Father's Day Weekend

Friday-Sunday,

June 19-21, 2020

We enjoyed a good weekend, at home of course, in large part because of the grandkids.

It all started on Friday with our last Coaches Exchanging Zoom meeting of the Spring that started back on April 1st. At that time, we were a group of European and Mexican coaches whose seasons were in limbo and wanted to use our down time to improve ourselves.

After nearly 30 of these wondrous meetings, I think that it is safe to say that we all did learn a thing or two in these great meetings organized by Jesús Sanchez and Bart Iaccarino in Spain. 

Our final speaker was Alvaro Salazar . . .

. . . of Mexico's Tec de Monterey Borregos

talking on his RPO system

RPO stands for Run-Pass Option, the thing in American football today

He was organized and explained things . . .

. . . clearly and thoroughly

It was a good way to end our sessions together.

Speaking of American football and EuroBall . . .

The Huskies get a Verbal Commitment

from the Wonderful World of EuroBall!

On Friday it was announced that German native Maurice Heims, a Senior DE at California's Santa Margarita Catholic H.S., has verbally committed to play his college football at the University of Washington!

In 2019 he came to America from Germany to study and play for a year or two. That experience has led to a free college education, awesome.

He'll be a high school Senior in 2020 if we ever have a season.

On Saturday night, grandson Jacob had a sleepover with us.

A two day Monopoly game saw me as the

eventual two day winner!

Sunday was Father's Day in the USA

I had two presents to open, the box behind my head held a turntable to once again be able to play all sorts of vinyl 45s and LPs from our 1950s-80s collection.

As for the smaller present I'm opening here, it was . . . 

. . . a Rams Flag for the front yard!

Princess Mary joined us on Sunday

She started this video as a budding Paleontologist

but ended it as a Dancing Queen

I had a good day with Mike but missed Andy a lot

Our neighbor George has an overflow

vegetable garden and we are the thankful

recipients of his bounty

In news from the net . . .

C.

Spain finally cancelled their 2020 season

after first postponing it back in March

Still so TRUE!

Two Zoom Meetings in One Morning

Thursday, June 18, 2020

We had not one but two American football related Zoom meetings this morning.

A happy Jesús Sanchez who heads

up our Coaches Exchanging meetings

Today's speaker was Stanford Special Teams Coach Pete Alamar talking about "Kickoff Returns and Field Goal Block."

Coach Pete was a great pulling guard for us at Thousand Oaks H.S. back in 1976-77.

This season will be his 38th campaign as a college coach with 22 of those seasons working in the PAC-12 Conference at Arizona, California and Stanford.

Coach Alamar has GREAT drills

for all of the needed skills

on Special Teams

Zoom meeting #2 with the

Varese Skorpions Coaching Staff

Today we explored the wonderful world of the use of HUDL in breaking down video and how to use the data collected in setting up game plans.

In news from the net . . .

I agree fully

I'm thinking that

this is correct as well

Two More Quiet Days in California's Semi-Lockdown

Tuesday-Wednesday, June 16-17, 2020

Two more days of minimizing our movements as the Coronavirus cases in California are starting to rise again.

The highlight was Jacob and Mike

coming over today to romp in our

backyard sprinklers again

That's a good photo of Laurie's new, colorful birdbath that was made in Mexico.

In news from the net . . .

Tuesday was

National Cannoli Day

in America

GRAZIE to avid blog fan Michael D'Antuono, of Sicilian heritage, for pointing this out to me.

This is why we are staying close

to Casa Contreras again

I agree 100%

I wonder what this

is in reference to?

Again, 100% TRUE!

Good thing to remember

as you go through life

Listen to Gomez Addams' sage advice.

Life Goes on Slowly in Camarillo

Monday, June 15, 2020

Today we started getting back into a somewhat normal life style as we went out of the house twice to go someplace other than to shop at our local Ralphs Supermarket.

It was time for a haircut

The haircut was the easy part, the much needed beard trim was OUT OF THE QUESTION!

Under our current Coronavirus rules both the person cutting the hair and the person in the chair must wear a face cover at all times.

Thus, my quest towards earning a spot as a department store Santa Claus in December continues.

In the evening we went out to dinner on the patio at our local Wood Ranch BBQ where we met friends Mike and Starr Moon for a delightful, socially distanced meal.

I must report that there were few people in the restaurant when we arrived. When we left at about 9:00 p.m., after our two and a half hours of food and friendship, we were the only people still in the place.

How times have changed . . .

History Sunday

Sunday, June 14, 2020

It was a beautiful day to binge watch a TV series, so we did!

We opted for this GREAT

documentary on the Union's

best American Civil War General,

Ulysses S. Grant

We watched the first two interesting episodes and plan to see the final one on Monday.

It was EXCELLENT!

The Coronavirus scare still has us staying at home most of the time, better safe than sorry.

Another Good Day at Home as the Contreras Bowl Keeps Moving Along

Saturday, June 13, 2020

A sunny day could only mean one thing with grandson Jacob in the house.

We were in the backyard playing with water coming g from the garden hose.

As always, when water and dirt combine, you get mud.

This led, for some unspecified heinous offense, to the execution of Mike via a mud ball firing squad of one.

Ready, aim . . .

. . . FIRE!

Note that there are three more mud balls on the ground in front of the blue pool, just in case Mike was still alive after the first "shot."

In a cruel twist, Mike made the mud balls by hand that could lead to his own demise.

Mud Ball in mid flight

about six inches in front of Mike

It was a flesh wound to Mike's left bicep.

More ammo would be required.

YES, we are 100% starved for things to do in these socially distanced times.

NEWS FROM THE

CONTRERAS BOWL

This update is from the organizers, Julien Urgenti and Bart Iaccarino. It's good to have friends. I hope that you can make it to Barcelona.

We are proud to announce that the Contreras Bowl will be played on November the 28th of 2020 in Barcelona, Spain! 

The purpose of this friendly game is to celebrate the career of Coach George Contreras in Europe as he recently decided to retired from coaching this side of the pond. 

Former George’s players & coaches, please share this news and join us! 

It’s gonna be A Beautiful Day For American Football!

More informations coming soon...

A Pleasant Friday at Home as Usual

Friday, June 12, 2020

The day started with another Zoom meeting with our Coaches Exchanging group, the 26th such gathering since the group was formed back on April 1st.

Today we would have a bit of a twist though.

Our Speaker was Alvaro Salazar

of the Tec de Monterey Borregos

He would be talking on the Borregos'

Inside, Middle and Outside Zone schemes

Tec de Monterey is one of the blue-blood programs of Mexican college football.

Monterey is the original campus of Mexico's Tec University system. Interestingly, almost all of their sister university's in the system are also called the Borregos.

Borregos is the Spanish word for Rams. 

Confusing at times.

Oh, about that twist in today's presentation, it would be in Spanish only.

I was OK with that

Despite what many right-wing Americans think, being at least bi-lingual is a good thing.

Borregos vs. Borregos

News from the net . . .

Sadly poignant

Sadly believable

Sadly true

EVER SO TRUE!

Zooming Once Again

Thursday, June 11, 2020

After nearly a week off, we were back on Zoom today for a meeting with the coaching staff of the Varese Skorpions.

Lots of Defensive and Video

Breakdown Questions today

It was great to see our Defensive Coordinator, Dani Donati, up and about with a big smile on his face as he was declared officially cured of Covid-19 this week!

We talked on Zoom for nearly two action packed hours, it was good as always to see them all.

News from the net . . .

Paul "Bear" Bryant left his HC job at Kentucky

in 1954 to become the HC and AD at Texas A&M

He was rewarded by the Aggies with an eye popping salary of $15,000 to do both jobs.

Adjusting for inflation, that $15,000 salary would now be about $143,000 in 2020 dollars.

The current Texas A&M Head Football Coach, Jimbo Fisher, makes $7,500,000 per year.

The Aggies current Athletic Director, Ross Bjork, earns $1,000,000 a year. 

My how salaries and times have changed.

Is there a better way to end any

California day?

A Globally Warmed Wednesday in Camarillo

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Global warming reared its head in Camarillo today with temperatures reaching a high of 93°F/34°C!

It was a PERFECT day for a backyard romp in the sprinklers with two of the grandkids.

Bliss with Jacob and Mary

In news from the net . . .

Yes indeed, that pretty much sums it up!

#1, #2 and #5 are all tied for first

in my opinion

TRUE!

Also TRUE!

A Socially Distanced Meeting

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

While the Coronavirus pandemic continues to overlook all of our social problems in America, today I was part of a bold social move.

I escorted young Brian FitzGerald to the home of Dick and Sharon Bellman where Dick was hosting us for a couple of beers and a chance to see each other face-to-face while over six feet apart at all times.

It was a good two hours catching up with the degree of humanity that Zoom meetings still lacks.

Thanks Richard!

News from the net . . .

Unfortunately true on a daily basis

I never thought about this . . .

An Interesting and Diverse Start to the Week

Monday, June 8, 2020

I was surprised of the way Monday evolved . . .

A funny picture in

decidedly unfunny times

The morning was highlighted by breakfast with little Mary after her sleepover last night.

The traditional pancakes were the call and, at four years of age, Mary was more than ready to help me mix the batter and attempt to catch her first flying pancake, a family tradition. 

She happily listened to my

instructions on egg breaking

She did the honors on the second egg quite well in my opinion.

 She was a wizard with

the whisk and the batter

OPEN YOUR EYES MARY!

 OOPS!

Her first attempt at catching a flying pancake was on a par with Kevin's and Jacob's first attempts years ago.

A quick study, she did much better

with the morning's second pancake

 The girl can eat when given the chance

Breakfast was a blast today!

Later in the morning I had a Zoom meeting to attend with France's Julien Urgenti and Spain's Bart Iaccarino.

The purpose, I was told, was to discuss:  A. a possible Europe Warriors game in France and B. having Julien join the Europe Warriors in an advisory capacity.

Wrong on both counts.

The real purpose of this meeting was for them to pass a radical idea by me.

Back story first, our Europe Warriors will play a U19 game in Poland (Covid-19 permitting) on November 22nd. We will also have a Women's game in Barcelona two weeks later on December 5th.

Their idea was simple enough, yet another game in Barcelona on November 28th. It was just that their idea for a roster was much different.

They want to invite the players and coaches from all of my former EuroBall teams (Catania Elephants, Hässleholm Hurricanes, Thun Tigers, Buon-Villeurbanne Falcons, Murcia Cobras, Wäsby Warriors, Osos Rivas, Guadalajara Stings and Varese Skorpions) to Barcelona to play in what they are going to call the "Contreras Bowl."

They want to do this in reaction to my decision to retire from EuroBall coaching, other than Europe Warriors games.

I am thankful for their generous offer and happily agreed to the project as it would be so much fun to see all of their faces one more time, if possible.

The complex outside of Barcelona where

the Contreras Bowl players will be housed

The game will be played on one of

these fields at the same complex

Our "intense" three day preparation

schedule allows for lots of fun

I am so thankful for caring friends like Julien and Bart.

Again proving that the best thing about American football is the relationships that you make over the years.

Of course, the winds of social change were still blowing across all of America today including in our small city of Camarillo.

Former student Starr Moon

informed me about tonight's event

Laurie and I attended

the 90 minute vigil

It was simple, powerful and necessary.