Tues.-Thurs., Dec. 9-11, 2025
An interesting and diverse three days that started with a morning movie date on Tuesday at our local Regal Edwards Camarillo Palace & IMAX Theater.
Laurie and I perused our Flixster movie app in search of suitable movie and found one, a spoof of the Downton Abbey genre, that had a solid 86% approval rating from the critics and a somewhat less stellar 76% rating from audiences on their Rotten Tomato scale.
We decided to give it a chance.
BIG MISTAKE!
We found this film to be a non-stop series of sophomoric puns and even worse innuendos that were all too predictable given the plot turns.
We had trouble staying until the end and would give it an extremely poor Rotten Tomato rating if asked.
Look for Fackham Hall on your favorite streaming service soon.
Tuesday afternoon took a
turn for the better
After our movie fiasco, it was wonderful to be asked back to talk prep football on this weekly podcast with sportswriters Joe Curley and Dominic Massimino to discuss this weekend's two C.I.F.-State Championship games involving the Pacifica H.S. Tritons (15-0) in Division 1-A and the Ventura H.S. Cougars (13-2) in Division 3-AA.
Joe and Dominic both bring out the best and most positive views of high school sports and thus are always a joy to talk with about the local prep landscape.
Tuesday night, I attended Jacob's Camarillo Youth Basketball Association practice. He is on the Bulls team this season.
Jacob on Defense in the
light blue t-shirt
All day Wednesday and Thursday morning were also good times for us and another chance to talk football for hours.Only this time it would be Italy's DI Varese Skorpions' football that we would be examining.
With Scott Savoie the 2026
HC/OC of the Skorpions
Scott started his long and distinguished coaching career with us at Westlake H.S. in the early 1980s. He went on to coach several C.I.F. Section Championship teams, first at Canyon Springs H.S. in Riverside County and then at Bear River H.S. in Northern California's Gold Country.
Scott will be joined by his long time friend Mark Bridgewater and Mark's wife in Varese. Mark will be the Skorpions DC.
Mark also got his coaching start at Westlake H.S. at the same time as Scott.
Both are high quality people who will keep the Skorpions moving in a positive direction.
The purpose of Scott's visit was to go over and answer, as best as possible, any and all of the questions that covered practice plans, helmet decals, Special Teams schemes, Offensive Playbook, Defensive aggression levels, personnel, coaches, the City of Varese and, most importantly, tips as to where to eat in Lombardia.
We had a great, fun visit including the three of us going out to dinner with Brian and Koreen FitzGerald at Finney's Crafthouse.
Laurie and I are both so excited for the wondrous Adventure that Scott and the Bridgewaters are about to embark upon.
Meanwhile, after Scott left us on Thursday morning to return home to Grass Valley, the old gray braincells started churning and researching something that bothered me from last Friday's SoCal Division 3-AA Championship game between Ventura and Arroyo Grande.
This Eagle Pride mural as we
entered the A.G.H.S. stadium
was AWESOME!
I love entering a high school stadium or gym and instantly being made aware of that school's tradition of excellence in the sport I've come to watch.
This mural was initially a big hit for me then until I took a closer look at this photo once I got home.
The earliest team depicted in this Tradition mural is 1985 team's appearance in the C.I.F. playoffs. Fair enough.
Then I started thinking, Arroyo Grande is not a new school.
A quick Google search confirmed my suspicions, A.G.H.S. first opened its doors in 1890. Certainly they must have had a few good football teams in the first 95 years of existence before that 1985 playoff squad.
Thus, an ancient retired football coach who likes historical accuracy started digging.
I went straight to the C.I.F.-Southern Section's on-line archive of monthly bulletins for help and found gold.
My initial search allowed me to find complete C.I.F.-S.S. football playoff scores from 1948 to 1984, save for the 1949, 1950 and 1975 seasons. Not complete but it's a start.
The C.I.F.-S.S. has bulletins reaching all the way back to 1913, so I still have more work ahead of me.
While my findings were sparse compared to the Eagle Pride mural, it must be remembered that before 1974, only league champions and an occasional second place team with a great record made it into the playoffs.
In 1974, the playoffs were expanded to include the top three finishers in each league and a few additional at-large teams too.
Before 1975, the C.I.F.-S.S. playoffs at most were held in five divisions, AAAA, AAA, AA, A and Small Schools. Often these playoff brackets were just eight team affairs.
Today the C.I.F.-S.S. crowns champions in 14 divisions with each division being a full 16 team bracket.
Here is what I was able to find out about pre-1985 Arroyo Grande football teams in the C.I.F.-S.S. playoffs.
1955
Northern Division
12-team bracket
Opening Round
Tied Carpinteria, 7-7
advanced based on more First Downs, 11-7
Bye in the Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Lost to Paso Robles, 20-7
1957
Northern Division
8-team bracket
Quarterfinals
Beat Hart, 14-13
Semifinals
Lost to Pomona Catholic, 40-6
1958
AA Division
16-team bracket
Opening Round
Lost to Hart, 34-6
1961
AA Division
8-team bracket
Quarterfinals
Tied Camarillo, 0-0
advanced based on more First Downs, 12-6
Semifinals
Lost to Bishop Amat, 21-0
1966
AA Division
8-team bracket
Quarterfinals
Lost to Santa Clara, 19-7
1969
AA Division
8-team bracket
Quarterfinals
Lost to Santa Paula, 18-7
None of my findings, so far, confirmed if these six forgotten A.G.H.S. teams were also league champions but it's a start.
I still have another 30+ years of C.I.F.-S.S. bulletins to scour for more information.
It keeps me off of the mean streets of Camarillo.
Along the way in this research, I found this . . .
A fun article about our 1963
C.I.F.-S.S. AAA Championship team
I was a Junior and the starting Center on that 12-1 team.
Cool helmets, by the way.
That was fun to find.
Speaking of helmets . . .
These 1950s San Francisco 49ers, NFL Hall of Famers RB Joe "The Jet" Perry and DT Leo Nomellini, sporting CTE inducing headgear.
Interesting face mask on The Jet's helmet.
. . . I wonder if Team Canada and
Team Mexico will wear these in
their game on Saturday?
Also on Saturday, the BEST
college game of the year
Go Navy, Beat Army!
Our last busy football weekend of 2025 looms.
We will attend the Division 3-AA State Championship game at Fullerton H.S. between the Ventura H.S. Cougars (13-2) and the St. Ignatius College Prep Wildcats (8-6).
Saturday night, we'll travel down to SoFi Stadium for something called The Bucked Up L.A. Bowl hosted by Gronk. This one has a bit more meaning to our family at it pits the Washington Huskies (8-4) against the Mountain West Conference Champion Boise State Broncos (9-4).
The Rams (10-3) - Lions (8-5)
game will be at SoFi on Sunday
We'll be watching this one on TV, I'm sure.
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