Thursday, January 30, 2025
I opted to stay in the apartment working and reading most of the day away.
Why you ask?
Because "Feels Like: 0°"
is far from my favorite phrase
As a reminder, 0° Centigrade equals 32° Fahrenheit.
For those confused by these numerical functions, water and Cuban-Americans both tend to freeze when it gets this cold.
Another day of freezing wind chill was not what I needed.
I did more to prepare us for our
Week 4 Serie A game against the
Zaragoza Hurricanes at home
Since there are no college or NFL games to watch on TV this coming weekend, you may be starved to watch an American football game. If so, I may have a solution for you.
Our Zaragoza game will be live streamed via YouTube on Saturday, February 1st. The broadcast starts at 5:45 a.m. and kickoff is set for 6:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Here is the link to the broadcast:
In the evening, our Mariners had a practice and thankfully the wind had stopped as we worked out in balmy 10°C Mariners Weather, about 50°F.
Tone setting by our HC Nacho Valdéz
Looking GOOD in those old
St. Francis H.S. jerseys
Our turnout was a good one and I was pleased with our competitive effort and ever improving techniques.
What we have are a coachable, dedicated group of men who want to learn, get better at the game and, most importantly, win.
I look forward to our Thursday practices for another reason, our weekly post-practice meal with Mariners Team President Kiké and former Gijón line coach Eduardo. Tonight we were joined by Mariners co-founder and flag football guru, Daniel Castańon, a.k.a., Daca.
We had some really good hamburgers at a spot called California Street Food, I kid you not. The shared nachos, guacamole and Parmesan cheese fries were all perfectly paired with the burgers.
The usually friendly banter at these feasts was even better as tonight I enjoyed a history lesson courtesy of these three men.
While I knew that Asturias was a huge mining area in the 19th and 20th centuries, I did not know that during difficult economic times in the province, many miners immigrated to the USA and settled in West Virginia in order to continue plying their trade in that state famed for its mining industry.
Makes sense.
I further learned that current West Virginia University's Head Football Coach, Rich Rodriquez, is of Asturian ancestry.
My new found Asturian football family further informed me that in the 1920s, during the infancy of the NFL, three Asturian immigrants made their way onto those long ago, fledgling NFL rosters.
There was Alfredo Prendes who played for Papa Bear George Halas' Decatur Staleys club that would eventually morph into the Chicago Bears.
Brothers Jess and Kelly Rodriguez's families immigrated from the Asturian city of Avilés. They are not related to the West Virginia Head Football Coach as near as I could find out.
Both of the Rodriguez brothers had brief stints with early day NFL clubs .
In 1929 Jess, a graduate of Salem State University in Massachusetts, played for the Buffalo Bisons.
In 1930 Kelly, who matriculated at West Virginia Wesleyan, played for two NFL clubs, the Minnesota Red Jackets and the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the pre-cursers of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Amidst our Thursday night tomfoolery, we still had time to learn a few things.
GOOD TIMES!
A Cuban themed barber shop
near California Street Food
I need to investigate this shop further.
Spanish TV continues to
shake its collective heads
Me too.
Reading Is FUNdamental!
A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
This was the 32nd installment of this series that I have perused over the many years by crime novelist Donna Leon.
As you may imagine, she never disappoints me with her insightful, thought proving novels that also deal with crime in Venice, Italy.
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