Celebration

The celebration of our state championship made an appearance in the airport this morning. As I was sitting and waiting for my flight, I heard a tapping on the glass. I turned around and there was one of the team parents holding up the state championship medal. Awesome!

Nashville

I'm headed to Nashville, TN today for a conference that runs until Thursday. This is the first of 4 travel weeks that lie in front of me. May is going to be hectic.

As I was waiting in the security line this morning, a group of 9 French Canadians burst out into a farewell song. It seemed like a last piece of festival headed out of town. Pretty cool.

Three Peat

Semifinal: 3-0 victory
Final: 1-0 victory

We just won the state championship. The guys played awesome. All told 24 goals for and ZERO goals against in 6 games.

Two Games Left

We are headed to Alexandria, LA this morning for the state semifinals. Two games stand between us and the state championship. Wish us luck!

Festival International de Louisiane - Babylon Circus

Babylon Circus is one of the bands that has stolen the show at this year's festival. The performance below is from another event, but you'll get the gist. Kudo's to Mark for drawing my attention to them. They rock.

Festival International de Louisiane - MOOV

Here is a short clip of MOOV during their Saturday afternoon performance at Festival International de Louisiane. MOOV is a band made up of 30 women from Martinique and their music was described in the festival program as "carnivale." I cannot find an online presence yet so that's about all I know at the moment. That and the fact that they played these drums for an hour straight without stopping. Pretty impressive.

Festival International de Louisiane

This is one of the many performers on stage during the March Fourth Marching Band show. These guys were really unique and had some amazing tunes. I didn't have any video capabilities at the show so I searched around online for something that give you a sense of what these guys are like. This documentary trailer does a good job, gives you some background and is worth watching if you are curious about how a marching band can pull off a show on the largest stage at festival and rock the house.

Festival International de Louisiane, Friday Night

Some various scenes from Friday Night at Festival International de Louisiane here in Lafayette are below. We were out there for about 6 hours or so, saw some amazing bands, lots of friends and the weather was perfect. The music at the festival has so much diversity that it blows your mind.

1. Menwar from the Republic of Mauritius


2. March 4th Marching Band from Portland, Oregon.



3. Alain-Francois from Quebec


4. Babylon Circus from Lyon, France


5. Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys from southern Louisiana

The Iguanas - Lupita

Last week we went to watch The Iguanas, a New Orleans band that is described as "combining Chicano rock, R&B, Conjunto and various Latin" styles. They played at Rhythms on the River, a free outdoor music venue in Lafayette last Thursday. Since my mom was in town, she got to go with us and became a fan as soon as the first song was halfway over. The music was great and the weather perfect. Here is one of my favorite tunes called Lupita.

It is Festival International weekend here in Lafayette. Check out all the cool bands in town. I'll be able to get in a little festival on Saturday and then head to the state tournament on Sunday. Action packed 2 days.

Fan

We were watching the Champions League, specifically Manchester United and it appears that my wife is coming around on being a Cristiano Ronaldo fan. I thought this was a particularly funny comment.

Wife: You know, I have to say that I am really starting to enjoy watching Ronaldo play.
Me: That's good! He's an amazing player. Not sure why you have been against him for so long.

(long pause)

Wife: It's just....
Me: Yeah?
Wife: Well, he just looks like he has a STD.

Lucas Matías Licht Goal

This goal by Lucas Matías Licht (courtesy of pele1410) is incredible.

On a semi-related note, one of the players on my team this past weekend actually scored a similar goal from about 30 yards out. When it went in, I think everyone on the sideline was stunned. I know I was.

Google's Earth Day

Coolest Google homepage ever?

Cajun Signs: Boild

Despite the blurry photo taken with my small digital camera, you have to love the spelling of "boild" in this sign found in Morgan City, Louisiana.

The Final Four

Just a quick update to let all the fans out there know that we won 2 more games today and are now headed to the state semifinals. The guys played awesome this past weekend and I am proud of their effort. Playing and winning four 90 minute games in two days is no small feat. On top of that, we scored 20 goals and gave up zero in those four games.

The semifinals and finals are both played next Sunday. Wish us luck!

2 out of 6

In order to win the state championship this year, we need to win six games in a row. At the end of today, we have 2 down and 4 left. We won both games today with a combined score of 14-0 (winning each game 7-0). At this point, the games get much harder and the field of teams gets narrower. If all goes well, we expect to reach the quarter finals for a 3 PM kick off tomorrow afternoon.

Wish us luck!

Woof and Whiskers

While we spend Friday night in Houma, Jozy is spending Friday night at her first sleep over at a kennel - Woof and Whiskers. I wonder what she is doing right now.

Houma, La

We are in Houma, La this weekend for the first of two weekends in the state championship tournament for my U-17 team. Houma is way down south on the Gulf Coast (a 2 hour drive from our home). We are attempting to win our third state championship in a row. Repeating a feat like winning a state championship is hard. Last year we had to overcome some huge obstacles. Trying to three-peat is going to be even harder.

Wish us luck!

Cajun Signs: Boiling Hot Deals

Most annoying Cajun Sign ever comes in the form of a giant blow up crawfish at the local car dealer.

Visiting with the Locals

We went to the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge the other day - it was gorgeous. The refuge is about 35,000 acres that you can hunt, fish, drive, take pictures on, etc. Migratory birds and gators are everywhere. We did a short wildlife drive and got to visit with some of the locals. Here is one pictured below. He was a friendly fellow.


We took plenty of pictures of the refuge that I will upload when I have a little more time.

Duck Hunting

Duck hunting in Girard Park, Lafayette, LA.

Ladies on the Hunt

In Parc Sans Souci, downtown Lafayette.

Red Wine

Conversation at dinner.

Me: Mom, do you want to get a bottle of wine?
Mom: I don't know, sometimes red wine gives me headaches.
Me: Mom, that's called a hangover.

Country Kennel

I am looking for a good kennel to take Jozy to over the weekend as we will be traveling. So I did a Google search and started calling numbers. I will be sure to go check out Country Kennel, who was the second place I called. The conversation went like this:

Country Kennel: Hello.
Me: Hi! Is this Country Kennel?
Country Kennel: Umm. Yes. How did you get this number?

I'm going tomorrow and I am taking my camera.

Bon Iver - Flume

Something a little more calm and soothing for your Sunday morning by Bon Iver, first featured on a B.O.B mix called ...the plot that you passed. Enjoy your Sunday.

Hole - Violet

It's 2 am and I'm cruising through tunes on my laptop that I stumbled on recently, and I hit a Hole song. I used to really like this band. How could you not scream with Courtney when she hits these notes. It was one of the many perfect ways to release angst in my younger years.

The energy in this song is not helping my insomnia.

And the sky was all violet I want it again, but more violet, more violet

Sober Chicken

The weather was beautiful in Lafayette today - got in lots of yard work, a 'click a trick' class and some work around the house. We had dinner at a good friend's house (retired) and he made sober chicken. Sober chicken is made by taking a soda can and filling with crab boil and Tony's and stuffing it up into a chicken. You then stand the chicken up in your bbq pit, season it, and grill it for a while. I am sure there are more details than this, but you get the gist. This is in contrast to drunken chicken, which I have never had. Apparently, a beer can (I am assuming with beer still in it) is used instead of a soda can. Anyway, the chicken rocked.

Apparently, you can buy drunken chicken stands in Germany.

Letter of Recommendation

I have been asked to write a letter of recommendation for one of the players on my youth team. Yes, this is one of the same kids featured here on Coach. What can I say?!?!?

All kidding aside, he is a great kid so I am working on the letter tonight and decided to read some general tips and tricks on writing letters of recommendation. I thought this was pretty funny:

"Avoid bland words such as: nice, good, fairly, reasonable, decent, satisfactory"

Phew. That was a close one.

Josh Ritter - Peter Killed The Dragon

I've been listening to this Josh Ritter tune lately, Peter Killed the Dragon. Thought you would enjoy it. You can download it from eMusic or iTunes off of the Live at the Record Exchange EP.

"Wish I could hold you in my arms like I hold you in my mind
...
I'm looking over rooftops hoping it ain't true
God can give or take away well who would make such an awful rule?"

Coach

Player 1: Why isn't Dave at practice?
Coach: He has 3 tests tomorrow so he needed to spend time studying for them.
Player 1: He is such a liar! I saw him today and he said he was going home to sleep and was just being lazy.
Coach: He just lies to you so that he can seem cool. In reality, he is actually studying.
Player 2: You're wrong coach. I haven't told you the truth all year. So that means he's lying.

(Dave is a fictional name)

Cajun Signs: Cajun R/C Hobby Shop

As seen on Johnston Street in Lafayette, LA.

New Toy

Jozy has a new toy these days.

AFC: 6-0-0

It appears I failed to give an update after our fifth win, which was against the Zebicus and was a victory under the lights at Clark field. Today was our 6th game and was against one of our arch rivals, the Monarchs. The Monarchs used to win the league each season with very little fan fare. As seasons passed and AFC gradually improved, there were a couple players on the Monarchs who just could not seem to co-exist peacefully with me (and a couple of other players on AFC) on the field.

"Not being able to co-exist peacefully" is a euphemism for intense arguments, physical violence and all around disparaging comments. Thus, it is always a big game when we play them and it is always a good game when we win 5-0. Icing on the cake was a goal and an assist on my part.

AFC now moves to 6-0-0 with one game left in regular season play.

Running Red Lights

I read this fact tonight on the Lafayette Government's website.

Overall, 55.8 percent of Americans admit to running red lights.

I find that amazing and must say that I have never run a red light. Over 50%? Holy cow. Have you ever run a red light?

There was no reference to the source of this fact so I did a little more research and found it noted in a press release from the US Department of Transportation from 1999. Other interesting items found from the Stop Red Light Running partnership survey include:

• 98 percent of Americans agree that red light running is dangerous, but over half admit deliberately running red lights because they are in a hurry.
• Two in three Americans see other drivers run red lights almost every day.
• ...non-parents (65 percent) reported significantly more red light running than respondents in other categories.
• Professionals (59.7)...also rank high. Parents with children less than 20 years old (65.6) are likely to run red lights more than parents of older children (40.8).
• The poll was conducted by the Social Science Research Center at Old Dominion University and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. It queried 880 licensed drivers ages 18 and older on behalf of the Stop Red Light Running program.

Lafayette Red Light Cameras and Speed Vans

I've decided to educate myself on red light cameras and speed vans. Lafayette has become one of the many communities in the country that has adopted these tools (via a company called Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc) and there has been a decent amount of public outcry regarding them. Based on my initial research thus far tonight, the opponents appear to be using phrases such as "unconstitutional," law enforcement for profit," and "big brother." All three phrases resonate with me, but the big question is whether or not they have any substance after you get past the bumper sticker level of the argument. The flip side of the issue (and a big part of me falls on the flip side), argues that if these tools make the roads safer then we should figure out a way to use them.

So tonight I am reading and watching various news stories and studies related to red light cameras and speed vans. So far I am not too impressed. One of the biggest opponents of the use of these tools in Lafayette is Todd Elliott, a local radio talk show host. Unfortunately, most of the footage I have seen of Todd is not overly impressive. Despite describing himself as eloquent, I have yet to see an example. Unfortunately, I find him lacking well formed logical arguments when I hear him speak on the issue. As a newcomer to the debate, I find his approach has actually made me doubt the credibility of the argument. However, it is important to note that I have yet to make up my mind. Just because the messenger or message delivery is flawed does not mean that message is. Thus, I will keep reading.

• Want to hear or see Todd? Follow this link to get to various YouTube videos where he takes up his cause.
• Some of these videos show Lafayette Consolidated Government council hearings and let me tell you, the council members seem to get sidetracked from the issue when confronting Todd.
• Click this link to go to Lafayette's SafeSpeed program website.
• Click this link to go to Lafayette's SafeLight program website.
• The photo at the top of this post is taken from the REDFLEXRed product brochure.

Do you have these speed vans or red light cameras where you live? What do you think about them?

Retro AFC Jerseys

Did some shopping today which subsequently made me do a little spring cleaning and empty out the t-shirt drawer to get rid of some old shirts. During that project I decided to capture the magnificent history of AFC jerseys through the years. They progress chronologically left to right in the back row (starting with the grey t-shirt followed by the navy Puma).

The one in the foreground is the current year's jersey. One star for each champion season to date.

Note that we have yet to add the star from last season.

Titanium Sporks in Action

My good friend and B.O.B reader Luke was kind enough to send me a link to the latest rage in sporks - titanium. Go on and check it out. If you want to see it in action, just click this link to see some shots in the field.

History of Sporks on B.O.B.

Bubba Keg Jozy

Check it out! Jozy has caught the attention of the graphic designer for Bubba Keg! I always knew she had a talent beyond her current bag of tricks. Now I just need to combine a trick or two with a Bubba Keg prop, load it up on YouTube, and she will be on a TV near you. Taking the media outlets by storm...

We just started training on this "to be unveiled" commercial this afternoon.

600

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. In the last 3 days I've driven about 600 miles so I haven't had much free time. Good news is that I averaged over 40 mpg and was able to go round trip for Lafayette to Jackson, MS on one tank of gas.

Ronaldo Goal, Manchester United vs. Aston Villa

This past weekend, Ronaldo (and the rest of Manchester United) put on a show as Manchester United crushed Aston Villa. The scoreline ended 4-0 but it could have been much worse. Man U is clicking on all cylinders and is playing some really amazing soccer. It is almost impossible to watch and not exclaim how good these guys are once every 15 minutes or so.

The first goal of the game was pretty extraordinary. Watch this behind the leg flick that Ronaldo does to meg a defender and initiate the flood.

Satchel - Suffering

If you want to trace related music to my last post regarding Jeremy Toback, Brad, and Sean Smith, you should check out a band called Satchel. This music is all from my college years but listening to this song right now, it still hits home. This is an awesome tune.