The Legendary Chris Pagliaro

Our hosts Chris and Linda

The first post ever on this blog was a David Lassen article in the Ventura County Star about my reasons for coming to Sicily.  In a nutshell I was fulfilling a promise I made to my old friend Rick Scott who suddenly passed away of a heart attack the day after we promised each other to go coach in Europe once we were both retired from teaching.

The reason we were even thinking about making this promise that fateful night was all the stories we had heard over the years from one of the legends of Ventura County football coaching, Chris Pagliaro.

In 1970, when I started my coaching career as a J.V. assistant coach at Thousand Oaks H.S., "Pags" was already well established as the successful head coach at crosstown rival Newbury Park H.S.  In those pre-historic days before camcorders, we would have to physically scout opponents and chart plays by hand during the course of games.  This meant that at least two coaches would have to go the game to be able to quickly record what they saw as the scouted team's blocking scheme, backfield action and pass routes before the next play started and still jot down the down, distance, hash mark and field position before the ball was snapped.

I bring this up because that first season of coaching I had to go scout a St. Bonaventure at Newbury Park game on a hot Saturday afternoon when the hillsides were ablaze and smoke and ashes made nearly impossible to see and breath.  I said "nearly".  The game was still played in the worst conditions I've ever seen... we were a tougher nation back then.

That season Newbury Park played Thousand Oaks for the first time to a memorable 48-48 tie.  Amazingly each team scored 6 TDs and each were successful on all six 2-point conversions.  As crazy as that sounds, the thing I remember the most, besides N.P. QB Jerry Torgeson's insane 80 yard TD run on the game's opening play, was that with 1:02 left in the 4th quarter the score was 40-40.  Both teams would put up yet another 8 points in the closing seconds to preserve the tie.  I don't know if it is still true but at the time it was the highest scoring tie game in California high school football history.

Chris would eventually hire Rick Scott at N.P.H.S. before moving on to a job as an assistant coach/athletic counselor at Santa Barbara City College.  It was during his time at S.B.C.C. that Chris started his European adventures.  Being a great story teller, he would tell us hilarious tales about his experiences in Europe that, as it turned out, prepared me mentally for the transition from a typical American football experience to the much more laid back Italian atmosphere.

Chris' first experience on the continent was when he joined former Cleveland Browns Head Coach Sam Rutigliano in 1988 to coach an American college Division III All-star team that played a two game series against the Blues, i.e., the Italian National team.  They played one game in Milan and the other in Pisa.

He enjoyed the experience so much that he returned to Italy in 1989 to be the Head Coach of the Saronno Pharones.  This team was based in a suburb of Milan.

Next up, in 1993, was a job as the Defensive Coordinator of the Geneva Seahawks in Switzerland.

The 1997 season saw him return to Switzerland to become the Co-Head Coach of the Zurich Renegades with Giorgio Volpi.  Giorgio was a key figure in landing me the job in Catania last year.  It really IS who you know after all!

It was on to Austria for Chris in 2000 for another Head Coaching job with Klagenfurt.  His son Vince was his defensive Coordinator that season.

In a role reversal, Chris' last two seasons coaching in Europe came in 2001 and 2002 as an assistant to Vince this time with a team in Madrid that won the Spanish League's championship in 2001.  Vince remembered his Dad's famous (infamous?) quote in winning the title in his first campaign as a Head Coach, "Success in football is 90% coaching".  You just can't make this stuff up and Rick Scott was sure to remind him about this quote EVERY time we met... this is truly the joy of coaching so long and making friends in the profession.

Over the years his stories just kept piling up making the idea of following in his footsteps just too attractive to pass up.  So here I am preparing to leave for Sicily again in about 11 days.

Last night we were invited to Chris and Linda's place in the Winchester Canyon area of Goleta, just north of Santa Barbara, to dinner.  We had a GREAT time and, among his many other talents, Chris turns out to be a damn good Italian chef.  Excellent lasagna, lightly fried portabella mushrooms, meatballs, salad, wine, incredible home made cannoli and conversation to top off a fun night.

Chris and Linda will be coming to Italy this spring and plan to spend a week in Sicily as Chris searches for his family's Sicilian roots.  As it turns out his grandfather was from Santa Elia and his grandmother hailed from nearby Carini.  Both of these villages are located near Palermo at the western end of Sicily.  We are looking forward to hosting them when they come to Catania and hopefully they will be there for one of our games.

GOOD TIMES INDEED!

David P. Lassen

I had lunch yesterday with long time friend and my calcio / futbol / soccer guru...

David P. Lassen

As if my 0-12 University of Washington Huskies and tying for last place in the Rio Mesa H.S. College Bowl Pool wasn't bad enough, David showed up wearing a PALERMO calcio game jersey!  Will the madness ever end?

Although David has covered the Beijing Olympics, the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Lakers amongst several other key assignments this past year in his career as the Ace Reporter for the Ventura County Star newspaper, I believe that his true talent could be doing investigative reporting on the fascinating world of American football in Italy.

We had a very nice meeting at the Adobe Cantina in Agoura Hills, I need to stuff as much Mexican food into me as possible in these last few days before flying to Sicily so this eatery was a solid choice.

David mentioned the word "salad" to me earlier this week and I was shamed into ordering the Tri Tip Tijuana Caesar Salad.  Tasty I must admit but for my true feelings click on this link 

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=n1cnd6no7c

Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson

Mark is one of my longtime friends from our University of Washington days in the late 1960's.

The picture of health just after turning 60 on June 7th, he is seen here just a few weeks later during our visit to the Murgo Winery in Sicily.

Soon after his visit to Catania he was diagnosed with tongue cancer which shocked all of us because the word "cancer" tends to always shock and also because Mark has never been a smoker.

I spoke with him this evening and am happy to report that after all his treatments, the results of a recent full body cancer scan proved negative.  In other words he is cancer free!!!

Tough guy, good guy... What a GREAT and BEAUTIFUL day today was.

LSU's 1958 Chinese Bandits

During the long weekend in Las Vegas a myriad of sports topics came up and one of my favorite groups was discussed, the 1958 LSU National Championship team featuring the Chinese Bandits.  Our son, Andy, asked me to write a post about this interesting footnote to college football history so here goes.

The Louisiana State University Tigers

National Champions 1958, 2003 and 2007

Paul Dietzel's squad started the season unranked but would go on to storm to an 11-0 record including a 7-0 victory over Clemson in the 1959 New Year's Day Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

The team featured Billy Cannon (talk about a GREAT football name) at halfback.  Cannon's crazy 89 yard punt return for a TD vs. Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959 led to a 7-3 LSU win and was key to his winning the Heisman Trophy that year.  That punt return is the stuff of which legends are made.

Again, 1958 was the first season that football became interesting to me so I read and heard a lot about LSU's magical season as a 6th grader.

In 1958 Coach Dietzel had to deal with the NCAA's very limited substitution rules.  The rule was that if a player was in the game at the start of a quarter, he could be replaced and then return ONLY ONCE in that period.

His starters were ALL TWO WAY starters, the "White" team.

His next "team" were offensive specialists known as the "Go" team.  The "Go" team was made up of third string linemen and second string backs.

The last batch of players were the team's second best linemen and third string backs.  They would practice mainly defense (they did have a very limited set of offensive plays in case they got caught in a substitution rules dilemma) and to try to inspire them he told them about the very popular comic strip "Terry and the Pirates" a military adventure set in the Orient.  In the cartoon, Chinese bandits were according to Dietzel "the most vicious people on earth!"  So to honor them, the third group became known as the "Chinese Bandits"!

The idea was to fire up that so that when they got to play, they would have a mental edge that would overcome any of their possible physical shortcomings.

Well, finally the mind game came to fruition when Alabama's offense was in a first and goal situation at the 5 yard line.  The LSU decided that the way the Crimson Tide was running over the Tiger's "White" team they were going to score anyway so what the hell, let them score on the Chinese Bandits while the starters got a rest before the start of the next quarter.

The result was that the Chinese Bandits went crazy and played just like their moniker.  They stopped Alabama on their first three downs, allowing only 1 yard and forced them to kick a field goal.  LSU went on to win 13-3 and the Chinese Bandits were now officially a force!

They kept getting into games and playing inspired, crazed football.  Their fame grew in the media and they even had a great picture in LIFE magazine in their game uniforms sporting rubber Chinese masks.

As the season progressed, an injury caused Coach Dietzel to have to adjust his lineup by moving Nose Guard Tommy Lott up from the Chinese Bandits to the "Go" team.  Lott was NOT happy about the "promotion" and asked to be put back on the Chinese Bandits as soon as possible!

The Famous LIFE Magazine Picture of

The 1958 LSU Chinese Bandits

The Chinese Bandits Line-Up:

Left End:  Mel Branch (6-1, 210, Jr.)

Left Tackle:  Emile Fournet (5-11, 195, Jr.)

Nose Guard:  Tommy Lott (5-9, 188, Jr.)

Right Tackle:  Duane Leopard (6-3, 196, Soph.)

Right End:  Gaynell Kinchen (6-3, 196, Soph.)

Left Linebacker:  John Langan (6-3, 183, Jr.)

Right Linebacker:  Merle Schexnaildre (5-9, 183, Jr.)

Left Corner:  Andy Bourgeois (5-10, 174, Soph.)

Left Safety:  Darryl Jenkins (6-1, 163, Soph.)

Right Safety:  Henry Lee Roberts (6-0, 172, Soph.)

Right Corner:  Hart Bourque (5-8, 172, Soph.)

I remember that at the end of the '58 season, I wrote a letter to the attention of the LSU Bookstore trying to buy some Chinese Bandit memorabilia.  No luck, I never heard back from them.

A quarter of a century later in 1983, the Washington Huskies traveled to Baton Rouge only to get man-handled by the Tigers 40-14.  Our good friend Mark Johnson went to the game and brought me back a Chinese Bandit souvenir T-shirt... LEGENDS DIE HARD!!  The shirt doesn't fit anymore but I still have it, THANKS Mark.

On a final side note, Mark and I flew to Alabama for the 2003 'Bama-LSU game (LSU 27-3) and then to New Orleans for the 2004 Sugar Bowl/2003 BCS National Championship game where the 13-1 Tigers beat Oklahoma 21-14.  They would share the title with Southern California's 12-0 team that hammered Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl.  An LSU National Championship celebrated IN New Orleans after a Sugar Bowl victory will always be one of my GREAT college football memories!  THANKS yet again Mark!

Another Las Vegas Weekend

After the GREAT food stop at Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe in Victorville, CA, for breakfast, we continued our trek to North Las Vegas.

Upon arriving, we proceeded to unwind by sitting at Andy and Jenn's HD Big Screen Vizio TV to watch American football starting with the Connecticut vs. Buffalo International Bowl (UConn 38-20) and the NFL's NFC Wild Card game between Arizona and Atlanta (Cardinals 30-24).

Although we noshed throughout the broadcast, it was time to go out to dinner and experience a little bit of Las Vegas' allure.

First stop...

The Hofbrauhaus

This German Beer Garden is owned by the same people who own the famous Beer Hall of the same name in Munich, Germany.  It is a fun place to start your evening.

Brandon Bennett... This One's for You!

Andy and I enjoying a liter of Lager and NO, those are NOT horns coming out of my head.

Brauts, Sauerkraut, Hot Mustard, Mashed Potatoes and Beer!

This was a way to help get me excited about going to Europe again as Germany, along with Spain, are the two countries that I really want to explore.

Mike Contreras and Ryan Brucker

As it turns out, they are beer drinking veterans.  Who would have guessed it?

Anyone for a Putsch?

Getting into the Bavarian spirit with our hosts Jenn and Andy on the left.

Cool Bavarian Hat

This snappy lid was on sale in the Hofbrauhaus' Alpine oriented Gift Shop, and, YES, those ARE horns.

With stylish hats like this all the rage, no wonder Jason and Matt opted for Austria. 

The Las Vegas Strip

After Dinner Football

We left the Hofbrauhaus to enjoy the NFL's AFC Wild Card game that saw San Diego hosting Indianapolis (Chargers 23-17 in overtime).  What better place to watch this exciting game than the New York, New York's ESPN/Sports Book viewing area.

"What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!"

Sunday started with, what else...

BREAKFAST!

The Draft House is owned by a former University of Wisconsin Badger and has a ton of great Badger and Green Bay Packers football memorabilia.  The owner has been a big part of the equation that has seen Wisconsin play UNLV several times in the past decade.  Brauts for breakfast, just when you thought life couldn't get ANY better!

Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch

The picture hung proudly near our table.

A great Hall-of-Fame wide receiver for both Wisconsin and the Los Angeles Rams.  He would eventually become the Athletic Director at Wisconsin.  In 1958 he did a one-day kids sports clinic in connection with the Union 76 Oil Company's Community Outreach Program at San Marino High School.  I attended and got to shake his hand that day.

It was my first brush with greatness and it was VERY COOL!

In Henderson's Green Valley Casino Complex

Pulled Pork Sandwich, enough said!

Another great football afternoon that saw two more NFL Wild Card games being contested.

In the AFC, the Baltimore Ravens beat the Miami Dolphins 27-9 while the Philadelphia Eagles outlasted the Minnesota Vikings 26-14 in the NFC nightcap.

"Its a Major Award!"

"FRA-GEE-LAY"

The EXCELLENT Italian-inspired decor in Lucille's.

Food, Friendship and Football were not the only activities in which we interacted...

Whiffle Ball

The batter, Ryan Brucker, was the starting center fielder for the San Jose State baseball team that played in the NCAA's 2000 College World Series.  Here he is seen about two pitches before Andy threw him some chin music!

Greco-Roman Wrestling

Mike and Andy were inspired by the antics of Andy and Jenn's two bulldogs, Blitz and Dooley.

Loren and Ryan Brucker

Often mistaken for brothers, this father and son duo felt relieved to escape with their lives after a weekend with the Contreras boys!

Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe

Guy Fieri Strikes Yet Again!

At the last minute last week we received a phone call from Ryan Brucker about a field trip to Las Vegas to visit Andy and Jenn one more time before I fly to Catania.  Ryan's father, Loren, was my college roommate at the University of Washington and played on both the Husky's football (DB) and baseball (catcher) teams in the late 1960's.  Laurie and Loren's wife Sandy were roommates at the UW as well.

Besides renewing old friendships during our drive out to Sin City, I knew this would be another great chance to experience food at its finest.  I researched the "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" website and came up with:

Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe

178143 D Street on Historic Route 66

Victorville, California

760-243-9938

http://www.hollandburger.com/home.html

These Two Signs Say It All

Located about one mile off of Interstate 15, it is about halfway between our house in Camarillo and Andy and Jenn's in North Las Vegas.

Four Thin Shadows About to Enter Valhalla

The shadows belong to Ryan and Loren Brucker and to Mike and George Contreras.  The question is can you correctly match the shadow to it's owner?

Saturday Morning's Excellent Kielbasa and Eggs Breakfast

Throw in some hash browns, home made biscuits and a little gravy and you just can't get any more contented!

Be sure to request the "Spicy" ketchup if you are man enough.

For some reason, "Stick To Your Ribs", seems like as good phrase as any to describe our experience.

On the Road at Emma Jean's with Loren Brucker

Don't let his mild looks fool you, I first met Loren when he cheap-shoted me on a Saturday morning practice at the UW during two-a-days in August, 1966.  I was covering a punt and he ear-holed me...NICE GUY!

Note that even in this picture, he is still slightly in my blind spot ready to strike if need be!!!

BB Shots

The window by our table sported only four of these holes from vandals.  In the summer these holes keep the cafe well ventilated.

Shawna

Our Waitress and the Star of the Cafe

 

Here she is seen showing her autograph book of famous people and long distance traveler's who have eaten at Emma Jean's.  My status with the Elephants Catania prompted her to ask me to sign her book.  I was honored!

The Brian Burger

How good was it?  Here you see Mike about to devour the "Brian Burger" on MONDAY as we drove back home from Las Vegas!

Brian is Shawna's husband and they are the third generation owners of the Emma Jean's.  This burger is named for him and includes a delicious spicy roasted green chile, a huge hunk of Swiss-American cheese on two slices of THICK Parmesan toast... INCREDIBLE!

The chocolate shake and blackberry cobbler ala mode that we all split were equally as good.

BOTTOM LINE:  With Andy and Jenn living in North Las Vegas, allowing us to have another excuse to visit the desert, I fully plan to stop at Emma Jean's EVERY time I drive through Victorville!  Note that they are only open for breakfast and lunch, not dinner.

New Year's Day, UCLA and the Getty Museum

Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy 35th Birthday

Andrew Contreras!!!

New Year's Day in America means only one thing in our house...

NON-STOP AMERICAN FOOTBALL!

8:00 a.m.: The Outback Bowl from Tampa, Florida where 7-5 South Carolina takes on 8-4 Iowa.  I picked South Carolina for two reasons.

First they are from the all powerful Southeastern Conference (SEC) while the Iowa Hawkeyes hails from the Big-10 which is no longer held in very high esteem.

Secondly, how can you not be rooting for a school whose nickname is the Gamecocks?

Final Score: Iowa 31 - South Carolina 10

10:00 a.m.: The Capital One Bowl from Orlando, Florida. It's the #19 Michigan State Spartans, 9-3 out of the Big-10 vs. #16 Georgia Bulldogs also 9-3 from the SEC.

I go with Georgia due to my same conference bias as in the Outback Bowl pick.

The Bulldogs do not disappoint me this time.

Final Score: Georgia 24 - Michigan State 12

10:00 a.m.: The Gator Bowl from Jacksonville, Florida.  Having to constantly switch channels since this bowl game is in direct conflict with the Capital One Bowl could have wreaked havoc but we kept it under control!

In this one, the traditional powerhouse Nebraska Cornhuskers, 8-4 from the powerful Big-12 played the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) Clemson Tigers who entered the contest at 7-5.

I picked Clemson because I like their uniforms better than Nebraska.  Not really but it would be just as solid a reason to pick them as any I could come up with.

Final Score: Nebraska 26 - Clemson 21

2:00 p.m.: The Rose Bowl, "The Grand Daddy of Them All", at Pasadena, California.  The heavily favored and #5 ranked, PAC-10 Champion Southern California Trojans at 12-1 vs. the Big-10 Champion and #6 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions also checking in at 12-1.

In what should have been a great match-up, nobody really gave PSU much of a chance and even I picked USC without much fear.  The Trojans did not disappoint in cruising to a 31-7 half time lead.

Final Score: Southern California 38 - Penn State 24

It really was not that close but give PSU credit for not rolling over and playing much tougher in the second half.

Laurie gave me this T-shirt, she wanted it to read "blog" for the last word instead of "novel" but she could not find one.  I wore this one with pride for all five bowl games.

Five? Did he just say five bowl games?

Yes indeed!  One more game to go at...

5:00 p.m.: The Orange Bowl played in Miami, Florida.  Here, the #21 Virginia Tech Hokies, the 9-4 Champions of the ACC played the #12 Cinncinati Bearcats, 11-2 and Champions of the Big East Conference.

I went with Va Tech due to their long standing status atop the college football scene. 

Final Score: Virginia Tech 20 - Cinncinati 7

In conclusion, it was a fun day watching all these games with Laurie, Mike and Vanessa.  My only disappointment was that the BCS system has really diluted New Year's Day as only two Top Ten teams played (Rose) and two of the bowls (Outback and Gator) featured games with all unranked teams!

Friday I took a drive on a dreary day to Westwood.  The first stop was UCLA to practice some of the photographic techiques that Jason Johnson taught me.

I earned my Masters Degree from UCLA in 1971, have always loved returning there and have continued taking several Extension course there over the years

Through the trees, Kerckhoff Hall

or am I in England?

In the second story they have a SWEET Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop.  I just HAD to have a scoop of Jamoca Almond Fudge in a sugar cone for old times sake!

Influenced by Italian Architecture

UCLA's Royce Hall

UCLA's Powell Library

The old Men's Gym where I took many classes is now the

Student Activity Center

Home of the UCLA Bruins!

UCLA's American Football Practice Field

A Slightly Different View of

Spaulding Field

From UCLA it was a short drive to the J. Paul Getty Center Museum.  This museum houses some of the best art collections featuring western art from the Middle Ages to the present in five two-story pavilions.

The Getty's Central Plaza

Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575-1725

The main reason for my visit was this traveling exhibit of Baroque Art that featured several pieces on loan to the Getty from Germany's Dresden Museum.

It featured works from the Bologna school of Baroque Art.  I really fell in love with city of Bologna last spring for several reasons. First Rick Steves does NOT mention Bologna in his Italian Travel books, this equals very few tourists like me.  Second, friend of the blog, David Lassen, highly recommended Bologna as a destination.  Finally, one of the blog's biggest Italian fans is a Bologna resident,  Stefano Mengoli.  The city is very beautiful and the food and gelato were top notch!  I had to go see this exhibit and support!

Photos were not allowed and, for once, I followed the law!  It was very worthwhile and if you are in the Los Angeles area try to see the entire Getty Museum, you'll enjoy it!

The architecture at UCLA and the Baroque Art Exhibit at the Getty Museum are really getting me in the mood to return to Sicily... only 19 days to go!