Monday, December 9, 2013

Thanksgiving Day, Las Vegas, Occidental Seniors and a Nordhoff Game


O.K., I've been living the high life again and have not posted in awhile. Time to catch up . . .

THANKSGIVING DAY

As usual, we loaded up the car to meet at the ancestral Contreras home in San Marino, California for this most American of holidays.

I missed this activity last year due to my coaching responsibilities in France. Again, MERCI to the Moulton family back in Lyon for including me in their 2012 Thanksgiving Day experience.

My sister Linda with Jacob

Although she does get a bit of help from family members, Linda is THE star of the day as she is responsible for the bulk of the Thanksgiving menu every year.

On this particular Thursday she outdid herself!!!

My mother Chuny with Jacob

Vanessa with Jacob and
our niece Lauren with Max

I know that this makes Jacob and Max related but I have absolutely no clue as to what they would be called.

Second cousins perhaps?

I coached the Hässleholm Hurricanes
in Sweden in 2010

Cranberry Delight

DELIGHTFUL!!!

Best Turkey EVER

And yes, that IS bacon all over it!!!

The Table was Festive

It was a GREAT day of family, food and football.

VIVA LAS VEGAS

After spending Thursday night in San Marino, we were up bright and early for the drive to North Las Vegas for a long weekend visit with Andy, Jenn and Kevin.

Kevin is getting SO BIG!

Kevin in his Desert Cruiser
with Dooley standing guard

Family Heirloom

This rocking horse was made by Kevin's Great Grandfather Bill for his daughter Laurie back in the late 1940s. Kevin's Dad and his Uncle Mike used it as well several moons ago.

Madonna and Child

Jenn holding Kevin who was tired after watching the Huskies maul the Washington State Cougars in this year's Apple Cup on Friday afternoon.

Saturday at Santa's Desert Residence

The battle between Santa and young children during a photo session was in full force on this day. Santa tried really hard to be nice though.

Kevin DID like Santa's Christmas Tree

After the attempted photo shoot, we were off to the Mandalay Bay Casino so that Kevin could check out their . . .

. . . SHARK REEF ADVENTURE!

He loved the Ray Tank too!

Laurie Liked the Mandalay Bay's
Wine Rack MUCH More

Kevin Liked the Tractor,
I LOVED the Burger

Finally, on Tuesday, after an AWESOME visit, we returned to Camarillo.

OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE

Thursday in Eagle Rock, California

I drove an hour toward Los Angeles last Thursday to meet with the Seniors at Occidental College about the road to playing in Europe sometime in the future.

A BIG thanks to Oxy Head Coach Doug Semones and Offensive Coordinator Brian Smith for allowing me to speak to these fine young men about the fabulous EuroBall experience.

As is usual, most of these athletes have one more semester of school before they graduate so we are really preparing them for the 2015 season overseas.

Oxy Tigers who want to be EuroBallers

NORDHOFF H.S. RANGERS
C.I.F. CHAMPIONSHIP GAME


On a very chilly Saturday night, our son Michael joined me for the drive up to Ojai, California to see the C.I.F. Northwest Conference championship game.

Ventura County's Nordhoff H.S., led by Coach Tony Henney, are the defending 2012 champion of this conference having gone 13-1 last season. They entered Saturday's game with a sparkling 12-1 record.

The Rangers' opponents were the Pioneer League Champion El Segundo H.S. Eagles who were 10-3 going into the contest.

Go Rangers GO!!!


An unusual side note to the evening's battle is that both schools featured rosters of homegrown, non-transfer students.

How refreshing in these transfer crazy times!

Nordhoff Goal Line Defense


It was a really good high school football game with lots of intensity and a great crowd. The Nordhoff squad defended their title by winning the game 49-21.

This victory, which upped the Rangers record to 13-1, earned them an invitation to play in the Southern California Regional Division III Bowl game next Saturday at Orange Coast College against the Pacific Coast League Champion Corona del Mar H.S. Sea Kings who are 14-0 after winning the C.I.F. Southern Conference Championship last Friday.

The winner of this game will go on to play in the California Division III State Championship at noon on Saturday, December 21st against the best Division III team from Northern California. That would be the winner of the Atherton Sacred Heart Prep (12-1) vs. El Cerrito (12-2) contest.

Candles in the Window


A must on the night of December 8th if you have ever lived in Lyon, France.

We have.

HUSKIES GO BOWLING




Lots of news with our Washington Huskies in the last week.

First Head Coach Steve Sarkisian left Seattle for the job at USC.

I'm good with that.

Next the Huskies were able, in quick order, to get highly coveted Boise State University Head Coach Chris Petersen to become the UW's new coach.

I'm ECSTATIC with that.

Finally, the Huskies 8-4 record earned them a trip to the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco against the 8-4 BYU Cougars.

Michael and I are going.

GO DAWGS!!!

No comments: