Coaching for Pizza: An Action Packed Day in Seattle!

Friday, November 6, 2026

You better order the venti Pumpkin Spice Latte before sitting down to read this post, we enjoyed a doozy of a day!

It started with Mark Johnson explaining

to Julien the intricacies of the Montlake

Cut that borders his back yard

An earely morning crew team was

working out as he spoke

Mark, Julien and I were all hungry, so . . .

. . . we headed to perhaps the greatest

Hole-in-the-Wall of them all, Beth's Cafe

Antifa reared there menacing head

near Beth's

"What make's this place special?"

Julien asked

Well first, the whole neighborhood

reeks of ambiance

Then there is Beth's eclectic art collection

But the main thing is . . .

. . . there famous 12 egg omelette that

includes all you can eat hash browns

Ours was loaded with mushrooms, cheese and bacon.

Julien is seen here cutting our massive omelette into nine equal sized squares to share.

Being health conscious, we each consumed but two of the squares each and took home the final third of our egg puzzle to share with Mark's wife, Susie.

Actually, yes, we could indeed used

a little help

On the drive home, Mark drove us through the University of Washington's always gorgeous campus.

Meany Hall, the UW's oldest building

Smith Hall where Laurie once worked

Two rogues on the UW's Quad

One has to wonder how long these bricks have been here?

Sorry, inside joke.

The trees were in their full Autumn glory

Halloween is still not just a

memory in Mark's neighborhood

DAZZLING!

We were now headed to The UW's

Athletic facilities for a ceremony

EUREKA, WE HAVE FOUND IT!

Yesterday I posted this photo of the

1924 Rose Bowl Game Ball from the

14-14 tie between Washington and Navy

The ball has been in my possession since approximately 1976 and sitting in a plastic display case in our TV room.

How did I ever wind up in possession of such a treasure for the past 50 years you may wonder?

Well it started in about 1972 when two recent UW grads, Michael D'Antuono (Tuna) and Mark Johnson (Mad Dog) were working as gofers for the UW Athletic Department.

They were asked to clean out a storage room in oder to expand the then weight room in the basement of the Tubby Graves Building.

Much like Howard Carter and King Tut's tomb, they found themselves looking at wonderful things. They queried the powers that be what to do with all of these treasures and were directed to simply throw them away.

Being the budding archeologists that they were, they saved the best items and brought them to their home which was instantly baptized, "The Museum."

A few years later, knowing my love of football memorabilia, they turned the game ball over to me for safe keeping.

Today, I scheduled a meeting with the Husky Fever Hall of Fame's archivist, the venerable legend, David Torrell to find a new home for the hallowed ball in its proper setting.

After making a seamless donation,

Mr. Torrell gave us a personal tour

of his beloved Hall of Fame

He is passionate about what he does, was thankful for our donation and has great plans for the future of the ball.

It will go in a case similar to this one

David is a jokester too

A telegram from John Wayne

That ancient nose guard caught

Julien way off guard

SO many stories of objects and

how they came into the possession

of the Hall of Fame

Loved this display

Maxwell Eakins 63 yard punt

The punt allegedly traveled all 63 yards in the air!

Story after story after story

Sharp looking 1920s UW uniforms

Football's good times abounded

This track uniform is 100+ years old

The UW basketball arena

is named after "Hec" Edmundson

1991 Football National Championship

The Boys in the Boat of

Husky rowing fame

The Huskies Fight Song

Early scenes from Husky Stadium

Glorious entrances to Husky

Stadium back in the 1960s

If I ever getr an action photo

in the Hall of Fame it should

be of me sitting on the bench

THANK YOU!

In closing, we asked Mr. Torrell, that when the ball was finally put on display, could he place a placard next to it reading:

1924 Rose Bowl Game Ball

Washington 14 - Navy 14

From 1972 to 2026, this ball was salvaged, stored and cherished thanks to the efforts of Tuna (UW 1970), Mad Dog (UW 1970) and George (UW 1969)

After saying out goodbyes to Mr. Torrell, we embarked on a tour of the Husky facilities.

The Hec Edmundson Arena

Poster art from the 1924 Rose Bowl

The current Husky football record

Laurie and I have attended

eight of them

With Ben Creamer, the Huskies'

Director of Sports Science

In the Huskies massive Weight Room

Phenomenal!

Indeed it is

Julien's first look at Husky Stadium

Impressive

The Huskies indoor training facility

Just a few of the Huskies

uniform options

What the Huskies will wear on

Saturday against Penn State

Husky OL, #72, John Mills

Second Year

6'6" - 325 lbs.

Julien is the shorter one of the two.

Make that KING JULIEN!

Venerable pillar on the Montlake Bridge

Are they edible?

Back in the car, we were off to see the sights in downtown Seattle.

The Space Needle was a MUST

So was the Google Headquarters

And then there was Seattle's

iconic Pike Place Market

Lots to see on this day

Interesting sea urchins

The market is chock full of colors

A Puget Sound ferry arriving in port

Seattle loves Dia de los Muertos too

EXPENSIVE!

I just liked it,

GO BREWERS!

YES!

Julien had a hankering for a

Seattle Dog

DELICIOUS!

Rooms 75¢

It may be a really old sign.

Tonight, Susie Johnson wanted us all to go to Uneeda Burger for dinner, a spot which she says outstrips last night's Red Mill Burger.

After getting raked over the coals by Paul Sabolic by phone today for the heresy that I espoused in yesterday's post about the Red Mill Burger being better than an In-N-Out burger, I was panicked about another taste test tonight.

Nonetheless . . .