Sunday, September 30, 2012

Falcon"B" team at St. Étienne Condors


The Falcon "B" Team's 
Season Opener Today

Let us review the reason for this year's first ever Bron-Villeurbanne Falcon Senior "B" team.

Last year over 100 athletes turned out for the Falcon's Senior team. Since it is virtually impossible to get this many players into a 48 minute game, many athletes dropped by the wayside as they were getting no playing time.

The club's leadership believed that we needed to keep the interest level high, so this year the "B" team was started to give our vast number of first year players and our tail end Senior "A" team players a chance to develop.

The "B" team is playing in a five team Senior Division IV league made up of three clubs' "A" teams and another club's "B" team. We have an eight game schedule that ends just before the Christmas holidays.

Division IV plays nine man football. No tackles on offense and usually one less lineman and linebacker on defense.

Thus we were off to St. Étienne, about 40 minutes away, for our game against the Condors.

Nothing like a game field
with power lines overhead

I am afraid that the electric radiation may have had negative effects on my reproductive system.

We suited up 42 Falcons

For many of our Falcons not only was this the first game that they had ever played in, it was also the first American football game they had ever even seen!

Also, we only had three practices for this team leading into the game.

Our goals were thus quite simple, have fun and play hard.

This was above all a learning experience for our newbies.

Captains Out

The game started with us on offense. We moved the ball a bit but were forced to punt. We mishandled the long snap and our punter was downed at our 10 yard line.

This is a learning experience.

The Condors took advantage of the short field with a one yard QB Sneak giving them a 6-0 lead.

An illegal block on the ensuing kickoff return started our next drive at our five yard line. We would eventually punt.

Our defense played well and forced a three and out punt by the Condors.

We ended the first quarter by fumbling the ball at our eight yard line.

This is a learning experience.

The defense came up big with an apparent fourth down stop but we were called for roughing the passer giving St. Étienne a new set of downs. they scored on a five yard sweep play to up their lead to 12-0.

Our next series ended with an interception.

This is a learning experience.

The defense forced another three and out punt.

We moved the ball a little bit but punted again.

The Condors were driving as the half came to an end with St. Étienne leading 12-0.

Condors on Offense

St. Étienne came out throwing to start the second half and our defense responded with three straight sacks! The Condors punted.

We moved the ball again but turned the ball over on downs.

We forced the Condors to punt and unfortunately for us it was a short one. One of our rookies decided that it was a good idea to jump on the ball, it squirted away and a Condor recovered.

This is a learning experience.

Our defense came up big and stopped St. Étienne on fourth down as the third quarter ended.

We fumbled on the next play.

This is a learning experience.

The Condors scored on a 15 yard run and made their two point PAT to stretch their lead to 20-0.

Our first play was a pass that was intercepted.

This is a learning experience.

The Condors would fumble the ball back to us.

We turned the ball over on downs but our new H-Back, Tim Tebow I think, ran the ball really well.

The Condors drove the ball to our goal line where the defense played well again stopping them at the one yard line on fourth down.

A new tailback for us popped a run right up the middle for a 40 yard gain, easily our offensive highlight of the day. The game ended with our team on the move.

Good job today defense!!!

With two lost fumbles, threw two interceptions, had a botched punt and a punt return snafu. The score could have been much worse if our defense had not played so well.

All 42 players that suited up for the game got a chance to play. I thought we played hard but our lack of both experience and practice time were apparent.

I think that our players had fun and I felt that they did play hard throughout the game.

I had a couple of Senior "A" players tell me later that they wished that they would have had a "B" team when they strarted playing to properly get their feet wet and not have been thrown into the fire of higher level Division III 11-man play.

Like I said . . . This is a learning experience.

GOOD JOB FALCONS!!!

Next up for our "B" team is a home game against the Annecy Avalanches next Sunday.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon


The rain was back today but it was mostly light with overcast skies. This made it a perfect day to visit Lyon's very impressive Art Museum.

Great French cities have
great fountains 

Entyway to the Musée des
Beaux-Arts de Lyon 

As you pass through this entryway you enter a serene garden where the art begins with statues like these.

Yorick?

Pondering Catholic church
history perhaps 

"Every woman's crazy
'bout a sharp dressed man!"

This colorful scene greets
you once inside

Why is this man smiling?

Grumpy 

Portrait of an Insane Woman 

"Got any ideas on
what to do tonight?"

Carmen Miranda's Muse?

Headless in Lyon 

 Caesar and Cleopatra

 Ricotta Cheese Madness

Cool helmet on the right

Trapped 

Monet 

Desperate Eyes

A Roman Bridge

I saw a lot of these on the Camino de Santiago a few years ago.

St. George 

Cool Cat

The Sixth Labor of Hercules 

This was a very fine museum with a wealth of art from many different eras and mediums. It was well worth the afternoon out of the elements.

One last shot of the Hôtel de Ville

It was time to head home for the 4:00 p.m. start of College Gameday on ESPN America followed by Minnesota at Iowa.

Game day for our Falcon "B" team on Sunday, YAHOO!!!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Vieux Lyon


Today marked the end of the first week of my French Adventure. Thus, I opted to head towards the Vieux Lyon historic district once again.

I have started to figure out Lyon's extensive transportation system and was able to cut my time into Lyon in half from yesterday's journey.

I exited the Metro at the
Hôtel de Ville

I was planning to roam the streets of the Presqu'île district first. Amazingly I stopped into . . .

St. Nizier Catholic Church

It has butresses

St. Peter with the
Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven

St. Paul minus
the blade of his famous sword

Angelic Dive Bomber

Madonna and Child

The Ornate Main Altar

This small side altar
was stunning too

Intricate Pulpit Carving

The Power of Prayer

This girl was sitting by one of the side altars and praying loud enough for anyone nearby to hear her.

A stain glass window and a
fun setting on my new camera

Feeding the Multitudes

That reminded me that it was time for lunch, thus I headed towards Vieux Lyon.

Crossing the Saône River

Students and young workers
dining by the Saône River

Colorful Place Saint-Paul

Not here,
I wasn't that hungry

But I wanted more than a biscuit

Possibly

The aromas from this rue full
of restaurants were incredible!

Nope, not here either

Maybe

I could nosh on fruits and
vegetables . . . yeah, right

I opted for Chez Jules

I came across this little boulangerie last year the first time I visited Lyon. Great place for a light meal for a small price.

Just another picturesque rue
in the Vieux Lyon

The Roman Amphitheater

It sat 10,000 people in its heyday but can only hold about 3,000 people today for summer concerts.

Interesting building materials

SACRE BLEU!!!

I was strong but I'm not sure why.

I've got to get back to Paris

Just a fun street scene
in the Saint-Just district

Old Roofing Tiles

Golden Homes Abound

This garage has
seen much better days

One final "B" team practice

Our first game of the season for our Senior "B" team is this coming Sunday. Because we have so many Senior players, many of them rookies, we decided to start a "B" team to compete in a Division IV league.

Even though the "B" team has only practiced this Tuesday, Thursday and tonight, it will still be "GAME ON" this Sunday when we play in Saint-Étienne against the Condors.

It should be interesting.

Bonsoir from Lyon