Sun. & Mon., Dec. 22-23, 2024
We were all so caught up with Saturday's wedding that we completely lost sight of the wonderful world of American football.
But not for long . . .
The much anticipated College Football
Playoffs First Round of games were
played on Friday night and Saturday
The four higher seeds belonged to #5 Texas, #6 Penn State, #7 Notre Dame and #8 Ohio State.
They all won their First Round home games comfortably.
A #8 Ohio State vs. #1 Oregon
Rose Bowl game should be AWESOME!
The only thing left to figure out now, leading into this Quarterfinal Playoff Game is . . .
. . . Oregon's always interesting
uniform choice
Seen on my Sunday morning
constitutional through the mean
streets of Henderson, Nevada
Taco Tuesday was only two days away.
I was walking with Brian FitzGerald as we discussed what to do today and we got back to a suggestion that Sarah and John Tidwell had made at the wedding reception, let's go to the Raiders-Jaguars game this afternoon.
After much group discussions, John, Sarah, Brian, Koreen and I were all for it. The rest of our nomadic tribe of revelers decided to go a different route instead.
Tickets for the game were quite
cheap by NFL standards, only
$55 each before the StubHub fees
Why so cheap you may well wonder, well there was this . . .
3 Wins - 11 Losses
Tied for Third Place in the AFC South
at
2 Wins - 12 Losses
Fourth Place in the AFC West
Two poor NFL franchises were going to meet in the chilly Las Vegas desert and fan attendance would definitely not fill the stadium on this particular Game Day.
These were the seats that Koreen,
Brian and I found reasonably priced
on the secondary market
John and Sarah decided to search for their own tickets and found an even better deal that we will circle back to in a moment.
A mural going up as we walked from
our parking lot to the stadium
Allegiant Stadium
Home of the Las Vegas Raiders
It has been nicknamed "The Roomba" after the similar looking vacuum cleaner of the same name.
A Jaguars fan amid friendly,
black clad Raiders fans
First, shouldn't it be a prototypical Raiders fan wearing a black jersey with this sentiment?
Second, why was this Jacksonville aficionado not being pummeled unconscious by the Raiders fans for daring to wear non-Raiders colors?
We noted all afternoon long how, though often freaky looking, the Raiders fans were uniformly pleasant to get along with in rooting for the Black and Silver while still being civil to their opponents fan base.
It was extremely disconcerting.
Koreen and Brian just before we
entered what was their second
ever NFL game
The view from our upper deck seats
"Please stand and, gentlemen,
please remove your hats . . ."
The First Half action was good but
you could tell that both clubs were
struggling with QB issues due to injuries
HALFTIME SCORE
Las Vegas Raiders - 13
Jacksonville Jaguars - 7
The Raiders were going with QB Aidan O'Connell today as their starting QB, Gardner Minshew, was hurt.
Similarly, in place of injured QB Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville had Mac Jones at the helm today.
They are both back-ups for a reason.
Still, I have found that at any level of the game, when two poor teams play each other, the result is usually a competitive game.
Today was a good example of that observation on my part.
We decided to join John and Sarah at their seats for the Second Half. Their seats were in a decidedly more interesting location and the entire row in front of them was empty.
So we moved,
WOW!
We were REALLY close to the action
The Al Davis Flame overlooking
the playing field
Lots of the Second Half action
happened at our end of the field
RAIDERS WIN!
By winning, the Raiders and the Jaguars are both now 3-11 on the season.
The Jaguars are still tied for Third Place in the AFC South with the Tennessee Titans, four games behind the Indianapolis Colts.
Even with their hard fought win, the Raiders are still mired in Fourth Place in the AFC West, six games behind the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos who are tied for Second Place.
The biggest fallout of the day was the game's affect on the two team's 2025 NFL Draft status.
With the loss, the Jaguars moved up from the #6 pick in the First Round to the #3 pick.
The Raiders victory on the other hand, dropped their draft status in the First Round from #2 to #6.
Meanwhile, in another NFL game played in far away New Jersey . . .
The surprising Los Angeles Rams (9-6)
did it again, this time at the expense
of the New York Jets (4-11)
With only two games left in the NFL's regular season, the Rams are now in First Place in the NFC West, one game ahead of the Seattle Seahawks.
The Rams will be playing in SoFi Stadium for their two final games against NFS West rivals, the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) and the Seattle Seahawks (8-7).
FINISH STRONG!
After the game and before scattering to the four corners of the globe, we all sat down to one more meal, this time at Lucille's BBQ.
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!
"A table for 16, please"
Around the Horn, from Left to Right: Emma, Savannah, Max, Kevin, Jacob, Michael, Vanessa, Sarah, John, Mary, Brian, Koreen, Laurie, George, Andrew and Jill
Boys Bonding
Where's Mary?!?!?
A Las Vegas Yuletide was
Extra Special this year
After breakfast with Michael, Vanessa, Mary and Jacob, we started the long drive home with three breaks at EddieWorld in Yermo, a random McDonald's in Lancaster and picking some lemons from one of the FitzGerald's lemon orchards in Camarillo's Santa Rosa Valley.
A huge THANK YOU to Koreen for driving and to both her and Brian for sharing in what was a great Contreras family event weekend.
Good, dear friends are a blessing.
Now, for some of the weekend's side notes . . .
There was a Capriotti's in our hotel
We ate lunch there on Saturday, as Laurie and I shared one of these Thanksgiving themed Bobbies.
It is made with turkey, stuffing and cranberries with just the appropriate dash of deliciousness added to taste.
Taco Tuesday looms
Jacob desperately wants
one of these stylish caps
Michael and Jacob, be wary
Isn't this the truth!
Just did that to Laurie tonight
All three of these NFL Hand Models
are Pro Football Hall-of Famers
On the left is Chuck "Concrete Charlie" Bednarik, Center and Linebacker, University of Pennsylvania 1945-1948, Philadelphia Eagles 1949-1962.
Top right is Ronnie Lott, Cornerback and Safety, University of Southern California 1977-1980, San Francisco 49ers 1981-1990, Los Angeles Raiders 1991-1992, New York Jets 1993-1994 and Kansas City Chiefs 1995. He famously had a doctor cut off the tip of his injured finger rather than miss a game.
Bottom right is Anthony Muñoz, Offensive Tackle, University of Southern California 1976-1979, Cincinnati Bengals 1980-1992.
Matteo Cusimano was recently named
our Gijón Mariners Team Captain
for the fast approaching 2025 season
FELICIDADES MATTEO!
