Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Car Repair Madness, Tacos and, as Always, Jacob's Sports


Mon. & Tues., March 25-26, 2024

A busy couple of days with lots of work from home on the computer.

I spent most of the last two days
breaking down game videos for
our beloved, old Italian squad,
the Varese Skorpions

The easy part was analyzing last Sunday's Skorpions (3-0) 34-0 win over the Torino Giaguari (2-2). It was as dominating a win as I can recall the Skorpions having in the six seasons that I have been involved with the club.

The harder part of my date with the HUDL game video app to aid the Varese 11 was to breakdown and analyze all three game tapes of the Skorpions next opponent, the defending IFL Champion Parma Panthers (2-1). They will play in Parma on Saturday, April 6th. 

Even though the Skorpions sit
alone in First Place, the pundits
still are not convinced

The Ancona Dolphins (2-0) are deemed to be the stronger team in this week's IFL Power Rankings largely due to their 25-24 win over Parma.

I feel good about all of the work that I have done on behalf of the Skorpions.. I hope it leads to another Varese win.

Tuesday?

Of course, it was TACO TUESDAY!

Because my car was engaged in repairing an electrical issue at the Honda of Oxnard dealership, we opted to eat our tacos at a new spot in nearby El Rio.

Two chorizo and two adobada
street tacos were PERFECT!

A can of Diet Coke helped to top off a perfect lunch.

Laurie was more than happy with
her shrimp taco and an horchata

Another fine dining experience in the books and knowing that we would soon be out a few hundred dollars in the car repairs, we headed to the dealership to pick up my car.

We drove about 100 yards in Laurie's car when we, without any warning, felt the unmistakable thumping of a flat tire.

The outer wall of our right front
tire looked bad

Fortunately for us, there was an
independent tire store across the
street from us

They weren't busy and we had ourselves a new tire at a good price only 15 minutes after this latest crisis started.

The joys of car ownership never end.

In the evening, Jacob had a home soccer game as his Las Colinas Middle School Mustangs (2-2) took on the Nordhoff Junior High School Rangers. The Mustangs beat the Rangers in Ojai last week, 2-0.

Jacob heading the ball . . .

. . . to a teammate

Defense

Mixing it up with a Ranger

Getting excited for a Mustang's goal

At Halftime, it was a 1-1 game.

A strong Second Half showing by the home team made for a 3-1 win for the now 3-2 Mustangs.

Jacob got a pair of Nike Zoo Air long jump shoes for his birthday that arrived via FedEx Tuesday afternoon just before the his soccer game.

After the soccer game, Jacob just had to go over to Camarillo H.S. to try them out.

He is airborne

Taking off still in his LCMS
soccer kit

Word has it that the new shoes
helped him improve personal record
by six feet tonight

The last statement might be apocryphal.

On to news from the net . . .

It looks like the L.A. Rams could
dominate the rich Mexican and
Pacific Rim market in the future

A trip to Seattle just might
be in order . . .

100% Agree!

200% Agree!!

300% Agree!!!

And then there is this truth
to deal with as we all get older

I truly do enjoy keeping my toes in the football waters while trying to help out the Skorpions. Thank you Coach Nick Holt for letting me still be a part of the Varese organization.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

A Thankfully Quiet Sunday at Home in Tranquil Camarillo


Sunday, March 24, 2024
While we were enjoying a quiet day at home, the game was definitely afoot on several EuroBall stadiums today.

The IFL only had one game today but it
involved our old club, the Varese Skorpions

It figured to be a tough game as the Torino Giaguari had scored over 40 points in their two wins while the undefeated Skorpions had to rely on sold Defense and Special Teams play as their Offense had struggled to start the season.

WOW!

It's not luck when you shut them out.

The Skorpions scored all five of their TDs today via the air, apparently there was no signs of another Offensive struggle on this Palm Sunday.

There will be no Italian Football League
games during the Easter Weekend

IFL DI Standings
1. Varese Skorpions 3-0
2. Ancona Dolphins 2-0
3T. Firenze Guelfi 2-1
Legnano Frogs 2-1
 Parma Panthers 2-1
6. Torino Giaguari 2-2
7. Milano Rhinos 2-3
8. Lazio Marines 0-3
9. Bologna Warriors 0-4

IFL DI Schedule
Sat. & Sun., April 6 & 7, 2024
Varese Skorpions (3-0) at Parma Panthers (2-1)
Ancona Dolphins (2-0) at Milano Rhinos (2-3)
Lazio Marines (0-3) at Bologna Warriors (0-4)
Firenze Guelfi (2-1) at Legnano Frogs (2-1)
BYE: Torino Giaguari (2-2)

Our good friends with our former
Sicilian team, the Catania Elephants
must be ecstatic with this win over the
Salerno Eagles

The Elephants are playing in Italy's DIII this year and currently reign atop Conference A.

There are 21 clubs divided into five geographical oriented conferences throughout Italy.

DIII Conference A Standings
1. Catania Elephants 2-0
2. Crotone Achei 1-0
3. Napoli Briganti 82 1-1
4. Palermo Eagles United 0-1
5. Salerno Eagles 0-2

DIII Conference A Schedule
Sat. & Sun., April 6 & 7, 2024
Crotone (1-0) at Salerno (0-2)
Napoli (1-1) at Palermo (0-1)
BYE: Catania (2-0)

There were two games played in
Spain's DI, the Serie A

Coslada (4-3) brought Alcobendas' (0-9)
season to a merciful end

Badalona (7-0) is clearly the best
team in the Eastern Conference after
beating the Mallorca (3-4) squad

The Serie A Standings with one more
week left in the regular season

Just as in Italy, there will be no Serie A games played in Spain during the upcoming Easter weekend.

Serie A Schedule
Sat. & Sun., April 6 & 7, 2024
Western Conference Games
Coslada Camioneros (4-3) at Rivas Osos (6-1)
Gijón Mariners (2-5) at Las Rozas Black Demons (6-1)
BYE: Alcobendas Cavaliers (0-8)

Eastern Conference Games
L'Hospitalet Pioners (5-2) at Badalona Dracs (7-0)
Zaragoza Hurricanes (3-4) at Mallorca Voltors (3-4)
BYE: Barcelona Pagesos (0-8)

The team that I coached in France,
the Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons, got a
good win today over the Chambéry Aigles

When we were with Bron-Villeurbanne during the 2012-13 season we were a DIII club. With this win, the Falcons are now 4-0 in DIV Regional play.

Finding more details about the French DIV Regional results and standings has been a tad problematic.

And then there is this . . .

After the events of the last few months
this is becoming much truer on a
seemingly daily basis

Just saying . . .

A Fitting Memorial, More Track and a Birthday Celebration


Saturday, March 23, 2024
We gathered with the family and friends at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Arcadia to bid a final farewell to a good friend.

Peter "Spear" Claridge
November 25, 1945 - February 5, 2024

I first met Spear as a teammate with the Washington Huskies football team in 1966.

Tall and thin, hence the moniker Spear, he was a Wide Receiver with a big smile, an always positive outlook on life and a beaming personality that made you want to be in the same room with him.

A UW Glory Days caricature

"Tube?" That's a new one on me.

Spear greeting Paul Sabolić at the 2018
UW vs. UCLA game in the Rose Bowl,
a 31-24 Huskies win

Spear with our grandson Jacob
at the 2019 Rose Bowl Game
Ohio State 28 - Washington 23

With Spear on that same glorious
Pasadena Chamber of Commerce day

This was the last time that I saw Spear as the devastating disease that is Alzheimer's, which he was already battling, took him away from us all.

Spear was just a good man who brought joy to many people's lives as the large turnout today confirmed. He will be missed but remembered fondly by all who knew him.

With Peter Marguglio

Even in his passing, Spear brought people together.

Peter Marguglio and I went to school together at both St. Francis H.S. and the University of Washington but had not seen each other in over 50 years until Spear's memorial service brought us back together.

Our attendance at Spear's service meant that we could not attend Mary's and Jacob's track meet today at Newbury Park H.S.

Michael and Vanessa kept us up to date on the grandkids' exploits today.

On a rainy morning, Jacob with his
trademark headband is on the left
running the Lead Leg of in the
Boys 11-12, 4 x 100 Maters Relay

The team finished in First Place with a time of 1:02.92.

Mary was scheduled to run in the Girls 9-10, 4 x 100 Meters Relay but the Cosmos did not have a fourth runner to complete the team.

Jacob's Lead Leg in the 4 x 100 Relay

His team is in Lane 6 and they can definitely improve on their handoff.

Mary was happy with both her
100 and 200 Meters races

She ran her all-time fastest 100 Meters race today.

Unfortunately, as I write this, the Camarillo Cosmos website has yet to post the results of any Girls 9-10, 200 Meters or Long Jump results.

Jacob took another Blue Ribbon
in the Boys 11-12, 400 Meters
with a time of 1:09.07

On a side note, his time was only 6.15 seconds slower than his 4 x 100 Meters Relay team's today.

The skies threatened all morning

Jacob came in second in the 200 Meters
while recording his all-time best time
of 30.29

Jacob ran the Anchor Leg of the Cosmos' 4 x 400 Meters race that finished in First Place with a time of 5:04.31, another all-time best for him and his relay teams at this distance.

As was Mary's fate, none of Jacob's Boys 11-12, Long Jump results have been posted on-line as of yet on the Cosmos website.

All in all, Jacob and Mary had good
days on the Newbury Park HS track

We ended the day back home celebrating Jacob's 12th birthday which was actually last Monday.

He wanted pizza, baked potatoes and snickerdoodle cookies instead of a cake.

So let it be written, so let it be done!

Gigi and Mary bonding moment

Jacob, our happy birthday boy

Blowing out the candles on
his snickerdoodle cookies

A whale t-shirt from Maui

Jacob's interest in all things relating to Marine Biology and Oceanography influenced our gift giving.

He LOVED this book

Another book about the Humpback whales in Maui was a big hit too.

His final gift from us is to be delivered on Tuesday by FedEx. We purchased him a pair of Nike Air Zoom Long Jump shoes guaranteed to add at least a Bob Beamon-like six feet to his jumps I'm sure.

Discussing the joys of eating
cotton candy ice cream

As for EuroBall action today . . .

A huge win for Rivas (6-1) over
Las Rozas (6-1) with only one game left
in the Spanish Serie A regular season

This win ties them atop the Western Conference. If things stay this way at the end of the season, the tie breaker for playoff seeding is head on competition.

The Black Demons won the first game against the Osos, 10-6.

Since they now split their two regular season games, the next tie breaker is the aggregate score in their two contests. The aggregate score is now Osos Rivas 34 - Las Rozas Black Demons 31, the Osos own the tie breaker by three points.

Both teams will make the playoffs but the Osos will open the playoffs at home as the Western Conference's #1 seed while the Black Demons as the WC's #2 team will have a road game.

That is, of course, if after the Easter weekend league-wide bye, these two clubs either both win or both lose. If only one of them wins, they would claim the WC's top seed.

In their regular season ending games on April 4th, the Osos Rivas (6-1) host the dangerous Coslada Camioneros (4-3) while the Black Demons (6-1) would appear to have, at least on paper, an easier home game against the Gijón Mariners (2-5).

Zaragoza (4-3) had no trouble
with Barcelona (0-8) whose season
is now over

There were two games today in Italy's DI circuit . . .

The Parma Panthers routed the
hapless Bologna Warriors

Those pesky Legnano Frogs did it
again vs. the Milano Rhinos this time

In Italian DII action . . .

The Modena Vipers handed Coach
Bart Iaccarino the Cecina Trappers
first loss of 2024

Finally . . .

I really liked this game poster for
a recent game in Mexico

A day of ups and downs to be sure.