Friday Night Lights, UCLA Style

Friday, April 19, 2025

I received an email from the UCLA Athletic Department inviting me to attend the Bruins football practice this evening entitled Friday Night Lights. How could I resist?

It looked like an excellent event and a

good excuse to get out of the house

It would be held at UCLA's 11,700 seat Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake Track and Field Stadium and the entry was gratis.

Gratis is a good price so I brought along my usual suspects, son Michael and grandson Jacob.

We noticed the announcement about a Spring Sale starting at 3:00 p.m. We decided to drive down and see what they had for sale.

One of two rooms selling all sorts

of surplus Bruins shoes, sweats,

jerseys, shorts, hats, etc.

Helmets too

We purchased four items.

Mary got the UCLA basketball long sleeve shirt that she wanted.

Jacob now owns a pair of white UCLA themed Nike football cleats, a UCLA powder blue #99 game-used football jersey and a zip up UCLA Track and Field sweat top.

The sale prices for all of these items made for excellent bargains.

Loot in hand, we returned to our

car to store our new found treasures

We wanted to visit the UCLA Athletic

Hall of Fame but it was closed

To kill some time, we visited the

Student Union

A tour of the book store netted Jacob another book about Marine Biology.

Dining in the Student Union on a mix of Taco Bell and Panda Express cuisine was the absolute essence of college dining.

On to the Big Event!

The luminaries of UCLA's fabled

Track and Field history

From Left to Right:

Rafer Johnson

UCLA student 1954-1959

Decathlon Athlete

Silver Medalist at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

Gold Medalist at the 1960 Rome Olympics

Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake

UCLA student 1923-1927

Three year UCLA letterman in Cross Country

UCLA Assistant Track and Field Coach 1929-1946

UCLA Head Track and Field Coach 1947-1964

His UCLA Mens Track and Field team won the 1956 NCAA Outdoor Championship

UCLA's Head Athletic Trainer from 1942-1972

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

UCLA student 1980-1985

1984 Los Angeles Games Silver Medal in the Heptathlon

1988 Seoul Olympics Gold Medals in the Heptathlon and Long Jump

1992 Barcelona Games Gold Medal in the Heptathlon and a Bronze Medal in the Long Jump

1996 Atlanta Olympics Bronze Medal in the Long Jump

It was a BEAUTIFUL night for

American Football!

We were having a hoot at UCLA!

The UCLA Bruins scrimmage started

with all sorts of intramural soccer games

in full progress on the adjacent field

The practice only lasted for one hour

with limited contact even in the scrimmage

but we all enjoyed it

On the way out we stopped to gaze

at plaques with the names of UCLA

Track and Field All-Americans and

Olympic Games participants

The Bruins' eventual 1960 All-American High Jump star, Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, represented his native country of Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.

His name, an announcer's nightmare, just rolls off the tongue.

Finally, an Easter weekend thought . . .

We know two Susans, this could be

either one of them

Probably both come to think of it.

Belated Birthdays, Grandkids and the Aquarium of the Pacific

Sun.-Thurs., April 13-17, 2025

Amid virulent cajoling from at least one reader of this blog as to the author's lack of updates, I humbly bring you back up to date on my goings on in sleepy Camarillo.

On Sunday, we had a combined belated birthday celebration for Jacob and Michael whose birthdays occurred while we were living the high life in Gijón.

Though not her birthday, Mary was

shocked when she opened the box

containing our newest Christmas

ornament, Spain's infamous El Caganer

You can find out more about this, shall we say offbeat, Spanish Christmas tradition by clicking here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer

Jacob with Spanish Army

helicopter patches given to him

by our friend Alberto Talavera

What could this be?

A Purple and Gold blanket

crocheted by his Gigi

Michael also received . . .

. . . a Civil War period correct

non-colored blanket crocheted by

his Mother

A Mariners' sweatshirt was a MUST!

So was a Mariners' flag football jersey

Needing MORE SNACKS is an

ongoing issue with this growing lad

Vanessa took a good photo of us

but we . . .

. . . still had a song to sing, wishes to make,

candles to blow out and cake to eat

While we were celebrating . . .

. . . the Mariners' flag teams

were in action on the road in

wondrous Santiago de Compostela

Our Senior team beat the Cambre Towers, 40-34, and the Santiago Black Ravens, 42-0.

The Mariners' Junior squad had mixed results in earning a win over the Santiago team, 34-12, but losing to the Towers, 28-25.

Liga Norte Open Mixta

Flag Football Standings

1. Gijón Norteños 8-1

2T. Gijón Mariners 7-1

Oviedo Madbulls 7-1

4. Cambre Towers 6-3

5. Oviedo Phoenix 5-4

6. Cantabria Bisons Juniors 4-5

7T. Gijón Mariners Juniors 3-6

Cantabria Bisons 3-6

9. Santiago Black Ravens 1-8

10. Oviedo Phoenix Old Rookies 0-9

On Taco Tuesday, we joined Koreen and Brian FitzGerald at a, at least for me, new Mexican cuisine spot in Camarillo called Rosa Madera.

The BVM overlooking our

meal was a plus

By the way, the food here was delicious. I hope that this last incarnation of a restaurant at this location makes it this time.

Since it was Mexican food that we were eating, it also allowed me to work on my art skills.

Amazingly, I added no art work to my

vast collection of Mexican Food Art

The four of us discussed our future

travel plans while dining

A February cruise in the Gulf of Mexico may be in our future.

Mary and Jacob were enjoying their Easter Week vacation from school this week while both Michael and Vanessa were still at work as their school districts' Spring Breaks were not in sync with the kid's.

Thus, we got the joyous opportunity to have Mary and Jacob with us!

We had Mary on Monday and Tuesday and had a marvelous time playing dominoes and watching some of her favorite TV shows.

Wednesday and Thursday, Jacob joined us. The first day we analyzed my recent results on Ancestry.com and built a family tree together on their website. We all had great fun doing family research.

As for Ancestry.com's analysis of my DNA, here were their findings as to the origins of my ancestors:

87% Spain

6% Indigenous Americas - Mexico,

a.k.a, Aztec Warriors

2% North Africa

2% Basque

2% Cornwall

1% Sephardic Jews

That last 1% explains my kinship with Joanne Sabolić.

On Thursday, we headed to Long Beach

to further nurture Jacob's dream of one

day becoming a Marine Biologist

He was in Hog Heaven!

One of the Aquarium's interactive

displays lets you paint your own

version of various species . . .

. . . like this that then appears . . .

. . . on this huge artsy fish tank along

with several other artistic designed fish

Whales are big

Jellyfish are my favorites

Jacob happily gave me many insights as to their many varieties and dangers.

Native Americans have deep

connections to the Pacific Ocean

What red blooded American boy

wouldn't want to pet a Devil Ray?

Jacob supporting the penguins in their

fight against Trump's ridiculous tariffs

Even more jellyfish to

spellbind both of us

He was enthralled more than once

Finding the food at the Aquarium's restaurant to be quite expensive, we took advantage of their re-entry stamp to find a better option for lunch at The Pike Mall.

Ominous clouds greeted us as we

walked across the street to . . .

. . . to Bubba Gump's for a burger

for Jacob and a Jambalaya for me

Good eats at a much better price.

Sated, we re-entered the Aquarium.

More research

Seahorses are interesting to me

We both touched the leathery

feeling tops of these jellyfish

We had a GREAT day at the Aquarium!

Truthfully, four days with these two was a blessing. Let's do it again soon!

Spanish Bowl XXXI is all set

Saturday, May 3rd at 7:00 p.m. in the Barcelona suburb of Badalona, the Western Conference Champion Las Rozas Black Demons (9-0) will take on the Eastern Conference Champion Badalona Dracs (8-1).

The Black Demons have now earned a total of six Spanish Bowl appearances, all in the last six consecutive seasons having won two of them in 2023 and 2024.

The Dracs are in the Spanish Bowl for a record 19th time with 11 previous wins, the latest in 2021.

Spanish Bowl XXXI should be a real corker!

I love traveling!

Lost Luggage Found, a Dinner, a Movie and a Track Meet

Fri. & Sat., April 11 & 12, 2025

An eventful two days started with a surprise phone call Friday morning telling us that . . .

. . . our missing bag would soon

be delivered to our home

If you recall, Iberia Airlines had lost Laurie's carry-on bag that they offered to check in for free at the Asturias Airport somewhere on our two flights home via Madrid last Sunday.

The caller informed us that he would be dropping off our bag at our house in an hour.

And he did. YAHOO!

Friday night we met Michael, Vanessa, Jacob and Mary for dinner at our old stand-by, El Tecolote Restaurant, for some good Mexican food.

 

Mary proudly by her drawing

from a few months ago that

El Tecolote is still displaying

After dinner, the six of us bought tickets at the Roxy Stadium 11 theaters to watch a movie that the kids really wanted to see.

We all had a grand time

Even though I only have rudimentary knowledge of the Minecraft video game, the movie was still fun for me.

Jacob and Mary's joy watching this film was even more fun.

On Saturday, we were out of the house early as we had a Camarillo Cosmos track meet to attend at Moorpark H.S.

The Cosmos would be running against athletes from the Moorpark Striders Track and Field Club.

Mary started off our day competing

in the Long Jump

Jumping in her jacket was indeed a fashion statement.

What goes up . . .

. . . must come down with

artistic flare of course

Another solid take-off . . .

. . . with another good landing

Mary attained a Seasonal Best today in this event.

Mary and Vanessa celebrating her

Long Jump exploits in our shared tent

Jacob's first event of the day was

the 400 meters

He ran the turn well . . .

. . . and finished strong

He clocked in at 60.99 seconds, a good time for him.

Mary in the 100 meter dash

Holding on to her form

Another Seasonal Best for Mary who was having a good day!

While I was taking photos of Mary's race, Laurie was back at the Long Jump pit recording Jacob's efforts.

A good run up . . .

. . . led to this jump that improved his

PR by a whopping 13 inches!

A new event for Jacob,

the 800 Meters race

His coach gave him times at

various stages of the race to target

He hit them all and again finished

strong to qualify for Varsity Finals

Not bad for the first time running a race at this distance.

Mary running the second leg

of the 4 x 400 Meter relay

She and her team did well

Jacob ran the lead-off leg of his

4 x 400 Meter Relay race

He is about to turn it on at this point

Laurie likes this photo of Jacob 

and me . . .

. . . taking this photo

Laurie's great photo of

Jacob pulling away . . .

. . . from the pack . . .

. . . and finishing with a

strong kick yet again!

It was a good day at the track for both Mary and Jacob as the Moorpark Striders ran an organized meet that ended at about 1:00 p.m. which was outstanding.

While we were enjoying the sunny skies at the track meet, there were a pair of Spanish Serie A Semifinal Playoff Games being played.

One Semifinal was played

in Barcelona

The Badalona Dracs (8-1), the Eastern Conference's #1 seed, cruised to an easy victory on their home field over the Western Conference's #2 seeded Osos Rivas (4-5).

After starting the 2025 campaign at 4-1, the Osos suffered a major collapse down the stretch losing their last four games of the season.

The other Serie A Semifinal

was played in Madrid

The Western Conference's #1 seeded Las Rozas Black Demons (9-0) had no trouble at home dispatching the Eastern Conference's #2 seeded Terrassa Reds (5-3-1).

This victory puts the two time defending National Champion Black Demons in the Spanish Bowl for the sixth straight year.

These two Conference Champions will now square off on Saturday, May 3rd at an as of yet unannounced site.

The Badalona Dracs (8-1) meeting the Las Rozas Black Demons (9-0) in Spanish Bowl XXXI should be a dandy.