Mon.-Thurs., June 24-27, 2024
We had a lot of positive feedback and questions as well after announcing our upcoming coaching adventure with the Gijón Mariners in Spain's top league, the Serie A.
The first general line of questions involved where exactly is Gijón?
Gijón is located in the Province of
Asturias on Spain's north coast
Panning out a bit, Asturias offers
several great travel opportunities
to Portugal, France and even Morocco
among other spots
Gijón is Asturias' largest city with
a population of 274,000 souls
Gijón, called Xixón Asturian dialect, is a city with a rich maritime history located on the rugged Cantabrian Seacoast.
Gijón is Spain's 15th largest city with roots going back to neolithic burial mounds that are estimated to be about 5,000 years old. The remains of human settlements have been found dating back to the 6th-century B.C.
The second general series of questions dealt with the issue of "My goodness, how long have you been coaching?"
So, here is a quick resumé of my coaching career starting with the high school stops.
1970-1977 Thousand Oaks H.S.
1978-1988 Westlake H.S.
1989-2000 Rio Mesa H.S.
2001-2003 Buena H.S.
2004-2011 Rio Mesa H.S.
2013-2015 Newbury Park H.S.
Then there is my second coaching career
overseas that started on the glorious
island of Sicily
2008-2009 Catania Elephants, Italy
2010 Hässleholm Hurricanes, Sweden
2012 Thun Tigers, Switzerland
2012-2013 Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons, France
2015 Murcia Cobras, Spain
2016-2017 Wäsby Warriors, Sweden
2016 Osos Rivas, Spain
2016 Guadalajara Stings, Spain
2017-2019 Europe Warriors, Mexico & Austria
2018-2020 Varese Skorpions, Italy
2022 & 2024 Brasil Onças, Brazil
2025 Gijón Mariners, Spain
All of this time living abroad in countries whose languages were often difficult for me to learn, thankfully not you Spain, have taught me one thing . . .
. . . that I am in complete agreement
with this young man
Now we look at, what else, American football.
The Washington Huskies new,
state of the art helmets are, in a word,
AWESOME!
The California Lutheran University
football schedule looks good to me
The Varese Skorpions RB/Kick Returner
Davide Silvestri
Was named the Italian Football
League's Rookie of the Year
Ryan Griffin
Both awards were for the regular season only, not the playoffs, and were well deserved.
This popped up on Facebook
Laurie and I went to this game oh so long ago. So did Paul Sabolić.
I really hope that I splurged and bought the $7 tickets but I doubt it.
The date of this doubleheader hit me as I was about to join the Washington Huskies for what would turn out to be a redshirt Sophomore season after transferring from Glendale College.
The game was played on August 20, 1966 and I was still in California. Our first contest that season was a home game on September 17th against the Idaho Vandals, a 19-7 UW win.
This season the Huskies will open the 2024 season, again at home, against the Weber State Wildcats on August 31st. This means that the UW players will need to report back to Seattle the first week of August to start practicing.
So much for Summer. Bring on the NIL loot.
You are correct if you believe
we had tacos at Ruby's
On Wednesday, the IFAF's U20 World Championship Tournament in Edmonton, Canada headed into its second day of games.
The Championship Bracket Semifinals
The Consolation Bracket Semifinals
With the exception of Japan's win
over Team USA, the seeds held serve
IFAF U20 World Championship
Final Round - Sunday, June 30, 2024
Championship Game
#1 seed Canada 1 (2-0) vs. #3 seed Japan (2-0)
Third Place Game
#2 seed USA (1-1) vs. #4 seed Austria (1-1)
Fifth Place Game
#5 seed Canada 2 (1-1) vs. #6 seed Australia (1-1)
Seventh Place Game
#7 seed Panama (0-2) vs. #8 seed Brazil (0-2)
Finland's last two undefeated Men's
teams met on Thursday night . . .
. . . then there was one
DI Championship Game in France
on Saturday but who's playing?
Here we go, the 28th Diamond Helmet
French National Championship game is
Paris' La Courneuve Flash vs.
the Thonon les Baines Black Panthers
The Belgian National Championship
Game on Sunday features the
Mons Knights vs. the Waterloo Warriors
No Napoleon at Waterloo references if you please.
One Semifinal Game in Sweden on
Saturday, Stockholm Mean Machines
vs. Tyresö Royal Crowns
also on Saturday, will feature the
Carlstad Crusaders vs. the Oslo Vikings
European League of Football's
latest Power Rankings
This would be the ELF playoff
setup if the season ended today
But it doesn't.
Teams still have a long way to go with anywhere between seven and nine games left on their regular season schedules.
The Week #6 IFL schedule revolves
around the Rhein Fire (4-1) at
Madrid Bravos (3-0) game
So true but often forgotten
Kevin and Andrew attended the
Ecuador vs. Jamaica soccer game
in Las Vegas this week
Michael and family at the
Shark Reef also in Las Vegas
More Contreras Family news
The real reason that
I'm going to Gijón
On Thursday night we met at the home of Brian FitzGerald for dinner and an airline ticket buying spree for our up coming adventure that includes . . .
Time in Santiago de Chile as well as . . .
Bueno Aires and Mendoza, Argentina
This is going to be a great trip to two new countries for all four of us.
We don't have a dog but many of
our friends do and this is the norm
All about the steps
Sure, why not
Amongst other things, I saw this
"Nope Not Again" mini-flag
on my walk Thursday morning
After Thursday night's debate, I'm not so sure unfortunately.
Colorful tree bark in Camarillo
during my stroll
A rustic mailbox in our neighborhood
Reading Is FUNdamental!
A well written tome that is a timely
read in these troubling times
An absolute page turner!
Family, Friends, Football, Tacos
and Travel all give me purpose
I AM TRULY BLESSED!
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