Coaching for Pizza

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Middle School Duel in the Desert Part II

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

We were excited by the opportunity to watch another of Kevin's Canarelli Middle School Colts soccer games this afternoon.

The Colts were informed of a change in their record when the Cashman M.S. Cougars reported themselves for using an ineligible player during the 7-7 tie with Canarelli M.S. back on March 25th. Thus the tie was forfeited and turned into a win on the Colts record which was now officially changed from 7-3-1 to 8-3.

Canarelli was on the road again to day for their game.

We were on the campus of the

Sawyer Middle School Mustangs

for our Duel in the Desert Part II

Colts pre-game huddle

It was only 84°F at the start of the game but we had strong winds blowing across the field, in the direction of one goal to the other, that caused problems.

As usual, Kevin was one of the

smaller players on the field

This is not an unusual situation for the majority of sixth graders on these middle school teams composed of sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

Sprinting is a good thing

He sprinted right into a

confrontation for the ball

Keeping an eye on things while the

ball was in the other end of the pitch

Warming up his kicking leg at Halftime

with the Colts cruising to an 8-0 lead

A high pass

Trouble brewing as the Mustangs attack

Now it's getting serious

How big are #40 and #50?

This could get good

Good position

Getting after it!

I think #50 might have gobbled

up Kevin at this moment but . . .

. . . Kevin got out of it with

determination and persistence

Good finish on this play sequence

Corner Kick Mayhem in the net

Illegal block in the back is

a 10 yard penalty, no?

Hip checked but Kevin still

maintains his position

That was a tough sequence of plays

Giving chase to that high bouncing ball

Kevin played well again today

Andrew and Kevin walking off of

the pitch after the game

After a scoreless Second Half, Canerelli M.S. defeated Sawyer M.S. by a final score of 8-0.

The Colts record is now 9-3 with just two more games next week left in the regular season.

It was a lot of fun watching Kevin play in his two games this week with his highly skilled group of Canarelli Colts.

Before the game we did some shopping.

Alway a shopping spot for us

on our Las Vegas trips

Though I neither hunt nor fish. I do know that several large men do.

The Bass Pro Shop chain also sells clothing as well as all sorts of hunting, fishing and camping paraphernalia.

Ergo, they have lots of clothing in manly sizes.

The decor is interesting

The one half of the store dedicated

to fishing got my attention

With lots of unknown fish hanging from the ceiling, I could have used a budding Marine Biologist as a guide.

Sharks

What are those yellow ones

So did this Great White shark

Tuna?

Interesting fresh water species

in the stores large aquarium

I liked the funky tail on this

green one below

Laurie purchased a top and I got four comfortable shirts to add to my wardrobe. We were both happy.

From the Bass Pro Shop, we headed to IKEA to buy things that got our eye but probably did not need.

Like this armed heart

We did not buy it but we did pick up a few trinkets that we could use like a large box of Swedish gingerbread cookies.

They were both a MUST and a BARGAIN.

For lunch, the Cuban sandwich at the Mercadito UnCommons convenience store that we shared may have been the best one that I've ever had, including the several consumed at the Bacardi Building in Habana during Spring Break 2006.

Grandchildren are a BLESSING!

A Nice Visit to Boulder City, Nevada

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

If you are a long time reader of this blog, then you know that our frequent trips to Las Vegas are all about family and food and not at all about life on the infamous Strip.

So with that in mind and with Andrew at work and Kevin in school most of the day, it would be a good day to get out of the house and reconnoiter other areas of the Las Vegas Valley.

Before going any further I would be remiss if I didn't mention that today was . . .

My namesakes Feast Day

In Barcelona, Jordi is Catalan

for George

Thank you to the European League of Football's Barcelona Dragons for this cool graphic.

Damn, I knew that it was

too good to be true

I posted this photo a few days ago and, as it turns out, the story that this Scotsman was the inspiration for the Batman/Bruce Wayne comic book character was 100% apocryphal.

But it sure was a good yarn.

Let's get back on track, Jenn, Laurie and I opted to drive about 30 minutes to Boulder City to explore, shop and have lunch.

Boulder City was the town created to house the over 4,000 workers who built the Hoover Dam in 1931.

This was at the height of the Great Depression and desperate men and their families braved the desolation of the Southern Nevada desert to build the dam in brutal, dangerous and, at times, deadly conditions.

Today, Boulder City has about 16,000 resident souls and the town has a definite artsy feel to it that we enjoyed immensely.

We arrived and immediately got into our combined but differing exploration modes.

The first of many statues we would

find in well placed public spaces

We lucked out as it was only 86°F today.

"Eggcited"

I get it.

Mysterious Lady about to

cross the street

The Grind served me a buttery

croissant and a solid cappuccino

Artsy Mason jar metal lids were the one

signature non-edible item at the Grind

Boulder City has murals!

The family on the left represents all of those workers and their families that had to endure the hardships of living in "Ragtown" as the living quarters were called.

The tall man on the right is Frank Crowe, the Superintendent of the Hoover Dam's construction.

We passed on buying any plants here

Lots of odes to the Hoover Dam

workers are to be found

Dueling Eagles

Beer Zombies?

Not a fun job at all, but necessary

This is a statue of a man in charge of sweeping out the outhouses and keeping them supplied with toilet paper.

To many, small, undesirable jobs were not demeaning, just a

source of much needed income during hard times to support a family in great need.

A feather of unknown origin

A small but colorful mural

Oh, I just had to go in here

Interesting way to market these

three mystery books for sale

Trudging on . . .

I do not know

Appropriate in front of a nice

looking wine bar

Zoltar is better than even the

famed Eight Ball at predictions

We would have a good lunch here

It was reviewed positively by Guy Fieri

on his "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives"

TV show

Back on the art trail

No, not art, just someone in, I'm

guessing a really hot uniform at work

More Dueling Eagles

"Puddler's Break"

A puddler was the nickname for the men building the dam that directed buckets of concrete over empty forms, released the concrete and then used their shovels and feet to spread it around.

Or you could just bounce

on a big rubber ball

Madonna and Child

Desert Fish

This Puddler could, for sure,

use a spa tonight

Suddenly, THERE IT WAS!

Absolute, mostly ceramic treasures fit for any shoppers wants and needs.

I liked the turtle

The two Native American

mannequins were not for sale

We came away with three more

ceramic bowls and tiles for

Laurie's needs in the back yard

Area 51 is not too far away, so this

store was a natural in Boulder City

Don't you just hate it when you

have to fight off an angry bear

with your frying pan?

Nice fountain, no water

One of childhood's simple pleasures

Interesting antique store mural

I could have used a frosty beverage

right about now

Part of a mural in the

Boulder Dam Hotel . . .

. . . more of the same mural

To be clear, when they started the dam building project, it was called the Boulder Dam. In 1947, it was re-christened the Hoover Dam.

The Boulder Dam Hotel houses

an interesting museum covering all things

things about the five year construction

of the dam from 1931-1936

A typical Mess Hall setting for

the dam's workers

A random flash light and a

Boulder City Fire Department badge

Some of American history is not

covered in glory, here is an example

Dynamite is potentially

dangerous, correct?

Tough times being dealt with

by tougher people

They had much desired

jobs at the Boulder Dam site

Like I said, TOUGH TIMES!

Not fun but better than

starving to death

Salt Tablets were a staple during

two-a-days at St. Francis H.S.

back in 1964

Not good.

Holy Mother of God!

Danger was a constant companion

I completely back the strikers cause

Treacherous

Black Canyon is the site of

Boulder/Hoover Dam

A vintage, mangled Auto Club of

Southern California road sign

Solid construction techniques I'm sure

Old school washing machine

Iron Fist can mean dictatorial,

if I'm not mistaken

A Six Companies, Inc. check for

$0.70 USD made out to R.P. Horton

Six Companies, Inc. was the joint venture of construction companies that built the dam.

The ID badges are for Bureau of Reclamation project's office workers.

I could have used a rest

room right about now

It was a good, free museum worth the thirty minute viewing. Glad I toured it.

A dancer loose in the

Boulder City streets

A wise owl indeed

So true

Football, football, football . . .

Big win for the Cheyennes over the

Pumas last weekend

Good game coming up in

Sweden this weekend

Of course, Costa Rica will be

getting into the act in just two weeks

A first for the Dolphins but

not a first for the IFL

Back in 2008, when I coached with the Catania Elephants, we opened the season in Milano against the Rhinos.

The Rhinos had as 51 year old starting Linebacker whose 17 year old son was Milano's starting Tailback. In a nail-biter of a defensive struggle, we eked out a 47-40 win over the Rhinos.

We faced a similar Father-Son duo in Sweden in 2010 while coaching the Hässleholm Hurricanes. Playing for the Carlshamn Oakleaves was the father of one of their players who had never played football before our game. He suited up merely to give them another body as, even with him in uniform, they only had 14 active for the game. We won 32-0 on that day trying to keep the score down as much as possible.

On May 4th, the University of

Southern Oregon Raiders will host Japan's

Kwansei University Gakuin Fighters

in a game of American Football

A highly fascinating match-up in my opinion.

Now for some updates from the world of Camarillo Cosmos track . . .

This coming Saturday, Mary will be competing in the Ventura County Youth Track Conference (VCYTC) Junior Varsity Finals.

It was announced at their practice on Monday night that Jacob has qualified for the VCYTC Varsity Finals in two weeks in all five of his events! He is the only athlete on the Cosmos Boys 11-12 year old team to accomplish this feat.

To qualify for Varsity Finals, one has to run or jump to one of the top nine seasonal marks in the VCYTC rankings of the dozens and dozens of athletes competing in Ventura County at the various age groupings.

Here is the lists of where Jacob ranks in his individual events.