Another Week of American Football and a Civil War Reenactment

August came to a warm end and the first week of September mostly meant more chances to watch American football practices and games.

 Tuesday at Pacifica H.S.

I watched Mike Moon's Tritons practice after their tough 65-44 loss to Newbury Park the previous Friday. The coaches were upbeat and their preparation this week led to a huge 20-17 victory over highly regarded Moorpark H.S. in overtime.

Both Pacifica and Moorpark are now 1-1 on the season.

 Wednesday lunch in Woodland

Hills just before attending . . .

. . . the Pierce College practice

The Brahmas, led by Head Coach Jason Sabolic, were preparing in the heat for their season opener on Saturday night at home against Moorpark College.

Thursday at Camarillo H.S.

We were here to watch the Camarillo Scorions Freshman team take on their counterparts from Saugus H.S.

The Scorpions Defensive Coordinator is our godson Tim Murphy.

The Scorpions improved to 2-0 with their 44-15 win over the Centurions who are now 1-1 on the campaign. 

Friday Night Lights

Newbury Park H.S. Style

The Panthers (1-0) were hosting

the Agoura Chargers (0-1)

 Grandson Jacob, far right, watching

the action from the Panther Tunnel

The Panther had a sluggish start falling behind 0-14 in the first quarter before exploding to a 63-21 victory.

Newbury Park is now 2-0 while Agoura drops to 0-2 for the year.

Saturday Night

Moorpark College at Pierce College

After a total of FORTY-SIX penalties for 433 yards, let's just call it a sloppy season opener for both schools.

Moorpark prevailed 25-6.

After the game, I worked my way down to the field and much to my surprise found someone on the field that I first met while coaching the Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons in 2013 . . .

. . . Dario Viallet

Dario is the driving force behind the French DII Montpellier Hurricanes. He was in California delivering new football uniforms to the Pierce team and trying to make contacts with other schools and sporting goods in order to expand his business.

Small world . . .

A Nice Sunday at the

Huntington Beach

Civil War Reenactment

 We were at the right place

Jacob and I drove down to watch our son and/or Jacob's Dad Michael fight for the Union.

 But first we had to find Mike

somewhere in the Union Camp

Uh-Oh, Rebs

 We got some strange looks from the

Rebs when Jacob asked where the

2nd Vermont Volunteers were

But they did direct us to them just past the village full of all sorts of people like . . .

. . . Faro Dealers and . . .

. . . What the . . . 

Ooh-la-la 

Finally we found Mike

Taking aim

 Mike ready for the morning battle,

Jacob wounded

Jacob can't join until he turns 14

 George Hurley

George is just an all-around great guy. Newbury Park's Ventura County Sports Hall-of-Fame football coach is the one who talked Mike into the whole world of Civil War reenacting.

 A cigar chomping writer for

Harper's Bazaar Weekly

 A shifty New York politician angling

for votes in the upcoming election

Baseball before the morning battle

The writer from Harper's Bazaar said that this new sport would never catch on.

Mike with his bedroll

over his shoulder

 Union Cannon at the ready

Get your muskets, the Rebs are coming!

Casualties

The Rebel forces won the day

The Union surrendered as Taps

were played

Rebs at honoring the fallen

during the rendition of Taps

 One happy Rebel

Mike, now a POW, marching to

Andersonville Prison in Georgia

 Jacob is a Yankee at heart

"How many more years until I'm 14?"

"Dismissed!"

These reenactments are always fun and full of interesting new knowledge about life as a soldier during the 1861-65 War Between the States.

Cotton Candy Ice Cream

On the way home, we stopped at Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors Ice Cream store, or as Jacob calls it, "Ice Cream Headquarters."

On a side note, when we visited the same ice cream store in Las Vegas last month with grandson Kevin, he too opted for a scoop of Cotton Candy ice cream.  

Reading Is FUNdamental

Escapism at its finest!

The End of Summer and the Start of American Football

Summer is finally winding down and we are still in full fun mode.

Let's start by looking at my Mother's 92nd birthday/pool party.

Great-Grandmother Chuny

with little Mary

 Jacob is part fish and . . .

. . . part daredevil

A birthday cake and ice cream

were a must . . .

. . . as were great-grandchildren

Jacob, Mary and Max to help

with the candles 

The day after my Mother's birthday I was up bright and early for the drive to Culver City's Sony Studios for the taping of America's favorite quiz show . . .

. . . JEOPARDY!

No, I did not win $250,000, this was just a prop in the lobby.

With Doug, Travis and Linda Wade

Denver was our Line Coach in 2009 with the Catania Elephants in Sicily. He was a contestant on the Jeopardy show and did well.

If I gave you anymore details, I was told that show host Alex Trebek would personally come to our home and beat me within an inch of my life.

Mums the word!

First Day of

Transitional Kindergarten

 Jacob will further his

formal education starting today

He fits in nicely and 

says he loves his teacher!

His teacher also happens to be his Mother.

American Football is HERE!

I opted to spend much of the last two weeks watching high school and junior college practices as well as attending NFL pre-season and high school games too.

Wednesday

Fillmore H.S.

The Flashes are coached by good friends Matt Dollar and Curtis Garner.

The Flashes are running the

Wing-T out of Spread Formations

Fun to see this updated version of a fun, old school offense.

 Thursday

Junior College Football in the

San Fernando Valley

It was a hot day at Pierce

The Brahmas are coached by Jason Sabolic. I went to the University of Washington with Jason's Dad, Paul.

I have been asked to spot for the Brahmas on game nights from the booth.

Friday

Ventura H.S. at Newbury Park H.S.

This scrimmage was a good one as these two traditional powerhouse programs put on a good show.

Newbury Park's Junior QB Cameron Rising, a University of Oklahoma commit, looked sharp.

 Saturday

NFL Pre-Season Game

A First for Us

We drove down to the Expo/Sepulveda Metro Station, parked our car for $2 and bought round-trip Metro tickets for $4.50 each. Total cost for the three of us thus came to $15.50.

We had none of the headaches of bumper-to-bumper traffic going to or especially leaving the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Oh, by the way, the cost of parking a car for the game at the Coliseum was a whopping $50!

Not my hat but Christmas

is just around the corner

Jacob wanted a lift

 Tailgating on the Coliseum lawn

The ancient Jack Youngblood jersey is a family heirloom that was passed down from Mike to Jacob.

We brought our own food and drinks which turned out to be a good thing.

Once inside the Coliseum we found that a tall can of Corona beer cost $16, a bottle of water sold for $7 and a BBQ beef sandwich was a bargain at $13.

We bought nothing as we were allowed to bring our remaining food and water bottles into the stadium.

Jaco had Ram Spirit

 Jacob warming up his arm 

if the Rams needed him

 Jacob's first Ram game

Mike, a sleepy Jacob and me

My first Ram game at the

Coliseum was a 24-24 tie

with the Bears in 1958

 It was a GREAT night for

American football!

 Winning is a good thing

Tuesday

JV football practice

at Channel Islands H.S.

The Head Coach of this team is one of our former Rio Mesa H.S. players, Jorge Zaragoza.

With only about 25 players on the Raiders roster, depth will be a daunting task as the season wears on and on.

Thursday

Pierce College at El Camino College

This scrimmage occurred about 60 miles/100 kilometers from our house. It took me three hours to get there.

How I love L.A. traffic.

Pierce has a lot of things to improve upon.

Friday

Road Trip to a H.S. Game

Laurie and I were up early for the 275 mile/445 kilometer, four hour drive to Oakhurst, California to watch the first high school game of the 2016 season.

But first . . .

A Fika break in Kingsburg which

bills itself as a Swedish Village

 Who would have guessed that

their HS's mascot would be

the Vikings?

As for us, we were headed to Yosemite H.S., home of the . . .

BADGERS!

LeGrand Bulldogs (0-0)

at

Yosemite Badgers (0-0)

This would be an interesting game on several levels.

LeGrand is a traditional power in central California in the small schools division.

Just a few years ago, Yosemite played in the small schools C.I.F. Central Section Championship Playoff Game four years in a row, winning two of them.

Then a new school, Minarets HS, was opened and Yosemite's enrollment dropped drastically down to its current 600 students but the Badgers continued playing in a league with much larger student bodies with a predictable lack of success.

The home team Badgers entered the 2016 season on a 27 game losing streak. Their last win came on September 13, 2013.

In 2015, the Badgers played with mostly underclassmen, so hopes were high that all of the returning experienced players would turn the tide in the upcoming campaign.

With Yosemite Defensive

Coordinator Erik Peterson

Erik played for us at Westlake HS in the early 1980s. His son Ty, a Junior, is a two-way starting lineman for the Badgers.

On the left, Leslie Peterson

She is married to Erik and is in charge of the Badgers' two snack bars until the Varsity game starts.

End of the JV game

A hard fought, 26-14 win for LeGrand.

 Selling Badger Gear

I like the display of the different Badger helmet styles one the years.

Varsity Game Time

The Badgers looked great!

They led 14-0 at the half and ended up coasting to a 35-0 streak busting win.

Although first game penalties slowed both teams down, the Badgers ran the ball well and Erik's defense recorded nine QB Sacks.

Ty and Erik after the win

Everyone was extremely happy as you can expect and we had a great time enjoying two community schools playing each other.

For more on the game go to: http://www.sierrastar.com/sports/article98336617.html

Reading Is FUNdamental

Farfetched but fun