Mon.-Fri., September 5-8, 2023
If you happen to be an American football fan, this is the best part of any year to be alive as all levels of the game are now in full swing.
The Labor Day college football weekend ended with a shocker, a Duke Blue Devils upset of the ACC's biggest, baddest boy, the Clemson Tigers by a final tally of 28-7 on Monday night.
It was the best Duke win in quite some time and led to the following hilarious post game exchange between the Duke QB and one of his professors.
I'm with the professor on this one
If the hard working, blue collar Offensive Linemen got the homework done before the game, then the prima donna QB could have as well.
As I said, it was a BIG
upset by the Duke squad
Our beloved Washington Huskies
parlayed the win over Boise State
into a #8 ranking in the latest poll
The complete Top 25 poll this week
A win on Saturday over the ever dangerous Tulsa Hurricanes should propel us to the #1 spot.
Right?
The Final regular season
Power Rankings for the
European League of Football
The two ELF Wild Card playoff games will be contested this weekend.
On Saturday, the #4 seeded Frankfurt Galaxy (10-2) host the #5 seeded Berlin Thunder (8-4).
The Sunday game sees the #6 seeded Wroclaw Panthers (8-4) travel to take on the #3 seeded Stuttgart Surge (10-2).
The #1 seeded Rhein Fire (12-0) and #2 seeded, defending ELF Champion Vienna Vikings (12-0) await the winners.
Back in my day . . .
I grew up with a 12 team NFL that had the two West Coast franchises, the Rams and 49ers, against ten squads from the upper Mid-West and East Coast.
One of my all-time favorite Rams
"Little" Eddie Meador was a fine Free Safety and revolutionized the technique for being a place kick holder with logic and safety at the forefront.
On the way home from visiting my Mom in Pasadena on Thursday, I opted to stop in tinseltown to watch a rare 4:00 p.m. Varsity high school kickoff.
Thursday Afternoon Lights!
The game was being played
at Hollywood H.S.
Chavez H.S. Eagles (1-2) at
Hollywood H.S. Sheiks (3-0)
It promised to be L.A. City football at its finest.
Why the Sheiks you ask?
The Hollywood H.S. campus was opened in 1902.
High school sports arrived in the early 1920s and like all schools, the athletic teams needed a good nickname.
As it turned out, the biggest movie star of that era was Rudolph Valentino who gained fame in the 1921 romantic movie role as, you guessed it, "The Sheik."
Thus Hollywood High School's unique Sheiks moniker.
Two vivacious Hollywood starlets
were working the ticket booth
during the current writer's strike
The Sheiks' 25 man roster in
a last minute, pre-game huddle
HHS is located just one block
behind famed Hollywood Blvd. and
its Walk of Fame
With HHS being 121 years old, located in the Movie Capital of the World, it is only logical that many Sheik alumni graduated into show business.
Here is just a partial list of these Sheik luminaries: Meredith Baxter, Carol Burnett, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Peggy Castle, Lon Chaney Jr., Rae Dawn Chong, Linda Evans, Nanette Fabray, Mike Farrell, Judy Garland, James Garner, Mitzi Gaynor, Gloria Graham, Alan Hale Jr., Barbara Hershey, John Huston, Richard Jaeckel, Sally Kellerman, Ruta Lee, Carole Lombard, Joel McCrea, Ann Miller, Yvette Mimieux, Ricky Nelson, Sheree North, Sarah Jessica Parker, Stefanie Powers, John Ritter, Jason Robards, Mickey Rooney, Alexis Smith, Jill St. John, Lana Turner,Tuesday Weld, Stuart Whitman, Rita Wilson and Fay Wray amongst many, many others.
None of them were at the game
The HHS Cheer Squad outnumbered
the Football Team 28-25
Chavez, in white, returning the
opening Kickoff
A slow Chavez start combined with excellent Special Teams and Offensive play by the Sheiks led to a 15-0 HHS lead at the end of the First Quarter.
The Second Quarter was a complete
u-turn for the Eagles as they took
advantage of several Sheiks' miscues
At the Halftime intermission, Chavez remarkably now led the undefeated Sheiks, 24-23.
I could see the famous Hollywood
sign up on the hill from my seat
It really was a nice setting
After a scoreless Third Quarter, Chavez was still leading 24-23.
Was that Goldie Hawn coaching on the Sheiks' sideline?
The Fourth Quarter was
ALL Eagles
Final Score: Chavez (2-2) 38 - Hollywood (3-1) 23
While walking back to my car
after the game, I came across
this colorful HHS edifice
It is Hollywood High School's Liberal and Household Arts Building.
I still needed more high school football, so on Friday, Laurie and I met up with Paul and Joanne Sabolic in Highland Park before the El Camino Real H.S. Royals (1-2) game vs. the Benjamin Franklin H.S. Panthers (1-1-1). The Sabolic's son, Jason, is El Camino Real's Head Football Coach.
After some truly stellar fish tacos at the Via-Mar Seafood Restaurant located just minutes away from the Franklin campus, we were off for another edition of . . .
Friday Night Lights
A grass field with huge dirt patches
I was ready for some old school feel to this one.
YES!
Clouds of dust in pre-game warm-ups
Franklin, in white, likes to pass
As a reminder, El Camino Real does not have a home field for the second straight season. Their artificial field turf melted in the Summer heat two Summer ago.
Yes, MELTED.
The Royals are wearing their blue jerseys because this was originally scheduled as an ELCO home game.
Road Warriors.
At the end of the First Quarter,
ELCO 7 - Franklin 7
ELCO's defense created several
key turnovers to keep the game close
while the Royals offense struggled
At the Halftime Intermission, Franklin led 14-7.
Dust Clouds, LOTS of
DUST CLOUDS
The Third Quarter saw the Panthers extend their lead to 27-7.
The Fourth Quarter was
a scoreless one
FINAL SCORE
Franklin (2-1-1) - 27
El Camino Real (1-3) - 7
The Road Warrior Royals showed some flashes but still have a lot of work to do before opening West Valley League play in just three weeks.
Next up for El Camino is, what else, another road game, this time to take on the Narbonne H.S. Gauchos (2-2).
Franklin will also board a bus next Friday to play the Schurr H.S. Spartans (3-1).
As for Saturday, we'll be off to Channel Islands H.S. to watch our grandson Jacob's Pop Warner Camarillo Stingers (2-0) team take on the Oxnard Knights (0-1).
We do indeed LOVE this game.
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