TAZÓN de CAMPEONES 2017

Saturday, December 2, 2017:

Our first full day in Mexico would be a good one to be sure.

My room mate, Kicking Coach Luca Zigliani, Defensive Coordinator Mike Wood and I hopped into a taxi in Texcoco for the one hour drive west into Mexico City to meet up with our Running Backs Coach Mauricio "The Polish Rifle II" Jaworski and his friend Irene.

The purpose of our reunion was simple enough, we all wanted to drive another two hours farther west to the city of Toluca to be part of the Tazón de Campeones 2017 or Champions Bowl 2017.

This is the game that would decide the Division I National Collegiate Championship of Mexico!

The 9-1 ONEFA league champion UNAM Pumas were traveling to take on the 9-2 Borregos Toluca champions of the CONADEIP league.

The winner would be crowned Mexico's 2017 Champion of Champions!

It was a lot of driving but we made it in one piece.

Nearing the stadium in Toluca

"Get your Pumas souvenirs!"

"No, gracias."

The Blue and Silver Borregos

have a blue smurf-turf field

Mauricio being interviewed

about our game next Saturday

L. to R.: Mike, Luca, Mauricio,

me and Irene

We had end zone seats

Did I mention that the Borregos

were League Champions?

Borregos is Spanish for Rams

I like this team already.

"Get your Borregos souvenirs!"

"No, gracias."

Nice setting for a game

The food was reportedly good

but the long lines were not

Borregos punt returners

warming up

Luca heading towards our

end zone seats with the Sun

at our backs

The covered home stands were packed

when we got to Toluca about an

hour before kickoff

The Borregos stadiums name is "La Congeladora," literally "The Freezer."

You see, Toluca is Mexico's highest altitude city sitting 2,667 meters above sea level. That would be an altitude of 8,750 feet.

Thus it can get extremely cold for games, hence the stadium name.

But not today.

The entry fee was 1oo pesos,

about $5.36 USD

A bargain at twice the price!

PUMP UP THE PRE-GAME

WARM-UP VOLUME!

Borregos in full stretch mode

The game program cost 10 pesos,

about 54 cents USD

A bargain at three times the price.

Borregos Offensive Linemen

practicing QB Sneak Wedge blocking

Borregos were crazed dogs

coming out of their tunnel

HERE COME THE BORREGOS!

HERE COME THE PUMAS!

The opening kickoff

Pumas on offense

Good pass protection!

Swarming Borregos defense

At the end of the First Quarter: 0-0

Because the Pumas receiver

fell down on the right, backside

pressure was fast approaching

the Pumas QB which led to a . . .

. . . SACK-FUMBLE!

The Borregos got it!

This Red Zone defensive play by the Borregos defense proved to be HUGE in the end!

But at Halftime the Pumas led 7-0.

Borregos Score!

Not so fast, holding offense. This would be the first of three potential Toluca TDs that were called back due to penalties in the Third Quarter.

Here comes the Borregos Offense

yet again in the Third Period

Settled for a Field Goal again

Penalty

Holding on the Offense

At the end of the Third Quarter, the Pumas were still leading 7-6.

It all came down to a

frantic Fourth Quarter

Early in the final stanza the Borregos kicked another field goal to go up for the first time, 9-7.

With about two minutes left in the game, the Pumas scored a TD and made a two point conversion to regain the lead 15-9.

Toluca responded with a great drive of their own to score their lone TD of the game. The extra point was good and now the Borregos led 16-15 with only 42 seconds left in the game!

The Borregos defense, a 3-5-3 alignment by the way, did their job and the club from Toluca earned a hard fought victory and the title Champion of Champions for 2017.

This is the first year in Toluca's long American football history that they have won a championship much less two, the CONADEIP and National Championships  

My MVP of this low scoring, tough defensive ball game was the Toluca kicker/punter. He kicked three field goals and a clutch game winning PAT. All five of his kickoffs landed deep in the end zone. His his long distance, incredible hang time punts put the Pumas in a deep hole all game long.

It was a GREAT day for American football!

The boys before dinner

back in Mexico City

Mexico City Hooters?

Why not?

We went to Irene's home after a so-so dinner to watch the Clemson-Miami ACC Championship Game.

With Clemson routing Miami, we opted to go home way before the end of the game via taxi from the nearby Mexico City airport.

VW Christmas tree

in the airport

It was a good day with good people but now it is time to get to work . . .

This is our schedule for the

U19 Europe Warriors on Sunday

Let the fun begin!

Return to CDMX

Friday, December 1, 2017:

Here we go again . . .

We were up at 4:00 a.m. in order
to get to LAX in plenty of time for
this flight to EuroBall Adventure XI

The early morning drive to the airport was a breeze as was check-in and security scanning at the airport.

The flight left on time and passed by quickly thanks to having a good book to read.

After landing in Mexico City we
were parked on the tarmac for
a good ten minutes waiting for
our gate to be cleared

On to the Mexican Customs passport check . . .

There were lots of murals
in the Customs area

They welcomed us to
Mexico's wonderful beaches

And yes, Mexico is indeed a land
with lots of cultural heritage

But today it was a land of mostly
incredibly loooooong Customs lines

It took me about one hour to get to the front of this queue!

I did like this sign forbidding hats

to be worn in the Customs area

These delays, combined with the usual insane Mexico City traffic made it impossible logistically to . . .

. . . Get to this game

NUTS!

I really wanted to see this game between West Point's Sprint team and Mexico's Military Academy, the Heroico Colegio Militar.

Final Score

West Point 44 - HCM 0

On to our Venecia Hotel in Texcoco
a suburb of Mexico City, a.k.a., CDMX

It was definitely not the Five Star Radisson Hotel that the Europe Warriors stayed in last August but it was at least clean.

The Venecia Hotel does not have meeting rooms nor a restaurant.

This simply will not do.

Our Head Coach Bart Iaccarino and I went out to get an early street taco or four to discuss the situation.

Taqueria Javy Tacos about three blocks
from the hotel eased our worries

CARNITAS!

Awesome tacos!

The tacos al pastor were
beyond delicious!

The al pastor taco was on the plate on the left at one time.

Between the two of us we ate

eight tacos and slaked our thirst

with four beers

Total cost? About $10 USD for everything . . .

VIVA MEXICO!

Meanwhile, back at the Venezia Hotel . . .

After the tacos, we went back to our rooms before having dinner with Francisco, the Athletic Director of the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo that will be hosting our practices this coming week as well as our U19 Europe Warriors game against the ONEFA U19 all-stars next Saturday.

My room was really cold so I tried to turn on the heater but I couldn't find the switch.

Time to talk to the front desk.

Uh-oh . . .

My first clue was that the four people sitting behind the front desk socializing all wore parkas and heavy wool scarves like the man behind the desk seen here.

When queried, I was told that the Venezia Hotel does not have a central heat/air conditioning system.

WHAT?

The did offer an extra blanket if I wanted one.

We're not at the Radisson anymore Toto. 

Francisco took us to dinner
at this nice Texcoco eatery

We discussed the Venezia Hotel situation with him and by the end of our time with him we had a new hotel lined up with a large meeting room, a restaurant, a better location and, most importantly, a central heating system.

Problem mostly solved except that we can't change hotels until Monday.

It's going to be chilly tonight

I just may ask for that extra blanket . . .

Annual Cal Lutheran University Senior-EuroBall Talk

One of the things that I try to do each year is to pay it forward to EuroBall by meeting with Senior football players who have just finished their college eligibility.

On Thursday I stopped by our local NCAA Division III school, California Lutheran University, to meet with six of their Seniors who are interested in continuing their playing careers overseas.

"Heading for the End Zone"

CLU's outstanding statue just outside of their stadium.

Over 50 years of football excellence

 Part of the Kinsmen's rich tradition

We met for a little over an hour exchanging information and answering questions. I hope that all six of these young men get the opportunity to enjoy a bit of the EuroBall life some day soon, that Laurie and I have grown to love.

A big THANK YOU to CLU Head Coach Ben McEnroe for being gracious as always in allowing me on campus for this EuroBall talk for about the tenth straight year.

If you need me tomorrow,

I'll be in Mexico City watching,

what else, American football

Mexico's military academy, the Heroico Colegio Military, will be hosting West Point's Sprint, under 200 lbs., team.

It should be fun and a GREAT night for American football!