needs of the . . .
. . . Cabros Xela in Guatemala
Guatemala has American football?
Who knew?
I had no clue but this magazine cover dates back to 2009!
The Cabros' desires were relatively large, 30 jerseys, 30 pants and 30 pairs of socks and we had a problem.
I usually send these boxes to Europe via the U.S. Postal System but the USPS does not ship boxes to Guatemala.
I checked with UPS but their cheapest rate was a whopping $1,326.28!
FedEx's cheapest rate just had to be better than that.
And it was, only $1,321.00, a bargain!
It got me to thinking.
Ouch, it hurt to get my brain up and running again.
How to get the box to the Cabros located in the high mountain town of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala at a decent price?
What about simply flying them down from LAX to Guatemala City, the nation's capital in one or two pieces of checked luggage?
Time to search the Expedia website.
A round trip flight from LAX
would only cost $168!
If it all fit into one checked bag, we would need to add another $30 to the fare, making it $198 total.
If I needed a second checked bag to get their gear to them, then we would need to add another $40 to bring the total cost up to $238.
Certainly a lot better than our previous FedEx low of $1,321!
I talked to the Cabros President, Luis Huertas and he was keen on the idea. Our talks eventually evolved into the concept of my spending a few days in Guatemala to put on an American football fundamentals clinic for the coaches in the Quetzaltenango area at the end of February.
As for the gear, Luis found a friend in New Jersey who can bring all of the gear with him on his flight to Guatemala later this month for again a lot less than the FedEx price.
Regardless, of this new mode of getting the gear to the Cabros Xela club, Luis still wants me to come down to hold that clinic for his coaches.
The Adventure continues . . . GAME ON!
Now for the story of two boxes of gear sent to Spain and their bogging down in the Spanish Customs Office in Madrid.
Alicante's Ibi Industriales have
been sent a total of eight boxes
of donated, used football gear
in the last three months in their
attempt to go from a flag to
a tackle team
Six of these boxes arrived in a timely manner with minimum problems at Madrid's Customs Office.
The other two boxes were sent in early November and have been stuck in Customs since the first week of December. I found out today from the Industriales' leadership that the reason for the unusual delay is that, for some unknown reason, Customs wants to slap the club with a hefty import tariff.
The first box contains the following used, donated equipment from local high schools, two helmets and 20 jerseys. Customs want 1,500 Euros before they'll release this box. That's about $1,702 USD!
Box #2 contains used, donated gear as well, three shoulder pads and 34 more jerseys. Customs wants 1,650 Euros which is about $1,872 USD for the release of this box.
Outrageous if you ask me.
I have written a letter to the Customs Office today explain how these items were gifts of used, donated gear of relatively little financial value.
The two local high school coaches who donated the gear have also written letters explaining our shared philanthropic goals and requesting that they respectfully rescind the exorbitant tariffs immediately.
We'll see . . .
The last game of the 2021-22
NFL regular season
The San Francisco 49ers (9-7) were fighting for their playoff lives while the home team Los Angeles Rams (12-4) were fighting to hold on to their #2 seed in the NFC playoffs. We watched it on TV with predictable results.
Up 17-0 late in the first half, the Rams (12-5) blew their lead and lost in overtime to the 49ers (10-7).
Thus the Rams slipped to the NFC's #4 seed and will now host the #5 seeded Arizona Cardinals (11-6) in their first playoff game next Monday.
As for San Francisco, the 49ers parlayed their come from behind win over the Rams into the NFC's #6 seed and will travel to play the #3 seeded Dallas Cowboys (12-5) next Sunday.
The NFC Playoff Bracket is set
the Raiders beat the Chargers 35-32 in OT
in Sunday night's final game of
the regular season
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