Mon.-Tue., February 6-14, 2023
An eventful week to be sure . . .
It started with a surprise honor for young Jacob.
Just as his Father and Uncle did years ago,
Jacob competed in the
Camarillo Academic Olympics
Not only competed, he took
FIRST PLACE in the U.S. History exam!
Pardon me for the shameless, proud Grandparent moment.
It wasn't just Jacob who made us proud this week.
Mary's performance in her
Second Grade Class Play
was equally exhilarating!
It was a musical dealing with
all parts of grammar
Her role was both epic and challenging.
Mary was not just any Quotation Mark,
she was the END Quotation Mark
I am sure that all of us remember being told, years ago, by our teachers that the end quotation mark was THE most important individual part of English language grammar.
The Second Graders were READY!
Unfortunately, Mary's segment of the play which lasted two minutes and ten seconds, is too big of a video file for uploading to this blogpost.
Mary's class taking their much
deserved applause after the play
The day after Mary's tour de force play we headed East by car to . . .
. . . SIN CITY!
It was a dual purpose road trip, part to visit Andrew, Jenn and Kevin and part to learn more about American football.
The Las Vegas Glazier Clinic
turned out to be as good as I had hoped
The Las Vegas Strip
is indeed impressive
The Paris Hotel and Casino
adjoined the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino
that housed the Glazier Clinic
Not the real Eiffel Tower
I think.
HOLY IKE!
Beautiful ceiling in the corridor that joins the Paris and Horseshoe casinos.
Even famous food expert
Guy Fieri was into the weekend's
Football Clinic/Super Bowl mood
The Glazier Clinic is a huge one with as many as eight different speakers holding court on a wide variety of topics at the same time.
The Head Coach of Southern Utah University
was my first lecturer
His topic was "How to Win Where You Shouldn't."
Fascinating.
His approach to the first 90 days
on a new coaching job
In these days of the Transfer Portal,
both in college and high school,
this is an important consideration
Besides Coach DeLane FitzGerald, the other speakers who caught my interest were:
Josh Floyd - Head Coach
Hewitt-Trussville H.S., Alabama
Brian Belles - Head Coach
Cactus H.S., Arizona
Patrick Toney - Defensive Coordinator
University of Florida
Nick Eason - Defensive Line Coach
Clemson University
Aaron Whitecotton - Defensive Line Coach
New York Jets
Mason Hughes - Head Coach
Central Valley Christian H.S., California
On top of getting lots of new ideas at the Glazier Clinic, I also got to reconnect with California coaching friends Jason Sabolic of El Camino Real H.S. and Ryan Bolland of Buena H.S. It was great to see Rick Shoup of Las Vegas' Cimarron-Memorial H.S. too.
All three of these good coaches are much younger than me, I actually coached Ryan and Rick as high school athletes. Jason is the son of one of our best friends from our days at the University of Washington.
In the old days, I knew a lot more coaches at these clinics.
I wonder where they all went?
I also had a surprise meeting at the clinic as a coach who was a stranger to me on sight approached me between coaching sessions.
With Frank Lautt the
Head Coach at Goldwater H.S.
in Phoenix, Arizona
Frank and I had communicated on-line and by phone about eight years ago in regards to his desire to coach in EuroBall.
Since he was already fluent in French, his desire for a job in France sounded perfect.
Whatever information and guidance that I was able to give him did indeed help land him a Head Coaching position in 2015 with the Chambery Aigles in, you guessed it, southeastern France.
It was the first time that Frank and I had met in person.
Small world, good guy.
All in all, it was a great clinic experience in the desert.
On Saturday night, I joined Laurie,
Jenn and Andrew for an AMAZING meal
This Mexican-Italian fusion trattoria is located far from the Las Vegas Strip making it much more of a locals hang out with few tourists.
The New York steak in a cognac sauce pasta was indeed memorable.
Watching Sunday's Big Game
at the Desert Casa Contreras with
family was just perfect!
It was also MUCH cheaper than
being at the stadium in Glendale live
It was good to see that these tickets as well as Andrew's living room both offered Unrestricted Views.
Both QBs had fine outings
FINAL SCORE
Kansas City Chiefs (17-3) 38
Philadelphia Eagles (16-4) 35
A good, entertaining game.
Speaking once again of being a proud Grandparent . . .
Grandson Kevin seen here with
his dog Biscuit
He beat me like the proverbial drum in our chess games over the weekend.
He also won the family Uno game on Sunday night after the Super Bowl.
Proud yet again to say that there really is no stopping our three grandkids.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Mary ready for school
on Valentine's Day
Not only was it Valentine's Day today, it was also Coffee with a Cop Day at school as kids arrived on campus.
Not many kids had a cup of coffee
but many had a donut hole or six
to get the Valentine's day sugar rush
off to a huge start
A good looking police vehicle
possible riotors at the donut table
Jacob was asked to take photos
for the school yearbook
He was extremely excited as he accepted his assignment.
Camarillo SWAT Team Member
2035
the SWAT Team Assault Vehicle
If Mary can do it,
so can Jacob
Ever the Photo Journalist
Jacob handed this Officer
his school camera
He then asked the Officer to take his picture in the patrol car.
There are other acceptable possibilities
on Valentine's Day
Reading Is FUNdamental!
Another well crafted mystery set
in post-WWI England
I have enjoyed the way this author interweaves history into her fictional crime scenarios in both of her books that I've read recently.
I highly recommend her works.
