Mon.-Wed., May 19-28, 2025
In which another season of football starts both at home and abroad, we meet up with beloved friends and attend a football reunion.
Just when we thought that our sports seasons with the grandkids were finally on hiatus for awhile, we found out that Jacob's Pop Warner football team was starting their practices on May 20th with practices from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
So much for down time.
Here are a few photos from the first three nights of Camarillo Stingers Senior Blue team workouts. This team is made up of next Fall's 8th Graders and is Jacob's last season before going to high school.
Woodside Park is a good spot
for training
Jacob, with his signature headband,
at DE coming off the edge
HANDS UP!
The Stingers passing game
looks promising
Jacob on the right in a two-point
stance at DE
Now in a three-point stance, I think
that he gets off the ball much faster
this way
Friday was a fun and busy day.
First up was a drive down to La Cañada-Flintridge for lunch with two old friends.
A cool, old vehicle in the
restaurant's parking garage
The usual two hour lunch with Paul Sabolić and Michael D'Antuono from our shared University of Washington days is always a treat for me.
I am not allowed to take photos of our group as my friends are both in the Federal Witness Protection Program.
After lunch, I had to drive pell-mell to Thousand Oaks H.S. to meet up with more friends at a baseball game.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day for
a baseball game
C.I.F.-S.S. Division 4 Quarterfinals
Woodbridge Warriors (21-9)
Third Place in the Pacific Coast League
at
Thousand Oaks Lancers (17-12)
Fifth Place in the Marmonte League
It was a rollicking, back
and forth ballgame
We were at the game to support more U. of W. friends, Loren and Sandy Brucker. Their son Ryan is the Head Baseball Coach at Woodbridge H.S. in Irvine, CA.
Sandy and Loren with Laurie
Michael and Ryan's brother-in-law Josh
As I said, it was a good game but one bad inning defensively for Woodbridge led to 6-3 win for Thousand Oaks.
The Rio Mesa H.S. Athletic Hall of Fame held their Second Annual Induction dinner the night after Memorial Day. One of the five inductees was the entire 1971 C.I.F.-S.S. "A" Championship football team.
I was invited to attend a pre-induction reunion on Memorial Day of this team at The Sportsman in Camarillo.
With Steve Lopez
Steve famously kicked the clutch Field Goal in the Semifinals
at end of the game to send the Spartans to the Championship Game. The final score of that Semifinal game was Rio Mesa 10 - Rim of the World 7.
The Spartans (10-2) beat Paso Robles Bearcats, 28-20, in the Championship Game the following week.
Of note, this is still the only Rio Mesa football team to win a C.I.F.-S.S. title.
13 Spartans with Coach Dick Bellman
Another ten Spartans would be in attendance at the induction ceremony the following evening.
I, for one, had a great time hearing some great stories.
On to news from the net . . .
The Varese Skorpions finished
the IFL regular season at 6-4
After a slow start, the Varese eleven won their final four games of the season.
The Italian Football League features the country's 12 best teams divided into two, six team conferences known simply as Group A and Group B. Each team plays their other five conference opponents twice but does not play any games against squads from the other conference.
With the regular season now completed, it's ON TO THE PLAYOFFS!
The top three teams in each
conference made the playoffs
The remaining contenders for the Italian Bowl XLIV Championship are:
GROUP A
1. Ancona Dolphins 9-1
2. Legnano Frogs 8-2
3. Parma Panthers 7-3
GROUP B
1. Firenze Guelfi 10-0
2. Varese Skorpions 6-4
3. Torino Giaguari 5-5
Good Luck Skorpions!
The European League of Football's
Week #2 Results
One close game, four competitive contest and two blowouts. Just another weekend in Europe's top league.
Still a lot of games to be played
Only four undefeated teams left
after two weeks of play out of
16 franchises
The Game of The week is
Vienna Vikings (2-0) at Rhein Fire (1-0)
One thing that I look forward to each ELF week is the awesome game posters produced by the Prague Lions.
Week #2 Poster and Result
Hamburg Sea Devils (2-0) - 28
Prague Lions (0-2) - 13
How could the Lions lose when they are this sincere?
Week #3 Poster
Prague Lions (0-2)
at
Fehérvár Enthroners (0-2)
The Enthroners represent the beautiful city of Budapest.
Will the Lions take the throne in Hungary?
Stay tuned . . .
Last Sunday was Flag Day
in Spain's Principality of Asturias
I completely understand
Fika Time in Sweden every afternoon
is THE BEST!
EVERY DAMN DAY!
Reading Is FUNdamental!
Old school crime in Paris is
always fun with Simenon's books
