We Enter September With EuroBall Playoffs and Civil War News

 

Sunday, September 1, 2024

On this date 85 years ago, the Nazis invaded Poland to mark the start of World War II.

Today we will review much happier events on the European continent.

Let's start with the results of the International Federation of American Football's (IFAF) World Championships of Flag Football.

The IFAF tournaments were both held in Lahti, Finland and included Women's teams from 23 countries and 32 countries vying in the Men's tournament all seeking a World Championship title.

Team USA won the Gold Medal

A 31-18 win over Team Mexico earned the Team USA Women their second consecutive IFAF World Championship Tournament Gold Medal.

Japan won the Women's Bronze Medal

Team Japan won a wild Third Place Game over Team Austria by a final score of 41-40.

For the fifth consecutive IFAF Men's

Tournament, Team USA took

home the Gold Medal

In the Championship Game, Team USA beat Team Austria, 53-21.

Team Switzerland took home the

Men's Bronze Medal

This was another hard fought Third Place game with Team Switzerland outlasting Team Mexico, 41-35.

Don't forget, Flag Football will be an Olympic Sport at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles for both Men and Women.

Coach Michael Wood's team

is headed to the Maple League

Championship Game in Finland

The #1 seeded Helsinki Roosters (11-2) easily defeated the #4 seeded Porvoo Butchers (8-5), 41-14 in one Semi-Final game.

The other Maple League Semi-Final contest featured a mild upset as the #3 seeded Seinajoki Crocodiles (9-4) dominated the #2 seeded Kuopio Steelers (9-4), 35-14.

The Maple League Championship Game will be played next Sunday, September 8th.

The Roosters swept their two regular season games against the Crocodiles but it was ever so close. In Week 7, Helsinki prevailed 27-19. In the rematch in Week 11, the Roosters edged the Seinajoki club again, 42-35.

The Roosters have therefore beaten the Crocodiles by only eight and seven points this year. Can they beat them a third time?

Stay tuned . . .

The ELF's Championship Tournament

began this weekend with two

Wild Card games

The ELF season started with 17 teams fighting to earn one of the six playoff spots with a chance to win the fourth ELF Championship.

One Wild Card game on Saturday

and one on Sunday

The Paris Musketeers game poster

Saturday's Wild Card game

#5 seeded Munich Ravens (9-3) at

#4 seeded Paris Musketeers (10-2)

It was a great game with the

higher seeded Musketeers surviving

The Rhein Fire's game poster

Sunday's Wild Card game had the

#6 seeded Madrid Bravos (8-4) on

the road to face the #3 seeded

Rhein Fire (11-1)

The German squad dominated

the one from Spain

After the Wild Card games,

only four teams remain in the

hunt for the ELF title

ELF Semi-Final Games

Saturday, September 7, 2024

#4 seed Paris Musketeers (11-2) at

#1 Seed Vienna Vikings (12-0)

Sunday, September 8, 2024

#3 seed Rhein Fire (12-1) at

#2 seed Stuttgart Surge (11-1)

Meanwhile, back on the college football front . . .

The PAC-12 Conference had a

TREMENDOUS first week of games

going 11-1 in Week 1 contests!

The Washington Huskies started

slow but defeated the always

dangerous Weber State Wildcats

Here are the game results from the other PAC-12 teams, the Conference of Champions, this past weekend:

Arizona Wildcats 61 - New Mexico Lobos 39

Arizona St. Sun Devils 48 - Wyoming Cowboys 7

Utah Utes 49 - Southern Utah T-Birds 0

Colorado Buffaloes 31 - North Dakota St. Bison 26

Washington St. Cougars 70 - Portland St. Vikings 30

Oregon St. Beavers 38 - Idaho St. Bengals 15

Oregon Ducks 24 - Idaho Vandals 14

USC Trojans 27 - LSU Tigers 20

UCLA Bruins 16 - Hawaii 13

California Golden Bears 31 - UC Davis Aggies 13

TCU Horned Frogs 34 - Stanford Cardinal 27

PAC-12 is on a ROLL!

I know, I know damn it, times have changed.

It is just that I like living in the past. 

The NINTH year of college football

eligibility for this former Oregon Ducks

and now Miami Hurricanes athlete

started this weekend

I've never heard of such a thing.

The 2024 NFL season starts

next weekend with the Rams at

the Detroit Lions on Sunday

 

This old school New York FOOTBALL

Giants logo will be on display at

MetLife Stadium when the Minnesota

Vikings come to the Big Apple on Sunday

I love this logo!

The word "football" was added back in the day to differentiate them from the older National League baseball team of the same name.

Of course, that baseball team moved in 1958 to become the hated San Francisco Giants.

On Sunday, Huntington Beach hosted their annual Labor Day weekend Civil War reenactment.

All of the Contreras Clan

was in full 1860s mode

Trooper Jacob and Underground

Railroad worker Mary

Mary may also have been a

Union spy we are led to believe

On to the net . . .

80% True

1,000% True

Who doesn't LOVE cinnamon toast?

Camarillo Stingers Second Game of the 2024 GCYFL Season

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Game #2 of the Pop Warner season was upon us, so we drove 35 minutes to Simi Valley H.S. in support of grandson Jacob and his team of Stingers on another hot afternoon.

The Gold Coast Youth Football League

fields a whopping 15 teams in their

Junior American Conference

The Stingers Blue squad entered

the game with a 1-0 record

As this was the Bulldogs Orange

team's first game, quite naturally,

their record was 0-0

The Bulldogs, in black, had a strong

showing on Offense to start the game

 

This Simi Valley lateral swing play

caused the Stingers issues for most

of the First Half

The Trenches were as hot

as the weather

Simi Valley spread the field

The Camarillo Cheerleaders were

great despite the Stingers early troubles

Off in the distance, a McDonalds sign

I digress but, according the Jacob's theory, it is absolute proof that Simi Valley is a city.

First and Goal at the four yard line

for the Bulldogs became . . .

. . . an opportunity for a Goal Line Stand!

On this Fourth Down play, the Simi Valley runner was tackled at the one yard line.

Coming out of the End Zone

It was a struggle but the team did

achieve the first goal in these

situations, give the Punt Team enough

room to operate normally

Jacob is our Long Snapper

The Stingers got off a good punt

The Bulldogs lateral pass did not

pick up the needed yardage on

this Fourth Down play

The Stingers Offense was at mid-field

as the First Quarter came to a close

End of First Quarter

Camarillo Stingers Blue - 0

Simi Valley Bulldogs Orange - 0

The Bulldogs would score first to take a 6-0 lead, how would the Stingers react?

The Camarillo Pass Protection

was solid all game long

Slinging the ball into the flat

Jacob is #99 and is seen here

making his first career catch

It was definitely a proud moment for all of us.

Jacob at Cornerback

TOUCHDOWN STINGERS!

Everybody Stand Up For The Kickoff!

Camarillo turned the game around late in Second Quarter with two fantastic Defensive plays on back-to-back Bulldog  possessions.

I have mentioned that Simi Valley's lateral pass had caused the Stingers all sorts of aggravation. That pestering ended when a Camarillo DE intercepted the lateral and ran it in for a TD.

On the next series, a Stingers DB intercepted a pass and also turned it into a second Camarillo Pick-Six!

Halftime

Camarillo Stingers Blue - 20

Simi Valley Bulldogs Orange - 6

The first Offensive play of the Third

Quarter was a big one for Camarillo

It was a 60 yard TD run with most

of Simi Valley chasing the Stingers

RB who is indeed #55

Great Kickoff coverage left the

Bulldogs deep in their end of the field

Camarillo's Defense was playing

with relentless passion

A Simi Valley runner about to be

smothered by the Stingers Defense

The HOT Pursuit by the Stingers continued

Camarillo knocking on the

door yet again

The only TD of this quarter was set up by a Stinger who blocked a Simi Valley punt.

End of Third Quarter

Camarillo Stingers Blue - 26

Simi Valley Bulldogs Orange - 6

The pass is away . . .

. . . TD Camarillo!

Making a quick cut

The Stingers Offense still

going strong late in the game

Camarillo likes to run the ball

Big Boys about to score again

Jacob had a chance for an

interception on this play

Credit the Bulldogs for fighting

to the end, they scored a TD

on the last play of the game

Final Score

Camarillo Stingers Blue (2-0) - 38

Simi Valley Bulldogs Orange (0-1) - 14

Only one thing left to do now . . .

. . . celebrate the win at Simi Valley's

Cronies Sports Grill

While waiting for our food, I went

through one of Mary's rigorous

job interviews for her new company

I didn't get the job.

Laurie, Vanessa and Mary

had fun at Cronies

We all did come to think of it.

Next up for the Stingers (2-0) is another road game, this time at Buena H.S. against the Ventura Packers White (0-1) team. The kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

Gold Coast Youth Football League

Junior American Conference

Week #2 Standings

1T. Camarillo Stingers Blue 2-0

Santa Clarita Aztecs 2-0

Santa Clarita Wildcats White 2-0

Simi Valley Bulldogs Black 2-0

5T. Camarillo Stingers Grey 1-0

North Valley Bears 1-0

7T. Saugus Spartans White 1-1

Santa Clarita Grizzlies 1-1

9T. Newbury Park Gold 0-1

Oxnard Knights 0-1

Simi Valley Bulldogs Orange 0-1

Ventura Packers White 0-1

13T. Calabasas Rams Gold 0-2

Santa Barbara Saints Black 0-2

Saugus Spartans Grey 0-2