Life Back in America

Saturday-Sunday, June 13-14, 2015:

After a week of readjusting ourselves to life in America, we are now pretty much back to normal here in California.

We had a good weekend highlighted by . . . 

. . . a Saturday visit by Jacob
and his growing family

I wonder where he got that sharp looking t-shirt with the charging bull?

Vanessa and her lifelong and also
pregnant friend Angie visited as well

The two of them are due about a week apart at the end of July, Angie with a boy and Vanessa with our first granddaughter.

They were at our house so that Michael could take pictures of the two of them in their shared, motherly state.

Here are my favorite photos from Mike's efforts.

We're getting a Princess!

It could happen, I guess

 Patent leather, a must!

Angie and Vanessa

On Sunday, I went for a
3+ mile walk in Ventura

I like to
Walk on the Wild Side!

The venerable Ventura Theater

Joey Badass is playing tonight!!!

So I bought a large cup

Garden at Mission San Buenaventura

The Mission's nice fountain

The Mision's Shrine to Mary

Imagine that . . .

Ancient railroad bridge near the beach

Not much surf today

Brave souls on a "June Gloom" day

Ventura Beach Art

More Ventura Beach Art

Ode to Longboard Surfers

Jesse Owens raced a horse near here once

Ballroom remembrance

Baseball, dancing, horse racing . . .

Ventura has had it all over the years.

Cool restaurant secondary fence

Ventura likes fountains

The Mission in the background

Fun mural

A good weekend indeed!

A big week this week as we start our Summer football workouts at Newbury Park H.S. on Tuesday.

We also will greet young Alberto Talavera from Murcia, Spain at LAX on Tuesday evening.

Alberto can eat!!!

"Tala," as he is known, was an excellent WR with our Cobra Junior team this past season. He will be spending the Summer with us trying to improve both his English language and American football skills.

This should be a fun Summer!

Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame Weekend

Friday-Sunday, June 5-7, 2015:

Our return and acclimation to America would not be a gradual one, as our first weekend home would be a family reunion of sorts revolving around Sunday's Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

Hall of Fame Program

For some reason a bit unclear to me, I was one of the five people being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

It is, needless to say, a great honor and I was humbled by the whole event.

A good thing about this ceremony is that it gave members of our family a chance to get together for a few days which is always a fun time.

Andy being attacked by Kevin and Jacob

at Mike and Vanessa's home

Kevin's new hairdo

Kevin challenging the slide at our

nearby park . . .

. . . MANY times

Andy and Kevin testing the strength

of the park's swing set

Kevin has balance!

Kevin, Jacob, toys and the

Juventus-Barça game . . . life is GOOD!

Andy with the kids in the back yard

Mike was with them too

Kevin passing the ball to Jacob

Kevin in serious iPad mode

Hall of Fame 2015 Inductees

From L. to R.,

Jack Kocur: All-American Water Polo player at Royal H.S. and Pepperdine University, eventually the Head Water Polo Coach at Pepperdine and a member of the coaching staff for the USA's Men's Water Polo team

Roger Evans: Long time Cross Country and Track and Field coach at Simi Valley H.S.  He had two CIF Championship Cross Country teams (2011 & 2013) and also a State Championship team in 2013.

Eric Reynolds: One of the greatest distance runners in California sports history at Camarillo H.S., he was the State Champion in the 3200 meters in 1982 and 1983. He was also a CIF Champion in Cross Country in 1982.

Me: See what I mean, how did I get in with this crowd?

Woody Woodburn: An award winning journalist who worked for several years at the Ventura Star-Free Press. He is also extremely active raising funds for underprivileged children.

It was good to have the support of friends and family on this day to be sure.

The Murphy Clan was in the house

Tori, Tim, Debi and Cyndy

Carl Stack and Tony Ponticelli

From our 1978-80 Westlake H.S. teams

Jim Parker and Derry Eads

Two of the best sportswriters

in county history

Andy, Mike and Vanessa

Linda, my Mom and Marilyn

Koreen and Brian FitzGerald

Hall of Fame Track and Field coach Brian FitzGerald is the Athletic Director at Rio Mesa H.S. and is the person who nominated me for induction.

Andy Andreolli

I coached with Andy at Westlake H.S. back in the 1980s. He is now the Athletic Director at Royal H.S.

Laurie and me

George Hurley reading a flattering

letter that Julien Urgenti wrote

Incredibly kind words that I will cherish forever.

My acceptance speech

The Hall of Fame plaque

I accepted it and ran as fast as I could before they changed their minds.

THANK YOU to everyone who had a hand in this honor and to all of you who came to the ceremony!

Football Updates from Spain and France

Saturday, June 6, 2015:

With all of the craziness of the last two weeks preparing to  leave Spain and coming home to California, I have been derelict in posting news of the post-season American football in Spain and France last weekend.

First up is the Serie B Championship Game in Spain.

2015 Spanish Serie B Playoffs

This turned out to be the hard fought, physical game that we all hoped for as two 9-0 teams, the Reus Imperials and the Barberà Rookies, battled it out for the championship and the right to ascend to Serie A in 2016.

Reus prevailed in a good one, 24-20. Enhorabuena Imperials!

WILD CARD RESULTS:
Saturday/Sunday, May 2/3, 2015

Las Rozas 27 - Murcia 14

Granada 46 - Santurtzi 13

BYES: Par #1 Reus (8-0) and Impar #1 Barberà (8-0)

SEMI-FINALS:
Saturday/Sunday, May 16/17, 2015

Reus 48 - Granada 7

Barberà 28 - Las Rozas 21

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
Sunday, May 31, 2015

Reus 24 - Barberà 20

2015 Spanish Serie C Finals

Our good friends with the Gijón Mariners (8-0) were hosting the Alicante Sharks (11-1) for the Serie C Championship and the right to ascend to Serie B in 2016.

The final score, in another close game, saw the Mariners complete their perfect season with a 13-0 victory.

2015 French Division II Playoffs

Our beloved Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons (8-1) traveled to the Southwest corner of France to play the Pessac Kangourous (9-1) in the French DII Semi-Final game.

In yet another close game, the Kangourous prevailed 20-16.

So, the season is over for this season for these clubs, good job in 2015 and good luck in 2016.

A HUGE Honor and an American Football Practice On Our First Full Day Home

Thursday, 4 June, 2015:

Upon our return from these long stays in Europe coaching American football, one of the first chores that must be undertaken is sifting through months of collected mail, most of which is just throw away business mail and catalogs.

Occasionally though you get something totally unexpected at your doorstep from the United States Postal Service.

Today was one of those days.

 THANK YOU MIKE KILDEE!!!

Mike and I coached together at Rio Mesa H.S. for many wonderful seasons.

A few years ago the American Football Coaches Association opened its Plaza of Influence at the Association's Headquarters in Waco, Texas. This program allows people to honor coaches and players who have had a positive influence on the great game of American football.

Mike did me the incredible honor of having my name placed in the Plaza.

WOW, what a week I'm having!!!

Thank you Mike for this unexpected kindness.

Twenty hours after landing at LAX on Wednesday afternoon, and still quite jet lagged, I was back on the field at Newbury Park H.S. for a J.V. team Spring practice session.

It felt like home.

Panthers warming up

Working on a Check Down route

11-on-Air session

The kids worked hard today which pleased me no end.

This is the last of three weeks of Spring practice for the Panthers before Final Exams and the start of the Summer practice/7-on-7 season.

We will have one more practice tomorrow which needs to be a good one too.

It is good to be home!

The Long Trip Home

Wednesday, 3 June, 2015:

Flying home on Iberia

So, finally, the adventure of our sixth season coaching American football in Europe came to a close today.

After the bullfights last night we spent some more time repacking and redistributing the weight of each of our three pieces of luggage that would need to go in the cargo hold of our two flights home. The goal was to guesstimate that each piece was at or below the allowed 23 kilos per bag.

We would strive to arrive early enough at the airport to have time to weigh them ourselves before the check-in. If our guesses were off then we would have either repack yet again or, shades of the Great Trapani Airport Disaster of 2009,  jettison clothing for any passersby who wanted them.

As it turned out, neither of us could sleep due to the excitement of the flights home. Thus at about 4:45 a.m. we were both out of bed and getting ready for the day at hand.

Our taxi cab driver arrived at 6:10 a.m. to whisk us off the Madrid's Barajas Airport which in normal traffic would be about a 25 minutes.

Not this morning.

In the traffic free streets at this early hour, our driver channeled his inner Mario Andretti and attacked the road at breakneck speeds. He had us at Laurie's Terminal 2 in about ten minutes.

It was exciting.

First things first, we weighed our bags and voilà, all three bags were below 23 kilos.

We did good!!!

There was no one in line at the open Air France counter, so check-in was fast, but with a twist.

Laurie's plane to Paris did not leave for about two hours but another flight to the French capital left in about 15 minutes. The lady at check-in said that Laurie and her luggage could still get on it, which would give her more time to make her connecting flight out of Paris to Los Angeles, so off she went.

Once on her way, I had to board the Shuttle bus to Terminal 4 where all International flights destined for non-European Union countries depart. This ten minute bus ride was nowhere near as exhilarating as the taxi ride.

Unlike Laurie's experience at the Air France check-in counter, mine with Iberia was long and tedious. It took me almost two hours to get through Iberia's long check-in lines and even more crowded Security Check lines.

Once through check-in and Security it would be clear sailing right?

Wrong.

A sign announced that the time needed to go from Security to the U gates where my flight was leaving was another 23 minutes. The sign was pretty much dead on correct as to the time needed to cover the distance.

The good thing about all of this was that because of Laurie's early flight, I had lots of time to kill so was in no rush.

My flight left on time and, I must admit, the Iberian flight was much better than my previous experiences on this airline. My seat was wider than usual and I had lots of knee room! Additionally, I had my desired aisle seat with no one seated next to me. Throw in an excellent entertainment center allowing me to watch two fun movies (Kingsmen, The Secret Service and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) and all of Season Three of the BBC's latest take on their Sherlock Holmes series.

The smooth 12 and a half hour flight arrived about 20 minutes earlier than expected at LAX which gave me lots of time to get both my bag and Laurie's two bags before she got through Customs. Her flight from Paris had arrived about twenty minutes after mine. Amid the thousands of people who traveled through the Bradley International Terminal that day, we spotted each other across the terminal and headed for the final check point and the exit. It was like a movie.

Koreen FitzGerald picked us up and we were headed to Camarillo through rush hour traffic, a little more than an hour away.

To sum up our day, we had breakfast in Madrid, Laurie ate lunch in Paris and we were joined by the Brian and Koreen FitzGerald for dinner at Cronies Sports Grill in Camarillo.

Life is good.

Someone asked if we brought home any souvenirs.

Why yes . . .

. . . yes we did . . .

. . . INDEED!!!

Part of Laurie's shoe and

shawl collection

Laurie's attempt to corner

the Spanish fan market

We were tired but safely at home.

Life is really good on both sides of the Atlantic as it turns out.