What Else, Two More Days of Dominoes and High School Football

Thurs-Fri., August 24-25, 2023

Another two good days visiting my Mother and watching high school football.

The Dominoes Tournament continues . . .

My Mother and I started our Dominoes battles back on May 10th. Since then, we have now been going at it for a total of 42 days in which we have played 1,511 games with a total of 25,691 points going to the winner.

Here are our current standings:

I lead in Games Won, 759-751-1

I lead in Points, 12,946 to 12,745

My 201 Points leading margin translates to a razor slim 0.13 points per game margin.

To say that we are competitive is a given.

Ruby is the remarkable Activities

Coordinator at my Mothers

Skilled Nursing Home

She does a great job in this all-important position including Thursday's kittens visits with the patients.

My Mother, for one, lit up with a huge smile when Ruby handed this kitten to her.

Pets can be so good for the soul

I often stop at one of many good hole-in-the-wall restaurants for lunch before visiting my Mother.

On Friday, I stopped at Chico's Mexican

Restaurant in Highland Park

I wasn't super hungry, so I just ordered the Chico's Special appetizer that simply consisted of two taquitos, two flautas and a quesadilla.

I did not know about the huge mound

of carne asada nachos buried

underneath my Chico's Special

It was phenomenal and no, I did not even come close to eating all of those nachos.

But I tried.

The St. Francis H.S. campus

on a beautiful Thursday afternoon

I was on my way home from Pasadena and opted to stop at my old Alma Mater (S.F.H.S. Class of 1965) to watch a bit of the day's scheduled Frosh football game.

The mural of St. Francis that I vividly

remember seeing my first day of

high school in September of 1961

I was still impressed when I saw it on Thursday, 62 years after that first view.

What a BEAUTIFUL day for an

American freshmen football game

Here come the the Golden Knights!

The S.F.H.S. Frosh team was 1-0 on the season after a 40-32 win over the Dominguez H.S. Dons 40-32 last week.

They would be taking on the Mira Costa H.S. Mustangs (0-0) today.

Mustangs driving for a score

St. Francis trying to catch up

I only stayed until the end of the First Quarter as I needed to get back to Camarillo to watch Jacob's Pop Warner practice at 5:30 p.m.

The Mustangs were ahead 12-7 at that point and never looked back taking home their first victory of the season by a final margin of 40-21.

Tribute to Jack Friedman who

was our Head Coach in the 1960s

The 49th edition of the

Rio Mesa vs. Camarillo

Black and Blue Bowl on Friday

Where else would I be on a Friday night in August?

The Rio Mesa H.S. Spartans entered the game at 1-0 after beating the Saugus H.S. Centurions 48-6 last week.

The Camarillo H.S. Scorpions (0-1) lost their season opener 35-7 to the Ventura H.S. Cougars.

Rio Mesa Offensive Line Coach

Daniel Lemos getting his charges

warmed up before the game

Rio Mesa opened the game with

a perfect pooch kickoff

Well, almost perfect as that pointy ball

bounced back to the Scorpion that

first mishandled the kick

Rio Mesa Legends Brian FitzGerald

and Noel Alaniz were IN THE HOUSE!

The War in the Trenches

was a good one as the game progressed

BOMBS AWAY!

A great crowd was on hand

Rio Mesa Goal Line Power

Camarillo's turn at the Goal Line

GREAT penetration by the

Rio Mesa Defense

Excellent Gang Tacking at the

Goal Line by the Spartans

It was a WILD one but Rio Mesa

prevailed 48-35

Rio Mesa (2-0) travels up to Santa Barbara next Friday to play the San Marcos Royals (2-0) in their Channel League opener.

Camarillo (0-2) will be on the road to take on the Saugus Centurions (0-2) in a non-league game next weekend.

The European League of Football

only has two more weekends

of regular season football

Of interest in this tournament

is Team Sweden's game against

defending European Champion

Team Finland

Why you ask?

Because the daughter of Frank Hilgers,

a DT on our 2010 Hässleholm Hurricanes

team, is on team Sweden

In the Swedish League, Sara plays for the Göteborg Marvels.

 

This photo appeared in the Thousand

Oaks Acorn newspaper on Friday

It was taken while I was addressing the 2023 Thousand Oaks H.S. Lancers during the pre-game meeting of last week's T.O. vs. Santa Barbara H.S. game.

Standing along the wall are members of the T.O.H.S. 1973 Marmonte League Championship team. We were all celebrating that magical season the we shared half a century ago.

It's been FIFTY YEARS . . .

Truer than true!

The First Day of School for the Camarillo Clan

Tues.-Weds., August 22-23, 2023

The start of yet another school day was upon us on Wednesday morning.

As is the norm during the school year, Laurie and I took the grandkids to their schools this morning while Michael and Vanessa headed to work.

It was the first day of school

for all four of them

For Michael, it was the beginning of his 14th year as a high school Social Science teacher.

Vanessa is facing a new challenge this year. After working as an elementary school counselor, she now faces the task of being an elementary school principal for the first time. 

Congratulations!

As for the grandkids . . .

Mary is in the

Third Grade

Jacob is a Sixth Grader

in his first year of middle school

While the local high school football season started last weekend, the Pop Warner and college seasons start on Saturday.

I was reminded that

EVERYBODY is still undefeated

on the Texas college scene

The Washington Huskies are too.

GO DAWGS!

Come to think of it, so are all of the local Pop Warner teams as well!

Go Stingers GO!

Everything is starting to get real again!

Tropical Storm Hilary and a 5.1 Earthquake in Ojai

Sun.-Mon., August 20-21, 2023

Wow, just plain WOW!

Sunday was interesting to say the least . . .

It all started with a possible

hurricane hitting southern California

Hurricane Hilary had wreaked destruction on the western coast of Mexico but was, fortunately, starting to lose force as it neared landfall in Southern California.

It was thus downgraded to Tropical Storm Hilary when it arrived in the Los Angeles area still packing strong winds and lots of rain. This spelled trouble with mud slides occurring in several areas that had experienced wild fires in the last few drought years.

The last time a tropical storm hit southern California was 84 years ago in 1939. That weather phenomenon which happened long before the current storm naming system came into play thus it was called El Cordonazo.

Fortunately for us, Camarillo was only on the edge of Tropical Storm Hilary as its main route was due north from Los Angeles towards Las Vegas.

We had only a little wind but . . .

. . . lots of rain

According to the weather records for Camarillo, in the last seven Summers we have had a total of 0.12" of rain.

On Sunday, Tropical Storm Hilary dumped 2.35" of rain on us in Camarillo in just that one day!

The tree in our front yard

was worried about the wind

As it turned out, the winds that we did get were relatively mild.

A few years ago we invested in replacing all of the windows and sliding glass doors in our home with noise reducing, heat controlling double pane glass.

As a result, I was working serenely on my computer breaking down the Buena H.S. vs. Oak Park H.S. video for our good friend Ryan Bolland, the B.H.S. Head Coach, during our wet afternoon. I had no real idea, after working for a couple of hours, how the storm front was progressing.

Suddenly, at about 2:40 p.m., I felt our home shaking from above. My first thought was that a sudden 80 mph wind gust was trying to blow the roof off of our home.

Laurie was in the other end of the house and we met halfway to each other. She informed me correctly that we had just had an earthquake. A look out our front window confirmed her analysis as the trees across the street were absolutely still.

It was indeed an 5.1 magnitude on the Richter Scale earthquake centered in the posh little city of Ojai about 20 miles from Camarillo.

When it was all said and done, Camarillo in general and our home in particular, were spared any serious problems.

Other parts of Camarillo were not so lucky.

Speaking of Camarillo news . . .

At last, the Sophomre Stingers

2023 schedule was announced

If you need to contact Laurie or myself on any of the dates and times posted below, we will be at grandson Jacob's Stingers games.

Camarillo Sophomore Stingers

2023 Schedule

Sat., August 26 vs. Simi Valley Orange 4:00 p.m.

Sat., Sept, 2 vs. Calabasas Gold 2:00 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 9 at Oxnard 1:00 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 16 at Saugus Navy 4:00 p.m.

Sat., Sept. 23 at Santa Clarita 12:00 p.m.

Sat., Sept 30 at Santa Barbara 2:00 p.m.

Sat, Oct. 7 BYE

Sat., Oct 14 vs. Saugus White 12:00 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 21 vs. Valley Rush 12:00 p.m.

News from the EuroBall scene . . .

No real surprises in European

League of Football action

last weekend

Only two more weekends remain in the ELF's third regular season of play.

The last task remaining now is to sort out the final six teams that will participate in the 2023 playoffs.

This is the playoff picture at the

conclusion of Week #12 games

The two Wild Card games would be the Central Conference #2 Tirol Raiders (7-3) at the Western Conference #2 Frankfort Galaxy (9-1) and the Eastern Conference #2 Wroclaw Panthers (7-4) at the Central Conference #1 Stuttgart Surge (8-2).

The Western Conference #1 Rhein Fire (10-0) and Eastern Conference #1 Vienna Vikings (10-0) have Wild Card round byes and await the winners.

The playoffs are not set in stone, as I said earlier, there are still two more weeks to go in the season.

While eight teams have no chance to make the playoffs, there are indeed two teams still with a mathematical chance to earn a Wild Card berth. They will both need to win out and get help from other teams though. 

The Thunder have the easiest

path to finishing 8-4

In Week #13, they will pick up a forfeit win over the defunct Leipzig Kings franchise.

Week #14, the Hamburg Sea Devils (4-6) will travel to Berlin for their final game of 2023.

The surprising, expansion

Ravens just might make

it into the playoffs at 7-5

Their narrow path to a Wild Card berth will need to start with wins at the Milano Seamen (2-8) in Week #13 and then a victory at home over the Barcelona Dragons (2-8) in Week #14.

Both Berlin and Munich winning all of their remaining games are not farfetched by any means, but they will need a total collapse down the stretch by either the Tirol Raiders or the Wroclaw Panthers.

The Raiders last two games are home against the Stuttgart Surge (8-2) and at the Milano Seamen (2-8).

The Panthers have a bye this weekend followed by a road trip to Hungary to take on the Fehérvár Enthroners (3-7).

It could get interesting down the stretch . . .

The Rhein Fire and

Frankfurt Galaxy are playoff locks

The Stuttgart Surge are in the

post-season for sure

The two best teams in this conference will face each other this weekend in the only interesting game of Week #13, Stuttgart (8-2) at the Tirol Raiders (7-3).

The defending ELF Champion

Vienna Vikings are the class of the East

ELF WEEK #13 SCHEDULE

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Stuttgart Surge (8-2) at Tirol Raiders (7-3)

Fehérvár Enthroners (3-7) at Vienna Vikings (10-0)

Munich Ravens (5-5) at Milano Seamen (2-8)

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Barcelona Dragons (2-8) at Paris Musketeers (4-6)

Prague Lions (1-9) at Cologne Centurions (3-7)

Rhein Fire (10-0) at Helvetic Guards (3-7)

Frankfurt Galaxy (9-1) at Hamburg Sea Devils (4-6)

BYES

Wroclaw Panthers (7-4)

Berlin Thunder (6-4)

In closing . . .

ABSOLUTELY, 100% TRUE!

A mutant, post-Tropical

Storm Hilary rabbit?

Perhaps . . .

Another Special Night, This Time with Some of the 1972 Marmonte League Champion Thousand Oaks H.S. Team

Saturday, August 19, 2023

As if Friday's 1973 Thousand Oaks H.S. Football Team 50 Year Reunion was not enough fun, there was more nostalgia on tap Saturday night.

The Best Western Plus Inn in Thousand Oaks was the perfect venue for yet another gathering, this time with members of the 1972 Lancer squad that won the school's first Marmonte League title.

We had a great reunion with this close knit club last August for their Half Century Reunion. Apparently, it was not enough as team leader Chris Pruitt decided to organize this gathering on his own.

I, for one, was all for it!

8-3 during that magical season

This group has always been special to me personally.

In 1970 I was hired to be a teacher/coach at Thousand Oaks H.S. My first coaching duty was to be the Defensive Coordinator/Line Coach for the JV football team made up of what two years later would be the Seniors on that championship club.

Robert Richards, who went on to become one of the best Varsity Head Coaches in Ventura County history, was our JV team Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coach. I was fortunate to learn so many lessons from Robert at the start of my career. Robert is now coaching the Offensive Line at Simi Valley H.S., it is his 57th season as a high school football coach!

Talk about dedication to the game and to the young men he coaches. It is truly amazing.

In 1971, the two of us would again coach the JV team but we now had an outstanding coach added to our staff, Rob Elliott. That team would make up the Junior class of the 1972 team.

In 1972, I was made the Varsity's Special Teams, Defensive Line and Guards and Centers' Coach. This gave me the incredible opportunity to again work with all of those tremendous young, selfless, determined and hard hitting men one more time.

We would all get a chance to talk to the group before the night was over to talk about where life has taken us since then and to say what being on this fabled team still meant to us to this day.

One of our team leaders, FB/LB Bart Gudmundson, noted that even though we started the season at 0-2, we never stopped believing in the process, righted the ship, went on an eight game winning streak and won that coveted Marmonte League crown.

With our two starting HBs that

season, Mike Ahtye and Jon Yoshiwara

They were both consummate team players.

Laurie with FB/LB Bart Gudmundson

and OT Stewart Black

C Steve Cameron holding court

Mike Ahtye and Jon Yoshiwara with their backs to the camera.

QB Clay Richardson and SE Ed Canales standing next to Steve.

L. to R.: HB Tim Ahtye, LB Rich Kluck,

DB Steve Rote, OG Ray Hinton and

OT/DT Chris Pruitt

I was so blessed to work with these men as a young coach.

WR John Garofolo, Steve Rote

and Stewart Black

Our well behaved table mates for dinner.

Jon Yoshiwara with OG Bill Breucklander

Bill was simply a tough, gritty player!

Bill's blocking versus a HUGE Burbank H.S. Defensive Tackle in a C.I.F. "AAA" playoff game is the stuff of legends! Bill was outweighed by 100 lbs. but fought, clawed and even reverse body blocked his opponent, completely neutralizing a player who we believed was going to be a problem for us.

As it turned out, there was no need to worry.

Lots of stories were being swapped

at this table all night

Tim Ahtye and Ray "Sugar Bear"

Hinton but who is that mystery

man on the Zoom meeting screen?

Why it was none other than our

AWESOME Tiger Team Defensive

End, Jerry Naegli!

Jerry lives in Oregon and could not make it down to Thousand Oaks tonight.

No problem, tech whizzes Ray Hinton and Chris Pruitt were able to connect him with us via a Zoom Meeting.

With this group, Jerry is LEGENDARY!

Never a starter, always on the practice field sacrificing himself on our Tiger/Scout team. He, along with several other young men like Ray Hinton, Dave Peterson and Dave Paananen  gave every ounce they could out of their more than willing bodies for the team's success.

Jerry was our team character/comedian as well.

His confrontations and never back down attitude with our team's toughest players Rich Kluck and Bart Gudmundson certainly earned him tons of respect from all of the coaches and his teammates.

I often refer to Jerry's high school career 50 years ago when discussing the current state of Transfer Portal high school football in Southern California today.

You see, back then ours was a community team. For the most part, our players had all gone the elementary and intermediate school together. They had all played together or against each other in various youth sports.

These facts led to a true family atmosphere as brothers who had known each other most of their lives.

This attitude allowed a young man like Jerry Naegli to be welcomed and nurtured by athletes that had a few more God-given skills but still recognized Jerry's mental and physical toughness.

I'm sure that being around his long time friends is a large part of what kept Jerry coming back every day.

When he spoke to us tonight, he said that he lived for the end of Tuesday and Wednesday practices when the drills were over and he got to scrimmage against the starters for 30-45 minutes.

Today, I don't know how many players like Jerry are still on high school football teams. I don't think that the Transfer Portal is conducive to building the type of relationships that this team enjoyed.

In blue, current TOHS

Head Coach Ben McEnroe joined us

We all believe that he will be a strong, new link in the storied history of Lancers football.

With Robert Richards and Rich Kluck

Robert and I were the only coaches on that long ago 1970 TOHS JV team that would become the Seniors on the 1972 team.

To this day, Rich is still the single toughest hitter that I ever coached.

Many tonight told the story of being in tackling lines and counting to make sure that they would not be paired up with Rich.

It usually fell on Bart Gudmundson, another tough customer, to have to match up with Rich in those drills. When they did, several players breathed a sigh of relief and alertly watched the wreckage.

The biggest thing that I took away from this magical dinner was the stories that our players shared about what being on this high school football team still means to them to this day.

Words like love, family, trust, caring and skills for life kept being retold over and over again.

It was gratifying to hear that, as coaches, we were able, in some small way, to help them all go from athletic young boys to productive men.

Humbling really.

What a GREAT Group!

In attendance from those long

ago Lancer football days were:

Mike Ahtye, HB, 5-10, 164, Senior

Tim Ahtye, HB, 5-8, 141, Junior

Stewart Black, T, 6-4, 201, Junior

Bill Breucklander, G, 5-7, 161, Senior

Steve Cameron, C, 6-1, 174, Senior

Ed Canales, SE, 5-10, 166, Senior

Bob Emerson, QB, 5-9, 158, Junior

Bart Gudmundson, FB/LB, 5-11, 191 Senior

Ray Hinton, G, 5-11, 155, Senior

Mike Hubbard, FB, 5-7, 165, Senior

Rich Kluck, LB, 6-0, 175, Senior

Doug Metzger, C, 5-10, 155, Junior

Jerry Naegli, DE, 5-8, 150, Senior

Dave Peterson, TE, 6-2, 172, Junior

Chris Pruitt, T/DT, 6-0, 191, Senior

Clay Richardson, QB, 6-1, 165, Senior

Steve Rote, SE/DB, 5-7, 133, Junior

Jon Yoshiwara, HB, 5-8, 153, Senior

John Garofolo, SE, 5-6, 128, Junior on

our 1973 team

Coach Robert Richards

Coach George Contreras

Thanks to everyone for

such a fantastic evening!