First Days of Practice

Monday and Tuesday were my first to chances to meet with the players on our three teams in a practice situation.

But first . . . 

The Dessert Case
at the Casino Supermaket

Literally just around the corner from The Villa.

I was strong.

Today.

U-17 Team Warming Up

First up on Monday night at 6:00 p.m. was a two hour workout with about 30 hard working Falcon Cadet team players.

Block Protection Drill

We spent most of this practice on conditioning and agility drills with a few football specific drills like this one sprinkled in as well.

I loved this group's work attitude!

U-20 Team Warm Up

At 8:00 p.m. Monday night, the Cadets were finishing as our Junior team started a very intense two hour workout.

I was truly amazed that none of these 30 players threw up, it was that grueling.

This Junior had great feet
in agility drills

And the pink shoes to match!

These two Falcon teams are definitely not afraid to put it all on the line.

If "Hard Work Works," as I believe it does, then these young men will be hard to beat.

Our Stadium is named after

another WWII hero of the Resistance

The first order of business on Tuesday was to try out my new transportation pass that I received on Monday to head via the #25 bus in front of the Casino Supermarket to the Part-Dieu Train Station.

I had been informed that I might be able to find manly sized clothing at a shop in a mall across the street from the Part-Dieu.

C & A = EUREKA!!!

XXL heaven!!!

I'm saved.

Very disppointed to see this
poster for our cross town rivals

Les Gones were trying to drum up sign-ups for their flag football team.

After shopping successfully, I boarded the underground Metro system to head to the bohemian La Croix-Rousse district.

I love Euro Statuary

Street of Crime?

I hope that I am not translating this correctly.

La Croix-Rousse Street Market

Open six mornings a week until 12:30 p.m., this traditional open air market goes for several blocks.

On this side of the street, only food items are sold. On the other side of the street, literally everything else in the known universe is on sale.

A City Government Building

The Lyon Café Scene is everywhere

A CHURCH!!!

In a major upset, I did not go in. As a matter of fact, I have been in France for five days and have not entered one single religious building.

This will change soon I think.

A quiet Park in La Croix-Rousse

Brightly Colored Café

A Comedy Tonight!

A Traboule

I used a series of traboules or passageways through the inner core of several buildings to snake my way down the hill that has La Croix-Rousse sitting atop it.

Very interesting.

I Love This Guy!

The French Flag atop . . .

The Hotel de Ville

This is a high security government building across the street from . . .

The Lyon Opera House

At 8:00 p.m., it was time for a two hour workout, my first one, with our Senior team.

Over 60 Seniors Warming up

A little scrimmage work

was in order

GREAT WORK ETHIC!!! 

I am so very blessed to be working with over 120 men who value the great game of American football and are willing to pay the price that victory demands.

This is going to yet another fun EuroBall experience!

Next up, two more Cadet/Junior practices on Wednesday.

IT'S GREAT TO BE A FALCON!!! 

Jet Lag

For the first time in my EuroBall experience I have been experiencing massive jet lag, not fun.

I am living in the greater Lyon, France megalopolis, specifically in the suburb of . . .

Bron 

Our team, the Falcons, represents two communities, Bron and . . .

Villeurbanne

Thus we are the Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons. 

Our 2012-13 schedule is interesting to say the least. We only play eight games but with byes and the month long holidays break, it will take us about six months to play the regular season. Here is our schedule:

Nov. 11 at Lyon Gones

Nov. 25 vs. Chambrey Aigles

Dec. 9 vs. Annemasse Bulldogs

Feb. 9 at Clermont Servals

Mar. 3 vs. Lyon Gones

Mar. 17 at Chambrey Aigles

Mar. 31 at Annemasse Bulldogs

Apr. 14 vs. Clermont Servals

You can be sure that we will always be well rested for our games. March could be tough.

Saturday evening I went on a two mile walk to explore the neighborhood.

Tacos, Kebab and Pizza
Oh my!!!

I may have to try this place out.

Soon.

War Memorial

Lyon was a hotbed of the French Resistance during WWII. Tributes like this one can be seen throughout the city.

Transportation System
Bicycles

My Lyon Transportation Pass is good for the local subways, trams, busses and bicycles that service the city.

I'll look good on one of these.

On Sunday, Chrystel and Julien Urgenti invited me to their home for a tremendous lunch. We were joined by Falcons offensive guard David Melin. 

Wine, pork, cheese, chocolate mousse and friends always are a hit with me.

Jeanne Antonia

She is seven months old and the pride of the Urgenti family. She really liked the pink football that Laurie had me deliver to her.

Flag football is definitely in her near future.

Meet the Falcons

Sunday evening the Falcons met at the stadium for my presentation, i.e., a chance for me to meet them for the first time and tell them about my vision for the season.

Food and drinks were of course involved. My first impression is that we have a fun loving group of people who want to learn about football and win.

Our two Flag teams had mixed results in the tournament that they played in on Saturday and Sunday but they reported that it was fun and definitely worth the trip. 

After the presentation, it was time for NFL football at . . .

An Irish Pub

The early NFL games start at 7:00 p.m. our time. Flanigan's had the New York Jets at Miami Dolphins game on for us.

FALCONS!!!

We had a good time at Flanigan's although the live band that played traditional Irish music non-stop throughout the game was a bit weird.

I had a great time and hope that the jet lag will be done on Monday in time for our Cadet and Junior practices on Monday night.

Las Vegas, Nevada and Lyon, France

A hectic week as I needed to prepare for the trip to Lyon, France to start coaching the Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons.

But first, it was time to say farewell for a time to family and friends.

We were off to Las Vegas on Sunday to visit Andy, Jenn and Kevin.

Vegas heat and sprinklers,

fun in the sun for the Tank 

Keeping a sharp eye on Kevin  

Ready for Monday Night Football

"Explain to me again why

you're a Raider fan Daddy."

Fierce Pass Rusher or

maybe a TD call 

The rest of the week would include visits to my Mother and Aunts home, dinner at Cronies with friends and a visit from Michael, Vanessa and Jacob for dinner at our house the night before I flew out.

Vanessa took a great photo of me with Jacob that I can not download off of Facebook for some reason. Thanks V!

Also a big thanks to Michael for helping me a whole bunch with pacing my two bags with all that I will need for the next nine months.

Finally, at 3:00 a.m. on Thursday the trip to France started with an alarm clock going off way too early.

The flight out of Los Angeles left at 8:00 a.m. for the start of an 18:15 journey via layovers in New York and London.

The nice thing about both of my two hour layovers was the chance to walk around and stretch my legs for a bit. The bad thing was having to go through security a second and third time. 

British Cuisine . . . sure

In a stroke of luck, I had no one sitting next to me on all three flights . . . YAHOO!!!

I made it!

The 3 Brewers

I was met at the Lyon Airport by Falcons Julien Urgenti, Christophe Thuau and Olivier Caldes who took me to this restaurant for lunch.

I get a free lunch from this excellent brewpub five days a week.

FANTASTIQUE!!! 

Our Game Stadium 

One of our practice fields 

A market just a block from The Villa

The Villa is on this street 

The Villa is part of a Gated Community 

OK, there are only two homes behind these gates but we are still a community!

The Villa

Two bedrooms, one bathroom and two stories . . . clean and efficient, The Villa will be my home base for a long time.

Flora outside of The Villa

In the evening, it was off to watch the Falcons flag teams practice as they were enjoying a final tune-up before playing in a two day tournament this weekend.

Improvise 

Olivier Caldes, who coaches our Junior team, built these two sleds from scratch! These will be a big part of Falcons' practices I assure you.

Pre-Practice meeting 

Eventually, 25 players would show up which is great when you realize that the tournament features only five players on the field, four men and one woman.

Flag Scrimmage

This Flag team is a mix of Senior and Junior players. I was very impressed by their athletic ability, effort and willingness to accept coaching.

Bonne Chance Falcons!!! 

Saturday started late for me as I slept in until noon trying to overcome my sleep deprivated travel and jet lag.

The bus stop just a few feet from

The Villa's gates 

 Uh Oh . . .

This bakery is about a three minute walk from The Villa . . . inexpensive and OH, SO GOOD FOR ME!!!

Especially the pain chocolate.

Reading is FUNdamental!!!

A good travel read

This book was given to me by Steve Swindle a few months ago and I read it during the flights to France.

This easy, pleasurable read deals with San Francisco's airport, a terrorist bombing threats and a budding romance between a cop and a fireman, the only thing missing was a few Nazis.

Or a Free Mason or two.

Time to go, College Game Day just started on my ESPN America channel.

The Adventure continues . . . 

Marching Orders and Black Order

Well, it is finally official. Yesterday I received my airline tickets from our new team, the Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons, for my loooooong flight to the continent.

I will leave Los Angeles in the wee hours of Thursday, September 20th for an 18 hour and 15 minute journey that includes three flights with layovers in New York and London before finally landing in Lyon, France.

The Adventure continues . . .

Reading is FUNdamental

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution,
Quantum Physics vs. Theoretical Physics,
Washinton D.C., Copenhagen, Nepal, South Africa and . . .
the Nazis

What more could you ask for in a novel?