Saturday, March 12, 2022

Of Dinosaurs and, What Else, American Football

 

Mon. - Sat., March 7 - 12, 2022

It was just another week in Paradise with a mere two priceless events to enjoy.

The first was a fun-filled performance for the proverbial "kids of all ages" at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks on Thursday night.

Who doesn't love a chance to
get up close to their favorite
DINOSAUR?

Jacob and Mary had been waiting
for this night for over a month

The Arts meet Natural History

It sounded perfectly plausible to me.

We were early and still somewhat
COVID-19 conscious

By the rise of the curtain at 7:00 p.m., there was a good sized crowd on hand.

No Vaccine Card, NO ENTRY!

It looked real to me

Thank goodness this one was a herbivore.

This intimidating Triceratops
was also a herbivore

A baby Tyrannosaurus Rex

This T Rex might be small but it was still hard to control and a carnivore to boot!

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!

This full grown T Rex was imposing and threatening to say the least!

It took the combined energy of all in attendance to keep it at bay by stomping our feet, clapping our hands and yelling at it all at the same time.

Thank goodness that Mary and Jacob were up to the noisy task.

The joy of that evening was tempered the next morning by the latest update from Dale Heffron, our American football coaching colleague based in Ukraine.

Such bravery and courage . . .

Speaking of EuroBall . . .

The Mallorca Voltors along with all
Spain's ten team Serie A have a BYE Week
 
The 1-0 Varese Skorpions were to host
the 0-1 Legnano Frogs on Saturday . . .
 
. . . then positive COVID-19 tests came
back on too many of the Skorpions

Both clubs had Byes scheduled for next weekend, so they will try to play the game in Varese next Saturday, March 19th.

A week in São Paulo looms

The last time I posted, the game between the Europe Warriors Men's Team and the Brazilian National Team was finally given the green light.

As I suspected, this week the game was cancelled due to insufficient numbers on the Warriors roster.

Plan B called for the Europe Warriors coaches to still come to Brazil for two purposes.

1. We would help coach the Brazilian National Team during their week of tw0-a-day practices.

2. We would put on coaching clinics for the staff of the Brazilian National Team as well as other interested Brazilian coaches.

What does this mean for me, you ask?

Well, it it means that for one week I will be the Linebackers coach of the Brazilian National Team.

It should be another AMAZING experience so long as I don't get attacked by a cunning jaguar while coaching.

Michael and I opted to go
to this year's edition of the
Ventura County High School All-Star Game

Of course, we would need a proper pre-game meal to be able to observe the game in top notch condition.

Marshal's Bodacious BBQ in Ventura

Their Bruce's Body Building Burrito was the perfect call!

This burrito, filled with but three ingredients of tri-tip meat, cheese and sour cream, HIT THE SPOT!

We were still quite early for the game so we decided that a cold beer on a hot Saturday afternoon would be a good idea. 

We also knew of a good spot to purchase said beer about a quarter mile from the entrance to the Ventura College Stadium.

Our desired, iconic Ventura
establishment for an adult beverage

Unfortunately it was closed either for remodeling or permanently, we were not sure.

No problem, Santino's is right next door to another of Ventura's iconic dining spots.

Who doesn't LOVE this place?

"Hello, a medium peanut butter malt
and a medium chocolate malt, please."

Definitely NOT an adult beverage but still damned good!

Let the game begin!

The East team in blue, the West in red

The East roster had 46 players representing these nine high schools: Agoura, Calabasas, Fillmore, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Oak Park, Royal, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

Agoura High School's Dustin Croick was the East's Head Coach today.

The West team sported a 47 man roster composed of athletes from these eleven Ventura County high schools: Buena, Camarillo, Channel Islands, Hueneme, Nordhoff, Oxnard, Pacifica, Rio Mesa, St. Bonaventure, Santa Paula and Ventura.

The West's Head Coach was Joe Goyeneche from St. Bonaventure H.S.
 
With Mike Regan and his son Conor
at Half Time

Mike was a long time fixture in Ventura County football circles as both a player and coach at Thousand Oaks H.S and Moorpark College.

He moved to the Santa Maria area in Santa Barbara County to further his coaching career about 15 years ago.

I talked with Conor, a college QB, about enjoying La Dolce Vita that is EuroBall sometime in the not too distant future.

As for the All-Star Game, the West won it by a final score of 23-7.

It was a good way to spend this warm, March day in wondrous Ventura, California!

Poland's Zabki Dukes looked SHARP
in their new blue practice jerseys

Just click on their photo for a better, enlarged look.

Kirby Reed, Guard/Linebacker
1971-73 Thousand Oaks HS Lancers
OLD SCHOOL!!!

Just drumming up more business for the 50th Reunion of the TOHS team that won the school's first ever Marmonte League Varsity Football Championship in 1972.

A ceremony will be held to honor this team before the kickoff to the Segerstrom HS at Thousand Oaks HS game on August 19th.

Reading Is FUNdamental!

A good read until a somewhat
weak, disappointing ending

Cheers to a good week enjoyed and
a new one to hopefully be savored

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