Another Weekend of Watching Playoff Football

Friday, January 3 -

Sunday, January 5, 2020

After a pleasant and uneventful driver home from Las Vegas on Friday, we settled into our home in Camarillo to watch more American football on TV and, more importantly, a game that was streaming live on-line.

I'll start with Sunday's U16 Italian National Championship Game played in Milano's Velodromo Vigorelli between our 8-0 Skorpions Varese and the top-seeded, 7-0 Seamen Milano.

At the U16 level, the teams play seven-man football. On offense you are allowed three backs, a center, a guard and two ends.

Defensively, you are allowed seven players lined up any way that you want.

There is no kicking game in Italian seven-man football.

At the start of both halves, the offense simply starts at the 25 yard line.

On fourth down, if the offense decides not to go for it, they simply declare their intention to "punt" and the ball is again placed at the 25 yard line to start the new drive. Thus the Skorpions had a booming 74 yard "punt" today when we were backed upon on the one yard line at the end of a third down play.

After a TD, teams go for two each time.

The quarters are only eight minutes long in Italian U16 tackle football.

The game was streaming live on-line

air 5:00 a.m. Pacific time

I was up early this morning.

The Skorpions came out in a cloud

of Scorpion Red and Gray smoke

I was at the ready on my computer

Defense swarming to the ball

The Seamen looked good in their uniforms and came out playing great on both sides of the ball.

#52 for the Skorpions is a QB/DL

At the Half, it looked bleak for

our beloved Skorpions

Things would get worse as the Seamen increased their lead to 34-0 by the end of the Third Quarter.

Then strange things started to happen.

One of three consecutive

DEFENSIVE TDs by the Skorpions

to start the Fourth Quarter!

The end of a 75 yard Skorpion

TD pass late in the game

The Skorpions showed a lot of courage and grit in not giving up in the face of long odds.

The Varese 28 point Fourth Quarter outburst made the final score look much closer than the difference in the two squads.

The Seamen were clearly the better team and well worthy of their top seed in these playoffs.

Post game talk

Enzo Petrillo was our

dutiful flag bearer 

The seamen deserved the Gold Medal

The results of all of the 2019/2020

U16 playoff games

Speaking of American football overseas, American football International came out this weekend with their rankings of top 225 teams playing our sport outside of the USA and Canada. 

How can the Cairo Hellhounds

only be ranked #225?

I had them at #219 in my own Top 225 Poll this week.

There were also some games on TV this weekend.

It was the NFL's Wild Card Weekend

For once, all four Wild Card games were good ones, two AFC contests on Saturday and another two NFC bouts on Sunday.

 A tale of two different halves

The Texans stormed back in the Second Half to win this one in overtime, 22-19.

End of the Dynasty?

Probably not but it was the end of the defending Super Bowl Champion Patriots season, Titans won 20-13.

Oh my, another favorite fell

in overtime

Seattle outlasted a beat up

Eagles squad by a final tally of 17-9

Reading Is FUNdamental!

. . . and sometimes PREPOSTEROUS!

This week will be dedicated to packing and taking care of several last minute issues as EuroBall Experience XVII starts this coming Saturday with a flight to Milan, Italy for my third campaign as the coach of the Skorpions Varese Senior Men's squad.

ITALIA!

Our Son Andrew Somehow Turns 46 Years Old

Thursday, January 2, 2020

As happens every year recently on this date, Laurie and I have to shake our heads a bit to come to grips with the fact that our oldest son, Andrew, has had another birthday which this year makes him 46 years old.

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Didn't we just bring him home from the hospital?

Andy a couple of weeks ago

tailgating with us before

the Las Vegas Bowl

I guess that time really does fly by us all.

Rather than making him a birthday cake, Laurie opted to make him a pan of his childhood favorite Rice Krispy Treats to celebrate the day.

I was sent out to buy a fresh box of Kelloggs Rice Krispies at the local Smith's Supermarket so that Laurie could do her best work with the finest ingredients.

 On the way home from Smith's,

this place caught my eye

 Hmmm, promising

Unfortunately, nothing really caught my eye, so I left this establishment empty handed.

Now this place would definitely

NOT go unrewarded!

When I was a much younger man, Orange Julius was a main component of my dietary regimen.

This orange juice based concoction is like no other but after great success in the 1950s-60s-70s, this chain began to disappear. Other than this one near Andy, Jenn and Kevin's home, I can't think of another location for this venerable franchise anymore.

In high school, there was an Orange Julius stand on the corner of California St. and Arroyo Seco Drive as part of a car wash in Pasadena. A group of us stopped there almost every day during two-a-day practices in the heat of September on our way home from St. Francis H.S. in La Cañada.

Great memories brought back via a sensory experience as an Orange Julius tastes of heavenly nectar.

I'll have a LARGE one, please!

Purchasing a 4 and a 6 birthday

candle at the Orange Julius shop

was an unexpected bonus

It was as good as I remembered!

Unfortunately, Jenn had to work the evening shift at the Las Vegas Airport for Alaska Airlines, so we decided to not go out to eat for Andy's birthday.

 Instead we went here and brought

home dinner so that Jenn could have

a good Italian meal awaiting her return

We were told by Giovanni, the owner of Minchia's, that it would take them about 30 minutes to properly prepare our order which was perfect.

Minchia's?

 It gave us time to visit the two

Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland/Las Vegas

Raiders shops located about an

American football all field away

The first shop consists of a small Raiders history museum and season ticket sales office.

If they wore these helmets,

I might become a Raiders fan

Young Kevin dreaming about

being a Raider some day

Lyle Alzado and Marcus Allen

jerseys were on display

WR Fred Biletnikoff's uniform

was on display complete with

a jar of his famed "stick-em"

QB Cotton Davidson's

vintage shoulder pads

He used these during his Raider playing days from 1962-68.

The first Oakland Raiders

Super Bowl ring

Super Bowl XI Ring details

A second Oakland Raiders

Super Bowl Ring

Super Bowl XV Ring details

  

The only Los Angeles Raiders

Super Bowl Ring

Super Bowl XVIII Ring details

The second Raiders shop sold

their merchandise exclusively

These two shops together would be

like going to Disneyland for a Raider fan

Which Andy and Kevin unfortunately are.

Jenn is currently unaffiliated with any NFL club but she loves to play Fantasy Football.

We ended Andrew's birthday after

our Italian meal at home with

the promised Rice Krispy Treat

that he wanted

How did 46 years roll by so quickly without realizing it at all? 

HAPPY NEW YEAR From Las Vegas, Nevada!

Wednesday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year's Day 2020 indeed to all of you from the comfort of Andy, Jenn and Kevin's warm home in chilly Las Vegas, Nevada!

This day in America, at least for this family, means but one thing . . .

The absolute best day of the year to sit on a couch and enjoy each other's company while we nosh and watch four good college bowl games.

Up first at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time was a doubleheader.

Game I was the Citrus Bowl,

An SEC vs. Big-Ten match-up

A baffling Michigan Wolverines (9-3, 14th ranked) team vs. an underperforming, by their mega-standards, Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2, 13th rated) squad.

Could the Wolverines finally stand up in the face of a quality opponent?

Would Alabama show up mentally after disappointing end to their campaign?

It was a good contest for most of the game but Alabama was just too good for Michigan in the Second Half.

Game II was the Outback Bowl,

another SEC vs. Big-Ten match-up

Another baffling program, the 9-3, #12 ranked Auburn Tigers fresh off an Iron Bowl win over Alabama, was up against one of the feel good stories of the 2019 regular season, the 10-2, #18 rated Minnesota Golden Gophers.

This would be a great, back-and-forth game decided late in the Fourth Quarter.

 Game III was the Rose Bowl, a.k.a.,

"The Granddaddy of Them All"

this was a Big-Ten vs. PAC-12 affair

The Rose Bowl is always my favorite game to watch as it usually pits the two best teams from these two traditional rival conferences barring one or both of their champions being part of the four team championship playoffs.

This year the Big-Ten's best team, the Ohio State Buckeyes (13-0 before losing to Clemson in the national semi-finals) was replaced in the Rose Bowl by the 8th ranked, 10-3 Wisconsin Badgers.

The PAC-12 Champion Oregon Ducks (6th ranked, 11-2) would carry the wounded pride of West Coast American collegiate football into the venerable Arroyo Seco stadium on yet another typically beautiful, Chamber of Commerce day in Pasadena, California.

The exciting game came right down to the wire with but a single point separating these two well prepared teams.

 Game IV was the Sugar Bowl,

this was an SEC vs. Big-XII game

The Georgia Bulldogs (5th ranked, 11-2) were entering their bowl game with a depleted roster due to injuries and were additionally facing the mental anguish of just missing out on a playoff berth.

The Baylor Bears (7th ranked, 11-2) entered the game after one other best seasons in program history. This marked only the sixth time in the Bears 114 season history that they notched ten or more wins.

The final score was a bit closer than the game really was.

As for all of those final scores, here they are:

As I said earlier, Alabama (11-2) proved too much for Michigan (9-4) in the Citrus Bowl by 19 points.

The Outback Bowl saw enthusiastic Minnesota (11-2) outlast Auburn (9-4) by a TD.

The Oregon Ducks (12-2) restored a bit of Pac-12 pride in their stirring one-point Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin (10-4).

In the nightcap, a surprising Georgia (12-2) team easily controlled Baylor (11-3) in the Sugar Bowl by a dozen points.

We all had a great time watching these games today!

Next up in the "Wide, Wide World of American Football" is the U16 Youth Bowl on Sunday, January 5, 2020 in Milan, Italy to determine the U16 Italian National Champion.

This game features our exciting Skorpions Varese (8-0) U16 squad against the Seamen Milano (7-0) U16 team.

The game will stream live

here at 5:00 a.m. in the

Pacific time zone 

Watch party, anyone?

Again to all of you . . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR!