Saturday, November 26, 2016

A Friday With Invading Viking Friends from Hässleholm, Sweden


Friday, 25 November, 2016:

Black Friday for many today both in the USA and Spain. Today was a great day for us to reunite with two good friends, Uffe Palmbrink and Johan Hammarqvist, from our days back in 2010 coaching Sweden's Hässleholm Hurricanes.

But first . . .

Today was also the
109th Apple Cup Game Day

Besides the usual, intense in-state rivalry associated with this annual battle, this year's winner would also take home the PAC-12 North title with a spot in next Friday's PAC-12 Championship Game vs. either Colorado or USC.

On to a great, rainy day with friends in . . . 

Madrid

Puerta del Sol gearing up
for the Christmas Holidays

Love this building on the
way to meet Uffe and Johan
in Plaza Mayor

Bart, George, Laurie, Johan
and Uffe

Damn photo bomber.

After meting on Plaza Mayor, we decided to start walking through the neighborhoods as Uffe and Johan had never been to Madrid. Thus we wound up on Puerta del Sol by the iconic Madrid bear eating berries from the madroño tree.

Los Gatos
Our first Tapas Crawl spot

The food looked great

And it tasted even better

Uffe marveled at the displays

Uffe also noted that in Sweden,
they would never allow food to be
displayed/stored this way

On to the Paseo del Prado

We continued to orient them as to where the top sights are in Madrid. On Saturday they are going to visit the Prado Museum.

Monument to the Unknown Soldiers

Two Swedes stuck on the median
of a busy Madrid street

It turned out that Laurie and I are quicker than we look.

The Alcalá Gate
near El Retiro Park 

More Tapas, this time
back on Plaza Mayor

 Uffe and Laurie talking about
Spain's bullfighting culture

George and Johan
Two Good Friends 

On to Mercado San Miguel . . . 

Great looking cherries

Lots of people seeking shelter
and a good dining experience
on a rainy day in the Mercado

 Interesting looking seafood

Terrifying looking fish

All of our walking and Tapas Crawling ate up most of the afternoon and by 3:30 p.m., it was time for us to take leave of our friends at the Royal Palace to start the hour+ long process of returning to Arganda del Rey to gear up for tonight's two Osos Rivas practices.

We will meet again Sunday morning as our Saturday Osos schedule includes taking part in our second Coaches Clinic from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. followed by a Junior team game from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

In case you were wondering
exactly where King Felipe II had
Ana de Mendoza y La Cerda
arrested back in 1579

DON'T DO IT! 

Plaza Mayor was on our way back to the Opera Metro Station so we stopped by so that Laurie could examine their . . .

Christmas Market

Lots of little shops

Lots of Nativity Scene pieces

Ornaments too

 Well made clay figurines

LOTS of well made clay figurines

A reminder that the Spanish
Inquisition at one time used Plaza Mayor
as the public place to torture heathens

On to practice . . .

Our Juniors will play the
Tres Cantos Jabatos tomorrow
in a nine-man game

Quick review of pass
blocking techniques

Reviewing our basic
Offense and Defense schemes

Our Royal Oaks Knights
feeder club had a game tonight

This team is led by their one and only Head Coach, Marco Chomón. Unfortunately the game was going on during our practices so we could not attend.

The Knights were the heavy favorites going into the contest.

We only had 18 players at our Senior practice tonight which was more than a little bit disappointing. Still, those in uniform gave us great effort and improved. What more can you ask for as a coach?

Final thought for the day . . .

BEAT THE COUGARS!

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