Mon.-Thurs., May 15-18, 2023
The fun just keeps happening around us constantly. Who are we to complain?
The one sad note was having to leave Las Vegas on Wednesday morning so that we could be in Pasadena in the afternoon for my visit with my Mom and the next rounds of our one-on-one Dominoes Tournament.
With Kevin just before we headed
home and he was off to school
On Thursday, barring any last minute felony arrests, Kevin would be taking part in his school's promotion ceremony from Fifth Grade Elementary School to the Sixth Grade at his new Middle School.
Believe it or not, it is too hot in Las Vegas this time of year for any kind of lengthy outdoor ceremonies, creating a problem. Kevin's school only has a relatively small auditorium for such events thus each student in the promotion ceremony was only allowed two people in attendance. Obviously, Andrew and Jenn rightfully were going to be Kevin's "plus two."
We would still be cheering Kevin's accomplishment from afar to be sure.
On the drive home from Las Vegas we stopped for nourishment in Victorville, CA.
Victorville's Emma Jean's Holland Burger
Cafe is one of the best hole-in-the-wall spots
in all of San Bernardino County
Of course, we both ordered Brian Burgers
Delicious!
Yes, we played Dominoes in Las Vegas
all weekend long
Kevin quickly showed us his child prodigy skills at the game. He taught me the lessons that hopefully would help me confront my crafty Mother in our Dominoes games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Wednesday night it was off to Camarillo's Freedom Park for Jacob's fourth once-a-week Stingers Spring practice.
Not sure what Jacob did this week
but he had his best ever practice
catching passes
His passing looked better too
I love the look of joy on Jacob's face
Warm-Up Shuffle Drill
For the fourth straight practice, the emphasis was on proper, safe tackling techniques.
All of the Stingers appeared to be greatly improved thanks to the patience and teaching techniques of the Stingers coaching staff.
It starts with a good Hitting Stance
Attack with your near foot and
near shoulder
This places the tackler's head behind the ball carrier. This is definitely not the way we were taught to tackle back in the day.
In today's more safety conscious approach, keeping the head out of contact is fundamental to the growth of the game.
Now for a right shoulder tackle
Looking good to me
After a good half hour of tackling practice, the squad was split into three groups that each rotated to a coach to learn about Linebacker play, Offensive Line concepts and Offensive Backfield running plays.
It guaranteed that each player started getting a feel for different football positions and necessary skills as everyone tries to find their best spots for success.
Linebacker Drill
Offensive Line
I thought that this practice was another positive step forward for our young Stingers.
Kevin's Promotion Ceremony on Thursday
was a good one according to our sources
I must credit Kevin's expert tutelage in the game of Dominoes once again at this point.
My Dominoes Tournament results with my Mother were vastly improved thanks to Kevin.
Wednesday Results: Mother won in Games 11-10 but I won in Points 187-167.
Thursday Results: Mother won in Games 15-13 and in Points 207-180.
This has been a much more competitive week. What will Friday bring?
It was later than normal for my drive home placing me smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic. Thus I opted to drive to the nearest high school to see if I might catch about an hour of their Spring football practice.
Home of the Tigers
Serving the community since 1905
Ray Solari Stadium
Coach Solari was the Tigers' highly successful Head Football Coach from 1956-1971 amassing a record of 120-43-5. His SPHS clubs won four C.I.F. Championships.
Some of our older high schools have
WPA built stadiums like this one
Ventura High School's Larrabee Stadium is one that comes to mind.
Theodore Roosevelt Field
I like this colorful display on
the back of the SPHS gym facing
the home stands of Solari Stadium
The Varsity was working hard
on their Middle Screen Pass
The Tigers open their 2023 season at home on August 18th against the Schurr H.S. Spartans who were 6-5 in 2022.
The 2022 Tigers were 10-3, losing 34-21 to the Bellflower H.S. Buccaneers in the C.I.F. Division 11 Playoff Semi-Finals.
The J.V. squad was concentrating
on their Wing-T ground game
It was a spirited practice
I like American football
As I left the practice, I opted to take a closer look at those graphics on the SoPas gymnasium.
I like walking into a stadium or gym
and quickly learning about a school's
athletic history
The Tigers have won five C.I.F. Football Playoff Championships.
Coach Ray Solari's teams took home trophies in the AA Division in 1959 and then in the AAA Division in 1962, 1966 and 1969.
Coach Jim Yang's Tiger squad won the C.I.F. AAA Championship in 1975.
Coach Yang was the Offensive Line Coach at St. Francis H.S. in 1964 where we found him to be an excellent coach of the fundamentals of the game. Highly respected by all of us who played for him we were happy for him when he won his C.I.F. Championship at South Pasadena H.S.
After a well spent hour at the
Tigers practice, it was time for
the drive home
Although the traffic was lighter than it would have been earlier, it was not without incident.
Once in the San Fernando Valley, I was driving in the fast lane of the 118 Freeway when a van about six cars in front of me veered into the left shoulder and then rammed into the cement center divider hard. He rebounded and continued to drive on the left shoulder for about 100 yards before ramming into the center divider again.
He would repeat this death defying act again.
About six more times!
A random California Highway Patrol car appeared out of the now slow moving traffic that was giving the insane acting van a wide berth. He got behind the van with all of his police lights flashing and followed the van on its last two attempts at knocking down the center divider.
The van proceeded to pull into the far right lane at a normal rate of speed with our CHP car behind them and proceeded to take the ramp leading to the 405 Freeway.
I wonder how it all turned out.
More football news . . .
The University of Michigan is
interested Newbury Park High School's
Sophomore QB Brady Smigiel
In this Wolverine inspired photo with Brady is Brady's twin brother WR #3 Beau and their Dad and NPHS Head Coach Joe.
Great news from Brazil
Brasil Onças National Team Head Coach Brian Guzman contacted me about the recently finalized plans for our Pre-Pan American Football Tournament.
I will need to be in Brazil's capital city of Brasília (population 2,224,000) from Saturday, November 25th through Sunday, December 3rd.
We will play twice in the tournament, first on Wednesday, November 29th vs. the National Team from Colombia.
Our second game will be contested on Saturday, December 2nd versus either Chile's National Team or Panama's National Team depending on which teams win or lose Wednesday's first games.
My role in the tournament will be as the Brazilian team's Special Teams Coach.
I enjoyed a wonderful week working as the Linebackers Coach at last year's Brasil Onças Team Camp in São Paulo. That superb experience has me excited about another great opportunity to work with an excellent coaching staff and a slew of motivated players!
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